Brandin Cooks - What's Not To Love?

[Kelldon]

So now the Texans have 5 wr's who are soft as medicated cotton and are a stubbed toe away missing 6 games or a concussion away from retirement. Good job Bill O'Brien . BoB and Rams are like 2 rednecks taking turns telling each other "hold my beer" while they try and one up the other in stupidity . If I am Watson I am getting out there as soon as my contract is up.

[bjd5211]

When the cost in draft picks and money is close to the same as Hopkins, I see this as poor GMing.

This and it's like Cooks 4th or 5th concussion total? Look, I was one of his biggest supporters, but another concussion or 2 is career ending.

Money won't be close to the same, though. They made it very clear Hopkins wasn't willing to play on his current deal, and is wanting top dollar, 20 million plus, for the 3 years remaining on his deal.

Cooks is 8 million this year. They can cut him anytime after this year with no dead cap. His cap hit next year is 12 million, 2021 is 13 million, and 2022 14 million, if they choose to keep him those years.

The contract he has and the one Hopkins was demanding are nowhere near the same.

Except they gave up a 2nd round pick for Cooks, so this trade is an abysmal failure if he only lasts 1 year with them, and Cooks will have little incentive for renegotiating a team friendly deal after this season if the Texans want to keep him because his contract will become guaranteed in essence by the Texans being forced to keep him rather than throwing away a 2nd round pick. The Texans being able to get out of hus contract after 1 year does not at all make this a good trade for them, because they could have just kept the pick and had a quality player under a cheap contract for 4 years if they hadn't made this trade.

Paying Hopkins his desired salary and keeping their 2nd round pick would have been a better investment than the Cobb + DJ + Cooks + move up ~15 picks in the 2nd round they basically got out of all of this.

[ericanadian]

Anyone looking at the TEs in Houston? It’s clear that the team has lots of downfield presence and Cobb seems a solid slot option, but I would think there is still a lot of value to be had underneath.

[Kmani6]

Essentially if Hopkins wants his 20 mill annually (which he technically deserves), then the Texans are getting David Johnson + Brandin Cooks for Hopkins, as well as moving up from the end of the 2nd to the beginning of the 2nd. It will only work out if Johnson can be very good.

[Kurt G.O.A.T.]

Hopkins has 3 years left on his deal. The issue is/was, he didn't want to play on it, he wanted a big fat raise, because it was only about 13 million annually. The market has since risen to a level where he feels it needs to be redone.

It was a 5 year, $81m deal. That's $16m per year.

I wonder if the cards are gonna pay him what he wants.

Base salary/Cap hit. There were bonuses in there, but yeah, you are right. Here is the breakdown. The Cards have the cap space. They'll have to or they gave up a 2nd for a guy that won't play, most likely. Brandin Cooks contract was the same. 5 for 81. Big difference is, Cooks has no leverage to renegotiate, and Hopkins was willing to hold out.

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/houston-tex ... oks-14429/

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/arizona-car ... ins-12307/

There's no need for cooks to renegotiate. The rams gave him $38.5m for the last two seasons.

Any money he gets now is a bonus seeing his next concussion may be his forced retirement.

It sucks when players get injured. The rams were forced to cut their losses. A 3 year $46.5m contract turned into a 2 year $38.5m contract.

At least they got a 2nd rounder back. Thanks BOB.

[ericanadian]

Essentially if Hopkins wants his 20 mill annually (which he technically deserves), then the Texans are getting David Johnson + Brandin Cooks for Hopkins, as well as moving up from the end of the 2nd to the beginning of the 2nd. It will only work out if Johnson can be very good.

I know Hopkins said he wants $20M, but he was not really in a position to actually get that number with three years left on his contract. If they offered him $16-18M a year for the three years and guaranteed the full contract, I can’t see him holding out over that.

[FantasyFreak]

It was a 5 year, $81m deal. That's $16m per year.

I wonder if the cards are gonna pay him what he wants.

Base salary/Cap hit. There were bonuses in there, but yeah, you are right. Here is the breakdown. The Cards have the cap space. They'll have to or they gave up a 2nd for a guy that won't play, most likely. Brandin Cooks contract was the same. 5 for 81. Big difference is, Cooks has no leverage to renegotiate, and Hopkins was willing to hold out.

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/houston-tex ... oks-14429/

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/arizona-car ... ins-12307/

There's no need for cooks to renegotiate. The rams gave him $38.5m for the last two seasons.

Any money he gets now is a bonus seeing his next concussion may be his forced retirement.

It sucks when players get injured. The rams were forced to cut their losses. A 3 year $46.5m contract turned into a 2 year $38.5m contract.

At least they got a 2nd rounder back. Thanks BOB.

Yeah, I was more saying the situation of the contract they were getting with Cooks was that of a player who wasn't going to hold out like Hopkins. I was just saying he didn't have leverage due to his stats and injuries last year, even if he wanted a raise.

[FantasyFreak]

This and it's like Cooks 4th or 5th concussion total? Look, I was one of his biggest supporters, but another concussion or 2 is career ending.

Money won't be close to the same, though. They made it very clear Hopkins wasn't willing to play on his current deal, and is wanting top dollar, 20 million plus, for the 3 years remaining on his deal.

Cooks is 8 million this year. They can cut him anytime after this year with no dead cap. His cap hit next year is 12 million, 2021 is 13 million, and 2022 14 million, if they choose to keep him those years.

The contract he has and the one Hopkins was demanding are nowhere near the same.

Except they gave up a 2nd round pick for Cooks, so this trade is an abysmal failure if he only lasts 1 year with them, and Cooks will have little incentive for renegotiating a team friendly deal after this season if the Texans want to keep him because his contract will become guaranteed in essence by the Texans being forced to keep him rather than throwing away a 2nd round pick. The Texans being able to get out of hus contract after 1 year does not at all make this a good trade for them, because they could have just kept the pick and had a quality player under a cheap contract for 4 years if they hadn't made this trade.

Paying Hopkins his desired salary and keeping their 2nd round pick would have been a better investment than the Cobb + DJ + Cooks + move up ~15 picks in the 2nd round they basically got out of all of this.

Maybe. We'll have to wait and see on that. Let's not forget that aside from Hopkins wanting a raise and the alarming inefficiencies of his season when thinking in the context of a big raise, there were issues between he and the HC, so they clearly wanted to move on from him, rather than give him a raise.

[kadun2]

If he doesn’t get concussed this could be a nice re-prove it year for Cooks owners.
That is, if he is motivated to continue his career.

[moishetreats]

I just traded for Cooks. Obviously, I share the same concerns that I read here. But, one thing ultimately put me on the "buy" side:

Since 2015, Hopkins has never had fewer than 151 targets in a full season (he had 150 last year in 15 games).
In his career, Cooks has only once had more than 117 targets in a season (he had 129 in 2015).

Obviously, one of the reasons that Hopkins got so many targets is because he merited it. But there is a realistic opportunity for Cooks to see 135+ targets over 16 games this season. It doesn't mitigate the risk, but it offers a MUCH higher ceiling than Cooks has ever had.

[Pac_Eddy]

I just traded for Cooks. Obviously, I share the same concerns that I read here. But, one thing ultimately put me on the "buy" side:

Since 2015, Hopkins has never had fewer than 151 targets in a full season (he had 150 last year in 15 games).
In his career, Cooks has only once had more than 117 targets in a season (he had 129 in 2015).

Obviously, one of the reasons that Hopkins got so many targets is because he merited it. But there is a realistic opportunity for Cooks to see 135+ targets over 16 games this season. It doesn't mitigate the risk, but it offers a MUCH higher ceiling than Cooks has ever had.

What did you pay to get Cooks?

[moishetreats]

I just traded for Cooks. Obviously, I share the same concerns that I read here. But, one thing ultimately put me on the "buy" side:

Since 2015, Hopkins has never had fewer than 151 targets in a full season (he had 150 last year in 15 games).
In his career, Cooks has only once had more than 117 targets in a season (he had 129 in 2015).

Obviously, one of the reasons that Hopkins got so many targets is because he merited it. But there is a realistic opportunity for Cooks to see 135+ targets over 16 games this season. It doesn't mitigate the risk, but it offers a MUCH higher ceiling than Cooks has ever had.

What did you pay to get Cooks?

The simple answer is that I acquired 1.06 and Cooks for Jones. But, it's really more involved than that.

It's a contract league and best ball (in sig 2). Though the cap is $300, it's a 12-team SF league with deep rosters.

I gave up Aaron Jones at $26 through 2022 (and he cannot be extended) for Cooks at $8 through 2021 (and he can be extended). For context on what $18 is worth, only one non-QB rookie went for more than $16 at our rookie auction last year. I would suggest that $18 is the equivalent of around 1.05-1.09 in the 2020 rookie draft. The additional cap space for future years and the potential to extend Cooks are also no small values in this league, hence why I think that the value is a little bit more toward a mid-first than a late.

[maxhyde]

I get the criticism but in real football all the speed in KC made Damien Williams look like an top tier RB.
How do you think a better RB like Johnson is going to do catching underneath routes with those burners on the field and probably more DB's than LB's

Hate it if you like but that HOU offense is going to scare most teams in the NFL.

[OhCruelestRanter]

I get the criticism but in real football all the speed in KC made Damien Williams look like an top tier RB.
How do you think a better RB like Johnson is going to do catching underneath routes with those burners on the field and probably more DB's than LB's

Hate it if you like but that HOU offense is going to scare most teams in the NFL.

You can think that the Hopkins trade was bad AND acknowledge that Houston might have a good season. The effects of losing the 2nd for Cooks and losing Hopkins for David Johnson might not be felt this year, but they could be dramatic.

[FantasyFreak]

I get the criticism but in real football all the speed in KC made Damien Williams look like an top tier RB.
How do you think a better RB like Johnson is going to do catching underneath routes with those burners on the field and probably more DB's than LB's

Hate it if you like but that HOU offense is going to scare most teams in the NFL.

You can think that the Hopkins trade was bad AND acknowledge that Houston might have a good season. The effects of losing the 2nd for Cooks and losing Hopkins for David Johnson might not be felt this year, but they could be dramatic.

The money difference from a new contract they would need to pay Hopkins and the one they have with Cooks could be the difference needed to lock up Tunsel. They paid 2 firsts for the guy, so he needed to be the priority over Hopkins. The reality was, they couldn't afford Hopkins on a new deal with Tunsel and Watson looming. It really remains to be seen how this all unfolds, but they will have a very different team in a few years, no doubt.