Cooks dealt to Cowboys
Move brings two more picks, means new No. 1 receiver could come via draft
The Texans have traded wide receiver Brandin Cooks to the Cowboys for a fifth-round pick in the 2023 draft and a sixthround pick in 2024, a league source confirmed to the Chronicle.
The Chronicle reported last week that a deal was expected to happen.
Cooks first made a trade request before the trade deadline last October after the Texans had struggled. But the Texans couldn’t find a team willing to take on his contract, which has $18 million in guaranteed money for the 2023 season. He reiterated after the season that he didn’t want to be part of a rebuild and maintained his trade request.
New coach DeMeco Ryans said at the NFL Scouting Combine that he would love to have Cooks back.
But Cooks, 30, wanted to be traded to a contender so he could compete for a Super Bowl during the latter part of his career.
“That window where your gifts are at its peak only last for so long,” Cooks said in January. “So for me, I’m not looking at it (as) being part of a rebuild.”
Cooks, who was traded to the Texans in 2020, had one of the worst seasons of his NFL career last season. The Texans implemented a run-heavy offense with the emergence of rookie running back Dameon Pierce and the struggles of quarterback Davis Mills.
Cooks finished the year with 57 catches for 699 yards and three touchdowns, which was the lowest during his time in Houston. In the two years prior, he finished with at least 80 catches and 1,000 yards.
This is the fourth time in Cooks’ career that he has been traded, tying Eric Dickerson’s NFL record for the most times a player has been traded.
What does it mean?
The Texans will save millions in cap space by moving Cooks. Houston restructured his deal on Saturday and agreed to take on $6 million, while Dallas will take on the remaining $12 million.
That the Texans have traded Cooks also means that they need to find their No. 1 wide receiver. And with the top free agent wide receivers off the market, it will come in the draft.
As of now, the Texans have free agent acquisitions Robert Woods and Noah Brown, and incumbent wide receivers Nico Collins and John Metchie III, a second-round pick who didn’t play last season because he was diagnosed with cancer.
Those four players combined for 133 catches for 1,563 receiving yards, seven touchdowns in 2022.
The Texans now have 12 picks in the 2023 NFL draft, including three picks within the first 33 picks. A quarterback will more than likely be added with the second pick, but the Texans must add a wide receiver with either the 12th or 33rd pick.
Among the top wide receivers in the draft are TCU’s Quentin Johnston, Ohio State’s Jaxon SmithNjigba, Boston College’s Zay Flowers and USC’s Jordan Addison.
All are expected to be available when the Texans pick at No. 12.