Amari Cooper NFL free agency landing spots: The Bills are out, but he'll have options

In a smart and splashy trade this past October, the Buffalo Bills acquired wideout Amari Cooper from the Cleveland Browns, a move that paid immediate dividends, as the five-time Pro Bowler caught four passes for 66 yards with a touchdown in his debut with his new team.

But outside of a six-catch, 95-yard outing against the Los Angeles Rams in early December, which came in a loss, that was as good as things got for Cooper in a Buffalo uniform.

In eight regular-season appearances with the Bills, the Alabama alum tallied 20 receptions for 297 yards with two touchdowns. In the Bills' three postseason outings, Cooper had six catches for just 41 yards, ranking seventh among all Buffalo pass-catchers. And his 6.8 yards per reception average ranked dead last among the nine Bills who caught at least one pass in the playoffs.

To be fair, Josh Allen loves to spread the ball around, so Cooper can't take all the blame for his limited production. And given his reputation for making big plays, he did draw a fair amount of double-teams, which opened up opportunities for his teammates.

All that said, though, Cooper's campaign in Buffalo has to be seen as a disappointment. The good news for the Bills, though, is that they didn't have to break the bank to bring him to town, as they only had to pay him $806,667 because the Browns had converted the majority of his $20 million base salary into a signing bonus, thus making him more attractive as a trade candidate.

The bad news is that Cooper is set to become an unrestricted free agent. So, if the Bills want to bring him back, they'll obviously have to pony up a lot more dough. While he won't command the $20 million average annual salary he had on his last deal, the 30-year-old should still get at least $15 million per season on his new deal.

And given Buffalo's salary cap issues at the moment, that's just not a figure they can afford. As such, Cooper is almost guaranteed to have a new home in 2025, so let's have a look at a few possible landing spots.

Pittsburgh Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers were reportedly looking to trade for Cooper this past fall before the Bills snatched him up, ultimately settling for Mike Williams.

With Williams set to hit the market himself, one would think the Steelers would once again take a run at Cooper, who would be a fantastic addition to play opposite George Pickens.

The Steelers are in solid enough shape regarding the salary cap, but some of that money will need to be used to address their quarterback issues, as both Russell Wilson and Justin Fields are also set to hit free agency.

If Pittsburgh can figure things out on that end, getting their new QB a veteran presence like Cooper would be a wise move.

New England Patriots

No team has more money to spend this offseason than the New England Patriots, who are projected by OverTheCap to have more than $120 million at their disposal.

Some of that cash will need to be used to retain some of their own talent, but getting Drake Maye an established receiver should also be a priority. And Cooper obviously fits that bill.

The Pats may target Tee Higgins and Chris Godwin first, but if things don't work out with those two, Cooper is undoubtedly a strong backup option. Maye tends to work better against man coverage than zone, and with Cooper's strong route-running ability, this could work rather nicely.

Los Angeles Chargers

The Los Angeles Chargers are also an intriguing option.

Ladd McConkey had a strong rookie campaign with 82 receptions for 1,149 yards and seven touchdowns and has clearly emerged as Justin Herbert's new favorite target.

The thing with McConkey, though, is that he does his best work out of the slot. As far as outside receivers go, Quentin Johnston went for 711 yards with eight touchdowns but struggled with drops. And Josh Palmer, while adequate at times, was never really seen as a genuine threat to opposing defenses.

Johnston will be back in 2025, as he's still under contract, but Palmer is an unrestricted free agent and isn't likely to return, perhaps opening the door for Cooper. The Chargers have the fifth-most cap space at more than $63 million, so they could make this happen.

Green Bay Packers

We have to get one NFC team in here, so we'll go with the Green Bay Packers, who will also have some money to spend this offseason.

The Packers have some good receivers for Jordan Love to throw to, but nobody who can genuinely be considered among the elite, as evidenced by the fact that Jayden Reed led the team in receiving yards this past season with 857.

Green Bay also has to deal with the fact that they'll be without Christian Watson for at least the first half of the 2025 season as he continues to recover from an ACL injury. And with Romeo Doubs' concussion issues, there's no guarantee he'll be on the field every week.

Cooper alone won't solve all the Packers' problems but getting Love an established receiver will undoubtedly help matters.