Brandin Cooks trade grades: Another disaster for the Texans, and an admission of failure for the RamsBill Barnwell
ESPN Staff Writer
In the latest battle of Bill O'Brien versus any conceivable or feasible notion of draft pick value, the Texans fired off one of their last remaining selections to not solve their self-created problem, trading for wide receiver Brandin Cooks. Even if Cooks returns to his prior form, the Texans seem to operate in a vacuum in which there is no concept of what the other 31 teams are doing or thinking. This trade is an admission of failure from the Rams. It's a flailing response to failure for the Texans.
It's easy to understand why the Rams made this move, although it's the end to yet another disastrous contract extension for general manager Les Snead. In the summer of 2018, I cautioned that the contract extensions handed to Cooks and Todd Gurley were poorly-structured. Less than two years later, neither player is on the roster.
Rams trade Brandin Cooks to Texans for second-round pick
Los Angeles Rams get: 2020 second-round pick (No. 57)
Houston Texans get: WR Brandin Cooks, 2022 fourth-round pick
Rams grade: B
Texans grade: D+
Cooks was under contract in 2018 for $8.5 million and could have been franchised in 2019 for $16.8 million, meaning the Rams could have theoretically gone year-to-year and paid him $25.3 million for his first two seasons in Los Angeles. Instead, his new contract paid him $42 million over its first two years. By waiting until after March 15 to trade Cooks, the Rams also triggered a $4 million roster bonus for him, which they'll owe him on the way out. Los Angeles will have $21.8 million in dead money on their cap for Cooks in 2020 and more than $33 million in dead money between the failed deals for Cooks and Gurley.
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/09/2020 06:10PM by RamBill.
