Report: Amari Cooper Had Interest from Bay Area Rival Before Signing with Raiders

The Raiders made a surprise move on Monday when they signed Amari Cooper to a one-year deal.

Cooper, who turned 31 in June, was widely considered the best wide receiver in the free agent pool, and according to The Athletic’s Dianna Russini, one of the teams known to be interested in Cooper before he signed with the Raiders was the San Francisco 49ers.

“I had a few teams hitting me up,” Cooper said at Tuesday’s press conference. “But I felt like this was the perfect opportunity to show that… trust me, I still got some juice left, so I want to show it and I felt like this was the opportunity for me to show it.”

Dianna Russini on X (formerly Twitter): “The Raiders are signing free-agent receiver Amari Cooper to a one-year deal, sources tell me and @tashanreed.Cooper had interest from multiple teams, including the 49ers, but elects to sign with Las Vegas. pic.twitter.com/VfHmo66Eqy / X”

The Raiders are signing free-agent receiver Amari Cooper to a one-year deal, sources tell me and @tashanreed.Cooper had interest from multiple teams, including the 49ers, but elects to sign with Las Vegas. pic.twitter.com/VfHmo66Eqy

For the Raiders’ Bay Area rivals, Cooper is the latest player to end up in Las Vegas when the 49ers were believed to be interested.

It was reported in April that the 49ers wanted two players the Raiders drafted at the end of the third round of this year’s draft.

According to 49ers insider Matt Barrows, the 49ers were targeting Caleb Rogers and Charles Grant with the no. 100 pick in the draft but watched both players get scooped up by GM John Spytek with picks 98 and 99.

In a separate report, it was rumored the 49ers were also targeting Raiders’ cornerback Darien Porter.

x: @raidersbeat