When the Buffalo Bills traded for wide receiver Amari Cooper after Week 6 last season, the hope was that he could bring an extra step for the offense that was lacking a clear-cut No. 1 wideout for Josh Allen. Coming over from Cleveland, Cooper was getting a massive upgrade joining the Bills.
Cooper ended the regular season with 547 yards and 4 touchdowns but wasn’t as impactful as Bills fans had hoped for. However, getting traded in the middle of the season (and then getting injured) is never easy for a player. Not to mention, the “everybody eats” offense was in full-effect and it was working well for the Bills.
In eight regular season games with the Bills, Cooper only had 60+ receiving yards in a game twice and had just two touchdowns. As far as the playoffs, he had just six receptions for 41 yards and no touchdowns.
There were debates on whether or not the Bills should’ve re-signed Cooper and let him get a full offseason with the team and become more comfortable with the scheme. However, the Bills decided to go in a different direction at wide receiver with signing Joshua Palmer, Laviska Shenault, and Elijah Moore. Meanwhile, Cooper is still a free agent.
Cooper has been linked to different teams throughout the offseason, but there hasn’t been anything serious about him signing somewhere. However, he could still easily sign with a team right before training camp.
Amari Cooper linked to an "all-in" team for 2025 (but it would be a big mistake)
Cody Benjamin from CBS Sports recently listed the top landing spots for Amari Cooper (as well as free agent wideout Keenan Allen), and none other than the Pittsburgh Steelers were on Benjamin’s list. The Steelers have had an unlike Steeler offseason where they have made move after move after move that Pittsburgh usually doesn’t make.
It started out with trading for D.K. Metcalf from the Seattle Seahawks and gave him a four-year, $132 million deal. Then they signed quarterback Aaron Rodgers (which was expected, but took forever to happen). Then recently, they traded for cornerback Jalen Ramsey and tight end Jonnu Smith from the Miami Dolphins while giving up safety Minkah Fitzpatrick.
At this point, I wouldn’t put it past the Steelers to try and make a move to acquire Cooper. However, Cooper would be making a big mistake going there.
It’s a bad fit schematically for Cooper as Pittsburgh is a run-first offense with Arthur Smith as their offensive coordinator. Not to mention, Arthur Smith knows Jonnu Smith very well from when they were in Atlanta together so he will be utilized more in the offense. In addition, the Steelers brought in Metcalf to be the No. 1 wideout so maybe they will want to make him the focus in the passing attack.
Overall, it’s a bad fit for Cooper and he should avoid going to the Steelers. While he won’t be coming back to Buffalo, he is better off going to another contender in a pass-happy offense.