Amari Cooper traded to Bills as first domino to fall from losing Browns season

The Cleveland Browns have traded WR Amari Cooper to the Buffalo Bills in exchange for a third round pick in 2025 and a 7th round pick in 2026, according to NFL insider Ian Rapoport. Buffalo will receive a 6th round pick in 2025 alongside Cooper.

The writing has been on the wall since the beginning of the season with Cooper and the Browns. First, the team converted most of his salary into signing bonus, essentially pegging him as a prime trade piece if the team kept going nowhere fast. That time has come quickly, so it makes sense that a team with as limited cap space as the Bills would make the move for him.

Secondly, Cooper has just not been himself this season with QB Deshaun Watson under center. He leads the league in drops with nine so far this season, and he has yet to record a game with more than 100 receiving yards. Whether that is a chemistry issue with Watson or signs that Cooper is on the decline has yet to be seen, but now Cooper will have a chance to work with QB Josh Allen on new chemistry and contend with the AFC East's top team.

Cooper reacted to the trade in comments made to NFL insider Josina Anderson. While fairly cut and dry, Cooper is clearly fine with the move to New York.

Once Davante Adams was traded earlier in the day for a third round pick, the market was set for Cooper. He was the best available receiver on the market after that move was made by the New York Jets, and perhaps Buffalo felt the pressure to make the trade because its AFC East rival just got better in that department.

Cooper recently dispelled trade rumors to reporters as early as last week, telling Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com that he was not thinking about his name being brought up in trade rumors at all ahead of the team's Week 6 contest against the Philadelphia Eagles, saying he was only focused on winning.

Prior to this season even starting, Cooper's name was mentioned in a package to the San Francisco 49ers in a trade involving himself and WR Brandon Aiyuk. While the deal did not go down, Cooper voiced his displeasure about his name being reported as being a part of the trade on his Instagram. The post was quickly deleted, but given how quiet Cooper typically is with media, this showed just how upsetting the trade rumor was for him.

The Bills get a potential WR1 in this deal. The team has lost its depth after Stefon Diggs was traded in the offseason to the Houston Texans, and after Gabe Davis left in free agency in the offseason. While rookie WR Keon Coleman has been promising, the Bills needed another weapon to slot with him, Khalil Shakir, and Mack Hollins.

Cleveland has now lost one of its biggest wide receiving targets, putting further onus on Watson, Jerry Jeudy, and Elijah Moore to perform the next several weeks leading up to the trade deadline on Nov. 5.

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