The Cleveland Browns have issues all over the field this season, mostly due to injuries, but aside from the quarterback position, the wide receiver position may be the most uncertain moving forward.
Aside from the fact that the quarterback situation is far from ideal, the Browns at least know Deshaun Watson will be back healthy and playing in the third season of a massive five-year contract in 2024. Because of Watson’s contract and a number of other factors, Cleveland may have to part ways with wide receiver Amari Cooper and his $23.8 million salary cap hit this offseason.
Should Cooper become a cap casualty, the Browns will need to find a pass-catching partner for Watson in order to avoid leaving the league’s top-ranked defense to fend for itself as frequently as it has this season. Stefon Diggs of the Buffalo Bills, who Connor Livesay of The 33rd Team suggested may be available for trade in 2024, could be one option in the offseason.
With Dalton Kincaid and Khalil Shakir on the rise and a stacked wide receiver draft class on the horizon, the Bills could seriously consider trading Diggs this offseason.
For a few years, the Bills-Diggs marriage has been somewhat strange. We may be reading too much into Diggs’ social media responses and sideline interactions with [QB Josh] Allen, but it does not appear that everything is fine between the Bills and Diggs.
Diggs is only two years into his $96-million contract extension, which he signed in 2022. As a result, the team trading for Diggs would forego draft capital while taking on a relatively large contract.
Stefon Diggs Provides an Upgrade Over Amari Cooper Diggs’ salary cap hit is actually higher than Cooper’s next season at $27.85 million, which begs the question: why not just keep Cooper at a lower cost rather than cutting him, eating a significant amount of dead money, and paying Diggs more?
That’s an excellent question, and the answer is as complex as it is subjective. However, a few facts shine through the muck, making Diggs the potentially better option. The first is that no matter how the Browns acquire their future No. 1 wideout, it will cost the team a significant amount of money.
For better or worse, the Browns are going all-in on their current playoff window and spending big money all over the place. Cleveland is one of only a few teams in the league where it makes sense to play for now and defer as much money as possible down the road, effectively mortgaging the long-term future for a short- to mid-term shot at a Super Bowl run.
In that context, the organization could do something similar to what it did with Cooper and restructure Diggs’ contract by converting salary into bonus money, paying that outright, and pushing a large portion of his cap hit years down the road. This ties the team’s hands in the future, as its hands will be tied.
However, the strategy also pairs Watson with Diggs, a player who is unquestionably better than Cooper and is only one year older. Diggs has been named to the Pro Bowl in each of the last three seasons, including two All-Pro selections, and is on pace to surpass 1,000 yards receiving for the sixth consecutive year.
Behind an injured Amari Cooper, the Browns are thin at wide receiver.
Diggs may prove to be an overpriced and/or complicated option in Cleveland, especially given that he will require draft capital to acquire. Whether the Browns pursue a big-name player like Diggs or not, they must address their wide receiver room before the 2024 season.
Other than Cooper, the only wideout with more than 108 receiving yards in 2023 is Elijah Moore (543 yards). Rookie Cedric Tillman is third with the aforementioned 108 yards, while departed Donovan Peoples-Jones had 97 yards before being traded to the Detroit Lions and second-year pass-catcher David Bell has 86 yards, according to ESPN.
Running back Jerome Ford has 227 receiving yards from the backfield, and tight end David Njoku is on pace for a career-high 600 yards in receiving through 13 games. But Cleveland’s pass offense requires more downfield presence, which Moore, Ford, and Njoku aren’t capable of providing on a consistent basis. Cooper is that player when he’s healthy, but if he leaves the Browns next offseason, that element of the offense will go with him.
The 2024 NFL Draft is an option, but rookies are a risky bet when a team needs them to be top performers right away. Furthermore, because the Browns will not select until the second round, the top few wide receivers will have already been selected.
As a result, Cleveland’s best bets are a trade or free agency, and a proven option acquired through either route won’t come cheap.
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