Heading into the 2022 NFL trade deadline, Brandin Cooks expected to be traded by the Houston Texans.
Currently in the middle of his ninth professional season, Cooks is clearly not on the same timeline as this particular Texans squad, who are starting a 24-year-old second-year ex-third-round pick signal caller out of Stanford under center and have built their offensive game around a rookie fourth-round pick out of Florida in running back Dameon Pierce. Though he wouldn't come cheap, as the team reportedly wanted a second-round pick in return for the Oregon State speedster, Cooks has gone for 1,000 yards on six occasions during his professional career, including most recently in 2021 with a Texans team that at least began the season trying to win games with Tyrod Taylor under center before he made way to Davis Mills down the stretch, and could have been viewed as a reliable acquisition for a contender.
Unfortunately, Cooks didn't get his wish, and as a result, he sat out the team's Week 9 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles as he attempted to pick up the pieces of a sure thing in an attempt to move forward. But what would that move look like? Fortunately, Ian Rapoport provided some insight into that very topic.
From NFL Now: #Texans WR Brandin Cooks is back in the building today for Houston after not playing last night. pic.twitter.com/qMWad9UXTk
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 4, 2022
Brandin Cooks has no choice but to play for the Houston Texans.
Joining the NFL Network to talk all things trade deadline, Rapoport discussed where Cooks' head is at after failing to be traded before the deadline and opting to skip Houston's Week 9 Thursday Night Football game against the Eagles due to “personal reasons.”
“Well, there were plenty of conversations from teams trying to acquire Brandin Cooks as we got closer and closer to the trade deadline,” Rapoport said. “It was a fast and furious trade deadline, a historic trade deadline that left Brandin Cooks not traded, which meant he was still a member of the Houston Texans but obviously did not play last night, as Lovie Smith described after the game, he didn’t feel like he was in the right head space or ready to play. The plan was for him to be back in the building today and for the two sides to move forward, not that there’s really any other option – he’s under contract with them, he has to play, or he gets disciplined, which it doesn’t sound like it the case, so I would expect him to play moving forward. And, you know, Cooks is frustrated, and I know it would have been expensive for teams to trade for him, maybe even for a second-round pick, it seemed like the compensation part would have been fine, it was really just the contract – $18 million fully guaranteed next year was essentially a non-starter, so Cooks remains now with the Houston Texans.”
Will Cooks return to the Texans, who are now one loss further removed from a playoff berth, and happily play his role? Will he make a concerted effort to provide Mills with a reliable veteran target to throw to, especially as Nico Collins continues to work his way back from injury? Could a trade be in place come the spring, especially if Cooks is willing to acquiesce on his contract value and re-work the deal into something more manageable, or will his financial windfall prove a detriment towards his ability to play for a contender during the back-half of his NFL prime? Needless to say, the next six months will be fascinating to watch.
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