Bills making a big trade for Browns top receiver according to report
The Cleveland Browns have started the process of rebuilding after a terrible 1-5 start to the season. According to multiple reports, the Browns are trading star wide receiver Amari Cooper and a 6th-round pick in 2025 to the Buffalo Bills in exchange for a 3rd-round pick in 2025 and a 7th-round pick in 2027.
It is a stunning turn of events, given the type of season Cooper had in 2023, and the fact that the Browns were hoping to chase after a Super Bowl in 2024. However, the offense has put up numbers that are among the worst in the past decade, and Cooper was also off to a rocky start this year. It started in the offseason when he wanted his contract to be restructured. The team eventually restructured his deal a bit, which also helped make his contract more trade-worthy.
Sources: The #Bills are trading for #Browns WR Amari Cooper, sending a third-round pick in a pick swap.
Full details:
BUF gets WR Amari Cooper and 6th in 2025
CLE gets 3rd in 2025 and a 7th in 2026— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 15, 2024
The real struggles started during the regular season, though, as Cooper was dropping wide-open passes, including some that would go for touchdowns. He also dropped a wide-open pass a few weeks ago that then bounced in the air and was picked off, turning it into a game-changing play for the opposition. Cooper led the NFL in dropped passes by a large margin through six games, including another one this past week against the Philadelphia Eagles:
Amari Cooper just doesn’t want to be in Cleveland anymore. 10 drop passes through 6 weeks.
Trade him and move on. #Brownspic.twitter.com/tvAgvl215Z
— AmiR (@AmirReza7_) October 13, 2024
Cooper is coming off the best season of his career in 2023 in terms of yardage, when he caught 72 passes for 1,250 yards and 5 touchdowns in 15 games played. This year, through six games, he had 24 catches for 250 yards and 2 touchdowns. The talent for Cooper is still there, and the expectation should be that he will walk into Buffalo and be a Pro Bowl-level player. He, like many players, just had extreme difficulty with being on the same page as quarterback Deshaun Watson.
The Browns have made the trade official:
We’ve agreed to trade WR Amari Cooper to the Buffalo Bills.
» https://t.co/zBKYsOFt2E pic.twitter.com/isU5cG9yqU
— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) October 15, 2024
Now, as Cleveland gets ready to welcome running back Nick Chubb to the fold and we thought we would get a glimpse of the offense at full strength, the wide receiver room takes a big hit. Jerry Jeudy is now the team’s top receiver, with the rest of the group being filled by the likes of Elijah Moore, Cedric Tillman, and Jamari Thrash.