Even 5 years later, the amount of money the Dallas Cowboys decided to pay Pro Bowl wide receiver Amari Cooper still stuns — a 5-year, $100 million contract extension in March 2020 that made him the highest paid wide receiver in NFL history at the time.
What’s not as surprising was Cooper’s decision to hang up his cleats and retire on September 4 — less than 2 weeks after he signed a 1-year, $4 million contract with the Las Vegas Raiders.
“Comeback no more: #Raiders WR Amari Cooper has informed the team that he no longer has the desire to play and intends to retire, per The Insiders,” NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport wrote on his official X account. “Cooper had signed at the end of camp in a hopeful reunion with the team that drafted him. Now, he’s headed home from Las Vegas.”
Cooper played for the Cowboys from 2018 to 2021, earning 2 of his 5 Pro Bowl selections in 2018 and 2019. He had a career high in receiving yards with the Cowboys in 2019 with 79 receptions for 1,189 yards and 8 touchdowns.
He finished his career with 711 receptions for 10,033 yards and 64 touchdowns.
Social Media Reacts To Cooper’s Retirement
As could be expected, social media was less than kind to Cooper following his decision to retire so shortly after signing with the team that selected him with the No. 4 overall pick in the 2015 NFL draft.
Cooper played 3 seasons with the Raiders before he was traded to the Cowboys in October 2018 in exchange for a 2019 first round pick.
Cooper, who turned 31 years old in June, has been one of the NFL’s dominant wide receivers over the last decade.
He struggled playing for 2 teams in 2024 with the Cleveland Browns and Bills with career lows of 547 receiving yards and 4 touchdowns. Despite that, Cooper still has 3 seasons over 1,000 receiving yards in the last 4 years.
Sleeper HQ posted a tweet — “Amari Cooper’s 2nd stint with the Raiders” — accompanied by a video of Aaron Rodgers running on the field for the New York Jets before the 2023 regular season opener. Rodgers famously tore his Achilles tendon on the second offensive play of the season in his first game with the Jets.
“Pete Carroll tried to get Amari Cooper to express himself and show joy so he decided to retire,” The Athletic’s Ted Nguyen joked on his official X account.
Others were more kind.
“Happy retirement Amari Cooper! Seven seasons with 1k+ yards. Stud WR1 in his prime and proved capable of balling with multiple QBs on different teams,” MB Fantasy’s Ian Hartitz wrote on his official X account. “Route-running was absolute cinema for a long time. Last season at Bama still one of the most dominant from a WR in recent memory.”
Cooper had one of the most dominant single seasons for a wide receiver in college football history in 2014 with 80 receptions for 1,727 yards and 16 touchdowns in 14 games.
That year, Cooper was the SEC Offensive Player of the Year, unanimous All-American and won the Biletnikoff Award as college football’s best wide receiver.
“I have great respect for what Amari Cooper did,” Carrington Harrison wrote on X following Cooper’s announcement. “If your heart isn’t in it, playing professional football is not what you should be doing.”
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