Former Eagles safety Rodney McLeod leads the Browns in TD after Amari Cooper is traded to Bills
If you ever need to know why an NFL team is struggling, the details are in the analytics and game stats.
The Bills acquired Amari Cooper in a trade Tuesday with the Browns, adding a true No. 1 wide receiver for quarterback Josh Allen.
Buffalo received Cooper and a 2025 sixth-round draft pick in exchange for a 2025 third-round pick and a 2026 seventh-round selection.
Cooper, 30, fills the Bills’ No. 1 receiver void, which was opened when the team traded Stefon Diggs to the Houston Texans before the season.
With the former Alabama star traded away, former Eagles and current Browns safety Rodney McLeod is the top scorer on the team this season.
Through six games (1-5), McLeod leads Cleveland in touchdowns, scoring with two, including the blocked field goal by All-Pro Myles Garrett, which McLeod Jr. scooped and returned untouched to the end zone.
With Amari Cooper gone, the #Browns player with the most touchdowns this year is: safety Rodney McLeod. https://t.co/lDrA0LnLa6
Cooper produced 2,660 yards and 16 touchdowns over two-plus seasons in Cleveland.
Cooper leads Cleveland with 250 receiving yards and two touchdowns, but his 4.7 yards per target ranks second worst in the NFL among qualifying pass catchers. His three drops are also tied for the sixth most in the league, and the Browns offense has failed to score 20 points in each of its first six games.
Another former Raiders receiver was traded Tuesday for similar compensation.
Just hours after the Raiders sent Davante Adams to the Jets in exchange for a conditional third round pick, another former Raiders receiver is being moved for similar compensation.
Former Raiders top pick Amari Cooper has been traded by the Browns to the Bills for a third round pick. The two teams also swap late round picks in the deal.
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 pic.twitter.com/jabaQYMw8h
This will be the third time in Cooper’s career he’s been traded and his fourth NFL team. He was originally selected by the Raiders with the fourth overall pick in the 2015 draft out of Alabama.
Midway through his fourth season, the Raiders traded Cooper to Dallas in exchange for a first round pick. He lasted the exact same amount of time in Dallas before they traded him to Cleveland. Now midway through his third season with the Browns, he’s shipped again.
Cooper is just a year younger than Adams, and was selected the year after Adams, so they are basically in the same place in their careers.
With it happening so quickly after the Adams trade, it would seem the Browns and Bills were waiting to see what seemed like the going rate for a 30-year-old Pro Bowl receiver. Funny how these things are all connected.
The Cleveland Browns are trading wide receiver Amari Cooper to the Buffalo Bills
The Bills are an AFC playoff favorite, and after watching the Jets acquire Davante Adams, they made a blockbuster move of their own. With the 1-5 Browns looking towards the draft, Cleveland is trading star wide receiver Amari Cooper to Buffalo for draft picks.
Baltimore has faced some talented wide receivers this season and has two games against the Browns upcoming, but it won’t have to face Cooper.
Sources: The #Bills are trading for #Browns WR Amari Cooper, sending a third-round pick in a pick swap.
The Dallas Cowboys are expected to release or trade Pro Bowl wideout Amari Cooper. Does this make sense for the Cardinals?
ESPN’s Adam Schefter broke some surprising news out of the NFL combine Friday morning: Star wideout Amari Cooper of the Dallas Cowboy is likely to be released.
Cooper has been one of the league’s premier receivers for some time but saw a down year in what otherwise was a prolific Cowboys offense. It appears as if Jerry Jones and company are not willing to pay the $20 million cap hit of Cooper’s contract, in favor of bringing back Michael Gallup on a multi-year extension.
Schefter reported the Cowboys will attempt to trade Cooper, but that it appears unlikely due to a team having to take on his massive contract signed in the 2020 offseason. He’ll undoubtedly have multiple suitors and a competitive market.
The Arizona Cardinals have a pressing need at outside receiver. Amari Cooper would be a home-run signing for the recently extended general manager Steve Keim. It’s a position the Cardinals have struggled to find stability dating back to Larry Fitzgerald’s prime. At 27 years old, a pairing of Cooper and DeAndre Hopkins would give the Cardinals an explosive offense capable of taking the team to new heights.
Cooper’s market value is projected around $17 million annually. It’s a tough ask with all the needs the Cardinals need to fill in one offseason. Still, with a backloaded contract similar to the deal J.J. Watt signed last year, it could work.
It’s also possible DeAndre Hopkins would re-work his own deal to accommodate Cooper. Last offseason, he alluded to a potential contract re-structure during his efforts to recruit former Falcons All-Pro Julio Jones.
Hopkins was pivotal in Arizona’s acquisition of both Watt and fellow wideout A.J. Green. He could once again prove invaluable in Arizona’s recruiting efforts this year.
Cooper has four 1,000-yard seasons and has primarily operated as the Raiders and Cowboys’ No. 1 receiver. While he did play alongside the emerging CeeDee Lamb last year, he has never played with another wideout like Hopkins in the NFL.
A.J. Green, despite his ups and downs, was able to put up more than 800 yards receiving in this offense. Amari Cooper’s production would explode, and the Cards would have one of the NFL’s premier wide receiver duos.
A viable contract for Cooper could be a three-year, $45 million deal with one voided year on the back end. He gets $16 million to sign and $4 million in salary in 2022, giving him the $20 million in cash he would have received had the Cowboys kept him. His cap hit would be $8 million in 2022.
The NFC West is the best division in football partially due to the wide receiver talent. The Rams have Cooper Kupp and Odell Beckham. The 49ers have Deebo Samuel and George Kittle while the Seahawks boast D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett. As of today, the Cardinals just don’t have that consistent second playmaker. They’ll need one to take the NFC West title that slipped through their fingers last January.
