The Houston Texans may have a disgruntled veteran in their locker room with receiver Brandin Cooks.
The former New Orleans Saints 2014 first-round pick expressed his displeasure in a subtle way on Twitter after the trade deadline passed and he was not dealt to a more competitive club.
According to Peter King from NBC Sports, there aren’t really any winners when it comes to the situation with the Texans and Cooks. However, both are losers.
Houston and Brandin Cooks both lost. Cooks should have known he was casting his lot with a losing team when he signed for $18 million guaranteed in 2023, and that was going to be a near-impossible contract to trade without the Texans paying much of it. They wouldn’t do it, so now they’re stuck with a bitter player (even if it’s his fault) who they’ll have to take 20 cents on the dollar for next spring if they trade him then.
Part of the appeal with bringing Cooks back was his presence in the locker room and his consistent approach. Cooks posted a 1,000-yard receiving season in 2020, which some could attribute to playing with the NFL passing champion for that season. Yet Cooks followed it up in 2021 with Tyrod Taylor and Davis Mills under center.
The Texans also didn’t show very much foresight when it came to keeping Cooks around longer. Houston went to a run-heavy offense and the opportunities to get on the same page with Mills haven’t been as plentiful.
Hindsight is always clearer, but the Texans should have given themselves wiggle room and not extended Cooks. That way, if they were in a non-competitive situation, as they are with their 1-6-1 record, they could easily send the 29-year-old on to a better situation to get the most of his dwindling prime years.
For both the Texans and Cooks, the rest of the way is a countdown until divorce.
