Cowboys get Texans’ Brandin Cooks in NFL trade splash

Brandin Cooks is finally getting his trade wish.

The Cowboys are adding another playmaker for Dak Prescott, acquiring the wide receiver in a trade with the Texans, sending Houston a fifth-round pick in next month’s draft and a 2024 sixth-rounder, according to multiple reports.

Cooks, 29, had 699 yards and three touchdowns for a bad Texans team (3-13-1) in 2022.

He has six 1,000-yard seasons in his career, including in both 2020 and ’21 with the Texans, which acquired Cooks in a trade with the Rams in 2020.

The addition of Cooks, whose contract pays him $18 million this year with a $26.46 million cap hit, adds a badly needed option for the Cowboys’ passing attack.

CeeDee Lamb led the way for Cowboys receivers last year by catching 107 passes for 1,359 yards and nine touchdowns.

The Texans are trading wide receiver Brandin Cooks to the Texans.Getty Images

Their second-leading receiver with 577 yards was tight end Dalton Schultz, who is currently a free agent.

Noah Brown, Dallas’ third-leading receiver with 555 yards, signed with the Texans in free agency.

Cooks was upset when the Texans did not deal him at the NFL trade deadline in November and missed Houston’s “Thursday Night Football” game two days later.

“Don’t take a man’s kindness for granted,” Cooks wrote on Twitter at the time. “Covered for the lies for too long those days are done. Crossed the line with playing with my career.”

Brandin Cooks celebrates a touchdown against the Colts on Jan. 8, 2023.AP

Cooks’ trade to the Cowboys marks the fourth time in his career he’s been traded.

The Saints dealt him to the Patriots in 2017, and a year later New England traded Cooks to the Rams.

The trade is another significant change for the Cowboys offense this season, as they’ve released longtime running back Ezekiel Elliott after placing the franchise tag on Tony Pollard.