On Sunday, the Dallas Cowboys acquired Brandin Cooks, a wide receiver from the Houston Texans, for a fifth-round pick in the 2023 draft and a sixth-round pick in the 2024 draft. The move was made to add speed and complement CeeDee Lamb, a Pro Bowler on the team. The trade likely takes the Cowboys out of the running for Odell Beckham Jr., according to a source who spoke with ESPN’s Ed Werder. “Hard to do Cooks and OBJ,” the source said.
The Cowboys and Texans had discussed a trade for Cooks before the 2022 deadline, but they could not come to an agreement. Cooks’ $18 million salary in 2023 is guaranteed, and he is under contract until 2024. On Saturday, Cooks restructured his contract so that Houston will pay $6 million of his salary this season, and Dallas will pay the remaining $12 million, sources told ESPN. Cooks expressed his excitement about the trade in a text message to ESPN’s DJ Bien-Aime, saying that he was “beyond blessed” and couldn’t wait to be special for the star.
Last year, the Cowboys traded Amari Cooper to the Cleveland Browns for a fifth-round pick. The team then only added veteran James Washington in free agency and Jalen Tolbert in the third round as replacements. Washington suffered a broken foot in training camp and played in only two games, without a catch, before his release. Tolbert caught just two passes as a rookie. With Michael Gallup coming back from a torn ACL in his left knee, executive vice president Stephen Jones said that it was “probably fair” to criticize the Cowboys for not doing enough to replace Cooper.
The acquisition of Cooks gives the Cowboys a speed threat to pair with Lamb and Gallup, whom the organization believes will be much better in his second year back from major surgery. Cooks, who caught 57 passes for 699 yards and three scores in 13 games for the Texans last season, has been vocal about his unhappiness in Houston and said that he didn’t want to be part of a rebuild. In his career with the Texans, Los Angeles Rams, New England Patriots, and New Orleans Saints, he has 630 receptions for 8,616 yards and 49 touchdowns. This is the fourth time that Cooks has been traded in his career.
The Cooks deal is the second significant trade that the Cowboys have made in the past week. They also acquired cornerback Stephon Gilmore from the Indianapolis Colts for a fifth-round pick (No. 176 overall). The Cowboys have built their roster through the draft and have eschewed major free-agent signings. They now have one pick in each round. They had three fifth-round picks after compensatory selections were announced but have since dealt two of them.
In conclusion, the Dallas Cowboys have acquired Brandin Cooks to add speed and complement CeeDee Lamb. This likely takes them out of the running for Odell Beckham Jr. Cooks’ $18 million salary in 2023 is guaranteed, and he is under contract until 2024. This is the second significant trade that the Cowboys have made in the past week, the first being the acquisition of cornerback Stephon Gilmore.
