A shift to the Buffalo Bills midway through the season likely had negative repercussions for Amari Cooper.
Cooper became a Bill, anticipating he would contribute significantly to a Super Bowl pursuit, but his presence was minimal. He accumulated only 297 receiving yards over eight regular-season matchups with the Bills. He added another 41 yards across three postseason contests. A wrist ailment may have played a factor, but he still experienced a delay before securing a contract as a free agent.
Cooper’s period of waiting is over, as he is slated to finalize a one-year deal with the Las Vegas Raiders, as reported by NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport on Monday. This development signifies Cooper’s return to the team that originally drafted him in the 2015 NFL Draft as the No. 4 overall selection — back when the team was located in Oakland, California, before its relocation to Las Vegas. Across 47 starts, Cooper recorded a total of 225 catches, 3,183 receiving yards, and 19 touchdowns while wearing the team’s colors.
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The information regarding Cooper’s impending signing with his previous team follows reports that veteran wide receiver Jakobi Meyers has expressed a desire to be traded from the Raiders.
Cooper is approaching his 31st birthday, but prior to the previous season, he displayed consistent productivity for the Raiders, Cowboys, and Browns. In 2023, he amassed 1,250 receiving yards and earned a Pro Bowl selection. Just some months prior, he was deemed valuable enough for the Bills to exchange third- and seventh-round draft choices with the Browns for his services (Buffalo also received a sixth-round selection as part of the exchange). He has accomplished seven 1,000-yard receiving seasons during his career. Last season can be viewed as an exception, especially given the wrist issue he encountered in Buffalo, but there wasn’t intense competition for his services as free agency began.
Cooper possesses a solid performance record, and there was a limited number of game-changing receivers available in the market this offseason, which made the length of Cooper’s wait surprising. Nevertheless, now that he’s secured a place on a team, he has the potential to offer a reliable veteran presence, not far removed from his previous Pro Bowl-caliber form, even at 31.
The Raiders have undergone some changes since Cooper’s last tenure, including noteworthy offensive additions dating back to last season and a new head coach, Pete Carroll, who finalized a three-year contract with the organization this past January. On offense, Cooper will be part of a lineup that includes notable players, such as tight end Brock Bowers, entering his second NFL season, as well as No. 6 overall draft pick Ashton Jeanty out of Boise State and free-agent signing Geno Smith at quarterback.
