One of the bigger surprises of the 2022 NFL trade deadline was wide receiver Brandin Cooks not being traded away by the Houston Texans. Houston is one of two teams, along with the Detroit Lions, that have failed to win multiple games yet this season, so it was natural that they would shop Cooks. No deal materialized, but the Dallas Cowboys almost traded for him.
The veteran has shown that he is capable of being a go-to, No. 1 receiver for teams in the past as he has surpassed the 1,000-yard plateau six times in eight seasons. He will be hard-pressed to make it seven out of nine this season as the Texans’ have one of the worst offenses in the NFL this season.
That isn’t too surprising as they are in a rebuild and have an eye toward the future after trading Deshaun Watson to the Cleveland Browns for a huge package of draft picks. It seems that Cooks has had enough of that rebuild, as he shared a scathing tweet as the trade deadline passed and he remained a member of the team.
Cooks’ status is now up in the air as the Texans prepare to take on the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 9 on Thursday Night Football. He hasn’t been practicing and one can only assume that it is because he was not traded.
But, it doesn’t sound like it was from a lack of interest. Multiple teams showed some level of interest in Cooks, one of them being the Dallas Cowboys. However, his $18 million salary was a deterrent to getting a deal completed.
That should come as no surprise as there aren’t many teams in the NFL that can take on that kind of money, let alone be willing to. The asking price of a second-round pick that Houston was reportedly asking for is also a steep price to pay.
With CeeDee Lamb and Michael Gallup already in the mix, the Cowboys weren’t desperate enough to make a move at the price the Texans had set. Brandin Cooks is a solid player but after trading away Amari Cooper because of his contract in the offseason, it would have been tough to justify acquiring Cooks ahead of the deadline.
