Texans acquire Cooks from Rams

[fastforward]

Set the bar low, so you can achieve

I'm pragmatic. Since 1986 we've had 9 winning seasons, 22 losing seasons, and 2 .500 seasons. I can enjoy a 9-7 year and not be devastated by a 6-10 year. The no-hope sub 5 win years are still tough.

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

My thought on Cooks is that yes, he is a good WR barring another blow to the head. But the Rams already have 2 guys just as good on the roster and now can use that pick to fill some other hole. Yeah, the cap hits from him and Gurley are crippling for one year but they had to get some draft capital and so be it. No matter what they do, the Rams are fucked by the cap for this year. Although, the way the world is going, salary caps and what not may not matter.

Now, on the other side for the Texans, I think we all can agree trading Hopkins for what they got is a horrible trade, no matter what Hopkins was asking for and now they compound it by trading for a wideout that is basically the same type of WR as the other 2 guys on the roster and they have also signed Cobb so between Cobb and Cooks, they are essentially paying about what they would have paid Hopkins if they renegotiated. And they don't have arguably, the best intermediate receiver in the game to open up the deep threats. And they have virtually nothing left in draft capital. And Cooks is basically one big hit from being out of football permanently. A helluva lot of negatives there. Maybe Cooks can be a 1000 yd guy again but does it really matter? You don't trade a 2nd rounder for a very iffy maybe, imo.

I would say all in all, O'Brien fucked this up more than anybody but the Rams took too big of a hit due to a bad contract.

 

[fastforward]

I don't think Rams fans were upset over $6M, Gurley's contract, or Gurley himself, (until he bitched about his unpaid bonus last week).

I don't think Rams fans were upset with Cooks, his commitment to the Rams, or the effort he put into playing. He was a very good WR. You seem to be indicating he would have been ranked about #11 - #14. I don't think he was that good...but let's gloss over that. Would that have been enough to pay him in line with a 2018 franchise tag and a 2019 120% tag? I couldn't justify it...but let's gloss over that. If the Rams had done that they would have paid him $35.16M for 2 years. That's the absolute maximum. Instead they paid him $42.47M. It's not the worst Rams personnel decision i've seen but I don't think my D- rating was unfair.

I would have been ok with keeping him at $8M for 2020, but i'd much rather have the 2nd round pick and future cap space. I thank Cooks for his work over the last 2 years and wish him well for the future.

In the Rams defense it would have been reasonable to fully guarantee the 1st 2 years of the contract at $14M, and $15.5M at signing. Half of the 3rd year at $17M would then become guaranteed during the 2nd year. If the Rams had done that he would cost $38M - a saving of just $4.5M.

 

[PDay8810]

The Rams showed the league how not to pay your stars. I know looking at Elliott's & Cooper's contract with the outs after 3 and two seasons respectably shows Jerry learned how not to pay the star players. I think Goff's contract is a huge reason why Dak may play on the tag this year. The league front offices sure must hate the Rams for their front office stupidity.

 

[RobToxin]

 

[Schmoopy1000]

can you put a GM on IR?

 

[sonnyblack65]

can you put a GM on IR?

No but he could be put on a milk carton. Missing Have you seen me?

 

[GNG]

can you put a GM on IR?

Or an owner like Jerry Jones.

 

[GNG]

No but he could be put on a milk carton. Missing Have you seen me?

 

[Schmoopy1000]

Or an owner like Jerry Jones.

well he is also a GM.

 

[GNG]

well he is also a GM.

Double whammy.

 

[Schmoopy1000]

Double whammy.

we can just hide his bottle on draft day in the back. He will be too busy looking for it so Stephen & others can get the draft done.

 

[shopson67]

I'd agree with most of that. I think we have pick (57) as well. Gurley was paid after an exceptional 2017 season when his knees appeared to be fine. I disagreed with some of the Rams decisions but I was fine with pushing the chips in and going for it with a small window. For a franchise with a small fan base in a new city and a huge-budget stadium opening soon it made sense. If the Rams go 4-12 and 6-10 over the next 2 years i'll be phlegmatic about it. It would mean a 5 year period of .500 football, 2 playoff seasons, and a Super Bowl appearance under McVay. Long-time Rams fans call that BOOM time.

This longtime Rams fan calls bullshit. Bad management extended the previous dry spell, need to do what's necessary to avoid the next one.

As far as the new stadium, it will pay for itself in due time. It has the potential to be the biggest earning stadium in the country, with NFL home games throughout the regular season and good weather allowing for year round off-season usage. Only New Jersey also has every week home games (Jets/Giants), but cold weather impacting it's usage otherwise.

 

[GNG]

we can just hide his bottle on draft day in the back. He will be too busy looking for it so Stephen & others can get the draft done.

 

[Schmoopy1000]

Pretty sure everyone knows Jerry lost his mind awhile ago.
Scary thing for Texan fans. O'brien is making these decisions without dementia.
Was gonna say of sound mind, but my fingers just wouldnt type that in the last sentence LOL

 

[fastforward]

The Rams showed the league how not to pay your stars. I know looking at Elliott's & Cooper's contract with the outs after 3 and two seasons respectably shows Jerry learned how not to pay the star players. I think Goff's contract is a huge reason why Dak may play on the tag this year. The league front offices sure must hate the Rams for their front office stupidity.

Cooper's contract is fine. If the Cowboys need to move on after the 2nd year the total cost is $40M. It's a lower cost than Cooks with 2 years of cap increases pushing the price up.

On the other hand Elliot's contract is similar to Gurley's deal. If Elliot gets hurt now the Cowboys will be paying a lot of money and getting less production out of him in his 2nd year. The Cowboys don't have an out for 2021, (based on Spotrac who also said the Rams didn't have an out after year 2, which turned out to be wrong). The Cowboys won't have an out in 12 months time either.

 

[NWPATSFAN]

well he is also a GM.

and coach. Bam! the triple whammy.

 

[DJ]

Well he was struggling with injuries last season. Bet he's not #3 on the Texans.

He'll get every chance to show he can shine.....and probably a career high in targets also.

 

[PDay8810]

Cooper's contract is fine. If the Cowboys need to move on after the 2nd year the total cost is $40M. It's a lower cost than Cooks with 2 years of cap increases pushing the price up.

On the other hand Elliot's contract is similar to Gurley's deal. If Elliot gets hurt now the Cowboys will be paying a lot of money and getting less production out of him in his 2nd year. The Cowboys don't have an out for 2021, (based on Spotrac who also said the Rams didn't have an out after year 2, which turned out to be wrong). The Cowboys won't have an out in 12 months time either.

I was off a year
POTENTIAL OUT: 2023, 4 YR, $50,088,964; $6,700,000 DEAD CAP

Zeke has zero injury issues....could not say that when Gurley signed hjis new deal. Can he get hurt? sure but he's been a mow cow thus far and that could never be said for Gurley

 

[fastforward]

I was off a year
POTENTIAL OUT: 2023, 4 YR, $50,088,964; $6,700,000 DEAD CAP

Zeke has zero injury issues....could not say that when Gurley signed hjis new deal. Can he get hurt? sure but he's been a mow cow thus far and that could never be said for Gurley

Gurley was injured in college. He missed 0 games through injury in his 1st 3 years with the Rams. To NOT extend him because of a college injury wouldn't have made any sense. He got injured in Week 1 of the 2018 season, his 1st game after the extension. It was a new injury rather than the old injury. The Rams were able to get away from Gurley's contract after 2 years with less than 3 years pay against them because Gurley's 3rd year was NOT fully guaranteed. If Gurley had been forced to retire it would still only have been 3 years. If Elliot gets injured in his 2nd year his 3rd year is fully guaranteed. If Elliot gets injured in year 3 his 4th year is fully guaranteed. If Elliot has to retire from injury in year 2 his 3rd & 4th seasons are guaranteed for injury. There's far more risk in Elliot's contract. I hope it doesn't matter and he stays healthy.