5 possible ways to deal with Brandin Cooks

5 possible ways to deal with Brandin Cooks

1. Sell him for picks. The last ditch option imo. His current value seems to be around a third plus a fourth. That just isn’t enough to replace what we lose by trading him. But it’s better than nothing so must be considered.

2. Extend him. Not all that likely, but maybe Cooks can repair all the bridges he burned at the end of the season- in house anyway. If that were the case, then extending him now lets us keep or trade him in the future while having him on hand short term to help develop our new QB.

3. Trade for Patrick Queen. The Ravens are likely to part with Patrick Queen. They already signed Roquan Smith to a $100 million deal, and having two expensive star linebackers on a roster would be salary cap suicide. The Ravens also desperately need WRs. Queen for Cooks plus a fourth round pick seems to be the rumored price. This would be transformative for our defense, even if it means our WR room becomes truly bare.

4. Trade for Jerry Jeudy. The Broncos are trying to trade Jeudy. He had some injuries, but ended the 2022 season as one of the few bright spots on Denver’s offense. a straight trade for Cooks would give Denver a proven, durable receiver and give Houston a young, fast, ascending one.

5. Trade for Tee Higgins. Clearly the best option if it were possible. It probably isn’t. Cincinnati will probably pay Higgins WR1 money to be their WR2 for the next decade because that production can’t just be replaced, even if it does cripple their salary cap. But if they do decide to get frugal, Houston can easily offer the best trade package: Cooks and the 12 pick for Higgins and 29. Cincinnati gets a (long term) cheaper player who is still arguably the best WR2 in the league. Burrow still gets a 1-2 punch to target. And they move up 17 spots in round 1 of the draft. The only downside for them is that they are losing Tee Higgins, and that’s the case in any situation that doesn’t involve paying up. Again, not happening. But we can dream.

What does everyone think? Have a favorite path? Have another option that I’m not considering?