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'A dynamic football player' | Bills HC Sean McDermott and OC Joe Brady react to acquisition of WR Amari Cooper

Oct 15, 2024 at 07:38 PM

Alec White

Content Coordinator

The Buffalo Bills finalized a trade Tuesday afternoon to acquire five-time Pro Bowl WR Amari Cooper from the Browns for draft compensation.

Just a few hours later, Buffalo's coaching staff met with the media on Zoom where they discussed the trade, among other topics.

Here's what we learned about what HC Sean McDermott and OC Joe Brady had to say about the acquisition of a new receiver.

Cooper's 'ability to get separation' appealed to Bills

With a 4-2 record, there's been plenty to be pleased about the way the Bills have started their 2024 season. Still, when a caliber of player like Cooper becomes available, Buffalo saw it as an opportunity to continue to make their team better.

Cooper recorded a career-high 1,250 receiving yards and five touchdowns last season with the Browns and now gets to catch passes from one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL.

"First and foremost we believe in the receivers that we already have in the room," head coach Sean McDermott said. "We'll see when Amari gets here and how we can get him up to speed and get him integrated into what we do and how we do things. It's never about one guy. We're thankful to have him, but it's never about just one guy. It's about the team, so we're anxious to get him on board here and get rolling."

McDermott shared that he spent time watching film of Cooper Tuesday morning before the trade and believes adding a receiver who is known for his ability to get open consistently and win against man coverage is an important skill set that the Bills sought after.

"Those qualities are important. Having the ability to get separation I think just adds to our flavor on offense. We've been doing some good things. I think that will be an added bonus for us as we move forward here," he said.

OC Joe Brady had similar glowing remarks on the newest Bills' receiver, saying Cooper is a "smart player" who is "a student of the game" when it comes to his route running technique. Cooper ranked 3rd among all WRs in yards per reception (17.4) in 2023 and 12th among all WRs with 47 receptions of 10+ yards.

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"Him and his releases, his ability to create separation," Brady said. "He does such a great job at that."

Even with the former Browns WR off to a slower start than usual this season, Cooper's 250 yards is more than any current Bills WR has so far this year. Joe Brady sees this as an opportunity for Cooper's addition to make the whole offense more explosive.

"He's extremely productive, I think it's a great opportunity for him to come here and help our offense," Brady said. "Just getting with Josh and getting that chemistry going. But he's a dynamic football player that still has good football in front of him and excited to get him."

The chemistry is already there. 😏#GoBills | #BillsMafia pic.twitter.com/Ibzepg01YH
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) October 15, 2024

Existing relationship with Bills WR coach played important role

McDermott shared that he spent time Tuesday talking with Bills wide receiver coach Adam Henry about the type of player and person Cooper is before the team finalized a trade. Henry and Cooper spent two seasons (2020 & 2021) in Dallas together when Henry was the Cowboys WR coach.

Cooper led the Cowboys in receiving yards in 2020 (1,114) and was second on the team in 2021 (865).

"Adam and I spoke earlier today about Amari. And the things he said were positive. You always want to check in with people who have been around the player," McDermott said.

Henry's feedback made Buffalo feel confident in finalizing the trade.

"We wouldn't have probably done this if Adam didn't give us his blessing from, 'Hey, this is what I know about Amari, what type of person he is, what type of player he is'."

How the Bills plan to integrate Cooper into the offense

Since Buffalo is already on a short week of game prep for Week 7 against the Titans, the team will be doing everything they can to help get Cooper up to speed in the offense.

In addition to helping him get adjusted to the playbook, Brady anticipates the practice week to include increased communication between Cooper and Josh Allen to start getting on the same page.

"Just the communication and going out at practice and making sure you're staying after and getting some of the reps and learning the body language," Brady said.

With Cooper still needing to fly into Buffalo, the team is still unsure at this point whether or not Cooper will be available to play in Sunday's game against the Titans.

"He was obviously on a different team up until a couple hours ago, so we want to get him in here and get him up to speed on our terminology and our system and see how he fits in," McDermott said.