Trade Grades For Davante Adams & Amari Cooper

Most of the time in the NFL, the obvious moves everyone can connect the dots on fail to come together. Frontrunners finish second more often than you’d think, and the deals that make way too much sense not to happen…usually don’t. 

But not always. After months and months and months of rumors about a reunion between Raiders WR Davante Adams and Jets QB Aaron Rodgers, Las Vegas and New York finally worked out a trade to send the star wideout to the East Coast. If the NFL was scripted, this is exactly how it would go — Adams leaving his trials and tribulations in the desert to rejoin his good friend in their shared quest for a Super Bowl, reclaiming glory for an organization in a drought of its own. 

Of course, the NFL is not scripted and the best-laid plans usually fall apart. The fact that the Jets are 2-4 right now even with Rodgers and what owner Woody Johnson called one of the best teams ever assembled under his watch is proof of that. Is the Adams trade the move that’s going to stem the tide and turn the season around for New York? We’ll see…

We also got a second blockbuster deal involving the Browns sending WR Amari Cooper to the Bills in a deal that has massive ramifications for both teams in the AFC. Here’s a report card for all four teams involved in the moves: 

The Trade

New York gets Adams, plus his contract which totals a little over $11.5 million for the remainder of the 2024 season and $36 million in each of the final two years of the deal. That money is not guaranteed and Adams is almost assuredly not going to see it, making this in effect a one-year deal. 

The Raiders get a third-round pick in 2025 from the Jets that could become a second-round pick if Adams is either named to the AP All-Pro team or plays for the Jets in the AFC championship or Super Bowl. The chances of either happening are pretty slim. The All-Pro award has stiff competition and usually around six wideouts earn AP first or second-team honors. It’s fair to bank on this being a third-rounder. 

Jets grade: C

The challenge with grading this trade for both organizations is the long line of faulty decisions leading up to the current moment. In terms of the circumstances here and now, this trade makes a lot of sense for both sides, even if I’m skeptical that it’s the missing piece to put the Jets over the top. 

Acquiring Adams does help fill a real need for the Jets for weapons on offense — and specifically weapons who have chemistry with Rodgers. Playing receiver on a Rodgers team is famously demanding. You have to learn two playbooks; the normal one and the library of quick throws and sight adjustments that Rodgers leans on. Guys who master it can see booms in production, like Adams and even current Jets WR Allen Lazard. Guys who don’t get phased out. 

After a nightmare 2023 season without Rodgers, Lazard has actually looked like a viable NFL player again. His five touchdowns lead the team and he’s second on the squad in catches with 26. He’s still not dynamic or consistent enough to seriously concern most defenses, though. Jets WR Garrett Wilson has the talent of a true No. 1 receiver but the growing pains between him and Rodgers have been clear this season as they try and build the same mind meld Rodgers has had with past top options. Wilson leads the NFL with 67 targets, well past second place with 58, but has a catch percentage of just 61 percent. In fact, Wilson’s catch score in ESPN’s receiver tracking metrics is the third-worst of 93 qualifying players and the worst of his career.

As for Jets WR Mike Williams, New York signed him with the hopes his skill set as a big-bodied contested catch receiver would mesh with the types of routes Rodgers likes to throw and give them a field-stretching No. 2 to complement Wilson. But Williams’ rehab from a torn ACL last year left him playing catchup with getting on the same page as Rodgers, and Monday night’s loss to the Bills may have been the final straw. Williams had a bad drop and wasn’t where Rodgers expected him to be on the game-ending interception. 

Adams gives the Jets the best of Lazard and Wilson — a player Rodgers trusts who is talented enough to scare opponents. He’s not as explosive as Wilson is at this point in his career but he’s still capable of putting up strong numbers. Without question, adding Adams makes the Jets better. 

Does it fix any of the remaining issues with the offense? Or elevate the Jets from below-average to playoff contenders? That’s much more of a tall task. The Jets have struggled on offense because of issues with the play-calling and design of the offense, which is too stale and static. It’s the way Rodgers prefers to play, giving him time to make checks at the line and break down the defense without worrying too much about leaving enough time for all the motion. But it stresses defenses less at this point in Rodgers’ career. He’s still capable of vintage Rodgers moments but far less consistently than before and the whole offense suffers as a result. 

Rodgers is less mobile, less capable of creating when the play breaks down and the Jets’ offensive line has not been dominant in either pass pro or run blocking to make up for it. There were signs in Monday’s game against the Bills of the Jets incorporating more modern concepts into the offense but a trade for Adams is a move toward Rodgers ball, not away from it. There’s also a possibility it leads to a reduction in targets for Wilson, and if the wins don’t follow, that could add to an already explosive situation. 

That leads into the other part of this — the Jets are on the ropes after firing HC Robert Saleh last week and falling to 2-4. The defense had largely been playing well but sprung some leaks with former DC Jeff Ulbrich moving up to interim head coach. It’s understandable that owner Woody Johnson, GM Joe Douglas and Rodgers wanted to stem the bleeding with so much committed to this year, but a Day 2 pick is a steep price for what could be just 11 games of Adams. If the Jets miss the playoffs, it’s likely that the team has to restart from scratch in 2025. 

Then again, in for a penny, in for a pound. The Jets committed themselves to Rodgers and everything that comes with him when they traded for him last season. The wisdom of that decision at the time could be questioned given Rodgers was coming off one of his worst seasons in 2022, but the Jets made it. Trading for Adams is a continuation of that decision and a last-ditch gasp to seize the vision New York had when it went after Rodgers. 

Raiders grade: C+

The Raiders have done a decent job of maximizing the current situation with Adams. The veteran receiver was not going to be in Las Vegas past this season with the out in his contract and was not going to be part of getting this organization back into relevancy. Adams was most valuable to the Raiders as a trade chip, and getting a Day 2 pick back is a solid return. They also save over $11 million which they can roll into their available space next year. This better positions the Raiders to rebuild the roster and find a quarterback, two imperatives if they want to start winning again. 

I have two major qualms with how the Raiders handled this situation that drag down the final grade, however. The first is the decision to trade for Adams in the first place and how long the team waited to rectify that mistake. Las Vegas gave up a ton to get Adams in 2022 in the first year of former HC Josh McDaniels and GM Dave Ziegler’s tenure, surrendering first and second-round picks on top of a market-setting extension. It was a franchise quarterback-caliber trade package for a 30-year-old receiver. 

McDaniels and Ziegler sold it as a win-now move but September of that season wasn’t even in the books before their narrative shifted to Las Vegas needing a significant roster rebuild. The two jettisoned QB Derek Carr, who was a major reason Adams wanted to play for the Raiders, and could have moved on from Adams as well to get picks to juice their rebuild. Instead, they held onto him. 

McDaniels and Ziegler lasted just eight games into the 2023 season before being let go. The Raiders had opportunities to trade Adams during that season and again during this past offseason, but rebuffed all callers deep into the summer even though their quarterback position got materially worse for the third straight year. 

In the end, the Raiders were the last ones to recognize that they needed to trade Adams. Had they pulled the trigger at almost any time in the last two years, they would have almost certainly got more than they got this week. 

Las Vegas could have also juiced the pick they got had they been willing to pay part of Adams’ remaining salary this year, and that’s the second major qualm I have with the Raiders’ handling of this situation. By forcing teams to take on the remainder of Adams’ salary, the Raiders limited the market and handicapped their ability to generate a bidding war for Adams — who as a talent is still in demand. 

Maybe in the end it wouldn’t have pushed a team to give up a second-round pick with no conditions attached, but it would have been well worth it for the Raiders to try. Cash is cheap for where the team is in its team-building process. A second-round pick would be a much more valuable asset than a third-round pick and $11 million in cash. That would be true even if the Raiders weren’t second in projected effective cap space in 2025, per Over The Cap, with over $100 million in wiggle room. 

Bottom line, the Raiders fell bass ackward into a passing grade here despite significantly mismanaging the situation from start to finish. Not something that inspires a lot of confidence about how the whole rebuilding process is going to go. 

The Second Trade

The Bills get Cooper, plus a 2025 sixth-round pick (the Browns currently have four, including theirs, Miami’s, Minnesota’s and Detroit’s). Buffalo inherits the remainder of Cooper’s contract which was the veteran minimum of $1.21 million after he restructured his deal in July to get the other $20 million he was owed upfront. 

The Browns get a 2025 third-round pick from the Bills, plus a 2026 seventh-rounder. 

Bills grade: A-

Receiver had become an obvious issue for the Bills after a strong start to the season. I wrote this in early October when analyzing Buffalo as a fit in a potential Adams trade: 

“While there’s a benefit to spreading the ball around to prevent the defense from keying too much on one player, the lack of a true No. 1 option can be exposed by better defenses. It’s usually a good thing to have that one guy who will win his matchup more often than not, and Adams could be that for Buffalo.”

The Bills started the season 3-0 against the Cardinals, Dolphins and Jaguars. Buffalo topped 31 points in every game, QB Josh Allen was completing well over 70 percent of his pass attempts and averaging 211 yards per game.

In the last three games against the Ravens, Texans and Jets, Allen dipped to a 53.5 completion percentage, 175 yards per game, 17.6 points per game and a 1-2 record. Don’t let any coach ever talk you into it being a good thing that they don’t have a No. 1 receiver because “the defense doesn’t know who’s getting the ball.” 

Out of all the receivers available or potentially available, Cooper became the top option once the Browns were willing to move him and an Adams trade was off the board. The 30-year-old has an established track record of production with seven 1,000-yard seasons. If he’s not a true No. 1 receiver, he’s 90 percent of the way there. He’ll drop more passes than you’d like and his focus can wane depending on his mentality. But a locked-in Cooper is capable of dominating opposing defenses with his route running and ability to play through contact. 

There will be some ramping up for Cooper to learn Buffalo’s offense midstream — though it could help that current Browns OC Ken Dorsey held the same role in Buffalo up until midway through last year — but once he’s up to speed, the Bills will have a No. 1 receiver once again who can push players like TE Dalton Kincaid, second-round WR Keon Coleman and WR Khalil Shakir into the complementary roles they’re better suited to fill. 

Crucially for the Bills, Cooper was dirt cheap after the Browns reworked his contract in July to avoid a holdout in training camp. The Bills are hovering just barely over the cap with a few million in space, but acquiring Cooper will cost them practically nothing because his contract will displace another player on the roster. With the Raiders unwilling to eat salary to facilitate an Adams trade, that made Cooper a much better fit even if Adams is probably still the superior player. 

The only hangup I had with this trade initially was that the Bills traded away one aging receiver this past offseason only to turn around and acquire another with premium draft capital that could have been used to rebalance the roster around Allen and his contract (which by the way is overdue for an adjustment to market value). Cooper’s on an expiring contract, too, so this could be a short-term rental for just 11 games, plus the playoffs. 

But once I reframed the two trades as one deal, it made a lot more sense. 

Bills give up:

• WR Stefon Diggs
• 2025 3rd
• 2024 5th (No. 189)
• 2025 5th
• 2026 7th

Bills get: 

• WR Amari Cooper
• 2025 2nd
• 2025 6th

Add in the bonus factors of Cooper being $20 million cheaper than Diggs and less of a headache, and I think this turns into a pretty solid win for the Bills. They ended up with a second instead of a third in 2025, saved a bunch of cash and retained a No. 1 weapon for their receiving corps to help keep the window of contention open. 

Browns grade: A-

From a team-building perspective, this makes perfect sense for the Browns. Historically speaking, a 1-5 start is a death knell for a team’s playoff chances, and Cleveland looks more likely to earn a top-five draft pick than to run the table in the AFC and AFC North. Cooper is on an expiring contract and not a key piece of the future, which looks like it will involve some level of a rebuild, so the smart move was to maximize his value now as a trade asset, regardless of whether it makes the offense worse in the interim. A third-round pick for a 30-year-old receiver is a strong return. 

What’s more interesting is what this could potentially say about the mindset of the front office and brain trust which until now has been obstinate about denying certain realities about the team. This trade shows that 1) the Browns know they are bad right now, and 2) there has been some level of pivot to a focus on the future, not the 2024 season. 

How that all reconciles with the whole Deshaun Watson situation, I’m not sure yet. As recently as Monday, Browns HC Kevin Stefanski again swatted away any suggestions of benching Watson and told reporters the veteran gave them the best chance to win instead of backup QB Jameis Winston. But the Browns didn’t trade Cooper because it gave them the best chance to win, so does that mean other moves like that are on the table? If the Browns are willing to throw up the white flag of sorts by trading Cooper, what else are they willing to relent on? 

There’s also an argument to be made that if they really did care about winning, they would have benched Watson and kept Cooper, hoping for a second straight year of magic from the backup. The Browns could still conceivably sell sticking with Watson as the long-term, developmental play, as the best outcome for them is if he plays his way out of his current slump, as unlikely as that seems given it’s going on three years. 

But it’s hard to filter all the Browns’ decisions through the lens of rationality. At the end of the day, their hand is going to be forced if Watson continues to play as poorly as he has been. Stefanski can’t continue to carry the respect of the locker room by not playing the best quarterback, especially now that the team has already sent a message about what it really thinks by trading Cooper.

Ultimately I think the Cooper trade signals a step toward the Browns confronting another uncomfortable reality about the whole Watson disaster.