Cowboys Predicted to Land ‘Explosive Vertical’ WR to Replace Brandin Cooks

Getty The Cowboys could be an ideal landing spot for Texas WR Isaiah Bond.

The Dallas Cowboys could land one of the top wide receivers in next year’s draft.

As projected by The Draft Network’s Justin Melo in his 2025 NFL Mock Draft, he predicts the Cowboys to select Texas Longhorns wide receiver Isaiah Bond with the 25th overall pick. Melo writes that Dallas will look to get cheaper at wide receiver with CeeDee Lamb’s looming extension and with Brandin Cooks due to become a free agent next offseason.

“Aging wideout Brandin Cooks is entering a contract year,” writes Melo. “The Cowboys will want to get cheaper at WR2 following an inevitable and historic extension for CeeDee Lamb. Isaiah Bond is the next explosive vertical receiver coming out of Texas.”

Isaiah Bond Could Be Cowboys’ Next Deep Threat WR

The 20-year-old Bond recently transferred to Texas after starring with the Alabama Crimson Tide over the past two seasons. Bond posted 48 receptions for 668 receiving yards and four touchdowns during his sophomore campaign with the Crimson Tide last season.

As Keith Sanchez of The Draft Network writes in his scouting report of Bond, the 5-foot-11 receiver is a deep threat who can quickly accelerate and break away from defenders.

“Bond is an explosive vertical threat who can quickly accelerate, creating separation between himself and defenders,” writes Sanchez. “Bond has effortless speed to stride past defenders and can use this speed to set up other elements of his game working the short and intermediate portions of the field.”

Why Cowboys Could Replace Brandin Cooks With Isaiah Bond

Bond could represent an upgrade over Cooks, who is more of a possession receiver at this stage of his career rather than a deep threat. The 31-year-old Cooks averaged 12.2 yards per reception during the 2023 season with a long of just 37 yards. That’s a decline from his his 13.5 yards per reception career average and the 16.6 yards per reception he once averaged as a member of the New England Patriots back in 2017.

By comparison, Bond averaged 13.9 yards per reception during the 2023 season, including a 31-yard game-winning touchdown reception against the Auburn Tigers on a 4th-and-goal conversion to land the Crimson Tide a bid in the SEC Championship Game.

With Lamb seeing an increase in volume — he led the league with 135 receptions in 2023, a major increase from the 107 receptions he posted during the 2022 season — the Cowboys could use a specialty deep receiver such as Bond.

A major benefit for the Cowboys in replacing Cooks with Bond is due to salary cap implications. For example, the Green Bay Packers selected Jordan Morgan with the 25th overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft. They’ll pay him a little over $14 million over the duration of his rookie contract with just $3.5 million on an average annual basis.

According to Spotrac, Lamb’s projected contract value is $34.0 million per season across four years for a total of slightly more than $136 million. That total would represent 13% of the team’s total salary cap, higher than any player with the exception of Dak Prescott (currently 21.6%).

While Cooks remains productive at this stage of his career — 54 receptions for 657 receiving yards and eight touchdowns — it’s hard to envision the Cowboys bringing him back for another season considering their salary cap limitations.

With big contracts due for Lamb, Prescott and Micah Parsons, don’t be surprised if the Cowboys spend a high draft pick on a player such as Bond next year.