Oakland Raiders: Amari Cooper trade gives control of 2019 NFL Draft

The Oakland Raiders fire sale continued as they traded Amari Cooper to the Dallas Cowboys, but now Jon Gruden will control the 2019 NFL Draft.

It was clear from the moment that Jon Gruden and the Oakland Raiders traded Khalil Mack right before the start of the 2018 season that massive changes were coming. With the ensuing struggles of the Raiders to start the new campaign, it appeared that a fire sale was coming. That, of course, was largely fueled by Amari Cooper trade rumors swirling.

On Monday, those rumors became reality. As first reported by Josina Anderson of ESPN, the Raiders have traded the wide receiver to the Dallas Cowboys. In return, Dallas is sending a first-round pick to Oakland, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

As it turns out, the Raiders are cleaning house and starting over. There have been countless jokes made about Gruden remaking this roster in his image, for better or worse. With this trade in addition to dealing Mack prior to the season, they aren’t just jokes — it appears to be the reality of what’s happening in Oakland.

If this is indeed a rebuild for the Raiders, though, they are going about it the right way. After the package they received for Mack and now the Cooper trade, Oakland will have three first-round picks in the 2019 NFL Draft. Considering that their own pick will likely be in the top five, that gives them a ton of valuable capital to spend moving forward.

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With that type of draft capital, Gruden can officially start building the team the way that he desires. Granted, this all hinges upon the new head man in Oakland making the right decisions in this regard, which remains to be seen if it can be relied upon or not.

Having said that, the course of action to get this process started is right for Oakland. Raiders fans may (rightfully) disagree with the notion of trading away star talents (Mack) or young players with high ceilings (Cooper), but if you’re going to go that route, you need to get the right return to re-construct the roster.

With three first-round picks, the Raiders are now in a position to do just that in the 2019 NFL Draft. Oakland will dictate much of how the first round goes come April, and will subsequently set themselves up for their future with Gruden — whatever that may be.