Amari Cooper’s move to Buffalo didn’t come with jaw-dropping stats or troves of highlights. However, it did come with his first career trip to the championship round.
Since his trade from Cleveland to Buffalo in Week 7, Cooper has just 20 catches for 297 yards and two touchdowns. In two playoff games, he has two total catches for 8 yards. In Sunday’s win over Baltimore, he had zero grabs on one target, his first career playoff game without a catch.
For the 30-year-old, the stats mean zilch.
“I’m very satisfied. I’ve never been this far in the playoffs,” Cooper said, via The Associated Press. “Obviously, every receiver wants to have, you know, 10-20 catches a game. But that’s not always how the cookie crumbles.
“Winning is way more important, and there’s many ways to win. So absolutely no complaints from me, because that’s all I truly wanted. I mean, I’ve had it every other way and haven’t really reached the pinnacle of this sport.”
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A five-time Pro Bowler with the Raiders, Cowboys and Browns, Cooper joined the Bills to bring a potential go-to target to Buffalo. Instead, he’s become simply one of the crew. Nine Bills players generated 250-plus receiving yards, and 13 caught at least one receiving TD, but no single player broke the 825 receiving yards mark.
Being a role player for a winner is perfectly fine with Cooper.
“You have so many players that are doing their job that they can get the job done without you,” Cooper said. “So that’s kind of where my ego dies and the pride is put aside for the sake of the team.”
In his decade in the NFL, Cooper has earned seven seasons with 1,000-plus yards. In 2024, he put up a career-low 547 yards and 44 catches with four TDs. Yet, he finally found a place to have postseason success.
Offensive coordinator Joe Brady credited Cooper’s selflessness for helping make the receiver corps whole.
“He’s part of our group that makes our group kind of who they are, and he’s leading it,” Brady said. “He doesn’t care about the stats right now, and he knows that him being on the field helps our offense.”
Sunday, Cooper and the Bills will face the back-to-back champion Kansas City Chiefs with a chance to get to the Super Bowl. In the Week 11 meeting against K.C., Cooper earned 55 yards on two catches.