HENDERSON, Nev.—Las Vegas Raiders coach Pete Carroll took a phone call today from WR Amari Cooper, who, after being back with the Silver and Black for only a few days, announced his retirement.
While his performance had in no way been overwhelming since arriving, the team had enough faith in him to put him on the initial 53-man roster.
So will the Raiders GM John Spytek now pivot and sign WR Jakobi Meyers to a much-deserved two-year contract extension?
We give you the latest on Meyers’ contract, and additionally, we look forward to this weekend’s first game of the season against the New England Patriots on the East Coast.
We break all of this down for you.
Our latest episode of the Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast features the unexpected retirement of WR Amari Cooper, updates on Jakobi Meyers’ contract situation, and the Silver and Black’s plans.
One of the keys to a Raiders win this weekend is the rule of five.
The Rule of Five
Keep in mind the “Rule of Five.” The game is considered over if the Las Vegas Raiders win this key statistical battle. This rule involves sacks and turnovers.
For example, if the Raiders achieve three sacks while allowing two, they have a net score of plus one. If they force four turnovers and allow only one, their score improves to plus three.
In total, a plus-four score for the day would be achieved. The Raiders aim to accomplish a plus-five ratio in every game. On average, teams that attain the Rule of Five win 91 percent of their NFL games.
Earlier today, OC Chip Kelly spoke about how the Raiders learned of Amari Cooper’s retirement.
OC Chip Kelly on Amari Cooper’s Retirement
“Well, I feel he’s a talented player now, but he called Pete [Carroll] this morning and had a good conversation with Pete, and I think he’s just done playing. But you could still see the talent was there.”
The reality was that Cooper, while making the 53-man roster, was not guaranteed to dress on Sunday.
“But we still have today, Thursday, Friday, Saturday’s practice session before we have to finalize who is up and who is down, and we hadn’t made any final decisions on was he going to play in the first game or not in the first game. He was training with us and got reps and all those other things but it was a matter of, usually I think for everybody, you’re not making your final 46-man roster or 48-man roster until Saturday anyway. So, we hadn’t had any discussions. We said we were going to go through Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and then we’d determine who was up and who was down.”
But the reality is that the Raiders didn’t want this. “So, it’s unfortunate because I think the world of him. I think that he’s a heck of a football player, has had a heck of an NFL career, but he knows in his heart what he wants to do. So, I wish him the best. I’ve always been a big fan of his.”
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