Three teams have traded Brandin Cooks, who has never stayed with one team more than three seasons. Could a fourth trade send him elsewhere?
The Browns are among the teams that have inquired about a trade for Cooks, Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com reports. Cabot adds that “the possibility (of a deal) is currently low.”
That’s because the Texans want a second-round choice for Cooks, per Cabot.
The Browns already traded their first-rounder and fourth-rounder in 2022 to the Texans for quarterback Deshaun Watson, as well as a third-rounder in 2023, and a fourth-rounder in 2024.
The compensation for Cooks has fallen every time a team has dealt him. The Saints traded Cooks and a 2017 fourth-round choice (subsequently traded) to the Patriots for a 2017 first-round choice (Ryan Ramczyk) and a 2017 third-round choice (Trey Hendrickson). A year later, the Patriots traded Cooks and a 2018 fourth-round choice to the Rams for a 2018 first-round choice (Isaiah Wynn) and a 2018 sixth-round choice (subsequently traded). In 2020, the Rams traded Cooks and a 2022 fourth-round selection to the Texans for a 2020 second-round choice (Van Jefferson).
A Texans’ trade of Cooks could prove difficult.
Cooks, 28, is heading into the final year of his contract with a base salary of $12.5 million, which means he will want an extension from his new team.
The Browns already traded with the Cowboys for four-time Pro Bowler Amari Cooper. But Cooks, who has six 1,000-yard seasons, teamed up with Watson in 2020 to catch 81 passes for 1,150 yards and six touchdowns.