Why Shocking Retirement Puts Raiders in a Dangerous Scenario

The Las Vegas Raiders were already dealing with depth problems, not only in their receiving room but across their roster. By releasing Christian Wilkins, they put a lot of pressure on their incoming rookies on defense to step up and be ready to be rotational pieces early.

Reuniting with Amari Cooper was meant to mitigate some of their depth problems, give Geno Smith an experienced target in an otherwise inexperienced group of wide receivers, and end Cooper's time in the NFL where it all began.

However, that is no more. It's just been reported that Cooper will not be joining the Raiders in their 2025 campaign, as he will retire before suiting up for them again. Cooper is putting an end to his decade-long career and leaving the Raiders scrambling for solutions.

Surprise Retirement

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

This is shocking news coming days before the Raiders head to Gillette Stadium to take on the New England Patriots in their season opener. Now, the outlook on the Raiders' offense is more bleak, and this surprise retirement places heavy expectations on Jack Bech and Dont'e Thornton Jr. to come into their own sooner rather than later.

Jakobi Meyers can also expect to see more attention on him from opposing defenses than he would've if Cooper remained on the team, as outside of Tre Tucker, nobody else in this receiving room has extensive NFL experience.

Their passing attack was always going to be headlined by Brock Bowers before anybody in their receiving room, but it cannot be overstated how much of a blow this is to their offensive ceiling. What can they do now?

Solutions?

The only thing they can do with so little time to prepare before their season opener is to rely on the run game with Ashton Jeanty as much as possible. The Patriots are missing some key pieces in their secondary, which should incentivize the Raiders to throw the ball more, but this is such a shakeup that I doubt Pete Carroll would want to.

It's not as if Cooper had plenty of time on the team, and his retirement affects their morale or any of the training they've had. It's just that Cooper was so experienced that he could've been plugged into their offense at any time and would've found success.

This was a shock for Raider Nation and the entire NFL, and we'll have to wait and see if Cooper's retirement affects how they game plan against the Patriots.

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