The Las Vegas Raiders had a need at wide receiver all offseason, and finally addressed it with the signing of Amari Cooper. The former Pro Bowl wide receiver got his start in the NFL with the Raiders when he was a first-round pick in 2015.
Things didn’t end on the best of terms, as the team traded him to the Dallas Cowboys during the 2018 season. However, it has been several years, and there are completely different people running the Raiders now.
Cooper likely could’ve signed with a number of other teams, but wanted to return to the Raiders. In his words, he had “unfinished business” based on his first Instagram post following the news of his signing.
It’s true that Cooper has unfinished business with the Raiders. He only played a bit more than three seasons with the team. There was a time when he looked like the next great wide receiver for a franchise that has employed some of the greatest in NFL history. He has a chance to change his Raiders legacy if he’s able to be an impact player in 2025.
Insiders Discuss Cooper Signing
Cooper is a bit older now (31) and is coming off the weakest season of his career. However, he was a Pro Bowler as recently as 2023. The Raiders are really thin at wide receiver right now, so there’s a good chance that Cooper will be the team’s No. 1 or No. 2 wide receiver in some games.
Tashan Reed and Dianna Russini of The Athletic broke down why the Raiders wanted to sign him.
“With that in mind, Cooper provides the Raiders with some much-needed depth,” Reed and Russini wrote. “The veteran had a down year in 2024 — he caught 44 passes for 547 yards and four touchdowns — but he was a Pro Bowl-caliber receiver as recently as 2023. If he can return to form, he’ll provide a major upgrade for the Raiders.
“This is a reunion for Cooper and the Raiders, who drafted him fourth overall in 2015. He was a productive player who made the Pro Bowl three times in his four seasons with the Raiders. There was once some bad blood between him and the franchise after they traded him to the Dallas Cowboys in 2019, but plenty has changed since then. After all, that was three head coaches and general managers ago.”
What’s Going to Happen With Jakobi Meyers?
The Raiders’ signing of Cooper came shortly after the news that No. 1 wide receiver Jakobi Meyers had requested a trade. While the team likes Meyers, they could feel like they already have his future replacement on the roster.
“It’s worth noting that general manager John Spytek and coach Pete Carroll have shown a willingness to extend roster holdovers from the previous regime,” Reed and Russini wrote. “They signed defensive end Maxx Crosby to a massive three-year, $106.5 million extension in March and signed left tackle Kolton Miller to a three-year, $66 million extension in July.
“The difference with Meyers is that the Raiders may have already drafted his replacement in second-round pick Jack Bech. One of the primary reasons the rookie has been stuck with the backups is that his skill set overlaps with Meyers.”
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