The Houston Texans have finally made a deal to get Brandin Cooks out of the AFC South.
According to Ian Rapoport from the NFL Network, the Texans are trading Cooks to the Dallas Cowboys in exchange for a 2023 fifth-rounder and a 2024 sixth-rounder.
At the NFL combine on Feb. 28, general manager Nick Caserio wouldn’t address the Cooks situation directly, but mentioned the club was looking at the wideout relative to their plans for the 2023 roster.
“I’d say we’re kind of in the team building process here,” said Caserio. “Every player, every individual situation we’ll look at it. Then, ultimately we’ll do what feels best for the team and the organization moving forward.”
Cooks stated at the end of the season that he did not want to be around for another rebuild. Comparatively the Cowboys have made the playoffs each of the past two seasons.
Cooks had his worst season with the Texans and worst since his rookie season in 2022 with 57 catches for 699 yards and three touchdowns through 13 games, all of which he started.
The talk of trading Cooks was a storyline around the regular season deadline in 2022. However, quarterback Davis Mills did not believe it affected Cooks’ work ethic.
“When he’s here, he’s fully bought in to what we’re trying to do and to try and win games,” Mills said.
One of the tell tale signs that Cooks no longer thought himself a part of the team and that he could feel a change in the air was in the early parts of free agency. When former Los Angeles Rams teammate Robert Woods signed with the Texans, Cooks did not mention how the two would be teaming up once again. Instead Cooks tweeted that he “loved to see that” for Woods.
Love to see that for my brother @robertwoods he will be great. Go crazy brother 🏹
— Brandin Cooks (@brandincooks) March 11, 2023
Cooks was not available when the Texans played the Cowboys in Week 14 last year.
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