Davante Adams is officially off the board. It was reported this morning that the New York Jets are trading a conditional third round pick to the Las Vegas Raiders in exchange for the soon-to-be 32-year old wide receiver, reuniting him with his former quarterback, Aaron Rodgers. Adams' NBA-esque move really happened.
It makes sense for both sides. The Jets have put themselves in a position where they don't have any option other than to be all-in with Rodgers at quarterback, despite starting the season 2-4 and down a game to the Bills.
In the trade, the Jets are taking on all of Adams' remaining salary for the season, which works out to around $11.6 million for the rest of the year. Adams also carries non-guaranteed totals of over $36 million each of the next two years.
It's an all-in move for a floundering team, and the money is likely exactly why the Bills weren't the team to pull off a move.
There's no denying that Adams is a supremely talented wide receiver, but to bring on that much money on the wrong side of 30 years old is certainly a gamble. The Raiders being unwilling to budge on the financials was smart for them, and made it so the Bills weren't the right dance partner for a trade.
With that in mind, the Bills should still be snooping around the wide receiver market, and one name makes way too much sense — Amari Cooper.
Yes, Cooper is also on the wrong side of 30-years old, but the financial situation is much cleaner than that of Adams. Cooper is set to become a free agent after this season, which is a gamble, but for a wide receiver that is getting long in the tooth and is looking for a team that will give him a chance to compete for a Super Bowl, Buffalo would make a lot of sense as a new home.
Cooper is a very underrated wide receiver. Since 2019, Cooper has logged over 1,100 receiving yards in four out of five years, with 2021 being the only exception. He's having a down year this year, but I put absolutely none of that on him. Have you seen the product that Deshaun Watson is putting on the field?
Much like Adams was as of yesterday, Cooper is a veteran wide receiver on a team going nowhere. With the way this season is going for the Browns — the team is 1-5, ranks dead last or next to dead last in most offensive categories, and is tied to a very expensive and very bad quarterback — there's essentially a zero percent chance that Cooper would re-sign with the team in free agency.
For Cleveland, you might as well trade him and get something back, instead of just seeing him walk off into the sunset next spring.
Here's the best part — Cooper is basically free for the rest of this season. His base salary after the Browns restructured it is only $1.2M. Prorated, the acquiring team would only owe Cooper around $782K for the rest of this season before getting a long-term deal done so he doesn't hit free agency.
Looking at what the Jets are having to stomach to Adams, give me Cooper all day long. With Buffalo having an extra 2025 2nd in the tank right now, the trade makes entirely too much sense for both sides not to get this done.
Related: Buffalo Bills' QB Josh Allen speaks on rookie after phenomenal MNF performance against the Jets
Follow along all season for all the latest Buffalo Bills news. You can also find me on X @JonHelmkamp .
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