Dawgs By Nature
Cleveland’s veteran WR says his focus remains on helping the Browns win, even as trade rumors continue to swirl.
The Cleveland Browns have seen the 2024 season continue to spiral out of control during the team’s three-game losing streak.
The problems are numerous and across all sectors of the team, outside of punter Corey Bojorquez, and with the Browns sitting at 1-4 it feels as if the season is over.
Because of the struggles, speculation has been building in recent weeks that general manager Andrew Berry will pull the plug on the season and start trading away some of the players who are not in the plans for next season or have expiring contracts.
And the name at the top of the list has consistently been wide receiver Amari Cooper, who has an affordable salary for the rest of the season thanks to Berry converting most of Cooper’s salary into a signing bonus over the summer.
Cooper has not been off to the best start this season with 20 receptions and a career-low of 10.2 yards per catch. That obviously does not help his trade value as once a player hits his 30s a temporary drop in performance can be seen as the beginning of an irreversible decline rather than a slump.
For his part, Cooper has been focusing on what he can control and doing what he can to help the Browns turn things around before it is too late, as he said on Thursday (quotes via a team-provided transcript):
“I’m not thinking about (a trade). I’m not thinking about us not winning some games. I’m thinking about us winning some games. So that doesn’t even cross my mind.
“I mean, it’s the easiest thing in the world to do, to jump off the ship when it’s sinking, I guess I would say. I don’t even consider myself that type of person — that’s what people who aren’t dedicated to, that’s what people who aren’t committed to. Things get hard sometimes. You just have to fight your way through it. I’m a fighter. I know the guys on his team, they’re fighters and that’s what fighters do until the end, fight until the end. So that’s what we’re going to do.”
As bad as the opening weeks of the season have been for the Browns, there has been little to no public grumbling from the players. It would be easy for someone like Cooper to pout, complain, or otherwise work to get himself out of town and onto a team that is currently winning. But so far that has not been the case.
If the Browns keep on losing, however, it may not matter how positive an attitude Cooper has, as the desire to use one of the team’s most traceable assets may be something that Berry can’t resist.
