A strong start to the offseason continued for the Cowboys on Sunday morning as they traded for Brandin Cooks.
Dallas sent a 2023 fifth-round pick and a 2024 sixth-round pick to the Houston Texans in exchange for the veteran wide receiver.
Dak Prescott now has a starting wide receiver trio of CeeDee Lamb, Michael Gallup and Cooks. Before the move, Dallas had a glaring hole in its receiving corps, which was a significant factor in the Cowboys coming up short in the divisional round at San Francisco in January. Gallup, coming off an ACL injury, didn’t perform as well as Dallas had hoped. The expectation is that two years removed from the injury should mean a better Gallup in 2023.
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Lamb is the clear No. 1 of the trio. They now need Cooks and Gallup to be quality No. 2 and No. 3 options. And that shouldn’t be too much to ask. Cooks has been a good player throughout his nine-year career. He has had six 1,000-yard seasons with four different teams. The expectation should be that he can turn in a seventh 1,000-yard season with around five touchdowns.
Cooks was drafted by the New Orleans Saints with the 20th overall pick in 2014. After consecutive 1,100-yard seasons that included a total of 17 touchdowns, he was traded to New England. The Patriots gave up a first- and-third round pick in exchange for Cooks and a fourth-round pick. Cooks then had a 1,000-yard season and seven touchdowns in one year with Tom Brady and the Patriots, who reached the Super Bowl that season.
Cooks was then traded along with a fourth-round pick to the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for first- and sixth-round picks. Cooks signed a five-year, $81 million deal with the Rams. After two seasons in Los Angeles, which included another Super Bowl appearance for Cooks, he was traded to Houston. The Texans gave up a second-round draft pick for Cooks and a fourth-round pick.
In three seasons in Houston, Cooks recorded 2,886 receiving yards and 15 touchdowns. Considering that the Texans won only 11 games during those three seasons, Cooks is probably eager to join one of the better rosters in the NFC.
Last April, Cooks signed a two-year, $40 million contract extension. The Texans reportedly agreed to pay $6 million of the $18 million guaranteed to Cooks this season to make the trade to Dallas happen.
He’s not a big receiver. At 5-10, 183 pounds, Cooks wins with his speed, route running and ability to make catches in traffic. He should be a good complement to Lamb (6-2, 197) and Gallup (6-1, 205).
Dallas Cowboys’ potential starting lineup pic.twitter.com/vrJxiN4l2H
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) March 19, 2023
The Cowboys didn’t do enough last March. After trading Amari Cooper, they never adequately replaced him on the roster. Gallup didn’t perform up to previous expectations. Third-round pick Jalen Tolbert and free agent James Washington provided very little. It’s the biggest reason why there was so much talk of signing Odell Beckham Jr. in December. Something had to be done this offseason to upgrade the position.
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There was still legitimate interest in signing Beckham. There were also rumors of other potential trades. But Cooks was always in the conversation because the Cowboys had shown interest in making a move for him last year. They clearly like the way he fits with this group. And they ultimately didn’t have to give up a lot to get him. Moves for other wide receivers like DeAndre Hopkins or Jerry Jeudy would likely cost a first- or second-round pick. That’s a lot to ask for, especially from a team so heavily dependent on the draft.
The Cowboys now can still add at the position in next month’s draft, but it is no longer a priority. This move follows several other impressive ones made by the Cowboys over the last two weeks.
COWBOYS’ OFFSEASON MOVES: Zeke released | Stephon Gilmore trade | Leighton Vander Esch | Donovan Wilson
They franchise-tagged Tony Pollard, their leading rusher and one of their top playmakers from 2022. They re-signed defensive starters Donovan Wilson and Leighton Vander Esch and traded a fifth-round compensatory pick for five-time Pro Bowl cornerback Stephon Gilmore. They reworked the contract of eight-time Pro Bowl offensive tackle Tyron Smith and restructured the contracts of Prescott, Gallup, Zack Martin and DeMarcus Lawrence.
And then they released two-time rushing champion Ezekiel Elliott to save around $11 million in salary-cap space, a difficult decision but one that needed to be made.
For as much criticism as the Cowboys’ front office usually receives this time of year for doing very little, they deserve praise for executing this more aggressive approach. Maybe seeing what the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Los Angeles Rams and Philadelphia Eagles have done the previous three offseasons has had an impact. Those three teams all went on to play in the Super Bowl. The Cowboys are making these moves because they believe they have a team capable of doing the same.
(Photo: Troy Taormina / USA Today)
