3 Cowboys who have offered almost nothing to the team in 2023

1. Brandin Cooks

This might be another failed trade for Jerry Jones' shelf of bad deals. The Cowboys traded a fifth round pick for this year and a sixth for next year in exchange for him. Cooks was the best weapon on a Texans team that simply was in rebuilding mode last offseason. It was no surprise they were looking to move on. So far Cooks has not become the third weapon of a three-headed monster in the receiving corps.

Cooks only has 17 catches for 165 yards and two touchdowns so far this year. For a player Dallas gave up draft picks for, more was expected by now. Cooks barely made noise the first few games of the season before he hauled in his first touchdown against the Chargers. His best game statistically was the following week against the Rams where he had three catches for 49 yards with a 25-yard touchdown, his longest play of the season.

After a performance where the Dallas offense looked the best it had all season and Cooks had his best game, it looked like he was primed for a breakout performance. That did not happen in Philadelphia. Cooks was only targeted twice and had one catch for seven yards. Dallas struggled with just having CeeDee Lamb as their primary receiver last year and Cooks was supposed to take pressure off him as an established players. Right now it looks like they are back to square one.

Some have been asking why Cooks is getting far less targets than Michael Gallup, but Mike McCarthy refused to give the media much of an idea why during his most recent press conference. Cooks is a guy who can take the top off a defense if you send him deep and that is what the expectations were for him when he came to Dallas. This season has been a forgettable one for him so far.

The offense seems to just now be finding their groove with McCarthy as the play-caller so there is still plenty of time to see if the investment in Cooks pays off. However, the receiver is playing in his tenth season and in this league it is a "what have you done for me lately" kind of job. If Cooks wants to stay in Dallas beyond this year, the targets have to come in his direction and those big catches in key moments need to happen.

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