Alone in his car, with his phone buzzing from texts and missed calls, Amari Cooper felt a sense of calm as the Cleveland skyline disappeared from view. The closer he got to his new home in Buffalo, the more excited he became.
A drive that usually takes around three hours on I-90 felt longer for Cooper as he packed his things and thought about the new opportunities ahead after the Browns traded him to the Bills.
“It kind of felt like a long drive to my first day of school. So, yeah, it was a lot to think about,” Cooper said after practice on Wednesday, a day after the trade.
“I was really just trying to take it all in and just trying to think about this situation,” he added. “It did kind of reinvigorate me and motivated me for sure. So it was just a very introspective drive.”
In just 24 hours and during a trip along Lake Erie, Cooper went from being part of an unproductive Browns offense, where the team was struggling at 1-5 and had lost four straight games, to joining the Bills (4-2), who are four-time defending champions of the AFC East, and having the chance to play with Josh Allen.
“I don’t know him personally,” Cooper said about the seventh-year quarterback. “But as far as the way he plays, it’s phenomenal every time I turn on the television.”
At 30, Cooper is a five-time Pro Bowler who has achieved over 1,000 receiving yards in seven of his nine previous seasons, including a career-best 1,250 yards last year. In Buffalo, he gives Allen an experienced target that the team has missed since Stefon Diggs was traded to Houston in April.
With 24 catches and 250 yards, despite some unusual drops, Cooper is now Buffalo’s leading receiver, with one more yard and four more catches than Khalil Shakir.
Bills general manager Brandon Beane rejected the idea that the trade was made because his receivers were not performing well in what was called an “Everybody Eats” system that spreads the ball around.
However, Beane mentioned that he had spent the past few weeks looking for a receiver. He said he went “all-in” on Cooper on Sunday when it became clear that the Raiders were trading Davante Adams to the New York Jets, with both trades happening within hours of each other.
Quarterback Josh Allen had no doubts when asked how Cooper’s addition might change the “Everybody Eats” approach. “I think it’s going to help us regardless, because defenses obviously know who he is,” Allen said.
“I’m still just trying to throw it to the open guy, but I think having a type of guy like him, who’s done it consistently over the course of his career, and done it at a high level, is going to help everybody in this building.”
This trade comes at a time when Buffalo ranks 25th in the NFL for passing yards. Rookie running back Ray Davis, with 55 yards, was Buffalo’s leading receiver in a 23-20 win against the New York Jets on Monday, and Allen has not surpassed 200 passing yards in three games.
The key question is how quickly Cooper can adjust to Buffalo’s offense. Coach Sean McDermott did not confirm whether Cooper would be active on Sunday when the Bills host Tennessee.
One advantage of making the trade in mid-October, the coach said, is that it gives Cooper a few extra weeks to get settled in, compared to if Buffalo had waited until the NFL trade deadline on Nov. 5.
Another positive is that Cooper has previously worked with Bills receivers coach Adam Henry, who was in the same role when they were together in Dallas in 2020 and 2021.
Cooper mentioned that Henry is one of the few former coaches he has kept in touch with and he looked forward to reuniting with him.
When it comes to setting expectations for Sunday, Cooper said it’s too early to tell. “I just got here, you know what I mean,” Cooper said. “If I had to answer the question, the expectation would be to take full advantage of my opportunities. That’s it.”
In Cleveland, his former teammates and coaches are missing him.
“You got to trust the organization and what AB and Kevin and those guys upstairs have planned,” quarterback Deshaun Watson said, referring to general manager Andrew Berry and coach Kevin Stefanski.
“But at the same time, we’re definitely going to miss him, and we appreciate everything he brought for this team and this organization.”
Now on his fourth team, Cooper is used to being traded during the season, like when the Oakland Raiders traded him to Dallas in 2018. On Wednesday, he focused on looking forward with a “just be where your feet are” mindset.
“You can look back at the past, but only to learn from it,” Cooper said. “We weren’t having the best season over there in Cleveland, but the season is long. But obviously I’m not there anymore. … So I can only go from here.”
