“Trying to get paid this year,” wide receiver Amari Cooper skipped the Cleveland Browns’ offseason program, including the mandatory minicamp. But the former Alabama All-American reported for training camp with the rest of the Browns’ veteran players on Tuesday.
Did Cooper have a change of heart?
No. He got paid.
Cleveland restructured Cooper’s contract to guarantee his $20 million salary, paid half of that amount in the form of a signing bonus and made another $5 million available for the wide receiver, cleveland.com, NFL Network and ESPN reported on Tuesday afternoon. Cleveland.com and NFL Network said the $5 million was in the form of incentives; ESPN called it a raise.
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Cooper was entering the final season of a five-year, $100 million contract after recording a career-high 1,250 yards on 72 receptions, with five touchdowns, in 2023. With his seventh 1,000-yard season, Cooper received his fifth Pro Bowl invitation.
Cooper was due $20 million in salary under that deal, but none of that money was guaranteed to be paid before the restructuring.
When Cooper signed the contract with the Dallas Cowboys in 2020, he had theonly $100 million dealamong the NFL’s wide receivers. This season, the Las Vegas Raiders’ Davante Adams, Minnesota Vikings’ Justin Jefferson, Detroit Lions’ Amon-Ra St. Brown and Miami Dolphins’ Tyreek Hill will play on contracts with atotal value of more than $100 million.
The $20 million annual average of Cooper’s contract was tied for the 20th highest among the NFL’s wide receivers, and his $20 million pay for 2024 was tied for the12th-highest among the NFL’s wide receivers.
If Cooper makes $25 million for the 2024 season, he’d be tied for fourth on the NFL’s wide-receiver pay list, behind Jefferson, the Houston Texans’ Stefon Diggs and the Indianapolis Colts’ Michael Pittman Jr. and tied with the Tennessee Titans’ Calvin Ridley.
The Browns will practice at their headquarters in Berea, Ohio, on Wednesday before going to the Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, for the rest of training camp.
Cleveland kicks off its three-game preseason schedule on Aug 10 against the Green Bay Packers and begins its regular-season slate on Sept. 8 against the Dallas Cowboys.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1