Amari Cooper trade signals waving of white flag on Browns season

If you were looking for a fact to show just how huge the trade of Cleveland Browns WR Amari Cooper to the Buffalo Bills is to the floundering Browns offense, here is on courtesy ESPN's senior college football writer Jake Trotter:

Cooper's two touchdowns on the season - following, of course, a 2023 campaign that saw him wrangle in five scores but 1,250 receiving yards as well - are now off the board for Cleveland's offense. S Rodney McLeod's electric touchdown return from Week 6 that almost galvanized an upset on the road is now the lone Cleveland player to score more than one touchdown this season.

That is exactly why this trade signals a much more significant philosophical shift from this Browns coaching staff and front office. All season long, it has felt like the team was turning an eye to the fact that its QB1 in Deshaun Watson is a shell of himself, the offensive line is not a good one, and that the defense was the only unit holding everything together.

Now, following another loss where the team failed to crack 20 points in a game, they have traded Watson's number one receiving target. That has not meant much for Cooper's production or Watson's success, as Cooper has struggled to hold onto catches and as Watson has struggled to make consistently good throws to him, even for short yardage.

With Cooper gone, the Browns have some options to work with at wide receiver if they even still plan on trotting Watson out at quarterback - which, everything that HC Kevin Stefanski has said up til' this point has indicated as such. WR Jerry Jeudy presumably becomes the team's WR1 as Elijah Moore and even Cedric Tillman get more reps and targets.

In addition to them, rookie WR Jamari Thrash has a good shot at being elevated to the active roster with Cooper's departure. Thrash looked great in preseason action, but has yet to play a snap in the regular season alongside Watson. He could provide some athleticism and speed to a wide receiver group that looks extremely thin, unreliable, and aged with Cooper's departure.

Offense about to be saved by Nick Chubb?

Outside of the Browns now questionable passing game, the team's running back room continues to get healthier. While Jerome Ford did end up leaving Week 6's game early with a leg injury, the team announced that Chubb would be back in action for its divisional game against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 7.

The Bengals allow 146.0 rushing yards per game, as the Browns just hit 100 rushing yards last week with D'Onta Foreman and Pierre Strong Jr. getting a bulk of the carries in the backfield. Cleveland will likely exploit this poor run defense with Chubb back and as its offense suddenly looks a lot worse, somehow, with this Cooper trade.

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