Grading Amari Cooper, trading Davante Adams: How good did the Bills and Jets get?

Let's grade every big deal before the 2024 NFL trade deadline, which is Nov. 5 at 4 p.m. ET. I started with the Las Vegas Raiders sending Davante Adams to the New York Jets, reuniting Adams with the quarterback he played with during his time with the Green Bay Packers. I also have grades for the deal that sent receiver Amari Cooper from the Cleveland Browns to the Buffalo Bills and the Houston Texans' move to acquire Cam Akers from the Minnesota Vikings.

I am a big believer in making decisions based on the information available at the time. “Let's see how it goes” is not an option for general managers to make deals for their teams, so why should we evaluate those deals? So when I grade trades, I evaluate them based on on-field impact for each team, cap implications, draft compensation, and impact in the context of the team's overall short- and long-term vision. I like to think about decisions on two axes:

They will both play a role in our grades, although a low-impact decision can still result in a strong or poor grade. Low-stakes, clear wins or losses still matter. I will grade more deals as they happen over the next two weeks. The latest grades are at the top:

Minnesota Vikings get: RB Cam Akers, 2026 conditional seventh round pick
The Houston Texans get: 2025 conditional sixth round pick
Trade Date: 15 October