The Dallas Cowboys made an unexpected trade acquiring Houston Texans veteran wide receiver Brandin Cooks. The Cowboys will receive Cooks for a fifth-round pick in 2023 and a sixth-round pick in 2024.
Cooks’ $18 million salary in 2023 is guaranteed. His contract has been restructured so that Houston will pay $6 million of his salary and Dallas will pay the remaining $12 million, according to ESPN. He is under contract until 2024.
“Beyond blessed and can’t wait to go be special for the star! Very thankful for the Jones family for this opportunity for my family and I,” Cooks said in a text message to ESPN’S DJ Bien-Aime.
Last year, the Cowboys traded Amari Cooper to the Cleveland Browns for a fifth-round pick but only added veteran James Washington in free agency and Jalen Tolbert in the third round as a replacement. Washington only played in two games after suffering an injury in training camp, and 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 it was “probably fair” to criticize the Cowboys for not doing enough to replace Cooper.
With Cooks now on their team, the Cowboys will have a “speedster” to pair with ProBowler CeeDee Lamb, and Gallup, who will be much better in his second year back from major surgery.
This is the fourth time the 29-year-old has been traded in his career, which is tied with Eric Dickerson for the most times a player has ever been traded in NFL history.
Cooks started his career with the New Orleans Saints, who drafted him in 2014 with the 20th overall pick, then was traded to the New England Patriots in 2017. In 2018, he was traded to the Los Angeles Rams, and then to the Houston Texans in 2020.
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. Last season, Cooks caught 57 passes for 699 yards and three scores in 13 games for the Texans.
The Cooks deal is the second trade made by the Cowboys this week. Dallas acquired Stephon Gilmore from the Indianapolis Colts for a fifth-round pick.
