Team news: Cleveland Browns

The Browns and star WR Amari Cooper have agreed to a restructured one-year contract, guaranteeing his $20M and adding an additional $5M, per multiple sources.

Cooper earned his fifth Pro Bowl selection last season after a career-high 1,250 receiving yards and 5 TDs, and is poised to be the team's WR1 again this season. Last year, in his ninth season, Cooper set career-highs in receiving yards per game (83.3) and yards per reception (17.4) en route to a WR14 finish. He was the WR9 in 2022. Cooper is entering his 10th season, which is when receivers’ production tends to fall off of a cliff, per Ryan Heath’s excellent Age Curves study. Cooper’s splits with and without Deshaun Watson were similar, so that’s not much of a concern. Cooper’s career-highs last season are reason to be optimistic that his production won’t fall off too much in 2024. His WR27 ADP seems like a solid value given the age discount.

Nick Chubb will likely be placed on the active/physically unable to perform list next week heading into camp, meaning he can be activated and start participating in team drills if he’s ready and remains eligible for the opener at Cleveland Browns Stadium. PUP players can work out and rehab with the team, but not take part in team drills.

Related Players: Jerome Ford, D'Onta Foreman

Signs are pointing toward a slow build-up for Chubb, which means he's not likely to see a full workload (or any at all) to begin the season. Ford is a fantastic pick in redraft leagues in the 11th round, though his place in the pecking order might be in serious jeopardy by the second half of the season.

Did Thursday’s final mandatory minicamp practice provide a subtle — or maybe even not-so-subtle — sign that Deshaun Watson is feeling better? At the risk of making too much out of the last of the team’s 13 instruction-based spring practice sessions, we’ll stick with maybe.

“I’ve said it before (that) I’ve gotten to see him throw throughout the course of this rehab,” HC Kevin Stefanski said. “I don’t know (exactly) when it was, but a while back, he looked very normal to me. So that looked normal to me.”

Related Players: Jameis Winston, Dorian Thompson-Robinson

Assuming there are no future hiccups with Watson's rehabbing, he should be fully cleared well ahead of Week 1. He is currently ranked as 4for4's QB22 as he attempts to string together his first full season since 2020.

The Browns receiver was not in attendance for Cleveland's Tuesday session and is subject to fines.

Head coach Kevin Stefanski said Cooper's absence was not excused.

"These situations, I understand that they do come up," Stefanski said. "I'll really leave all of that between Amari, Amari's agent and AB (general manager Andrew Berry) and those type of conversations. Again, as you guys know, we focus on guys that are here. We'll get some good work in and really keep it at that."

Related Players: Elijah Moore, Jerry Jeudy, Jamari Thrash

At 30 years old, there aren't many reasons for Cooper to miss time this season, so we assume this will be hashed out sooner rather than later. The Browns offense as a whole has plenty to prove this year, not least of all is their receiving room.

The Browns have a new offensive coordinator in Ken Dorsey, a new running backs coach in Duce Staley and two new veteran running backs in the group, Nyheim Hines and D’Onta Foreman. Jerome Ford, who became the lead back in Chubb’s absence last year, has been first in line through the first three weeks of spring practice and presumably will keep that spot until Chubb returns.

The article goes on to mention, "Hines is also trying to come back from a torn ACL, and Chubb said he and Hines have spent plenty of time together with the team’s medical staff." We can surmise that the current 1-2 punch as it stands is Ford-Foreman, which should put the latter on our radar as a final-round dart throw.

The Cleveland Browns running back, who is attempting yet another comeback from a vicious knee injury, doesn't know exactly when he'll return to the field. He still has a long way to go in his rehabilitation. But Chubb said he's nonetheless happy with the progress he has made so far following his season-ending Week 2 injury last year.

Related Players: Jerome Ford, Nyheim Hines, D'Onta Foreman

There remains some doubt that he will be ready for Week 1. This makes considering the rest of the backfield a tricky situation in current best ball drafts. Cleveland currently has seven backs on its roster, including the offseason additions of Hines and Foreman. Ford should be considered the most likely option to lead the backfield in touches in Chubb's steed.

We will keep an eye on news for further updates on Chubb's status.

The Browns and star RB Nick Chubb have agreed on a reworked contract for 2024 to lower his base of $11.775M, with a chance to earn it back in incentives.

Chubb is working his way back from a serious knee injury, but isn’t going anywhere.

Related Players: Jerome Ford, Nyheim Hines, D'Onta Foreman

We still haven't had any concrete timetable about Chubb's return, so there remains some doubt that he will be ready for Week 1. This makes considering the rest of the backfield a tricky situation in current best ball drafts. We should feel pretty confident that the team will not be looking for reinforcements through the NFL Draft, as they currently have six backs on their roster, including the recent additions of Hines and Foreman.

We will keep an eye on news for further updates on Chubb's status.

More depth in Cleveland: The Browns are signing former Bears RB D’Onta Foreman.

Related Players: Nick Chubb, Jerome Ford

This gives the team a little bit of breathing room if Nick Chubb isn't fully back up to speed by the beginning of the season. Chubb will be the locked-in RB1 whenever he's up to 100% and this signing will muddy the waters for Jerome Ford, who performed well in a breakout 2023 that saw him break 1,000 total scrimmage yards.

Former Bills RB Nyheim Hines is signing a one-year deal worth up to $3.5 million with the Browns.

Related Players: Nick Chubb

This shouldn't affect Chubb's workload at all, as this is just a 1v1 replacement of Kareem Hunt. Hines could pop up for some usable weeks in fantasy due to his pass-catching but wouldn't benefit much if anything were to happen to Chubb.

Trade: Broncos and Browns agreed to a deal today that will send WR Jerry Jeudy to Cleveland in exchange for two draft picks, sources tell ESPN.

Cleveland made a run at Jeudy at last season’s trade deadline. Now the Browns finally will get him once trade is processed this week.

The two picks are 2024 5th- and 6th-round picks, per source.

The former first-round draft pick will be competing for the WR3 spot in Cleveland on a historically run-heavy offense. We shouldn't get too excited about Jeudy's potential heading into 2024 and consider him in fantasy WR4 territory.