Brandin Cooks, Odell Beckham Jr. headline group of WRs Browns are keying in on

It’s no secret that the Cleveland Browns would like to add another weapon opposite Amari Cooper to help upgrade their No. 22-ranked passing offense.

And according to a report from Browns insider Mary Kay Cabot, the team is doing its due diligence on several receivers including former Brown Odell Beckham Jr., who recently held a private workout in which the Browns sent a representative to watch.

“[The Browns] also have their sights on Houston’s Brandin Cooks, the Jets’ Elijah Moore, the Chiefs’ Mecole Hardman and others,” Cabot recently wrote. “Beckham, 30, was oft-criticized here for freelancing and not running precise enough routes for (Baker) Mayfield. Now, he’s fits the profile of a fast, twitchy receiver who can stay alive on the scramble drill and make some magic with (Deshaun) Watson on the off-schedule plays. What’s more, like other premier receivers such as DeAndre Hopkins and Cooks, he wants to play with Watson and have a legitimate shot at a Super Bowl.”

Cleveland has a good-but-not-great group of receivers that includes Cooper, Donovan Peoples-Jones, David Bell and Anthony Schwartz. But what the Browns are lacking is an elite playmaking wideout capable of stretching the field.

Beckham Jr.’s first go-around in Cleveland was less than memorable. He had a solid 74-reception, 1,035-yard debut season but he was limited to just 13 games and 329 yards the next year before being traded to the Los Angeles Rams six games into the 2021 season.

In his prime, Beckham Jr. was one of the best deep threats in the NFL. He averaged 14 or more yards per reception in four of his first seven seasons, and he has a reception of 50 yards or more in six of eight seasons.

Cooks has had 1,000 or more yards in six of his nine NFL seasons, including two of the last three years in Houston. He’s had at least one reception of 50 or more yards in every year but 2022. 

Meanwhile, Hardman has 4.33 speed and has averaged 13.8 yards per reception over his four-year career.