Getty Houston Texans wide receiver Brandin Cooks.
Due to a rather thin wide receiver free agency class, the Kansas City Chiefs could use one of their 10 draft picks this year to trade for an established NFL receiver looking for a new home.
That’s why Bleacher Report’s Alex Kay believes using a second-round pick and a fifth-round pick to acquire Houston Texans receiver Brandin Cooks is a possibility for the defending Super Bowl champions.
“The Chiefs made do with an unheralded group of wideouts this past season, but three of them—JuJu Smith-Schuster, Mecole Hardman and Justin Watson—are hitting the open market as free agents. The team will need to restock the position, and there’s no better way to do this than by bringing in a top-tier option,” Kay wrote on March 13.
“Cooks would provide Patrick Mahomes with the best wideout he’s had since Tyreek Hill left and take some of the workload off Travis Kelce,” Kay continued. “While Kelce has still been performing at a high level, the tight end will be 34 next season and won’t remain a superstar forever.”
Chiefs Have Shown Interest in Brandin Cooks
Brandin Cooks, 29, entered the NFL as a first-round pick of the New Orleans Saints in 2014. Since then, he has accumulated 8,616 receiving yards on 630 catches and has scored 49 total touchdowns (47 receiving, 2 rushing), per Pro Football Reference. This is all despite Cooks being traded three times during his NFL career, which includes stops with the New England Patriots and Rams as well.
After signing a two-year, $39 million extension with the Texans in 2022, Cooks followed up his payday with his worst statistical season since 2018. In 13 games during the 2022 season, Cooks had 57 receptions for 699 receiving yards and 3 touchdowns. However, the quarterback play in Houston was a large part of the reason for Cooks’ dip in production last season.
According to KPRC 2 Houston’s Aaron Wilson on October 26, the Chiefs inquired about a trade for Cooks prior to the 2022 NFL trade deadline. Though nothing developed from those discussions, it did show that Kansas City has a clear interest in Cooks, who has been overall very consistent during his nine-year NFL career when he’s in a stable offense.
Cooks has cap hits of $26.4 million and $24.6 million respectively over the next two seasons, according to Over The Cap. So, if the defending Super Bowl champions were to trade for Cooks they would need to restructure his contract in some way to lower his cap number for at least the 2023 season.
Twitter Links Chiefs to Brandin Cooks
Twitter users have linked the Chiefs to Brandin Cooks over the last several months.
“Chiefs fans fixated on trading for DHop (DeAndre Hopkins), need to start focusing on trading for Brandin Cooks,” one Twitter user wrote.
Chiefs fans fixated on trading for DHop, need to start focusing on trading for Brandin Cooks
“I acutally wanna see Brandin Cooks do well,” another user wrote. “I like the Chiefs and Vikings for him. I feel he can elevate that KC receiver group but I feel he could benefit in Minny playing alongside Justin Jefferson.”
“Brandin Cooks, Dhop, Mike Evans, I think are all players the Chiefs will be kicking the tires on,” another user wrote. “I think to get any of them it will only take one second due to the possible extensions the players will want.”
@jdiz1617 Brandin Cooks, Dhop, Mike Evans, I think are all players the Chiefs will be kicking the tires on. I think to get any of them it will only take one second due to the possible extensions the players will want.