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Daniel Oyefusi, ESPNOct 15, 2024, 02:18 PM ET
- Daniel Oyefusi covers the Cleveland Browns for ESPN. Prior to ESPN, he covered the Miami Dolphins for the Miami Herald, as well as the Baltimore Ravens for The Baltimore Sun.
The Buffalo Bills acquired Amari Cooper in a trade Tuesday with the Cleveland Browns, adding a true No. 1 wide receiver for star quarterback Josh Allen.
The Bills received Cooper and a 2025 sixth-round draft pick for a 2025 third-round pick and a seventh-round selection in 2026.
Cooper, 30, fills the No. 1 receiver void for the Bills that was opened when Buffalo traded Stefon Diggs to the Houston Texans before the season.
| QB | Completions per game |
|---|---|
| Jacoby Brissett | 7.2 |
| Will Levis | 7.4 |
| Justin Fields | 7.8 |
| Josh Allen | 8.5 |
| — ESPN Research |
The Bills (4-2) completed the deal hours after their AFC East rivals, the New York Jets, made their own blockbuster trade for a wide receiver when they acquired Davante Adams from the Las Vegas Raiders.
In recent weeks, the Browns had fielded multiple offers on Cooper, who is in the final season of a five-year deal he originally signed as a member of the Dallas Cowboys. The fact that Cleveland converted the majority of Cooper’s $20 million base salary into a signing bonus made him more attractive as a trade candidate.
After recording a career-high 1,250 receiving yards in 2023, Cooper has struggled along with a Browns offense that has failed to score 20 points in each of its first six games. Cooper leads Cleveland (1-5) with 250 receiving yards and two touchdowns, but his 4.7 yards per target ranks second worst in the NFL among qualifying pass catchers. His three drops are also tied for the sixth most in the league.
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“Move or rust,” Cooper posted on his Instagram story.
“We appreciate Amari’s hard work, professionalism and on-field contributions throughout his two plus seasons with us,” Browns general manager Andrew Berry said in a statement. “He created many memorable moments with us and was an integral part of our 2023 playoff team. We wish him the best in Buffalo as he continues his NFL career.”
Adding Cooper gives the Bills significant and needed help at receiver. Without Diggs, the team embraced an “everybody eats” mindset with the goal of getting a variety of players involved in the offense at all times, but too often, especially in the past three games, the receivers struggled to get open downfield.
Bills wide receivers rank 25th or worse in targets, receptions, receiving yards and receiving first downs.
“First and foremost, we believe in the receivers that we already have in the room,” Bills coach Sean McDermott said. “We’ll see when Amari gets here and how we can get him up to speed and get him integrated into what we do and how we do things. It’s never about one guy. We’re thankful to have him, but it’s never about just one guy. It’s about the team, so we’re anxious to get him on board here and get rolling.”
The Bills released wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling on Tuesday to open a roster spot for Cooper.
Cooper, a five-time Pro Bowl selection, has 691 receptions for 9,736 yards and 62 touchdowns in his 11-year career. This is the third time he has been traded in his career. The Raiders traded him to the Cowboys in 2018 and Dallas traded him to the Browns in 2022.
ESPN’s Alaina Getzenberg contributed to this report.
