Cowboys 'Big Loser' for No Brandin Cooks Trade - Or Blessing In Disguise?

The Dallas Cowboys reportedly got very close to completing a trade for Texans wideout Brandin Cooks prior to the NFL trade deadline ... here's why they dodged a bullet.

The NFL trade deadline has come and gone and the Dallas Cowboys failed to address the wide receiver position. However, not for a lack of trying, as CowboysSI.com is reporting that talks for Houston Texans wideout Brandin Cooks came down to the "final minutes" of the deadline.

Sources tell us that both Dallas and Houston were in the same ballpark on draft pick compensation, but the $18 million salary that Cooks is guaranteed next year was an obstacle that couldn't be resolved in time.

That's the kicker: Cooks is guaranteed $18 million in 2023, a year in which Dallas needs as much cap space as possible.

So is CBS Sports right by including Dallas in its "Biggest Deadline Losers'' list?

Sure. If you subscribe to the dunderheaded notion that "winners'' make trades and "losers'' don't.

Dallas' free agents next offseason include right tackle Terence Steele, tight end Dalton Schultz and running back Tony Pollard. In 2024, All-Pro cornerback Trevon Diggs will be requesting a mega-contract as a free agent. In 2025, it will be "Lion-backer" Micah Parsons' turn to receive a likely record-setting contract.

The Cowboys need all the cap space they can get and worked to find a way around paying Cooks that $18 million next season, because in their view ... To do so would mean the departure of other major free agents in Dallas.

Aside from cap space, receiver James Washington is also expected back soon. Washington fractured his foot during training camp and has missed the first eight weeks of the season as a result. However, Washington is "feeling great" and now awaits entry into a 21-day return window from the injured reserve.

There's also still "guys that don't belong to anybody that are out there" as the  Cowboys from office has noted ...  We wonder who they could be referring to?

We say there was no reason for Dallas to feel desperation in terms of a Cooks trade. 

We say that the notion that every team that made a trade is a "winner'' while every team that did not do so is a "loser.'' 

We say that only time will tell if Dallas made "the right move'' by standing pat at the NFL trade deadline.

And as always, we say that the "Just Do Something!'' club is misguided. Dallas didn't need to "do something''; Dallas needed to "win a trade,'' and short of that, now moves on with a 6-2 record and a contending roster.

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