Browns Trade Amari Cooper, Land Tyron Smith In This Wild Proposal

It's that time of the offseason where the craziest trade ideas in existence are invented, and this Browns proposal takes the cake.

Jan 8, 2023; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Cleveland Browns wide receiver Amari Cooper (2) runs after a catch against the Pittsburgh Steelers during the fourth quarter at Acrisure Stadium. Pittsburgh won 28-14. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports / Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

The Cleveland Browns are locked in a contract standoff with wide receiver Amari Cooper, which has some wondering if the Browns may trade him this offseason.

More than likely, Cleveland will reach an agreement with Cooper, who has not participated in any of the team's offseason activities and will probably hold out of training camp next month if a new deal is not agreed to by then.

The idea of the Browns moving their No. 1 receiver is more fan conjecture than reality, as it simply doesn't make much sense for Cleveland to do so given how much of a hole it would leave in the team's aerial attack for 2024.

Still, Bleacher Report's Kristopher Knox has come up with his own three-team trade idea where the Browns trade Cooper. In the deal, Cooper would go to the Las Vegas Raiders (where he began his career in 2015), Davante Adams would make his way to the New York Jets and Cleveland would land offensive tackle Tyron Smith (as well as a third-round draft pick).

To be fair, Knox almost certainly does not believe this trade will happen, hence him calling the article "a thought exercise." Plus, it's late June, and not much is going on in the NFL at the moment.

But trading Cooper and recouping the injury-prone Smith does not sound like a very viable strategy for a Browns team that is trying to contend for a Super Bowl this coming season.

Cleveland already has enough injury issues at the tackle position, with all three of Jack Conklin, Jedrick Wills and Dawand Jones recovering from offseason surgery. This has created somewhat of a glut at the position and could even result in Conklin—the $60 million man—being benched given the fact that his injury was the most severe of the three (he tore his ACL and MCL in Week 1 of 2023).

Why, then, would the Browns want to add another tackle—one who has not played more than 13 games since 2015—into the mix?

If for some reason Cleveland did come to the conclusion that it had to trade Cooper, it would almost certainly want a young wide receiver in return.

The Browns don't exactly have enviable depth behind Cooper. They did acquire Jerry Jeudy in a trade earlier this offseason, and Elijah Moore (who is on shaky ground), Cedric Tillman and rookie wide out Jamari Thrash are on the roster, but Cleveland does not exactly have Houston Texans-level talent at the position.

Moving Cooper and not landing a wide out in return would be disastrous for Deshaun Watson and Co. moving forward.

Again, the Browns aren't trading Cooper anyway. I would be shocked if it came to that. But if they did, it certainly wouldn't be for Smith.