Amari Cooper has been traded from the Cleveland Browns to the Buffalo Bills (Browns-Bills trade grades here) in news that broke very shortly after the Jets acquired Davante Adams from the Las Vegas Raiders. According to Adam Schefter, the Browns receive a 2025 third-round pick and a 2026 seventh-round pick in exchange for Cooper and a 2025 sixth-round pick. The trade has massive implications for the remainder of the 2024 Fantasy Football season as Cooper moves out of the stone-worst passing offense in the NFL by EPA and by the eye test.
Cooper led the Browns in target share (27%), yards and touchdowns. The latter two numbers were disappointing. However, a 27% target share is possible in Buffalo for an offense that hasn't funneled targets through one player this season as Josh Allen gets a legitimate No. 1 target and that could alter the game plan. The Bills have run at the fifth-highest rate of any team this season, but now they should move closer to league average in pass rate with Cooper on board. If Cooper can lock up the targets in the primary X position while mixing into the slot on passing downs, he could move into WR2 status fast. I would rank Cooper moving forward as a high-end WR2.
Let's not forget this: Cooper racked up 265 yards on 11 catches with two touchdowns just eight games ago -- he broke the team's all-time single-game receiving record. He can still play at an elite level.
The No. 1 stat that should have you most excited about Cooper's outlook moving forward is this: Of the 53 targets Cooper has seen this season, 17 were charted as off target or a miscommunication -- 32% of his total targets were deemed uncatcahble. The jump from Deshaun Watson to Allen cannot be overstated.
Allen now has the QB1 overall ceiling with Cooper. This is a crushing blow to the value of Dalton Kincaid. The idea behind drafting Kincaid in 2024 was that he would become the focal point of the passing game as arguably the most talented option in the pass game. He never developed in that role and even lost red zone looks to Dawson Knox. Now Cooper will take over as the primary focal point and Kincaid is a low-end TE1 who can be benched in tough matchups. Khalil Shakir also loses value in this trade as volume played a major factor in his stability. Keon Coleman can be dropped in any 10 and 12-team roster leagues.
On the Browns side, Deshaun Watson was already borderline benchable in Superflex and 2QB leagues, but now he might be the worst start on the slate. Jerry Jeudy should benefit with the volume, but the uncatchable targets and overall demise of the Browns pass game will hold him back from being startable on a weekly basis -- at least not until/if Jameis Winston starts. David Njoku should see a slight uptick in volume moving forward.