That deal continues to amount to highway robbery in Cleveland’s favor.
After announcing his presence along the shores of Lake Erie with an 1,160-yard, nine-touchdown performance in 2022, Cooper has forever etched his name into Browns lore in 2023, becoming the first player in franchise history with back-to-back 1,000-yard receiving seasons. The 29-year-old eclipsed the mark on the first play from scrimmage Sunday against the Houston Texans, hauling in a 53-yard pass from Joe Flacco that set up a Jerome Ford touchdown run.
But Cooper wasn’t finished, as early in the second quarter, he grabbed another bomb from Flacco that resulted in a 75-yard TD. That play not only put him at 150 yards for the game before halftime, but also made him the only player in Cleveland lore with a pair of 1,100-yard seasons while wearing the uniform.
Safe to say, Cooper has more than lived up to expectations since coming to the Browns, giving the team a bona fide receiving threat that has been rare since the club’s glory years of the 1950s and ’60s. Entering Week 16, his 16.1 yards per catch were already a career-high over his nine-year NFL tenure that includes time with Dallas as well as the Oakland Raiders.
Since the franchise’s founding in 1946, the Browns have had a total of just 17 1,000-yard receiving seasons, with Hall of Famers Mac Speedie and Ozzie Newsome joining Cooper as the only men to do it twice. Additionally, Cooper is also closing in on 1,200 yards, a feat only matched by Webster Slaughter, Braylon Edwards, and Josh Gordon. Gordon holds the team’s single-season record with 1,646 yards in 2013.