Amari Cooper Would Be A Risk Worth Taking In Minnesota

The universe couldn’t have spoken any louder these past few weeks: The Minnesota Vikings need to upgrade at wide receiver.

The Vikings were arguably well-set heading into training camp. Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison could compete with any one-two punch in the league. If you were a believer in Jalen Nailor taking another step in 2025, then, yeah, the Vikings were pretty well off.

You can’t argue that anymore. Jefferson is back in practice after a mild hamstring injury, but that’s still something to be a touch nervous about. Meanwhile, Addison got the maximum suspension for his reckless driving charge and is out for three games. We don’t know when Nailor will return from a hand injury. Rondale Moore is out for the season.

The remaining options are difficult to trust. Tai Felton has had a decent preseason, but the Vikings seemingly want to slow-play the rookie. Lucky Jackson‘s hands have gotten harder than Chinese algebra this preseason, and no one else has seemed to step up in a major way.

So when Tom Pelissero mentioned on Wednesday that the Vikings are looking for help, he wasn’t exactly telling tales out of school. Most of the names mentioned by the rumor mill would be accessible via trades, including some with old fan favorites. But the Vikings have traded enough draft picks away these past couple of years, and one name would cost Minnesota exactly zero draft capital:

Amari Cooper.

Amari Cooper was AMARI COOPER as recently as last year, coming off a 1,250-yard, five-touchdown Pro Bowl season with the Cleveland Browns in 2023. But the bottom can fall out real fast with elite wide receivers. Ask Odell Beckham, Dez Bryant, or Cooper Kupp, who fell off in their late 20s. Meanwhile, Cooper is entering his age-31 season, at a position that is increasingly becoming a young man’s game. Just nine receivers age 31 or older have had a 1,000-yard season this past decade.

So a 547-yard season in 2024, including under 300 yards in the eight games when league MVP Josh Allen was throwing to him, is a significant red flag, especially after racking up just 41 yards on six catches in the playoffs. However, it’s one that the Vikings might want to push past, given the circumstances.

Cooper had exactly one healthy week in Buffalo before suffering a wrist injury, which, we have to imagine, must be pretty important for catching the ball. Doctors advised Cooper to have surgery, but the veteran receiver stayed on the field in pursuit of a Super Bowl. After spending his career in Oakland, Dallas, and Cleveland, who could blame him?

You can’t simply write off an injury in the NFL, not at that position. Beckham, Bryant, and Kupp didn’t forget how to play the game; they had issues that piled up and slowed them down. But last season was the first in Cooper’s career in which he missed more than two games (he missed three). Betting on the bounce-back might be a solid play.

Besides, with Jefferson and Addison hopefully both back and healthy by Week 4, the Vikings don’t need Cooper to be AMARI COOPER for him to be a success in Minnesota. He wasn’t in Buffalo, and their passing game still flourished with a significantly less talented receiver room. Cooper was a credible threat to line up wide, which freed up room for possession receiver Keon Coleman and slot threats in Khalil Shakir and Curtis Samuel.

Kevin O’Connell has had little problem moving Jefferson all over the field because Addison can line up wide and be a deep threat. However, this turns Addison into a bit of a boom-or-bust player, which can be detrimental to his morale during the lean times. Having Addison as the designated deep threat might not fully capitalize on the chemistry he’s shown with J.J. McCarthy during preseason action.

All Cooper would need to do is give defenses something to worry about in single coverage, which would pay dividends for Minnesota’s offense. If he can do that, KOC can conduct a symphony of intermediate-to-deep threats for McCarthy to exploit between Jefferson, Addison, and T.J. Hockenson. If that “only” results in an 800-yard season, who cares? Or heck, even Cooper if he settles into a 600-yard player, so what? We’d still be talking about 200 more yards than Nailor had last year.

Sometimes, a receiver in Cooper’s position is just washed, and that’s a risk Minnesota would be taking. On the other hand, Cooper has been too good and too consistent for too long not to earn some benefit of the doubt, especially if the Vikings aren’t asking him to do too much. As an emergency third option for McCarthy, and eventual fourth, the Vikings and Cooper could be the perfect match for each other’s pursuit of the Lombardi Trophy.