The Buffalo Bills made the good-process decision to trade for receiver Amari Cooper as reinforcement to the passing game in a competitive season. He was an established star who looked to play a key role in keeping the Bills potent deep into January.
However, not all procedurally sound moves pay off. The team sent a third-round pick and a seventh-round pick to the Cleveland Browns for his services but failed to net much production in the following months. His age-30 season was the least productive of his career.
Now, Cooper is set to be a free agent in March. With an unsuccessful tenure in Western New York, it isn’t clear just how willing Buffalo is to bring him back.
In ESPN’s free agency preview, Bills fans got a key update on Cooper’s offseason.
“The Bills have been happy with Cooper, despite low production compared with past seasons,” Jeremy Fowler said. “He has been a good team player in Buffalo, and the Bills are intrigued by getting him into a full offseason program with quarterback Josh Allen. Though his free agency future is uncertain, a return to Buffalo does not appear off the table.”
Bringing Cooper back makes more sense if his price is diminished after a down year. Expecting him to fill the shoes of Stefon Diggs was always ambitious. He’s a role player in the offense and a good one at that, but Buffalo isn’t trying to funnel targets to a star. With Allen rushing several times per game and a wide net of serviceable options to throw to, Cooper becomes more of a glorified role player than the alpha target earner he was for much of the last decade.
He finished his season with the eighth-most targets and receptions, the sixth-most yards, and the seventh-most receiving touchdowns among Bills pass-catchers (albeit in just eight games).
“Cooper’s tape is beginning to show signs of decline, but he is still a detailed route runner who can uncover at multiple levels of the field,” Matt Bowen wrote. “In 14 games with both the Browns and Bills this season, Cooper caught 44 passes for 547 yards and four touchdowns. In nine full seasons, Cooper has topped the 1,000-yard receiving mark seven times and has 64 career touchdown catches.”
As a polished, man-beating receiver, Cooper has strengths that the Bills can optimize. But as he dives deeper into his 30s, racks up more injuries, and puts more distance between himself and the incredibly productive years of his prime, he profiles as one of free agency’s riskier profiles.
Chicago Bears receiver Keenan Allen should serve as a good referendum on Cooper’s next deal, with both headed to free agency. There’s a world in which Cooper returns to Buffalo. Asking to be paid like a star receiver – or expecting him to perform like one – might make that potential signing less satisfying.
