Winners and losers from the Texans extending Brandin Cooks

The Houston Texans surprised the NFL by extending Brandin Cooks for two more seasons.

It was intriguing that Brandin Cooks didn’t mind being a part of the Houston Texans rebuild. After going 8-25 the last two seasons, one would think that Cooks (who played in Super Bowl LIII with the Los Angeles Rams) would want to get out and try to secure a ring.

As the adage goes, money talks, and that’s exactly what happened with Cooks’ future. The Texans offered him a $39M extension with $36M of that guaranteed (per Ian Rapoport). Cooks has been one of the best wide receivers in the league the past few years, and the Texans didn’t want him to leave (like the rest of their star players have).

So who are the winners and losers from this move?

Winners: Davis Mills, Pep Hamilton, Marlon Mack

This is crucial to Davis Mills’ development, as he gets his best wide receiver back for three more seasons. However, cooks remains the top threat on this team and will make offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton’s life that much easier.

It also is going to take attention away from newly acquired running back Marlon Mack, who came to Houston after four seasons in Indianapolis. Sometimes the passing game really does set up the run, and Mack will benefit from a defense that’s spread out versus stacking the box.

Look for Houston to feature Cooks once again in 2022, and Cooks could etch himself into Texans history with his third-consecutive 1,000-yard season. That would tie him with DeAndre Hopkins and Andre Johnson for repeating that feat three seasons in a row.