Brandin Cooks dropped hint of Cowboys trade with cryptic IG comment
By Jerry Trotta
Despite not making an external free agent signing yet, the Dallas Cowboys are putting together the best offseason of any NFL team.
Days after trading for Stephon Gilmore to anchor the secondary, the Cowboys struck a deal with their in-state rival for Brandin Cooks.
At face value, this is a fantastic trade for Dallas, which desperately needed to add a second receiver behind CeeDee Lamb. However, they only gave up a 2023 fifth-round pick and a 2024 sixth-round pick, which is reportedly less than what Houston wanted at the 2022 trade deadline.
Not only that, but the Texans are eating $6 million of Cooks’ 2023 salary, so Dallas is only on the hook for $12.8 million next season.
Though the Cooks trade came to fruition days after the Gilmore blockbuster, it seemingly was in the works behind the scenes for days.
Brandon Loree of Blogging The Boys put his investigator cap on and discovered a comment Cooks made on Stephon Gilmore’s Instagram post Friday in which he communicated his excitement over being dealt to Dallas.
It looks like the breadcrumbs of a potential Brandin Cooks trade to the #Cowboys showed up days ago on Stephon Gilmore’s Instagram page 👀#DallasCowboys #CowboysNation pic.twitter.com/JfjacRpNdA
— Brandon Loree (@Brandoniswrite) March 19, 2023
Brandin Cooks’ comment on Stephon Gilmore’s Instagram indicates Cowboys trade was in the works for days.
It’s unlikely this trade happened overnight. The Cowboys and Texans discussed the parameters of a Cooks trade leading up to the 2022 deadline, and it was reported out of Houston in late February that Houston was working diligently to fulfill Cooks’ trade request after they were unable to deal him at the deadline.
That report, from Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 Houston, noted that “multiple” teams expressed interest in Cooks. With that in mind, it’s now fair to assume after Sunday’s news that the Cowboys were one of those clubs.
Cooks’ comment on Gilmore’s introductory Instagram, however, intimates that Dallas and Houston had been in talks for days. Why else would the veteran wideout send out the eye emoji, the most cryptic emoji out there, with his signature arrow and tell him he’s going to call?
Cowboys have acquired two players via trade (CB Stephon Gilmore and WR Brandin Cooks) before their first external signing in free agency. Latter to come soon enough; among needs, team can fortify interior O-line.
— Michael Gehlken (@GehlkenNFL) March 19, 2023
We’re just speculating, but it sure seems like Cooks’ agent communicated that the Texans were back negotiating with the Cowboys. The verbiage of Cooks’ reply to Gilmore even suggests a trade was on the cusp of being finalized.
Former teammates on the Patriots in 2017, Cooks and Gilmore reunite in Dallas six years later looking to capture their first Super Bowl as teammates.
As respected veterans who bring a championship pedigree and proven leadership to a locker room that hasn’t experienced much playoff success you really couldn’t draw up a better pair of trades for the Cowboys.
Can we fast forward to Week 1 already?
