NFL
By: Greg Rector
Dallas Cowboys fans woke up on Sunday to find that another sought-after target this off-season will be wearing the Star in the 2023 season. Brandin Cooks was acquired from the Houston Texans for a 5th-round 2023 draft pick (161) and a 6th-round 2024 pick. Even better, the Texans will pay a third of Cooks’ salary (6 million), so the Dallas Cowboys’ cap hit is only 12 million in 2023 for Cooks. This is the way to use your compensatory picks. Acquiring talent in this manner has been missing in Dallas for years. So I’ll ask again, is Jerry Jones going all in for 2023?
Brandin Cooks
Yes, Cooks may have been traded four times in his career after this deal, but the thing to remember is that it’s mostly been due to circumstances with the teams he has played for. Brandin Cooks is not considered a diva nor has he been considered a bad teammate anywhere he has played. The Texans could have traded him at last year’s deadline and that frustrated Cooks, wouldn’t you want out of that mess last year? The most important part of getting Cooks for the Dallas Cowboys is the speed factor Cooks provides. Outside of Tony Pollard, there was basically nothing but average-speed players throughout the Cowboys’ offense. Considering the mess that Houston has been all three seasons Cooks was there he was still productive.
Jerry Jones
The Dallas Cowboys owner isn’t getting any younger and he has said he wants one more Super Bowl badly before his time is up. This has been a very good week on the Jones’ yacht somewhere in the Caribbean. That’s right the boss and Cap Boy Stephen are on their annual spring break trip as all of this has happened. Many make fun of Jerry for lots of reasons, myself included. There was a time before the salary cap era when Jerry Jones made moves many would call him “Wild Cattin” Jerry, a nickname for anyone in the oil and gas business who made risky moves much like a famous fictional Dallas character JR Ewing, and Jerry himself. If that’s the case and “Wild Cattin” JJ is alive and kicking it might be to the chagrin of Stephen Jones but for Dallas Cowboys fans the moves are exactly things this fanbase has been dreaming of and screaming about not happening year in and year out. There’s more to come is my feeling and I will get into it next.
Just A Feeling
If the Dallas Cowboys are truly all in then there’s one big move still needed at the NFL draft in April. Many will know where I am headed with this. The defense kept their guys and added Stephon Gilmore the glaring hole at CB2 fixed. The offense just got the position most needed and the one fans were screaming for was addressed with the Cooks trade, a WR2. Sure some will worry about the offensive line and possibly the depth at linebacker, but overall this roster has plenty going for it. So instead of sitting and hoping that Bijan Robinson falls to them with the 26th pick, “Wild Cattin” JJ doesn’t hesitate and moves up in this draft. I know the arguments, and I don’t care. When this type of player is available you do what it takes to get him. Exactly what the Dallas Cowboys did with Micah Parsons.
Do you want a trade partner? How about the New England Patriots at the 14th pick? Bill Belichick is known to make moves at any time and anywhere in the draft. Offer up the Dallas Cowboys 26th and the 90th pick (3rd round) and get up to 14th, ahead of teams like Tampa Bay and the Los Angeles Chargers at 19 and 21 who have been rumored as landing spots for Robinson in the draft. Then I will be 100% with the idea that Jerry Jones is truly all in for 2023.
Let’s not forget how the Dallas Cowboys love to be the best at marketing as well. A Texas Longhorn staying in the state and playing for the Dallas Cowboys is a dream come true for the player and the franchise.
Why Bijan
One more time for those Tony Pollard fans out there. He is not a true RB1 and if the Dallas Cowboys attempt to use him anywhere near the amount that Ezekiel Elliott was used that’s asking for trouble. Not just on the injury front, but in Pollard’s production. He isn’t the type of back you run up the middle with. Robinson is built for that. I am not anti-Pollard at all. I am against seeing him used in a manner detrimental to the Dallas Cowboys. Here’s the opportunity to give Dallas what they have always used to succeed in a running attack that would be a two-headed monster instead of that old-school feature back from the good old days. Think of Chubb and Hunt, Cook and Mattison, and other teams who use two and even three backs very effectively. Having these two backs that would have to be accounted for would also make life easier on the three receivers in Lamb Cooks and Gallup.
You can’t be fully loaded at every position in the NFL. The spots you want to be loaded at though are those skills positions. Did the Kansas City Chiefs have the league’s best offensive line? The answer is no. They sure had weapons galore though at running back and wide receiver along with Kelce at TE. Drafting Robinson and then targeting the best TE available at pick 58 just makes so much sense to me.
Of course, none of us know if it will unfold but for me, that’s a clear sign that one Jerry Jones is truly all in. Something Dallas Cowboys fans have not felt has been the case in a very long time.
As always find me on Twitter @GregsCowboys
