Texans Received Calls on WR Brandin Cooks, Could Packers be Calling?

The Green Bay Packers wide receiver room is in need of a major infusion of talent–we, of course, all know that. Whether it’s free agency, the draft, or a trade, the Packers will have to use some combination of those avenues to address this major hole on the roster.

One name in particular — if he is available — who could interest the Packers is Brandin Cooks of the Houston Texans.

According to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, Houston has received “multiple calls” about Cooks; however, we do not know who those teams are or if the Texans are even willing to trade the receiver. Given that Houston is in the midst of a rebuild and that Cooks is in the final year of his current deal, they should be looking to trade him, but that remains to be seen–remember it takes two to tango.

From a pure football standpoint, adding Cooks to this Packers’ offense makes all the sense in the world. Houston is the fourth team that Cooks has been on, but wherever he has gone, he has been productive. Cooks has surpassed the 1,000-yard receiving mark in six of the last seven seasons, including over 1,100-yards in five of those years.

With his speed, Cooks is a playmaker, averaging 13.9 yards per catch — or 14.7 yards from 2015 to 2020 — while hauling in 68.4% of his career targets and he’s able to play both out wide and from the slot. Although he is listed at 5’10”, Cooks has been a steady deep threat throughout his career, finishing in the top-19 among all receivers in deep-ball targets — or passes of at least 20 yards — in six of the last seven seasons, including in the top-8 three separate times, per PFF ($$).

While Green Bay certainly needs that vertical passing threat in this offense, Cooks has been effective in all parts of the field and is a proven high-volume target, with over 113 targets in six of the last seven seasons.

We know that the Packers need receivers, but some of the specific needs they have to fill are having that go-to option for Aaron Rodgers and a true downfield threat–both of which are roles that Cooks can fill, not to mention that he does bring some needed YAC ability as well.

With 11 draft picks, the Green Bay Packers certainly have the draft capital to make this trade happen–although considering that Cooks is in the final year of his contract, it shouldn’t take one of their premium selections to make it happen.

However, where the potential issue could lie — if Green Bay is actually interested, this is all just speculation at this time — is with the salary cap. Cooks comes with a base salary of $12.5 million in 2022, which the Packers would have to absorb.

At the moment, Over the Cap has the Packers with $14.99 million in available cap space. However, that does not include additional expenses, such as the practice squad and incoming draft class, so in reality, Green Bay’s effective cap space is closer to a few million dollars. Now, they do have other cap-creating moves that can be made, but still, there isn’t going to be an abundance of cap space by any means either.

The Packers could try to add on some voided years to lower his cap hit, but depending on what Houston wants in return for Cooks, taking on that large of a cap hit — even if it can be reduced with a contract restructure — for a rental doesn’t feel like the prudent move to make.

The other option when it comes to creating cap space in 2022 while also making this trade more worthwhile is an extension for Cooks. He is still just 28-years-old, and of course, productive, but the Green Bay Packers’ salary cap outlook doesn’t get much better in the coming years — even with the cap rising — and in the not so distant future, they’ll have to also pay Jaire Alexander, Rashan Gary, and Elgton Jenkins as well. It’s also worth mentioning when discussing an extension that Cooks has had a few concussions in the past.

If I had to guess, I would say that Gutekunst has made a call just to see if Cooks is available and what it might take to make a trade happen. As Gutey says, he wants to be in on every conversation.

With that said, with Cooks’ cap hit and him being in the final year of his deal, I do think the salary cap will once again limit what Green Bay can do–even if they do have the draft capital to make this trade happen.

But, again, who knows? If anything, the last two years have been filled with plenty of surprises, and as already mentioned, from strictly a football perspective, Cooks in Matt LaFleur’s offense would be a home run.