How Amari Cooper fits with the Bills and what McDermott says about his status vs Titans

ORCHARD PARK - Brandon Beane admitted Wednesday that he was monitoring what was happening on the trade market with Davante Adams.

What he didn’t admit is that all along, his focus was mostly on the player he ultimately acquired, Amari Cooper .

Beane didn’t have to say that Adams’ salary cap hit kept the Bills out of any realistic chance of getting him from the Raiders because that was pretty obvious. It would have taken all kinds of restructuring to fit Adams’ $11 million into the Bills’ already bloated payroll, but Cooper’s less than $900,000 hit was not only more palatable, it was easily absorbed without having to alter anything.

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“By the time their move was announced we had honed in on Amari,” Beane said when asked to explain if the Jets’ trade for Adams sped up the Bills’ machinations to get Cooper. “I was monitoring that one, checking around, and I would say by Monday afternoon I felt there was a fairly decent chance we could do this with Cleveland.”

It helped that the Browns played and lost Sunday, falling to 1-5 on the season. Had they beaten the Eagles, maybe GM Andrew Berry doesn’t go into sell mode and Cooper is still in Cleveland. But with the loss, and the fact that Beane had some extra time to work out the parameters of the deal because the Bills weren’t playing until Monday night, the two team builders got it done.

“I had a conversation with them Sunday evening and a couple more on Monday, maybe even a couple hours before the game,” Beane said. “When you’re that close to the game you’re focused on that. Let’s see where we are health-wise and I’ll call you tomorrow. We were not to the finish line. I would say we were really close by the time (the Adams trade) was announced. My last conversation (with Adams’ agent) was Monday morning, kind of monitoring the Davonte situation, and at that point kind of moved our chips into trying to acquire Amari.”

Here’s what was said about the trade at One Bills Drive:

Amari Cooper is excited for the new challenge

This is not something new for Cooper, being traded midseason. The Raiders moved him at the 2018 trade deadline to the Cowboys, though in that situation it happened on Dallas’ bye week so he had a little more time to get situated. Still, he understands the challenge that lies in front of him, being expected to come right in and help in a meaningful way all the while learning a new system and meeting his new teammates.

“Getting traded in the middle of the season, it's definitely a fast turnaround,” he said. “So I don't know if I've had enough time to really process it, but at the end of the day, it's just football. One of the things that we harp on as football players is to just be where your feet are. You can look back at the past, but only to learn from it. So, you know, this game comes with a lot of ebbs and flows. We weren't having the best season over there in Cleveland, but obviously I'm not there anymore. So, hyper-focused on my situation now.”

Sean McDermott won’t say whether Amari Cooper will play

Beane alluded to the fact that of all the positions, wide receiver is probably the toughest transition for a player to come in during the season and get up to speed. There’s so much more to the position than just running out and catching the ball.

“I'll be checking in with the offensive staff and just seeing how he's picking up things,” McDermott said. “Like anything, you want to get them worked in as quickly as we can. But there's also moving parts that there's other players that we have to factor in as well and who's going to play where and who gets the ball.

“Sometimes with wide receivers, there's different skill sets and sometimes there are overlapping skill sets and so you have to figure the pieces out and making sure, again, we're able to get into a rhythm, maintain our rhythm, and more than anything, Josh is comfortable with everything.”

Josh Allen maintains that everyone will still eat

That’s been the season-long mantra in Buffalo, that all of the passing game targets will get opportunities, and it’s fine to say that, which Allen did.

“I'm still just trying to throw it to the open guy,” Allen said. “But I think having a type of guy like him who's done it consistently over the course of his career, and he's done it at a high level, is going to help everybody in this building on the offensive side of the ball. We're going to try to get him his, but everybody else is still going to get theirs.”

Sure, but no one has really bothered much to try out the buffet. The Bills’ wide receiver production has been woefully inadequate, especially with Khalil Shakir injure d, so Cooper must become the alpha dog in the attack and it needs to happen quickly because there is no doubt that the 30-year-old is the most accomplished receiver now on the team.

“Very excited about him,” Allen said. “I've been a big fan of his for a very long time. Very smart, very detailed, and the way that he runs his routes, and I think he can help us a lot. He's a multiple 1,000-yard receiver, a multiple Pro Bowl guy. We've got a few teammates that have been teammates with him before and just raved about him as a guy, as a character. So excited to have him in our locker room, and he'll fit in quite nicely here.”

Sal Maiorana has covered the Buffalo Bills for four decades including 35 years as the full-time beat writer for the D&C, and he has written numerous books about the history of the team. He can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com, and you can follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana. https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast

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This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: How Amari Cooper fits with the Bills and what McDermott says about his status vs Titans