Orchard Park, N.Y. – Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane was assistant GM of the Carolina Panthers in the spring of 2015 when he went to Tuscaloosa, Ala., to meet with a highly rated receiver prospect for that year’s draft.

Amari Cooper had just wrapped his third season with the University of Alabama Crimson Tide, putting up 1,727 receiving yards and 16 touchdowns, which had him projected to be among the top players selected.

“[Cooper] was talking to us like a coach,” Beane recalled on Wednesday, reflecting on a visit he made with then-Panthers receivers coach Ricky Proehl. “We sat there over an hour...watching them talk ball was cool for me to see. I was like, ‘Man, I'm sold.’ We just didn't have the fourth pick in the draft that year."

But the NFL is a small world, where paths tend to cross more than once.

And so, 691 regular-season receptions and nearly 10,000 receiving yards later, Cooper found himself driving from Cleveland to Buffalo on Tuesday night, just hours after Beane acquired him in a trade with the Browns that also included an exchange of draft picks.

Cooper, 30, arrives as the most accomplished........

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