When word got out that the Oakland Raiders were officially putting wide receiver Amari Cooper on the trading block, ears opened up and eyes widened. Many teams around the league could use a former first-round receiver who hasn’t quite lived up to that status with the Oakland Raiders but may elsewhere. However, once Oakland revealed what they wanted in return for Cooper, many of those teams decided to back off.
The 2018 NFL trade deadline is on October 30, and that doesn’t leave a lot of time for the Raiders to find a buyer for the wide receiver. Things may be made even more difficult by the fact that Ian Rapaport of NFL.com is reporting that Oakland wants a first-round pick for Cooper.
“The Raiders have had some conversations about potentially trading him. My understanding is that they have asked for a first-round pick in exchange for Amari Cooper, which seems incredibly significant. And it might make it difficult if not impossible to trade him.”
As reported by Inquisitr , rumors have been swirling already and some speculation has linked Amari Cooper in a trade to the Dallas Cowboys. Of course, that was before it was revealed that the Raiders wanted a first-round draft pick in return and it may have caused Jerry Jones to back off entirely.
Report: Raiders want first-round draft pick for Amari Cooper https://t.co/eYpysYbEhK pic.twitter.com/pLLtzA5aXg
— Raiders on NBCS (@NBCSRaiders) October 15, 2018
While no team has actually come out and expressed public interest in trading for Cooper, there are other teams who may jump on the possibility of landing him.
Browns Wire has thrown around the idea of going after Cooper, but again, the steep asking price for the trade may be too much. The other problem is that the Browns are dealing with a number of injuries at the wide receiver position and lead the league in dropped passes.
It’s true that Cooper does have a history of dropping a lot of passes in his short NFL career, he may be able to fix that situation with Baker Mayfield.
There had been some whispers that the Philadelphia Eagles would like to get their season back on track and make a big trade, but again, that whole first-round pick demand. The Philly Voice believes the Eagles could find something better in-house rather than working out a trade.
Eagles: We’re interested in Amari Cooper
Raiders: We want a first round pick for him
Eagles:
— PHLSportsNation (@PHLSportsNation) October 15, 2018
Pro Football Focus named a handful of teams who could possibly look at completing a trade for Amari Cooper, but not many of them have overly strong cases. The New England Patriots and Green Bay Packers were listed, but it’s not as if they really need a wide receiver that badly, with the Seattle Seahawks finding themselves in the same situation.
The Jacksonville Jaguars and New York Jets are both struggling and it would not hurt either of them to have Cooper on their roster. New York has some great wide-outs, but the passing game is still one of the lowest in the entire NFL. As for Jacksonville, they just need something to give them a spark and hope this season isn’t a complete loss.
Amari Cooper is on the trading block and could end up being dealt before the NFL trade deadline in two weeks, but will it help the Oakland Raiders? Right now, it already seems as if their season may be lost and even if they get a first-round draft pick in return for the WR, it won’t help them until next year.