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ferragamo79
knowing he would be due for so much cash

that is why some teams move on from players as they hit their 2nd contract

Rams have had poor cap management, IMHO

They could have declined to trade for Cooks.

Or they could have kept Watkins for the same money and kept their 1st round pick.

There's a number of ways they could have gone. But honestly I think it's hindsight to fault them on this decision. When they traded for him, Cooks was one of the top 4 most productive WRs in the game. And there had been a major drought league wide in finding good WRs in the 1st round of the draft.