“Brandin Cooks has been a remarkably consistent producer throughout his career. Despite playing for four teams in eight years, he has only had less than 1,000 yards in a season once since his second year in the league.”
Cooks is one of the fastest receivers in the NFL running a 4.33 seconds time in the 40 yard dash at the 2014 NFL Combine.
The obvious question is why the Cowboys would be willing to take on Cooks’ salary after the team dealt Cooper for financial reasons. Cooks is entering the final season of his five-year, $81 million contract, but his $12.5 million salary is much more affordable than Cooper’s $20 million annually over the next three seasons.
Given the Cowboys only landed a fifth-round selection for Cooper, a third-round pick is a bit steep for Cooks, especially given the wideout is arguably a step down from the former Dallas receiver. It is also possible the Cowboys made a bad deal for Cooper given what both the Packers and Chiefs were able to get in return for trading their star receivers.
There is a prevalent perception that Cooks is injury prone, but the receiver has a strong track record of playing in the majority of games in recent years. Cooks played 16 games last season and appeared in 15 contests in 2020. The Texans receiver posted 90 receptions for 1,037 and six touchdowns in 2021. The challenge for the Cowboys is Cooks would likely be looking for a contract extension with the trade.
“The biggest difference between Cooks and Cooper is in their contracts,” Ballentine added. “While the latter’s deal still had three years on it, the former would come with a contract that has just one year with a $12.5 million base salary attached to it. It would be much easier to extend and renegotiate a contract for Cooks than it was for Cooper.”
While Cooks would look good playing next to CeeDee Lamb and Michael Gallup, the Cowboys are more likely to address the position in the draft. We have seen teams like the Bengals have success with their top receivers playing on their rookie deals. Cowboys star quarterback Dak Prescott appears to be excited that Lamb is stepping into the team’s WR1 role.
“You look at a guy like CeeDee and just what he’s done in his first two years, it’s exciting, knowing this is only the beginning,” Prescott told The Athletic’s Jon Machota on March 21. “He hasn’t even scratched the surface. For him to be the main guy, I know he’s ready for it. I know he’s already doing the things he needs to do necessary to have a great offense and control the things he can. It’s going to be exciting.”
