Cowboys BREAKING: Brandin Cooks Gets Contract Re-Do, Trade Gets 'A' Grade from SI & ESPN

The Dallas Cowboys added a speedy veteran in wide receiver Brandin Cooks. And the grades are in …

FRISCO - The Dallas Cowboys added a speedy veteran to their offense, acquiring Houston Texans wide receiver Brandin Cooks on Sunday. Making space at The Star for another star for quarterback Dak Prescott, the Cowboys traded a a fifth-round pick in 2023 and a sixth-round pick in 2024 to the Texans.

The Cowboys aced the move for multiple reasons: filling a hole that the Amari Cooper trade created and filling a need that allows Dallas to pick best player available with the No. 26 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. 

Free agent tight end Dalton Schultz was the Cowboys second-leading receiver last season behind receiver CeeDee Lamb; Schultz just signed with Houston.

And Cooks? He just signed something, too. Per ESPN, the Cowboys have restructured his contract, turning $8 mil of his $12 mil base for 2023 into bonus, thus making his salary $4 mil and his 2023 cap impact $6 mil … but Cooks still earns his $18 mil salary (with Houston providing Dallas relief by paying $6 mil of that.)

This is the fourth trade of Cooks' career, tying him with retired running back Eric Dickerson for the all-time NFL trade record. He joins a Dallas receiver room of Lamb, Michael Gallup and T.Y. Hilton. Cooks has hit the 1,000-yard receiving mark in every season he's played in at least 15 games (six of nine seasons.)

So ... about those grades ...

ESPN gives Dallas an A- grade for the trade: "Cooks was one of the most reliably productive wide receivers in the league until last year. In 2020 and 2021, he averaged 2.3 and 2.1 yards per route run, respectively. But that number dropped to 1.7 in 2022, albeit it in a poor Houston offense with Davis Mills at QB. His Receiver Tracking Metrics overall score also dropped, from 67 to 60 to 42 over those three seasons. But Cooks -- who is only 29 years old -- was also unhappy in Houston and was frustrated when he wasn't dealt at last year's trade deadline, so that could have affected his play. I like his chances to return to form with the Cowboys.”

The ESPN grade coordinates nicely with the evaluation from our own Mike Fisher, who also gives Dallas an "A."

"As one Dallas Cowboys team source put it to CowboysSI.com after the Sunday morning trade for Brandin Cooks, he "checks all the boxes.'' ... These things don't come with guarantees. But as with this week's trade for cornerback Stephon Gilmore, Dallas has made two swaps for proven standouts while giving up only low-round picks and cap-doable paychecks. Dallas gets an 'A' here.''

Also worth noting: Possibly in play is a contract extension for Cooks, which would further help Dallas cap-wise in 2023.

But on the field? The new Cowboys wideout can electrify ... Since entering the league in 2014 he has 58 catches of 25-or-more yards. Only one player has more: Tyreek Hill.

Expectations are (always) high, as Dallas has the sixth-best odds to win the Super Bowl next season. The Cooks addition could be the speedy piece to complement Lamb and Gallup in the Cowboys offense that a consistent weapon. 

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