BEREA — The first thing Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson talked about was the personal side of things when it came to wide receiver Amari Cooper's trade to the Buffalo Bills .
"My feelings, the biggest thing is of course Coop is my brother," Watson said Wednesday. "These last three years we got to know each other, not just on the field, but especially off the field, hanging out in the offseason, our families hanging out with each other. He helped me through some tough times that I was dealing with and vice versa. So it’s definitely tough to see a brother and see a teammate that means a lot, not just for myself but for the locker room, get traded away."
There are two understood sides of football for those involved. There's the personal side of it, which was shown in Watson's initial reaction, and then there's the business side.
The business side of the game showed up again Tuesday when the Browns dealt Cooper, their No. 1 wide receiver, to the Bills. They received a third-round pick back from Buffalo, while also swapping late-round picks.
"It's really tough," running back Nick Chubb said. "Played with Coop for three years, one of my best teammates I probably ever had. How he just worked hard and didn't say much. Every day, came in, went to work and you saw it on the field. We'll definitely miss him here."
Wednesday was the dawn of a different day for the Browns, beyond just the personal loss. The trade of Cooper is at least a signal general manager Andrew Berry will be open to potentially moving players before the Nov. 5 trade deadline.
Of course, there has to be a reason why one trades away the best receiver on a football team, especially a 1-5 team with a bad offense like the Browns. Part of that was the inability for Watson and Cooper to consistently find a connection.
That can't solely be placed at the feet of the quarterback, who targeted Cooper 53 times this season, but completed only 24 of those passes for 250 yards and one touchdown. Cooper, according to Pro Football Focus, was tied with the New York Giants' Darius Slayton and New York Jets' Allen Lazard with six drops this season.
"I mean, that's how the game goes sometimes," Watson said. "Sometimes you have some games, you have some games that don't, teams scheme it up differently, a new system and just trying to find that rhythm, and it just didn't go that way the first couple games."
Over Watson's first 12 starts with the Browns in 2022-23, Cooper caught 49 passes on 131 targets for 848 yards and four touchdowns in 12 combined games. In the 18 games he played with Watson, Cooper had 73 catches on 184 targets for 1,098 yards.
That's how the Browns find themselves where they are going into Sunday's first AFC North game at home against the Cincinnati Bengals. They're on a four-game losing streak in part because their offense has been, statistically, the worst in the NFL.
Cleveland is 32nd in total yards per game, total yards per play, passing yards per play, sacks per pass play, first downs per game and third-down efficiency. It's 30th in passing yards per game and points per game.
"I think our guys get that the No. 1 thing here is to win," Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said. "No. 1 thing is to compete. The truth is you do lose guys throughout the course of a season. Sometimes it’s due to injury, sometimes it’s due to trade, whatever it may be, and our guys have to step up when that time comes.”
The "guys" in the building, meanwhile, have to buy into that belief. People outside of the building have viewed the move for what it could be taken as at face value, which is a way to get a return on a player who was likely gone at the end of the season since this season has already spiraled away.
Inside the building, the Browns also saw it for what it was. How they process such as move, though, is a personal thing.
"Man, that's part of the business at the end of the day," Watson said. "So for me, it’s not a bad message. I've been in this league for eight years and I've seen it happen over time. So it's whatever the front office and the organization feel is best for I guess the organization and for that player.
"So, for me, it's part of the business. It's part of how this world kind of goes. So you’ve got to control what you can control and accept it."
Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Browns QB Deshaun Watson: Amari Cooper trade to Bills 'part of the business'
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