Could the Browns really trade Amari Cooper?

Following wide receiver Rashee Rice's injury, the Kansas City Chiefs could sign the Cleveland Browns for Amari Cooper after the team fell to 1-3 this season.

And it's not out of the question that the Browns would make a deal to send him to back-to-back Super Bowl champions. The Chiefs already had a weak space before Rice's injury, and now it has become even weaker.

An established veteran who has already been traded twice may be a perfect fit for Patrick Mahomes and Co. Peter Schrager of FOX Sports floated the idea.

Why should the Browns trade Amari Cooper?

A slow start cost Cooper this season. Despite a breakthrough performance last week against the New York Giants in which he caught his first touchdown pass of the season, Cooper suffered another costly drop for the third time in four weeks. This led to an interception on a throw that should have resulted in a chunk play off quarterback Deshaun Watson's arm.

If the Browns continue to lose even though they're already at a crossroads of 1-3 on the season and the red-hot Washington Commanders are next in line, we could see them start shedding veteran assets near the end of their contracts in Cleveland .

If the player is headed to free agency after the season ends anyway, why not get him back at least a draft asset on the trade market before we reach that point?

And Cooper is the leading candidate.

What are the financial implications of trading Cooper?

Cooper is in the final year of his contract. The Browns have already restructured his contract to give him his money guaranteed and in the form of a bonus. That means his cap hit this season is at the veteran minimum for another team to absorb.

That makes him an attractive target for other teams.

To accomplish this, the Browns would save whatever is left of Cooper's base contract this season. In today's trading, that number would be $941,111. If traded at the deadline, that amount would be $605,000.

However, the Browns would eat up any bonuses they've already handed out to Cooper. That means the Browns would have a cap hit of $22.6 million in 2025 to trade the wide receiver.

The big difference is that the Browns would save him $15 million against the cap next year and only save $7.5 million if they simply let him walk and keep him for the post-1 dead cap period .

So the asset the Browns receive in return will determine whether or not they trade Cooper. Is a fourth-round pick worth an additional $15 million in dead cap? Probably not. But would a second-rounder participate in some sort of pick swap? Perhaps.

The only way to avoid this cap hit is to extend the player further into the future, something the Browns were unwilling to do while wideout this summer. Also, looking at the production they are currently getting from Cooper, perhaps this was the right decision.

Now for the final question: What kind of return would Cooper guarantee?

What could the Browns get from Cooper on the trade market?

Timing is crucial here. If the Browns wait until the trade deadline to trade Cooper, they would likely only be able to retain a fourth-round pick for a player who is essentially on loan from his new team for half a season.

However, if the Chiefs or another team comes in and gets Cooper by making the Browns an offer they can't refuse out of desperation for the wide receiver, we could see returns equivalent to a second-round pick. General manager Andrew Berry also has a penchant for pick swaps, so it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility that Cooper would be set up with an early Day 3 pick in exchange for a second-round pick.

This article originally appeared on Browns Wire: Could the Browns Really Trade Amari Cooper?