‘Brandin the Bargain': Is Cowboys’ Cooks NFL's Most Overlooked Star?

The Dallas Cowboys' acquisition of receiver Brandin Cooks from the Houston Texans was seen by most as a good piece of business. But now on his fifth team, there is a narrative building around Cooks that he isn't the difference-maker the Cowboys need him to be.

There isn't much love coming for Cooks this offseason, and as such, CBS Sports has named the receiver as the Cowboys' most underappreciated player.

"Just because he's bounced around the league, doesn't mean Cooks isn't a good player," CBS Sports writes. "Cooks has six 1,000-yard seasons in his career, four of which have come with different teams. He'll be facing No. 2 cornerbacks in 2023, so the production and efficiency should go up.

"Dak Prescott is also a better quarterback than any signal-caller Cooks has caught passes from since 2020, so another 1,000-yard season may be on the horizon.”

Cooks also has a cap number of just $6 million in 2023, has a year remaining on his contract after that, and came here in exchange for just a fifth-round and a sixth-round pick.

"CBS writes, “The Cowboys have Cooks on a bargain." … and we view that as indisputable. So why doesn’t everybody see this trade that way?

Some will look at his previous season with the Texans and think that Cooks was nothing more than solid. But … It is important to remember that Davis Mills was his quarterback last year who, like Dak Prescott, led the league in interceptions with 15.

Besides, last season, while Cooks could only play 13 games and registered 699 yards and three touchdowns, had he played all 17 regular-season games and made his baseline average yards per game (58.3), he would have ended with 913 yards.

It's also worth noting that Cooks played the least amount of offensive snaps (685) since his rookie season. So he didn't get the opportunities, either.

The year prior in 2021, Cooks managed to total 1,037 yards and six touchdowns with Mills as his quarterback in an offense that only averaged 16.5 points per game (ranked 30th out of 32 teams). That in itself is an accomplishment.

Cooks comes to Dallas with something to prove, and as has been made clear in his Dallas workouts, he still has gas in the tank. Is he the Cowboys' most underappreciated player?

From the outside, there is an argument to be made, but inside The Star, with what he has already done regarding mentoring fellow receivers and what he could do for Prescott and the offense, that answer is a definitive no.

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