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Trade rumor 'doesn't even cross' Browns WR Amari Cooper's mind, 'winning some games' does
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- Trade rumor 'doesn't even cross' Browns WR Amari Cooper's mind, 'winning some games' does
BEREA — It's almost as if the two things have been directly proportional.
The Browns have found themselves spiraling through a three-game losing streak that has dropped them to 1-4 for the season. As they losses have piled up, so has the talk associated with wide receiver Amari Cooper and a potential trade .
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Cooper's name has most closely been connected with the Kansas City Chiefs , who have needed another wide receiver since Rashee Rice went down with a knee injury. With the trade deadline a little less than a month away on Nov. 5 — and four more Browns games between now and then, starting Sunday at the Philadelphia Eagles — there's still more time for the losses to make it all the more likely the wide receiver ends up being traded to another team.
"I'm not thinking about that," Cooper said Thursday. "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."
Cooper is in the final year of his contract with the Browns, which they inherited when they acquired him from the Dallas Cowboys in March 2022. The team and the wide receiver spent the entire offseason locked in a dispute over his deal, which was ultimately settled by fully guaranteeing his $20 million salary while putting in $5 million in incentives.
Cleveland Browns wide receiver Amari Cooper (2) fails to catch a pass against the New York Giants on Sept. 22 in Cleveland.
Five games into the season, everything's seemed off, both for the Browns and Cooper. The team is mired in a losing streak with an offense that's statistically the worst in the league.
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Cooper, meanwhile, has struggled to find any consistent connection with quarterback Deshaun Watson . While he's been targeted 47 times, he's only had 20 catches for 208 yards and one touchdown. He said there's only one way to improve those numbers.
"I mean, just go out there and try to play your best," Cooper said. "That's my role in that. Nothing else really matters. All the words, all the talking, things of that nature. Just want to play as well as I can to make (Watson's) job easy."
The anemic offense has been the No. 1 cause behind the Browns' losing ways. The frustration that comes with that losing has been evident on the face of Cooper and every other player in the postgame locker rooms from Cleveland to Las Vegas to, most recently, suburban Washington, D.C.
That frustration can have a tipping point, though, where it turns into a detriment. That's where it boils over into anger and dissension within the locker room, which ultimate is the final nail in a season's coffin.
Cleveland Browns wide receiver Amari Cooper (2) runs after a catch against Washington Commanders cornerback Benjamin St-Juste (25) on Sunday in Landover, Maryland.
Cooper denies the Browns are at that point, even knowing their record is what it is before they even reach their first AFC North game on Oct. 20 against the Cincinnati Bengals . Although he's frustrated, he said he's not ready to use an escape pod to one of the NFL's top teams.
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"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," Cooper said. "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."
Cooper said there's a way to change the trajectory of the season. It's a micro-level alteration that could lead to a macro-level alteration in the offense.
That, in turn, could start the chain reaction that turns the season around.
"I mean, it's easy to say, but it definitely starts with a win," Cooper said. "The win is what creates the momentum. The momentum is what creates the confidence. So now what will get us to the win? Again, the same thing that we've been preaching — going out there practicing, executing in practice, practicing like we're a winning team, we're a team that wants to win. Doing all the right things, doing a little bit extra in every aspect of our daily lives as football players, whether that's watching more film, getting more treatment, taking care of the body a little bit more. Just a little bit extra in everything."
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Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Amari Cooper wants wins for Browns, not trade to contender
