Less than a month ago, vice president Stephen Jones said the Dallas Cowboys needed to add juice to the passing game.
He delivered on his promise Sunday morning, acquiring speedy wide receiver Brandin Cooks in a trade with the Houston Texans for a fifth-round pick in 2023 and a sixth-round pick in 2024, per sources.
The trade for Cooks is sixth months in the making, as the Cowboys trade to acquire him before the trade deadline last October but couldn’t come to terms with the Texans, who reportedly wanted a third-round pick for him.
Now they get Cooks at an even cheaper rate, giving the Cowboys the speedy receiver they coveted to play opposite No. 1 option CeeDee Lamb.
Cooks has two years left on his contract with an $18 million guaranteed base salary in 2023 and $13 million in 2024. The Texans agreed to pay $6 million of the $18 million in 2023 to facilitate the trade.
The Cowboys can walk away before the 2024 season by declining to a pay a $3 million roster bonus.
Cooks, who turns 30 in September, caught 57 passes for 699 yards and three scores in 13 games for the Texans last season.
This is the fourth time he has been traded in his career and the Cowboys will be his fifth team, joining the New Orleans Saints, New England Patriots, Los Angeles Rams and Texans.
But Cooks has always been productive and always provided a deep threat with 630 receptions for 8,616 yards and 49 touchdowns in his career. Cooks has six 1,000-yard receiving seasons.
Cooks provides a complement to Lamb and Michael Gallup at receiver, while finally giving quarterback Dak Prescott an option who can take the top off the defense.
The move comes a year after the Cowboys traded former No.1-receiver Amari Cooper to the Cleveland Browns for a fifth-round pick, which proved to be a huge setback for a receiver corps that was among the worst in the league in 2022. Lamb was the only plus player at the position, catching 107 passes for 1,359 yards and 9 touchdowns.
But Gallup never got untracked after missing the first three games rehabbing from a torn ACL and rookie third-round pick Jalen Tolbert was a huge disappointment.
It all prompted Stephen Jones to state the obvious at the NFL Scouting Combine last month.
“Offensively, we’ve just got to have, maybe add a playmaker to it,” Jones said. “Add a little juice. Add a playmaker to it and see if we can do that.”
It’s the continuation for an off season of change for the Cowboys, who traditionally like to build through the draft.
This is second trade for an impact starter to upgrade the roster in the last week.
The Cowboys acquired cornerback Stephen Gilmore in a trade with the Indianapolis Colts for a fifth-round pick on Tuesday.
The Cowboys paved the way for the acquisition of Cooks with a number cap-saving moves over the last week, led by the release of running back Ezekiel Elliott.
The former two-time NFL rushing champion was designated a post-June 1 cut, which means the Cowboys will save nearly $11 million against the 2023 cap.
The Cowboys created more than $55 million in cap room by restructuring the contracts of quarterback Dak Prescott ($22 million), guard Zack Martin ($8.8 million), receiver Michael Gallup ($7 million) and defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence ($8.9 million) and asking veteran tackle Tyron Smith to take a pay cut.
Smith was due $13.6 million in salary in 2023. He is now under contract for $6 million in a new deal, clearing $9.6 million.
