Dec 22, 2024; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Buffalo Bills wide receiver Amari Cooper (18) stiff arms New England Patriots linebacker Christian Elliss (53) in the second quarter at Highmark Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark Konezny-Imagn Images Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

Former Bills' WR Amari Cooper signs free-agent contract with AFC rival

Originally posted on Buffalo Bills on SI
By Richie Whitt | Last updated Aug 25, 2025 6:32 PM ET

Amari Cooper is back where he started. Meaning, in part, he's a long way from the Buffalo Bills.

It was just last October that the Bills traded a third-round draft choice to the Cleveland Browns, thinking the veteran receiver might be the final piece to a long playoff run. But as he's been in all of his four NFL stops, Cooper was underwhelming and, ultimately, expendable.

Cooper, 31, signed a free-agent contract on Monday with the Las Vegas Raiders, the team that originally drafted him fourth overall in 2015.

Reunion: Former #Bills WR Amari Cooper, one of the NFL’s top free agents still available, is signing with the #Raiders on a 1-year deal, per source.

Some late, big-time pass-catching help for the team that once drafted him in the first round. pic.twitter.com/pWCjmWzCmv
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 25, 2025

His debut in Buffalo was dazzling, catching four passes for 66 yards and a touchdown in a 34-10 win over the Tennessee Titans. But then he missed two games with a wrist injury and never became a viable weapon for Josh Allen. Cooper played in only eight games for the Bills, catching 20 passes for 297 yards and two touchdowns.

In the loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in last season's AFC Championship Game, Cooper caught four passes for 33 yards.

The Bills could have brought Cooper back on a "prove it" one-year contract, but opted to go with younger receivers such as Khalil Shakir, Keon Coleman, Joshua Palmer and rising new star Tyrell Shavers.

Cooper made five Pro Bowls, most recently with the Browns in 2023. After three-plus seasons with the Raiders, he was traded to the Dallas Cowboys, who then traded him to the Brown, who finally traded him to the Bills. He'll always be known as a smooth route-runner who lacks intensity. The Cowboys decided to part ways with him after he failed to block downfield on consecutive running plays in a 2021 playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers.