The NFL free agency frenzy is set to kick off this upcoming week and the Buffalo Bills could be saying bye to many of their own players, including wideout Amari Cooper. After a thrilling Week 6 Monday Night Football win over the New York Jets, the Bills traded for Cooper in hopes of providing Josh Allen a true number-one option.
While Cooper had his shining moments here and there in Buffalo, he wasn’t spectacular. Infact, he missed consecutive games with a wrist injury that he sustained in Week 8 in Seattle. Aside from his 14 target game in Week 14 against the Rams, Cooper only had one game of 5 targets and then no more than three targets in the rest of Buffalo’s games.
Recording just two touchdowns with the Bills and failing to reach the century mark in receiving yards in a game, Cooper was not the go-to guy for Allen. Now, in his defence, being able to provide an immediate impact in the middle of the season is very tough. Then you add in his wrist injury he had, and it makes it even more complicated.
Maybe Cooper just needs a full offseason to learn the playbook in order to become more of a contributor than what he was. However, the Bills are not in the best salary cap situation so maybe they wouldn’t even be able to afford to bring him back. If that’s the case, then Cooper will be suiting up for his fifth team in his career in 2025.
PFF has Amari Cooper as the perfect fit for an AFC contender that is not Bills
Zoltan Buday from Pro Football Focus (PFF) listed the pairing of Amari Cooper and the Los Angeles Chargers as a move that “just makes too much sense.” Buday claimed that Cooper could be a “reliable target and No. 2 wide receiver in the Chargers offense.” Putting Cooper in the same offense with Ladd McConkey would certainly boost LA's passing attack.
The first takeaway, is that Cooper wasn’t listed as the right fit for the Chiefs. The last thing we want to see is Cooper heading to the team that year-after-year knocks the Bills out of the playoffs. Second, Cooper is starting to approach the backend of his career but can still produce. The Bills are looking to build within their draft picks that they have made and that is shown with the extension of Khalil Shakir.
Lastly, the Bills showed the NFL last year that they don’t need the biggest wide receiver name because Josh Allen is at the point in his career where he elevates his weapons, they don’t elevate him. While yes it would be fantastic to add a serious playmaker outside the numbers, it’s not the biggest need in the world for the Bills.
It’s more likely that Cooper doesn’t end up back in Buffalo for 2025 so Bills fans now just need to hope that he doesn’t get signed by a team like the Chiefs or the Bengals, both of whom have knocked the Bills out of the playoffs every year since 2021.