{"id":202797,"date":"2025-07-13T01:45:16","date_gmt":"2025-07-13T01:45:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/202797\/"},"modified":"2025-07-13T01:45:16","modified_gmt":"2025-07-13T01:45:16","slug":"he-didnt-want-to-be-a-raider-lincoln-kennedy-on-former-1st-rounder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/202797\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;He Didn&#8217;t Want To Be A Raider&#8221;\u2014Lincoln Kennedy On Former 1st Rounder"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-pm-slice=\"1 1 []\">While not exactly shocking, <a href=\"http:\/\/raiderramble.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Las Vegas Raiders<\/a> legend Lincoln Kennedy recently spoke about former first-round pick Amari Cooper and a potential reunion.<\/p>\n<p data-pm-slice=\"1 1 []\">July tends to see a plethora of rumors and outlandish takes\u2014it\u2019s the true \u201cslow\u201d period for NFL coverage. For example, you keep seeing publications linking the Raiders to <a href=\"https:\/\/raiderramble.com\/2025\/07\/04\/internet-keeps-linking-raiders-to-amari-cooper-and-brandon-aiyuk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">multiple wide receivers<\/a>. Among those names, you have Cooper.<\/p>\n<p data-pm-slice=\"1 1 []\">If you recall, Cooper was a highly productive player for the Silver and Black. From the start, No. 89 amassed an impressive stat line in his first two seasons in Oakland. 2,223 receiving yards, 11 touchdowns, and 155 receptions\u2014Cooper was a back-to-back Pro Bowler during that run as well. However, he experienced a significant drop in production after that, leading to Jon Gruden, the de facto leader of the Raiders, trading him away.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s be honest, Cooper never seemed content. Whenever you saw him in a picture or on the sidelines, he just looked miserable\u2014or at least that\u2019s how many within Raider Nation remember him. Well, they aren\u2019t alone, as former All-Pro Kennedy added to that notion recently. While appearing on the \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/raiders-squad-show-las-vegas-raiders-rookie-darien\/id1139751780?i=1000716194784\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Locked On Raiders Podcast<\/a>,\u201d Kennedy had shed some harsh truth on the former Raider.<\/p>\n<p data-pm-slice=\"1 1 []\">\u201cLet me preface this by saying that I remember when Amari was drafted. I was one of the first guys on the Raiders to interview him. I looked in his eyes and realized he didn\u2019t want to be a Raider,\u201d Kennedy stated. Indeed, it was not a particularly pleasant recollection for the former lineman. Still, you could argue that Cooper was a professional\u2013even if he didn\u2019t want to be there, he did his job and did it well.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe didn\u2019t enjoy his time in Oakland; that\u2019s why he couldn\u2019t wait to get out of there,\u201d Kennedy continued. \u201cHe is not a good route-running receiver. That\u2019s all Amari Cooper is\u2014just a name. I don\u2019t think they should do it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-pm-slice=\"1 1 []\">Kennedy always speaks candidly, and in this case, he is correct. Cooper\u2019s outward expressions certainly support his claims. Conversely, Cooper has performed well wherever he has played. An offense led by Chip Kelly, featuring Cooper, Brock Bowers, Jakobi Meyers, and Ashton Jeanty, could be truly formidable.<\/p>\n<p>*Top Photo: Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>Join The Ramble Email List<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While not exactly shocking, Las Vegas Raiders legend Lincoln Kennedy recently spoke about former first-round pick Amari Cooper&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":202798,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2065],"tags":[4848,2251,7,1744,393,2455,2454,41901,6,525],"class_list":{"0":"post-202797","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-las-vegas-raiders","8":"tag-amari-cooper","9":"tag-chip-kelly","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-las-vegas","12":"tag-las-vegas-raiders","13":"tag-lasvegas","14":"tag-lasvegasraiders","15":"tag-lincoln-kennedy","16":"tag-nfl","17":"tag-raiders"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114843401281539311","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202797","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=202797"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202797\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/202798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=202797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=202797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=202797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}