The Houston Texans traded their 57th overall pick in the second round for Los Angeles Rams receiver Brandin Cooks on Thursday.
The move for Cooks is one that brings speed to the Texans’ receiving corps, but it is also another move on offense that leaves the public to wonder what coach Bill O’Brien, now with full-time general manager duties, was thinking. Why not keep three-time All-Pro wideout DeAndre Hopkins and sign a running back in free agency, such as Cooks’ former Rams teammate, Todd Gurley? Why trade Hopkins to the Arizona Cardinals for David Johnson?
Twitter had mixed reactions to the trade.
“Brandin Cooks, Will Fuller, Randall Cobb, Kenny Stills, Keke Coutee, David Johnson,” wrote SiriusXM host Brad Evans. “The Houston Texans arguably feature the most injury-prone offense in the entire NFL. One pillow fight away from multiple missed games.”
Pro Football Focus’ Gordon McGuinness found a scintilla of O’Brien’s shrew dealing in the trade.
“To be fair to the Texans, they are the first in the four-team career of Brandin Cooks to not use a 1st round pick to acquire him,” McGuinness wrote.
Adam Rank from NFL Media panned the trade.
“The Texans have essentially traded DeAndre Hopkins for Brandin Cooks,” Rank tweeted. “Bill O’Brien is that dude in your fantasy league who makes the most trades and transactions, but never finishes above fifth place.”
ESPN’s Bill Barnwell also did not like the transaction.
“Cancel out the picks and the Texans traded DeAndre Hopkins and a fourth-round pick for Brandin Cooks and David Johnson,” Barnwell wrote. “I don’t like it!”
Football Perspective provided an interesting way to look at the Cooks trade.
“A charmed life: Brandin Cooks has gone from Drew Brees to Tom Brady to Jared Goff to Deshaun Watson at QB,” the account tweeted. “Larry Fitzgerald once went from Derek Anderson to Max Hall to John Skelton to Kevin Kolb to Skelton to Kolb to Skelton to Kolb to Ryan Lindley … without changing teams.”
Ultimately, what happens on the field will validate or refute any of the opinions on Thursday night, supportive or critical.
