The Dallas Cowboys acquired wide receiver Amari Cooper from Oakland in exchange for a first-round pick on Monday.
Maybe it was the sting of losing such a close game to a division rival, and the prospect of another downfield threat proved too juicy to pass up.
The #Cowboys are sending a first-round pick to the #Raiders for WR Amari Cooper, source said. Big move for Dallas.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 22, 2018After trading Cooper and, in September, Khalil Mack to Chicago, Oakland now has three first-round picks in the 2019 NFL Draft, and an additional first-round pick in 2020.
The #Raiders are now in a full rebuild. They have three first-rounders for the 2019 draft. And I bet they aren’t done yet. Karl Joseph is another first-rounder available. My understanding is Derek Carr and CB Gareon Conley are among those not considered likely to be traded.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 22, 2018Dallas gets a season-and-a-half of Cooper, who's owed $13.9 million next year on a fifth-year player option. Signing him to an extension, as Chicago did with Mack, might lessen the blow of giving up a high draft pick.
New #Cowboys WR Amari Cooper’s fifth-year option for $13.9M comes off the books for Oakland. With these trades, the #Raiders now have $74M in cap space entering the 2019 offseason. And three first-round picks. That’s the flip side. … And I’m gonna guess those picks will be early
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 22, 2018Philadelphia reportedly offered a second-round pick for Cooper last week, but Oakland held out for a first. There is a growing narrative that Dallas bid against themselves here.
I’m told the Eagles offered a second-round pick to the Raiders for Amari Cooper last week. Raiders held out for a 1. Got it today from Philly’s NFC East rival. Colts also had interest. @AroundTheNFL @nflnetwork
— Michael Silver (@MikeSilver) October 22, 2018Everyone I've talked to in the last 20 minutes says the #Cowboys were bidding against themselves for Cooper.Closest other interest was a 3rd rounder.
— Benjamin Allbright (@AllbrightNFL) October 22, 2018The Cowboys giving up a No. 1 for Amari Cooper reminds me of when the Redskins would trade picks like they were candy back in the day. The team's fans should be very glad those days are over.
— Grant Paulsen (@granthpaulsen) October 22, 2018Alas, here's how NFL Twitter reacted to the trade.
If Amari Cooper is worth a first-round selection, then Patrick Peterson should require a draft equivalent of Powerball to acquire.
— Rich Eisen (@richeisen) October 22, 2018Jon Gruden on Amari Cooper in February: “He’ll be the focal point of our offense.”Jon Gruden on Amari Cooper Trade Rumors Last Week: "I haven't heard that. I'm just sorry to have to deal with a lot of these reports.”Today: Raiders trade Amari Cooper
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) October 22, 2018How is Amari Cooper worth a first-round pick but Josh Gordon worth a fifth-round pick?
— Adam Levitan (@adamlevitan) October 22, 2018Guess the Redskins aren’t trading for Amari Cooper
— JP Finlay (@JPFinlayNBCS) October 22, 2018Amari Cooper has historically been most effective in slot. With Cole Beasley in Dallas, have to wonder how many slot opportunities Amari will get with #Cowboys.
— Evan Silva (@evansilva) October 22, 2018Spin this forward: Cowboys miss the playoffs. Sign Dak Prescott to a big-money contract.Go back to being totally irrelevant.They can't pay Cooper + Zeke + Dak + the OL.If they miss the playoffs, this trade is a huge failure
— Jason McIntyre (@jasonrmcintyre) October 22, 2018The pressure's on for Dallas to turn its season around and make the playoffs...
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