The Green Bay Packers may be looking to add a wide receiver during the 2023 off-season. With the possible departures of Randall Cobb and Allen Lazard, the Packers could benefit from adding some veteran wide receivers to the team. Recently, reports started surfacing that a star wide receiver is on the trade block. Now, the Green Bay Packers have been named a contender for that star wide receiver.
Green Bay Packers Named Contender To Land WR Brandin Cooks
The Green Bay Packers tried their hardest to fill the gaping hole Adams left behind with 2022 rookies Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs, two youngsters who had their moments last season. The rest of the wideout group, vets Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb, is just okay, and neither Lazard nor Cobb has quite the same decorated resume as Cooks.
A potential Brandin Cooks trade to the Packers should come with a neon, radioactive warning: Aaron Rodgers may not approve. Rodgers struggled to play with the fresh meat last year, and he may need someone who just gets him, you know? Like a bargain-bin Davante Adams.
Assuming the chemistry is there, and assuming Rodgers stays with the franchise, Brandin Cooks has the potential to thrive in Green Bay and turn the Packers into legitimate playoff contenders. It helps that Cooks played under Sean McVay during his time with the Los Angeles Rams in 2018 and 2019, as McVay has a longstanding friendship with Packers coach Matt LaFleur and both descended from the same coaching tree.
With Watson and Doubs still not worthy of Rodgers’ trust (from Rodgers’ perspective, at least), an established veteran like Cooks could do wonders for the Packers’ offensive quandary.
Cooks could be that missing puzzle piece, that budget-friendly Adams to the Packers’ passing game, but it would entirely hinge on his chemistry with someone who has shunned vaccines, attacked the general NFL media, and prefers figuring out his issues in complete solitude.
Joining the Packers is one of the riskiest gambles Cooks could take in his career — with high risk comes high reward, and it could also be his best shot at finally winning some brass.
Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 Houston reported “multiple” teams have expressed interest in the veteran wide receiver. Brandin Cooks “reiterated this offseason his desire to change teams and join a playoff contender after going 11-38-1 with the Texans over the past three seasons.” The Texans’ star wide receiver made it very clear in January, just hours after the franchise fired coach Lovie Smith after one season, that he wants nothing to do with rebuilding in Houston. He was quoted saying this via ESPN’s DJ Bein-Aime.
“I’m not going into this offseason thinking I want to be a part of a rebuild,” Cooks said.
“I’m not looking at it as far as being a part of a rebuild, however that looks. That’s why I trust my camp and my representation to be able to get a map from here to there and to see what that looks like to be a part of something that has a trusted plan.”
The Green Bay Packers once were heavily rumored to be interested in trading for Texans’ wide receiver Brandin Cooks. Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs are certainly the future of the wide receiver position in Green Bay. Their talents were on full display in 2022. However, with the possibly departure of Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb, a proven veteran would go a long ways for this offense. Cooks will turn 30 years old in September and is on a different timeline than the rebuilding Texans.
Cooks’ career includes six seasons with more than 1,000 receiving yards. This includes as recently as 2021 when he was on the Texans. Cooks posted 57 catches for 699 yards and three touchdowns in 13 games last season.
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