10 Best Wide Receivers Hitting the Market This Offseason Part 1

By BetOnline February 6, 2020

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BY ADAM GREENE

If your team is in dire need of pass-catchers, you are in luck. That’s not accounting for whatever general manager your team employs and the number of digits his IQ contains, but based just in the sheer number of good wideouts on the market.

I limited this list to 10, but could have gone to as many as 15, with plenty of special teams and potential gadget guys that should be available at the right price.

If your team is in the market for a WR, and pretty much everybody but the Los Angeles Rams, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Atlanta Falcons, Cleveland Brown and Minnesota Vikings should be, they should have no trouble filling out their roster from this list, especially since only two of these guys will cost any real money.

The real best guy out there, Antonio Brown, would cost a lot of money, not to mention headaches, and isn’t on this list. He’s not coming back to the NFL. Likely not ever. But he’ll set records in the XFL that will never be matched. Probably because the league will fold after the first year, you know, but still.

So let’s rank the guys that will actually suit up in 2020 and figure out where they should go.

1. AMARI COOPER, UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENT

2019: 79 catches, 1,189 yards, eight touchdowns

Cooper’s career has come to life since joining the Dallas Cowboys on a trade in 2018 from the Oakland Raiders. It’s a damn shame Jerry Jones hired Mike McCarthy to try to ruin it, but there’s nothing any of us can do about it now.
The Cowboys would love to keep Cooper and will do everything in their power to do it short of hitting him with the franchise tag. And they’d do that, except they need to keep it in their pocket for Dak Prescott if they can’t get him to agree to a long-term deal before March. That means, even on a transition tag, Cooper is going to be able to test the market and there should be plenty of teams sliding into his DMs.

Where he should end up: Dallas Cowboys

A transition tag gives the Cowboys the right to match any offer Cooper would receive on the market and that should work for them. They need him to make their offense run, especially since they’ve hired the only guy available that would be a downgrade from Jason Garrett in gameday strategy, offensive play design and play calling in Mike McCarthy. The benchmark in WR1 salaries is around $16 million. It’ll take $18 million to sign Cooper, regardless of where he ends up. I just think it’ll be where he’s already placed his couch.

2. A.J. GREEN, UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENT

2019: Did not play a down

Green missed all of 2019 with an ankle injury suffered in camp. That was following the worst year of his career where he only played in nine games and caught 46 passes for 694 yards and six touchdowns.

There’s a chance that the Cincinnati Bengals could franchise him, but even with Mike Brown calling the shots that’s doubtful. Green has one healthy 1,000-yard season in his last four, and while he’s still relatively young and could easily have a productive 3-4 years left, there’s no reason for Cincy to feel the need to bring him back.

Where he should end up: Baltimore Ravens

Green is good enough, and has made enough money in his playing career, that he could make sure he latches onto a contender. While Marquise Brown could end up a super star, no Ravens pass-catcher even hit 900 yards last season and three of their top four receivers were tight ends. They need a significant upgrade and Green would be that, offering not only a deep threat, but a guy that can consistently move the chains.

Nos. 3 and 4 make their debut in Part 2.