Bills acquire WR Amari Cooper from Browns in trade

Last updated: 2024/10/15 at 6:58 PM

BigP Published October 15, 2024

Another AFC East team has landed a big-name wide receiver.

The Buffalo Bills are acquiring wide receiver Amari Cooper from the Cleveland Browns, FOX Sports’ Jordan Schultz first reported on Tuesday. The Browns will receive a third-round pick in 2025 and a seventh-round pick in 2026 in the deal, while also giving the Bills a sixth-round draft pick in 2025, the teams confirmed.

Cooper has recorded 24 receptions for 250 yards and two touchdowns through six games in his third season on the Browns. He had 72 receptions for 1,250 yards and five touchdowns. This is also the third time Cooper has been traded in his career and the second time he’s been traded midseason. Cooper was the fourth overall pick by the Raiders in the 2015 NFL Draft and made two Pro Bowls in his first two seasons in the silver and black before a midseason trade to the Dallas Cowboys in 2018. He made another Pro Bowl that year, helping the Cowboys to the playoffs.

Cooper spent three more seasons in Dallas, becoming one of Dak Prescott’s most reliable pass-catchers, before getting dealt to the Cleveland Browns before the 2022 season. He made another Pro Bowl, the fifth nod of his career, in 2023, and was a driving force in Cleveland’s unlikely run to the playoffs behind backup quarterback Joe Flacco.

However, the Browns have struggled mightily so far this season amid the poor play of starting quarterback Deshaun Watson. Cooper has 24 catches on 53 targets for 250 yards and two touchdowns, both coming in a 21-15 loss to the New York Giants in Week 3. He’s been limited to 12 catches for 137 yards in his past three outings.

When it was reported earlier this season that Cooper may have been traded to the 49ers in exchange for Brandon Aiyuk before the latter resolved his contract dispute with San Francisco, Cooper seemingly responded in an Instagram post saying, “I wouldn’t have minded at all.”

In Buffalo, he joins a Josh Allen-led offense that had lacked a proven receiving threat after the team traded Stefon Diggs to Houston in the offseason and lost No. 2 receiver Gabe Davis in free agency. After the Bills acquired Cooper, they released Marquez Valdes-Scantling, who had just two catches for 26 yards through six games.

This marks the second major wide receiver trade in the NFL on Tuesday. Earlier in the day, the New York Jets acquired receiver Davante Adams from the Las Vegas Raiders.

[Davante Adams trade roundtable: Who won the deal?]

The Associated Press contributed to this report.