Steelers Now
The Las Vegas Raiders signed wide receiver Amari Cooper on Aug. 26, but the reunion with the Black and Silver came to an abrupt end on Thursday. Cooper has informed the team that he no longer has the desire to play and intends to retire, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.
Cooper, 31, had been a free agent since closing the 2024 season with the Buffalo Bills. He caught 20 passes for 297 yards and two touchdowns in eight games after coming over in a mid-season trade from the Cleveland Browns, where he caught another 24 passes for 250 yards and two touchdowns in six games.
The combined 547 yards represented the lowest output of Cooper’s career.
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.
Cooper had signed at the end of camp in a hopeful reunion with the team that drafted. Now, he’s headed home from Las Vegas. pic.twitter.com/jEZHPHBPBq
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 4, 2025
The No. 4 overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft, Cooper finishes his 10-year career with 711 receptions for 10,033 yards and 64 touchdowns. Cooper was traded from the Raiders to the Dallas Cowboys in 2018, and then from the Cowboys to the Cleveland Browns in 2022 and from the Browns to the Bills last season.
Raiders wide receiver Jakobi Meyers submitted a trade request to Las Vegas after talks fell through between him and the team on a contract extension. The news of Meyers’ trade request broke just hours before that of Cooper’s signing. With Cooper retiring, the need to keep Meyers becomes more significant.
On Wednesday, Meyers addresses reports that he requested a trade amid contract negotiations, saying he’s happy in Las Vegas but he ‘can be happy anywhere.’
“I asked, they said no. That’s where that stopped. I’ll keep doing my job until something shakes out either way,” Meyers said.
Cooper and Meyers were both tabbed as possible wide receiver targets for the Steelers, who are still in need of an upgrade at the No. 2 WR position.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Free Agent Wide Receiver Retires Just After Signing with Raiders
