Raiders bring back former 1st-round pick after WR requests trade

The Raiders are reuniting with one of their old first-round picks with their regular-season opener less than two weeks away.

Wide receiver Amari Cooper, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2015 draft, signed a one-year deal with the team Monday, according to sources with knowledge of the situation.

Cooper, 31, had 44 catches for 547 yards and four touchdowns last season with the Browns and Bills.

The former Alabama standout spent parts of four seasons in Oakland after being drafted, catching 225 passes for 3,183 yards and 19 touchdowns in 52 games. The Raiders traded him to the Cowboys midway through the 2018 campaign for a first-round pick. They later used that selection on safety Johnathan Abram, who had 255 tackles in 36 games with the franchise.

The Raiders signed Cooper hours after wide receiver Jakobi Meyers informed the team he would like to be traded, according to a source with knowledge of the situation, but the two situations are independent of one another.

Cooper typically plays out wide, while Meyers is often in the slot. They’d be able to play together if they both remain on the Raiders’ roster.

Cooper’s addition could affect the playing time of some of the team’s younger wide receivers, however. The team previously had a group of inexperienced players behind Meyers in third-year pro Tre Tucker, rookie second-round pick Jack Bech and rookie fourth-round pick Dont’e Thornton Jr.

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