For the second time this offseason, the Los Angeles Rams parted ways with one of their top offensive playmakers. After cutting Todd Gurley last month, they traded away Brandin Cooks on Thursday, sending him and a 2022 fourth-round pick to the Texans for a second-rounder.
From a financial standpoint, trading Cooks made no sense whatsoever. The Rams will eat $21.8 million in dead money, losing $5 million in cap space this year just for him to play for the Texans.
From a roster-building perspective, it’s easy to see the Rams’ thinking behind this move. Cooks was coming off arguably the worst season of his career – a year in which he suffered two concussions – and wide receiver was already a strength in L.A.
By trading Cooks, they got back a second-rounder in 2020, while also parting ways with a fourth-round pick in 2022. It just so happens that the incoming draft class is historically strong at the top and one of the deepest in recent memory. There could be as many as six wideouts taken in the first round and more than 20 in the first three rounds.
“In terms of the depth and the talent in this draft, the wide receiver group [is] as deep as I’ve seen,” Daniel Jeremiah of NFL Network said on a pre-combine conference call. I’ve got 27 wide receivers with top three-round grades in this draft. We had a max of 35 taken in 2017. So, this is a really phenomenal group of wideouts.”
The Rams made this trade knowing how deep the incoming class of receivers is. They knew that by acquiring a second-round pick for Cooks, they could use that selection on one of the promising rookies, effectively replacing Cooks with a younger, cheaper player – albeit, a less proven one.
Depending on how the first round goes, the Rams could be staring one of these wide receivers in the face at No. 52 overall, or in a trade up during the second round:
- Denzel Mims, Baylor
- Jalen Reagor, TCU
- Laviska Shenault Jr., Colorado
- Tee Higgins, Clemson
- Michael Pittman, USC
- Brandon Aiyuk, Arizona State
Mims is the least likely to be available at No. 52 after blowing up the combine with a 4.38 40-yard dash, 131-inch broad jump and unfathomable 6.66 three-cone drill – 0.28 seconds better than any other wideout.
The Rams had a pre-draft FaceTime meeting with Mims and are among the teams most interested in the former Baylor Bear. He’s an electric wideout who isn’t fully developed yet, which makes him a player the Rams would have a hard time passing up in the second round.
Now, does that mean Mims or any of the other rookies will be better than Cooks? In Year 1, probably not. Wide receivers take time to adapt to the speed and size of NFL cornerbacks, who play much more man coverage than college defensive backs.
Since 2010, only eight rookies have recorded 1,000-yard seasons. Of the 78 wide receivers taken in the first two rounds since 2010, 37 have failed to eclipse even 500 yards receiving as rookies.
The Rams aren’t guaranteed to take a wide receiver in the second round, of course, as they have other pressing needs, too. They could use help on the offensive line, as well at linebacker and edge rusher.
But one thing is clear: They traded Cooks knowing this year is a golden opportunity to grab a promising wide receiver in a historically deep draft class. And with both Cooper Kupp and Josh Reynolds becoming free agents after this season, the Rams will have at least one hole at wide receiver in 2021, most likely.
There’s no better time to prepare for the future with a second-round receiver who would likely be a first-rounder if not for the immense depth at the position.
[vertical-gallery id=630889]