After four under-performing years in Denver, the Browns are hoping Amari Cooper can be a positive influence on fellow Alabama receiver Jerry Jeudy. (Associated Press)
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.
Takeaways from Browns’ trade for receiver Jerry Jeudy …
In his first Browns draft of 2020, GM Andrew Berry was locked into selecting a left tackle with the 10th overall pick, and he used it on Jedrick Wills of Alabama.
During the process of scouting Wills that draft season, Berry and his scouts had a high grade on another Crimson Tide, receiver Jerry Jeudy, who came off the board at No. 15 to the Denver Broncos.
While Jeudy’s four years in Denver never justified his draft status – 211 receptions for 3,053 yards and just 11 touchdowns -- Berry didn’t lose the conviction of his staff’s evaluation. He was in conversation with Denver for a trade for Jeudy two other times, and finally landed him on Saturday.
Broncos GM George Paton – the runner-up to Berry for the Browns’ GM job in 2020 – delivered Jeudy to the Browns for fifth- and sixth-round picks in the 2024 draft.
The Browns won’t comment until the trade becomes official after the NFL business season begins at 4:00 p.m. EDT on Wednesday.
The Cooper connection
The trade is reminiscent of Berry’s deal for Amari Cooper. Berry acquired Cooper from the Dallas Cowboys in 2022 for a fifth-round pick and swap of sixth-round picks.
The differences are these:
Cooper was 28 at the time, much more accomplished (five 1,000-yard seasons and four Pro Bowl selections), and too expensive ($20 million-a-year) for the then-loaded Cowboys to keep.
Jeudy, who turns 25 next month, has been an underachiever and enters the fifth and final year of his rookie contract at a guaranteed $12.987 million salary and cap number.
Denver coach Sean Payton is overhauling his roster and needs to replenish a draft arsenal weakened by Paton’s ill-fated trade for (since-released) quarterback Russell Wilson prior to Payton arriving.
Now, what makes this a worthy gamble for Berry aside from the low cost is the fact that Jeudy reportedly idolized Cooper and followed his footsteps from south Florida to Alabama.
Jeudy has had some maturity issues struggling through constantly changing offensive systems, coaches and quarterbacks in four years in Denver. Cooper has been the consummate professional in two years with the Browns. The thought of Cooper mentoring Jeudy now as a teammate offers hope that Jeudy can turn around his career and realize his potential.
Which is why the trade for Jeudy actually enhances Cooper’s value to the Browns, even as he enters his age-30 NFL season.
I expect Berry now to seek a short-term contract extension for Cooper, which would greatly reduce his 2024 cap number of $23.776 million – currently second-highest on the team – and give Berry more room to pursue a splash free-agent signing beginning on Monday.
I would expect the same for Jeudy. But Berry has to wait for the trade to become official on Wednesday, so Jeudy’s cap number can’t be reduced in time for free-agent shopping on Monday.
Mulligans are nice
The Browns’ projected top three receivers – Cooper, Jeudy and Elijah Moore – all were the product of Berry trades.
They were made necessary because of Berry’s, ahem, spotty record in drafting wide receivers.
Consider the trades as mulligans for mis-evaluating draftable receivers and passing on promising ones. These include George Pickens and Alec Pierce (second round in 2022) and Jayden Reed, Rashee Rice and Marvin Mims (second round in 2023).
Berry deserves credit for aggressively pursuing veteran receivers at nominal trade costs. But they are mulligans, after all. So while he knocked those mulligans into the fairway, remember that he’s lying three there, not one.
Wide receivers have joined quarterbacks as vital positions you want on rookie contracts because veterans at those positions eat up the salary cap. While Jeudy and Moore technically are still on their rookie contracts, quarterback Deshaun Watson and Cooper are in stratospheric cap range.
Partly for that reason, I still see the Browns strongly considering a wide receiver with their first draft pick, No. 54 overall.
Good use of late picks
Prior to the trade, the Browns owned two picks in each of the fifth and sixth rounds. The Browns will surrender the higher pick in each round to the Broncos for Jeudy.
Those picks were both acquired in trades involving quarterbacks.
The fifth-round pick, No. 135, came from Carolina in the trade for Baker Mayfield. The sixth-round pick, No. 205, came from Houston in the trade for Watson. It’s the only draft pick the Browns received in the 2022 mega-deal for Watson.