Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane took one of his biggest swings this season when he traded for wide receiver Amari Cooper. Three and a half months after the trade, with the Bills season now over, Beane was steadfast in his belief that the trade was the right move.

Buffalo Bills GM Brandon Beane needs to take the kind of swing that could propel the Bills over the Kansas City Chiefs and the rest of the AFC in 2025, writes Ryan O'Halloran. The Bills should trade for Miami Dolphins receiver Tyreek Hill.

“I do think Amari helped our offense,” Beane said on Thursday. “Did he put up All-Pro numbers in the games he was here? No. I think that’s for various reasons.”

The Bills brought Cooper in via trade with the Cleveland Browns in mid-October.

The veteran wide receiver finished his regular season with the Bills with 20 catches on 32 targets for 297 yards and two touchdowns in seven games. Cooper missed two games after joining Buffalo with a wrist injury, which was more serious than he let on.

“Honestly, his wrist could have required surgery, and I feel sure that at least one of the doctors recommended it, but he wanted to keep playing,” Beane said.

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In the playoffs, Cooper had six catches on eight targets for 41 yards in three games. He was held without a catch – and with only one target – against the Baltimore Ravens in the divisional round.

His production overall once he joined the Bills was lower than what the fan base expected, but Beane was adamant that the team’s belief in Cooper remained. Part of that was Cooper’s ability to open up things for the rest of the offense, Beane said.

Bills wide receiver Amari Cooper is set to become an unrestricted free agent.

So, what’s next? Cooper is set to become an unrestricted free agent. He has been around the league long enough to know that even he can’t say what his next chapter will bring.

“Yeah, I don’t know. I don’t know what the future holds,” Cooper said at locker-room cleanout. “Just gotta sit back, relax, get some rest then think about football again.”

But for the 10-year veteran, who reached a conference title game for the first time in his career this season, Buffalo is certainly a place where he would like stay, Cooper said.

“Yeah, of course,” he said. “I mean, just to give it another run, have another opportunity at doing what we just did. But, you know, obviously finishing.”

With Cooper’s future unclear, Beane still believed that the wide receiver’s numbers this season came with a larger context.

“You’re talking about a player who’s never been in this offensive system,” Beane said on Thursday. “And so, we talked about that. We did some research, we’ve known Amari, he’s got to learn the playbook, he’s never thrown with Josh Allen. You have to acclimate with your team, learn an offense. The games keep going and so honestly, I think he did a great job of learning our offense, in fairness to him, in due time.”

Before the 2024-25 season, Cooper was coming off five of six previous seasons with 1,000-plus receiving yards. While Cooper could have been perceived as a No. 1 receiver in joining the Bills, Beane said the team was never going to give up its “everyone eats” philosophy.

“Adding him was not going to get away from that, but does that take a little pressure off of (Khalil) Shakir, (Dawson) Knox, (Dalton) Kincaid, the run game, all that?” Beane asked. “So, I do not regret the move. I think it did help us, despite what his personal numbers were.”

The admiration of Cooper flowed around the Bills locker room. Fellow wide receivers heralded his approach, and many said they had been following his approach from afar before getting to see it up close in Buffalo. Shakir, who was the Bills’ leading receiver, often praised Cooper’s unselfish nature and the way the veteran embraced the Bills’ mentality of spreading the ball. Off the field, Cooper gelled well with his teammates.

Allen also had plenty of good things to say about Cooper.

Bills wide receiver Amari Cooper tries to avoid a tackle by Chiefs cornerback Jaylen Watson during the AFC championship game last week in Kansas City, Mo.

“I’ve got nothing but love and respect for Amari Cooper,” Allen said at the locker-room cleanout. “I will never in my life say a bad thing about him. For him to come into this situation and understand the role that he was brought here to do, he is a true football player, a true teammate, and I’m just honored to share the field with him.”

Allen’s praise of Cooper is notable – the receiver was clear that the quarterback position of interested teams will be critical in his free agency decision.

“It’s a huge factor,” Cooper said. “Truth be told, it’s the most important position on the field, because their position just holds a lot more weight based off of the responsibility that they have. And whoever’s at that position on any given team, that’s gonna say a lot about your team. Their ability to win in the big one. So, it’s very important.”

Throughout the season, Cooper reiterated that he was not worried about his personal numbers: He just wanted to win it all. A day after falling to Kansas City in the AFC championship game, Cooper was still processing just how close he and his teammates had made it to the ultimate goal.

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“Yes, it was crazy feeling; we came up short,” Cooper said. “Just seemed like we were so close, I mean, yet so far away. So, overall, I felt like it was a great experience, a lot of great teammates. And it isn’t over, like (offensive coordinator Joe Brady) said in the meeting: ‘The experience is going to make winning feel that much more sweet.’”

Cooper said he didn’t necessarily learn anything new about himself this season. Rather, he confirmed things he already knew to be true: things like his unselfish nature. Still, he did see some growth in a chaotic season. Growth that will help him in whatever the next chapter brings.

“Just resiliency,” Cooper said. “(I’ve) been through a lot this year, injuries, trades and things of that nature – the biggest differentiating factor between, people who are successful, versus, not successful – it’s just their will to just keep going. So, just keep going and never stop until you know it’s time to stop.”

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