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After officially making it official, acquiring Amari Cooper from the Cleveland Browns in concert with the New York Jets' successful pursuit of Davante Adams, the Buffalo Bills looks like one of the best teams in the AFC. They have YAC specialists who shined without Stefon Diggs, a run game that worked, at least in Week 6, without James Cook, and a defense that, though imperfect, should keep them in games.
But how will it all work? Will Cooper immediately come in and become Josh Allen's WR1, pushing Khalil Shakir back into a WR2 role while allowing Keon Coleman to develop on a more gradual trajectory? Or will they instead work Cooper in slowly, allowing him to get used to the offense before making any major changes to the game plan moving forward?
Discussing this very development with reporters shortly after the deal became official, Sean McDermott explained what he likes about the addition of Cooper and how his team plans to incorporate him into the offense moving forward.
“I think that remains to be seen [how much Cooper can help], right? He obviously was on a different team up until a couple of hours ago. 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. Like I said, it’s never about one guy. It’s about the team and in this case the offense,” McDermott told reporters via NBC Sports.
“On paper, it’s one thing. At the end of the day, can the person play and help us? That’s really what we’re here to see over the next couple of days. I would hope the answer to all of that is yes. Going up against Amari and having a ton of respect for him and his game, but again, we have players in the building that we are already confident in, and he’ll fit into that equation and we’ll get him integrated and excited to see how quickly he can get up to speed here. Again, one player doesn’t save a team. One player doesn’t make a team. It’s about the team.”
Interesting stuff, right? You bet, but McDermott wasn't done, as he wanted to touch on how Cooper's new skillset will impact the team moving forward.
Amari Cooper fills out the Bills' offensive skillset
On paper, acquiring Cooper is about as close to reacquiring Diggs from the Houston Texans as the Bills could hope for, as he's a prototypical X receiver who can beat press coverage and win vertical battles down the sideline in a way no other player on the Bills currently can. While McDermott didn't want to explicitly lay out expectations for the former Cowboy's new role, he was willing to admit that Cooper brings something new to the table and, as a result, could assist the offense in becoming more complex attack moving forward.
“Everyone in that room before Amari was here had a slightly different skill set,” McDermott said. “So, now it’s truly and how it’s going to fit into the room and how our system can use Amari’s strengths to make our system better.”
With Cooper now locked in, the Bills easily have one of the best offenses in the AFC, with a chance to outgun darn near every team in the NFL, period, if Allen is playing up to his standards. Really, the question now becomes how quickly can Cooper and Allen get on the same page, and what does that look like moving forward with a true WR1 now back in the Bills gameplan?
