Pats Pulpit
Just three days before the season opener versus the New England Patriots, Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Amari Cooper has opted to retire. According to a report by Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, the 31-year-old “informed the team that he no longer has the desire to play football.”
Cooper, 31, returned to Las Vegas on Aug. 25 via a one-year, $3.5 million contract. The deal allowed him to return to his football roots: the Raiders gave him his start in the league, making him the fourth overall selection in the NFL Draft back in 2015.
Between that selection and his retirement, he spent time in Las Vegas as well as with the Dallas Cowboys, Cleveland Browns and Buffalo Bills. In total, Cooper appeared in a combined 162 regular season and playoff games and caught 742 total passes for 10,378 yards and 66 touchdowns. He was voted to the Pro Bowl on five occasions, most recently in 2023.
His retirement now removes a layer of depth from the Patriots’ Week 1 opponent. While no longer projecting as a high-volume player at this stage in his career, Cooper would have provided experienced depth in the Raiders’ wide receiver. With him gone, that room now consists of Tre Tucker, Jakobi Meyers and rookies Dont’e Thornton Jr. and Jack Bech. Las Vegas also has three receivers — Alex Bachman, Shedrick Jackson, Justin Shorter — on its practice squad as possible promotion candidates.
The Patriots will welcome the Raiders to Gillette Stadium on Sunday, Sept. 7, for a 1 p.m. ET kickoff.
