Who could be next after Amari Cooper was traded from Browns?

The 1-5 Cleveland Browns traded wide receiver Amari Cooper to the Buffalo Bills on Tuesday.

Cooper, 30, was only contracted for this season and his body language and play suggested a change of scenery was probably necessary. Although it was likely Cooper's low base salary that helped the Browns secure a third-round pick as the centerpiece of Buffalo's trade package, the Browns' restructuring of Cooper's contract in July means they have more than 22 players through 2025 Millions of dollars in dead money take up salary cap.

Cooper's move isn't a complete signal that the Browns are accepting the unpleasant reality that they'll have to continue cutting salary and eventually give up struggling quarterback Deshaun Watson's fully guaranteed contract. There's still some acknowledgment that the offense hasn't worked, even though Browns coach Kevin Stefanski publicly insists the team will stick with Watson as the starter.

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Is there a full teardown project coming? It's too early to tell, but the 2024 Browns appear to have fallen so far that it makes sense to think about the future. The NFL trade deadline is Nov. 5, and the Browns may not be done adding future draft capital and potentially molding the most expensive roster in NFL history in a younger, cheaper and more flexible direction. The team still has more than $170 million committed to Watson in salary cap space through 2028.

It seems likely that the Browns will move one or two more players before the trade deadline, but they will have to make big financial and directional decisions at quarterback before they can even consider moving some of their better players. The only way they would even consider trading defensive end Myles Garrett would be if they embarked on a complete rebuild that included a clear, multi-year plan.

So who could be next? Which players are attracting interest from other teams? Let's explore some possibilities, starting with the ones most likely to be postponed and going from there.

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The Browns are already stretched thin on defense following Alex Wright's season-ending injury, but if they go into selling mode, the 32-year-old Smith would certainly be viewed as a trade candidate. Smith signed a new two-year deal with the Browns last March, but all guarantees are in place this season and his low base salary ($1.2 million) makes him a Cooper-like target for teams in need of pass rush help . Smith has three sacks this season and 63 sacks in his 10-year career. To move Smith, the Browns would have to look to other teams' practice squads for defensive help; As mentioned above, this can happen anyway.

Like Smith, Tomlinson's base salary for 2024 is just $1.2 million. So while the Browns would have to collect a total of about $22 million in dead money over the remainder of his contract over the next four seasons, the 30-year-old Tomlinson becomes a cheap option for a team looking for immediate help at defensive tackle. Tomlinson missed all of preseason while recovering from a knee replacement, but he has been resilient throughout his career and put in excellent performances for most of 2023.

To be clear, Garrett almost certainly won't be traded — and the Browns probably aren't even close to discussing that doomsday scenario. Garrett, 28, is a cornerstone of the franchise and, in his eighth season, arguably the best non-quarterback in the NFL. But if the Browns begin a major rebuild at any point in the next 12 months, teams will be calling Garrett. What is a sufficiently high offer price that is also realistic? This is difficult to predict at the moment.

The only scenario the Browns need to avoid is if Garrett demands a trade. Garrett is under contract through 2026 and the Browns would pocket more than $36 million in dead money in 2025 if they traded him. Is there a chance that a team has the cap space, draft capital and desire to make Garrett the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history? Probably yes, but all of these things would have to fit together.

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The Browns are far more interested in Chubb's expected return this weekend and the possible temporary change in sentiment than they are thinking about the future. But Chubb took a pay cut last spring while recovering from two major knee surgeries, and he is not under contract for 2025. Chubb, 28, was one of the franchise's best and most popular players, and he was one of the NFL's best running backs when healthy. But if the Browns begin a rebuild and Chubb looks healthy over the next three weeks, there is a scenario that a team could make the Browns an offer. The more likely scenario would be that the Browns would trade D'Onta Foreman to a running back-needy team for a conditional seventh-round pick if Chubb can return and play well.

QBs Jameis Winston and Dorian Thompson-Robinson

Should a team with playoff aspirations suffer a quarterback injury in the next three weeks, Winston and his 80 career starts could be of interest. Of course, we're not sure what the Browns think about their own quarterback situation in a week, in two months, or more importantly, in six months, so it's hard to say what a fair value or a right situation parties could be for everyone. Thompson-Robinson has been selected as a potential long-term replacement for Watson and is under contract until 2026. The Browns decided to keep him last summer, and it would be a unique situation for the team to move him now.

Conklin returned just last week from a 2023 knee injury that resulted in complete tears of his ACL, ACL and ACL. He has been the team's starting player when healthy since 2020, but last year's injury was the third serious knee injury in Conklin's nine-year career. Conklin is only in the Browns' future plans if he and the team mutually agree to rework the remaining two years of his contract, which he signed at the end of 2022. A trade is unlikely, but not completely out of the question in the event of an offensive. The team in need of leadership should call. Conklin is currently playing ahead of 2023 draft pick Dawand Jones, who is under contract through 2026.

And before you ask, the Browns almost certainly won't trade Jedrick Wills Jr. in the final year of his current contract. They have no other realistic option other than left wing at the moment and the money they have spent on multiple restructurings of Wills' contracts suggests the team wants to at least explore keeping him around.

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The Browns picked up Newsome's fully guaranteed fifth-year option for 2025 for more than $13 million. That doesn't necessarily mean Newsome will be with the team next season, but if a trade does happen, it's more likely to happen before the 2025 season than in the coming weeks.

It's unlikely there would be a suitor or real value in a potential return, but Moore hasn't fit in in Cleveland and has no dead money in the final year of his rookie contract since being traded from the Jets in March 2023.

Both are good players. Both make a lot of money and both have a contract until 2025. Bitonio is 33 and is expected to hit a cap hit of $14 million next season. Teller is 30 years old, currently on injured reserve and has dead money commitments of more than $30 million in 2025-2026 if the Browns were to trade him. It's likely at least one won't be on the team next year, but a move in the next few weeks would require a team that has both a pressing need at the position and a desire to engage in some significant cap gymnastics with the Browns work.

(Photo of Greg Newsome II and Myles Garrett: Nick Cammett / Getty Images)