Getty Images Dak Prescott and Derek Carr shaking hands after the game.
Who won the Amari Cooper trade last month? Was it the Dallas Cowboys who are currently on a tear? Or was it the Oakland Raiders who may be out of playoff contention, but are seeing some improvement from their quarterback and have multiple first-round picks? It’s hard to tell for sure since the draft hasn’t happened yet. But naturally, all of the hype right now surrounds Dak Prescott and Amari Cooper’s unstoppable force.
Has Prescott been perfect since the trade for Cooper? Not even in the slightest. But to say that he hasn’t been good would be foolish. Okay, so maybe Prescott isn’t flashing MVP numbers – but he’s definitely taking over games just like he did back in his glory days of 2016. It is a literal fact that Amari Cooper has uplifted Prescott’s game. So, you would think that the loss of Cooper hurt the Raiders offense. Well, that’s actually not the case.
So, the Raiders have put away the 2018 season. At this point, Oakland is just going through the motions on gameday. The loss of Cooper hasn’t hurt the team, as he wasn’t really performing all that well while in Oakland anyway. However, it has been pointed out that Derek Carr has, in fact, uplifted his game after the trade as well. Check out this interesting tidbit.
A Look at Both Quarterback’s Stats since the Trade
Has Derek Carr turned in some MVP-worthy games without Cooper? No way. But to say that the loss of Cooper would affect Carr would simply be false. Sometimes players just don’t do well in different systems. Cooper has established himself as a Pro-Bowl wide receiver with Jack Del Rio’s coaching staff. But with Jon Gruden’s team, Cooper was viewed as some wideout who only produced two good years, and was beginning to look washed early on in his career.
The Amari Cooper trade turned out to be solid for both parties. The Cowboys see a significant increase in talent and production on their offense. And the Raiders get a good return for their future while their quarterback clearly starts to improve without worrying about forcing the ball to the former first-round pick. Everybody wins.