The Houston Texans completed a curious trade earlier this offseason, shipping out star wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins for veteran running back David Johnson and two draft picks, neither of which were first-round picks in the 2020 NFL Draft. Following that move, head coach and general manager Bill O'Brien later dealt for Los Angeles Rams veteran wideout Brandin Cooks, who in his introduction conference call with media on Thursday stopped any talk likening him to Hopkins' replacement.
Per Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk, Cooks had this to say:
“Just being brought in in general, as far as specifics, being brought in for a guy like DeAndre Hopkins or anything like that, I wouldn’t necessarily say that. You talk about a great player that’s played a lot of great player in his years as a Texan. I just look at it from a standpoint of coming in to help the team win as best I can. So that’s the way I look at it.”
“The way I look at it, I take it as a positive in that I’m wanted and I’m valued at a high level still to this day,” Cooks said. “You look at all the trades, they all went for a first round, and this one going for a second round. To be honest with you. I’m blessed to be able to play with so many different teams and different quarterbacks and different organizations. I don’t look at it as a negative at all. Teams want me. Former teams feel like, man, gosh, this is such a great deal for both sides. It’s a win-win. So I don’t think of it as a negative. I look forward to it. I’m a guy that adjusts pretty quick, and wherever I go I’m going to ball.”
Cooks, 26, was selected in the first round of the 2014 draft by the New Orleans Saints out of Oregon State, totaling four straight seasons of more than 1,000 receiving yards for three franchises (Saints, New England Patriots and Rams).
Last season he only tallied 583 yards on 42 catches for two touchdowns in 14 games with Los Angeles and was traded two weeks ago to Houston, along with a fourth-round pick for a second-rounder going to the Rams.
While Hopkins joins the emerging Arizona Cardinals, led by rising sophomore quarterback Kyler Murray, a former Heisman Trophy winner and last season's Offensive Rookie of the Year winner, Texans franchise signal-caller Deshaun Watson has to get to know a new pass-catching target in the competent Cooks.
He may not have the same production on the gridiron as Hopkins, but it's nearly impossible to shake off the arrival of Cooks at the same time as the former's departure as being at least somewhat of a replacement.
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