One of the few bright spots for the 2024 Browns —a team with only one win through the first six weeks of the season — has been wide receiver Amari Cooper.
In March 2022, Cooper was traded to the Browns in exchange for a fifth-round draft pick and swap of sixth-round picks in the draft that year. Now, it's déjà vu for Cooper, as he's traded from Cleveland to Buffalo after just six weeks of the 2024 season.
Here's everything to know about the Cooper deal, including why the Bills acquired a new No. 1 option for quarterback Josh Allen in a significant swap with the Browns.
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Amari Cooper trade details
Bills
- WR Amari Cooper
- 2025 sixth-round pick
Browns
- 2025 third-round pick
- 2026 seventh-round pick
Browns WR depth chart
- Elijah Moore
- Jerry Jeudy
- Jamari Thrash
- James Proche II
- Cedric Tillman
Cooper was the Browns best receiver this season before the trade, leaving behind Elijah Moore and Jerry Jeudy to take care of the heavy lifting in the passing game. The two have combined for just over 350 yards, a touchdown and 36 receptions on 59 targets. Notably, losing Cooper means backup safety Rodney McLeod is the only Brown—including the offense—to score multiple touchdowns this season.
Losing their No. 1 wideout will force players like tight end Jordan Akins—who has the third-most receiving yards on the team—and receivers Cedric Tillman and James Proche II to step up. The former has appeared sparingly in each of the Browns matchups so far as a second-year player, selected in the third-round by Cleveland in 2023.
Proche II is slightly older than Tillman, entering the league in 2020 after being drafted in the sixth-round by Baltimore. This is his second season with Cleveland after a disappointing 2023 campaign where he was used primarily on special teams.
Of course, half of the battle rests in the hands of quarterback Deshaun Watson, who has had a dismal season so far. He is second-to-last in passing yards and near the bottom in several other stat categories, which isn't exactly promising for Cleveland's future receiving prospects.
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Bills WR depth chart
- Amari Cooper
- Mack Hollins
- Khalil Shakir
- Curtis Samuel
- Keon Coleman
- Marquez Valdes-Scantling
In contrast to the Browns decaying roster of pass-catchers, the Bills receiving room only got more loaded with its newest addition. Cooper joins the likes of Khalil Shakir and Mack Hollins, not to mention exciting rookie Keon Coleman.
Most importantly, though, he will be the target of one of the best quarterbacks in the league—Josh Allen. So far, the slinger is seventh in passing yards and third in passing touchdowns, as well as the owner of the highest quarterback rating in the league at 79.3.
At 4-2, Allen only has losses to Lamar Jackson's Ravens and CJ Stroud's Texans, the latter by just three points. The Bills as a team are slightly more pass-dominant, having accumulated a total of 1,118 receiving yards and 740 rushing yards this season. With that, the trade is certainly one both Buffalo and Cooper should benefit from.
Amari Cooper contract
Cooper was in the third and final year of his contract with the Browns before the trade, a deal that was restructured in July to add four voidable years and pay him the veteran minimum of $1.21 million this season.
The receiver made headlines for refusing to attend mandatory minicamp over the summer in protest for a pay raise, which he eventually got with an additional $20 million guaranteed.
Buffalo is lucky in that they will only owe Cooper just over $800,000 on his current contract with Cleveland at this point in the season.
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Amari Cooper teams
- Oakland Raiders (2015-2018)
- Dallas Cowboys (2018-2021)
- Cleveland Browns (2022-2024)
- Buffalo Bills (2024-)
Buffalo is the fourth stop on Cooper's NFL tour, a journey that has taken him coast-to-coast. The receiver was drafted fourth overall by Oakland in the 2015 NFL Draft out of Alabama, where he finished out his junior season as a unanimous All-America, SEC Offensive Player of the Year and first-team All-SEC among earning the Paul Warfield Trophy and Fred Biletnikoff Award.
Having won a BCS title his freshman year in Tuscaloosa, a game in which he led all Alabama receivers with six catches for 105 yards and two touchdowns, Cooper was a highly sought after prospect. He met expectations his rookie season with the Raiders, earning an alternate spot for the Pro Bowl as well as placement on the 2015 NFL All-Rookie Team.
After four solid years in Oakland—which ended in a serious concussion Week 4 of the 2018 season—Cooper was traded to the Cowboys in exchange for a 2019 first-round pick. He would earn Pro Bowl status two more times in Dallas before doing the same in Cleveland in 2023.
Amari Cooper age
Cooper was born on June 17, 1994, in Miami, Fla., making him 30-years-old as of this summer. He attended Miami Northwestern Senior High School where he caught passes from eventual NFL quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. Cooper impressed at Alabama's summer camp, earning him an offer from Nick Saban he couldn't refuse.
As a senior, the receiver was a first-team FHSAA 8A All-State selection as the No. 4 player on the Orlando Sentinel's Florida Top 100. He also played in the 2012 Under Armour All-America Game, in addition to contributing heavily to Miami Northwestern's basketball and track programs.
He was a four-star prospect out of high school, considered the sixth-best wideout in Florida and seventh-best in the country. Cooper took Saban's offer in September 2011 over others from Florida State, Miami and Ohio State among others.
Amari Cooper stats
So far with the Browns, Cooper has led the team in receiving. Through six games he has pulled in 250 yards and two touchdowns on 24 receptions with no fumbles. He has never been one to contribute heavily in the run game, so there isn't anything to show for in that area.
Here's how Cooper has performed so far this season.
- Receptions: 24
- Targets: 53
- Total yards: 250
- Yards per catch: 10.4
- Touchdowns: 2
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