I will be interested to see what kind of market Amari Cooper generates. He’ll be 31 in June, and I haven’t heard anything about teams pursuing him.
Buffalo last year gave up a third-round pick for him, thinking he might elevate them past Kansas City, but he didn’t make much of an impact. He caught a touchdown in his debut and had a nice leaping grab for a score against the Jets, but he wasn’t even targeted in the shootout win at Detroit and caught only 6 of 14 targets in the shootout the previous week at Los Angeles.
Cooper had a wrist injury that kept him out of two games. How much that affected him in their other games, I can’t be sure. But in general, he was outplayed by journeyman Mack Hollins. Cooper in the three playoff games caught only 6 passes for 41 yards. Six other Buffalo players in the postseason had more receiving yards.
Before his trade last year, Cooper had a pair of dreadful games to open the season, then bounced back to catch 2 TDs against the Giants.
Dyami Brown signed a one-year deal averaging $10 million. Darius Slayton signed a two-year deal averaging $12 million. Is Cooper coming in above those guys?
Cooper Kupp signed a three-year deal that averages $15 million, but the specs on that deal haven’t yet appeared on Spotrac. (I’m guessing that contract is puffed up with some back-end money that will never be seen.)
As with some of the other older free agent receivers – Keenan Allen, Stefon Diggs – there may be some mulling (by both players and teams) of whether it’s better to wait until after the draft.
I imagine Cooper probably will wind up being a below-average second receiver somewhere. I think he’ll start. But he’s definitely a slipping, declining player.
Consider, as an example, drops. Over the past three years, 71 wide receivers have caught at least 100 passes. Cooper ranks last of those guys in drop percentage.
| WIDE RECEIVER DROPS (last 3 yrs) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | '24 | Rec | Drop | Pct |
| Khalil Shakir | Buff. | 125 | 3 | 2.3% |
| Greg Dortch | Ari. | 113 | 3 | 2.6% |
| Mike Williams | 2tms | 103 | 3 | 2.8% |
| Jakobi Meyers | L.V. | 225 | 7 | 3.0% |
| Nico Collins | Hou. | 185 | 6 | 3.1% |
| Michael Pittman | Ind. | 277 | 10 | 3.5% |
| Justin Jefferson | Min. | 299 | 11 | 3.5% |
| Jordan Addison | Min. | 133 | 5 | 3.6% |
| Demarcus Robinson | LAR | 105 | 4 | 3.7% |
| Cooper Kupp | LAR | 201 | 8 | 3.8% |
| Chris Godwin | T.B. | 237 | 10 | 4.0% |
| A.J. Brown | Phil. | 261 | 12 | 4.4% |
| Amon-Ra St. Brown | Det. | 340 | 16 | 4.5% |
| Adam Thielen | Car. | 221 | 11 | 4.7% |
| Drake London | Atl. | 241 | 12 | 4.7% |
| Terry McLaurin | Was. | 238 | 12 | 4.8% |
| Curtis Samuel | Buff. | 157 | 8 | 4.8% |
| Tyler Lockett | Sea. | 212 | 11 | 4.9% |
| Keenan Allen | Chi. | 244 | 13 | 5.1% |
| DJ Moore | Chi. | 257 | 14 | 5.2% |
| CeeDee Lamb | Dall. | 343 | 19 | 5.2% |
| DeAndre Hopkins | 2tms | 195 | 11 | 5.3% |
| Wan'Dale Robinson | NYG | 176 | 10 | 5.4% |
| DeVonta Smith | Phil. | 244 | 15 | 5.8% |
| Marquise Brown | K.C. | 127 | 8 | 5.9% |
| George Pickens | Pitt. | 174 | 11 | 5.9% |
| Mike Evans | T.B. | 230 | 15 | 6.1% |
| Brandin Cooks | Dall. | 137 | 9 | 6.2% |
| Zay Flowers | Balt. | 151 | 10 | 6.2% |
| Tyler Boyd | Ten. | 164 | 11 | 6.3% |
| Garrett Wilson | NYJ | 279 | 19 | 6.4% |
| Tyreek Hill | Mia. | 319 | 22 | 6.5% |
| Demario Douglas | N.E. | 115 | 8 | 6.5% |
| K.J. Osborn | N.E. | 115 | 8 | 6.5% |
| Diontae Johnson | 3tms | 170 | 12 | 6.6% |
| Christian Kirk | Jac. | 168 | 12 | 6.7% |
| Josh Downs | Ind. | 140 | 10 | 6.7% |
| Stefon Diggs | Hou. | 262 | 19 | 6.8% |
| Davante Adams | 2tms | 288 | 21 | 6.8% |
| Brandon Aiyuk | S.F. | 178 | 13 | 6.8% |
| Puka Nacua | LAR | 184 | 14 | 7.1% |
| Elijah Moore | Cle. | 157 | 12 | 7.1% |
| Chris Olave | N.O. | 191 | 15 | 7.3% |
| Ja'Marr Chase | Cin. | 314 | 25 | 7.4% |
| Robert Woods | Hou. | 113 | 9 | 7.4% |
| JuJu Smith-Schuster | K.C. | 125 | 10 | 7.4% |
| DK Metcalf | Sea. | 222 | 18 | 7.5% |
| Darnell Mooney | Atl. | 135 | 11 | 7.5% |
| Alec Pierce | Ind. | 110 | 9 | 7.6% |
| Malik Nabers | NYG | 109 | 9 | 7.6% |
| Calvin Ridley | Ten. | 140 | 12 | 7.9% |
| Josh Palmer | LAC | 149 | 13 | 8.0% |
| Rashee Rice | K.C. | 103 | 9 | 8.0% |
| Kendrick Bourne | N.E. | 100 | 9 | 8.3% |
| Jauan Jennings | S.F. | 131 | 12 | 8.4% |
| Jaxon Smith-Njigba | Sea. | 163 | 15 | 8.4% |
| Jaylen Waddle | Mia. | 205 | 19 | 8.5% |
| Mack Hollins | Buff. | 106 | 10 | 8.6% |
| Jerry Jeudy | Cle. | 211 | 20 | 8.7% |
| Tee Higgins | Cin. | 189 | 18 | 8.7% |
| Jayden Reed | G.B. | 119 | 12 | 9.2% |
| Deebo Samuel | S.F. | 167 | 17 | 9.2% |
| Darius Slayton | NYG | 135 | 14 | 9.4% |
| Gabriel Davis | Jac. | 113 | 12 | 9.6% |
| Jahan Dotson | Phil. | 103 | 11 | 9.6% |
| Zay Jones | Ari. | 124 | 14 | 10.1% |
| Noah Brown | Was. | 111 | 13 | 10.5% |
| Courtland Sutton | Den. | 204 | 24 | 10.5% |
| Allen Lazard | NYJ | 120 | 16 | 11.8% |
| Romeo Doubs | G.B. | 147 | 22 | 13.0% |
| Amari Cooper | 2tms | 194 | 31 | 13.8% |
—Ian Allan