The ‘blockbuster’ Davante Adams trade to the Jets has taken the NFL world by storm, overshadowing another equally important trade. The Bills have finally got Josh Allen a great offensive weapon by trading for veteran Amari Cooper from the Browns. This trade happened only a few hours after Tay’s deal. When Davante was put on the trade block, it sent teams lacking in the receiver department on alert. However, as soon as the Jets entered the fray, it was over for other teams, including Buffalo, who expressed interest in the former Raiders receiver.
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So why didn’t the Adams trade to the Bills happen? On a recent episode of The Insiders, Tom Pelissero explained that while not having Rodgers as the QB certainly didn’t help, the main reason was Buffalo’s inability to take on Adams’ hefty contract. The Jets absorbed $11.6 million, while the Bills got a bargain with Cooper for less than the league minimum.
” The Bills were also in on Davante Adams. One of the holdups with Buffalo, besides the fact they don’t employ one of his best friends, was the Bills couldn’t afford to take on that money.”
The Browns have paid almost all of the guaranteed money in Amari’s contract and they are responsible for his signing bonus and any dead cap on his deal. So the Bills will only have to pay the veteran receiver $806,667 along with sending their 3rd round pick.
However, Buffalo might have to pay some performance-based incentives. If Cooper makes the First Team All-Pro, they would have to pay him $1 million, and $500k if he makes the Second Team All-Pro. There is another million for the veteran if he reaches 1,250 yards for the season.
The deal is a bit complicated on paper, especially if we talk about the compensation the Cleveland Browns will receive.
Rapoport calls the Bills trading for Amari Cooper ‘a complicated deal’
The player’s salary seems like a bargain and manageable for the Bills, but the complication lies in the compensatory picks, according to Ian Rapoport. In the trade, Buffalo swapped their 2026 seventh-round pick for the Browns’ 2025 sixth-round selection. However, the key talking point is the Bills sending their 2025 third-round pick to Cleveland.
” It’s a complicated deal as far as compensation goes. A third round is the biggest piece of this and what is essentially a pick swap. So that goes from the Bills to the Browns.”
Unlike the Adams trade, which only sparked interest in recent weeks after the Raiders and the receiver decided to part ways, Cooper had been on the trading block for quite some time. The Browns had been fielding offers for their veteran wideout ever since he expressed frustration over the franchise’s attempt to trade for Brandon Aiyuk and offer him a $30 million deal.
Cooper is in the final year of his 5-year contract and it was clear that Cleveland wasn’t willing to extend him. They restructured his contract, converting his nearly $20 million base salary into a signing bonus, making him an easily tradeable asset. The veteran wideout also realized that he wasn’t part of the plans.
So the deal, though complicated, is a great move for both parties, with Browns moving from him while getting fair compensation. On the other hand, the Bills get a dependable receiver, capable of filling Stefon Diggs’s shoes.
Amari Cooper would likely be the WR1 in that high-powered offense. Last season, he had 1250 yards playing with Watson and Flacco. This season like the rest of the Browns’ offense, he has struggled, managing only 250 yards and 2 TDs. His 4.7 yards per target ranks second worst in the NFL but this will definitely rise when he takes the field with Josh Allen.
