With one year left on his contract and the Houston Texans rebuilding, some other teams could use his services.
The past two seasons, Brandin Cooks has been the Houston Texans best offensive weapon. Cooks has been the leading wide receiver and only true threat on the offense. There have been talks that Cooks could be part of the “big three” trade that involved Deshaun Watson and Laremy Tunsil.
Cooks has also been mocked to the Patriots in a potential trade idea. So the chances of Cooks tying Los Angeles Rams legend Eric Dickerson for being the most-traded player in history are high (Cooks has been traded three times, Dickerson four).
Cooks still has talent left in the tank, and it’s not likely that he wants to stick around for a rebuild that could take up the rest of his prime years. So what teams could use his services? Hint: they are all playoff teams from last season.
These three teams have one primary wide receiver that does all the heavy lifting, but when they get taken out of the game plan by the opposing defense, it starts to get increasingly harder to throw the ball.
Let’s start with our first team:
The Houston Texans should send Brandin Cooks to the Green Bay Packers
The Packers have enjoyed the Aaron Rodgers-Davante Adams combination for years. Still, they have failed to find a replacement ever since the franchise spurned fan-favorite Jordy Nelson by letting him walk in free agency.
They brought back Rodgers’ old friend in Randall Cobb, who spent time here in Houston in 2020. But that move hardly paid off as Cobb was not very effective this past season. Everyone saw how Rodgers relied upon Adams so much that he missed a wide-open Allen Lazard on the very last play before the 49ers held onto the ball for good and won the game.
Green Bay’s offense is so dependent upon Adams that the entire production stops when he does get silenced in a game. Cooks would be another legitimate threat that secondaries would have to account for.
San Francisco could use the Houston Texans’ best wide receiver
Speaking of the 49ers, they are in a similar boat as the Packers are. Deebo Samuel is the entire offense, as George Kittle had a very quiet 910 yards on the season. Samuel is arguably a better runner than a pass catcher, having two more scores on the ground than through the air.
The point is that Samuel is alone in an offense that could be so much more dynamic through the air. Whether that’s a quarterback issue or not, only time will tell. Cooks would be the deep threat that San Francisco needs to open up more of their playbook and also free up Samuel underneath. But, of course, Brandon Aiyuk had some moments this year as well.
Getting Samuel the ball and letting him run with it is what the 49ers did en-route to their NFC Championship game appearance. Will Aiyuk take the next step and establish himself as the true WR2 not named Kittle? We’ll see if Trey Lance can elevate the rest of the 49ers receiving squad.
The Buffalo Bills have a big three but should still call the Houston Texans
Josh Allen has developed into the real deal, and his trio of wide receivers went into Kansas City, and only one shined. That was Gabriel Davis, who had an NFL-record four touchdowns in that game. But even with this historic game, Davis only had 549 yards receiving on the year and was fourth on the production list.
Stefon Diggs is undoubtedly the true number one receiver for the Bills, but after Diggs, no Bills receiver had more than 700 yards. The battle for the second spot is up for grabs, and Cooks would work as a great compliment. Imagine having Cooks and Diggs on the same side of the field. How would teams cover that?
Sitting so deep in the draft order, the Bills may not be able to get one of the top pass catchers in the first round. However, cooks (along with an improved secondary) may just be the piece(s) needed to get the Bills back to the Super Bowl for the first time since the 1990s.