Pro Bowl WR fits Chargers’ key criteria ahead of NFL trade deadline

Chris Roling | Oct 11, 2024

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Los Angeles Chargers

With a new general manager and Jim Harbaugh steering the ship, the Los Angeles Chargers feel like a team that could be more active than usual at the NFL trade deadline.

Any potential Chargers trade, though, would have to start by hitting a major team need. And one of those is at wide receiver, with Justin Herbert needing some help from the weapons around him—hence, we’ve already talked about Cleveland Browns wideout Amari Cooper as a Chargers trade target.

And now we’re going to talk about him again.

The Athletic’s Daniel Popper just pointed out that if the Chargers go hunting at the trade deadline, they’re likely to put players with affordable base salaries and expiring contracts near the top of the list.

As Popper writes, Cooper hits those:

“The Browns restructured Cooper’s contract in July, moving signing bonus into future void years. His base salary in 2024 is $1.21 million, according to Over the Cap. The Chargers would only be taking on a fraction of that for part of the season. And, finally, Cooper is in the final year of his deal and is slated to become a free agent in the spring.”

Those 1-4 Browns, with a disaster of a quarterback situation, indeed, look like they could be sellers at the deadline. Cooper, a five-time Pro Bowler already, is 30 years old and still averaging better than 10 yards per catch amid the mess. He put up a minimum of 1,160 yards in each of his prior two seasons in Cleveland, too.

Cooper would be an ideal rental for the Chargers, who would like to win now and might not want to wait to see if Quentin Johnston or Joshua Palmer can provide a boost to a wideout depth chart hinging on rookie breakout Ladd McConkey.

Even if the Chargers cough up assets and Cooper isn’t the answer, the cap commitment wouldn’t be beyond this year, anyway. That makes a player like him someone to watch as that November 5 deadline looms.

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