It has now been nearly two years since WR Amari Cooper was traded; the Dallas Cowboys shipped the star wide receiver to the Cleveland Browns in return for a draft pick and another swapped pick.
Let’s take a look at how both teams have come out of the deal two years later.
Amari Cooper Trade Details
Browns receive:
- Amari Cooper
- 2022 sixth-round pick (WR Michael Woods II)
Cowboys receive:
- 2022 fifth-round pick (OL Matt Waletzko)
- 2022 sixth-round pick (LB Devin Harper)
How Both Teams Have Fared Since the Trade
The deal, which was made on March 16, 2022, was hailed in the immediate aftermath as a big win for the Browns and a bit of a head-scratching trade for the Cowboys.
Two years later, it’s viewed even more as a win for Cleveland and an even bigger question mark for Dallas.
The Browns had been looking for a top receiver for years, ultimately acquiring Cooper to be their WR1 alongside quarterback Deshaun Watson. He caught 78 passes for a then-career-high 1,160 yards and nine touchdowns in 2022; he followed that up with a productive 2023 regular season where he caught 72 passes for a new personal best of 1,250 yards and five touchdowns despite playing just 15 of 17 games.
He helped lead the Browns to the playoffs in 2023 where they fell to the Houston Texans in the Wild Card Round.
Dallas has come out of the deal fine enough, as well, thanks to the emergence of CeeDee Lamb as a bona fide star wide receiver. Dallas has been to the playoffs in each of the last two seasons but has failed to reach the conference championship for several reasons.
With Lamb emerging as a star, the Cowboys concluded that Cooper was a surplus at the position. Getting out of his salary to allocate it elsewhere could have been seen as a smart decision overall.
Here’s the problem with that, though.
The Cowboys, despite stating their intention of focusing on Lamb as the centerpiece of the offense, have yet to give the former Oklahoma star a contract worthy of his record-setting numbers in 2023. Lamb has already said he would sit out of training camp until he gets a fair offer from Dallas’ front office.
The longer the Cowboys wait to get a deal done, the more obvious it is that the organization needs a more dependable secondary option in the offense than they currently have.
Cleveland got to be the beneficiary of this salary dump of sorts, acquiring Cooper for the low price of a fifth-round draft pick, alongside moving down a few slots in the sixth round.
None of the players drafted from the exchange have added much value to either team thus far.
Michael Woods II saw sparing playing time as a rookie in Cleveland and missed the 2023 season with a torn Achilles. Matt Waletzko has made four appearances since being drafted by Dallas, including one in 2023, while Harper was released by the Cowboys in Sept. 2023 and signed with the Cincinnati Bengals.
All in all, the Browns certainly got the better end of this deal player-wise, but both teams seem to have emerged well enough in the end.
