Trade grades: Cowboys get their WR, Raiders loading up on picks

With Monday's reported trade of wide receiver Amari Cooper to the Dallas Cowboys, Gruden and the Raiders now have a trio of first-round picks in the 2019 National Football League draft, as well as a pair of them in the 2020 draft. To even think about the playoffs, the Cowboys, the same Cowboys who are 0-4 and the road and haven't won consecutive games this season, will have to turn it on after their bye this week and go 6-3 down the stretch. While Cooper did not demand to be traded, Thompson was told by sources that the star receiver "set the wheels in motion" and the Raiders were essentially "obliging Cooper's overtures and got a first-round pick out of it". And Cowboys receivers haven't made many big plays in their first season without Bryant and retired tight end Jason Witten, the club leader in catches.

The 24-year-old Cooper - five years younger than Bryant - was placed in the concussion protocol after leaving Oakland's last game against Seattle on October 14.

Cooper, the fourth overall pick in the 2015 draft, is a bona fide No. 1 receiver. Over six games this season, he has 22 catches for 323 yards and three touchdowns. But it is another example of the Raiders (1-5) looking to the future. Oakland will now have three first-round picks in 2019 after also getting the Chicago Bears' selection in last month's Khalil Mack trade. The Cowboys drafted Michael Gallup in the third round and added veterans Tavon Austin, Allen Hurns and Deonte Thompson to a group that included Cole Beasley and Terrance Williams.