“He’s a talented player now,” said Las Vegas Raiders offensive coordinator Chip Kelly on WR Amari Cooper. The former Raiders star in Oakland announced his intentions to retire from the NFL on Thursday, the day of the league’s season-opening game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys.
“But he called [Raiders head coach] Pete [Carroll] this morning, had a good conversation with Pete, and I think he’s just done playing.” Kelly continued. “But you could still see the talent was there.”
Cooper re-signed with the Raiders on a one-year deal back on August 25th. It was a reunion for Cooper, who spent the first three-and-a-half years with the team after being drafted No. 4 overall out of Alabama in 2015. He was traded to the Cowboys midway through the 2018 season, signing an extension in Dallas before being traded to the Browns in 2022.
In 2024, Cooper was traded to the Bills at the trade deadline. He had gone unsigned throughout all of training camp this year before landing with the Raiders, though it seems he is now content to retire a member of the team that originally drafted him.
Chip Kelly on What Amari Cooper’s Retirement Means for the Las Vegas Raiders
Thearon W. HendersonOAKLAND, CA – OCTOBER 19: Amari Cooper #89 of the Oakland Raiders celebrates after a touchdown against the Kansas City Chiefs during their NFL game at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum on October 19, 2017 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
“We still have today, Thursday, Friday, Saturday’s practice session before we have to finalize who was up and who was down,” Kelly said, referring to the team’s active/inactive lists on game days. “And we hadn’t made any final decisions on was [Cooper] gonna play in the first game or not in the first game.”
“He was training with us and got reps and all those other things, but it was a matter of, usually I think for everybody, you’re not making your final 46-man roster, or 48-man roster, until Saturday anyway. So we hadn’t had any discussions. We said we were gonna go through Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and then we’d determine who was up and who was down.”
“So it’s unfortunate,” Kelly concluded, “because I think the world of him, I think he’s a heck of a football player and he’s had a heck of an NFL career. But he knows in his heart what he wants to do. So I wish him the best, I’ve always been a big fan of his.”
Amari Cooper’s Las Vegas Raiders Legacy
In his three-and-a-half seasons in Oakland, Cooper made a mark on the franchise. He had 72 receptions for 1,070 yards and six touchdowns as a rookie, stamping his name on the league right away. He followed that up with 83 catches for 1,153 yards and five touchdowns the next year. He made two Pro Bowls with the Raiders and was named No. 53 on the NFL Top 100 list in 2017.
Cooper hasn’t been the same player in recent seasons he was in his prime, he still made a positive impact everywhere he went. His loss will be a blow to a Raiders team that needed his veteran expertise and leadership in a young receiving corps.
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