Texans Extend Laremy Tunsil, Trade Brandin Cooks to Cowboys

The Houston Texans are making two big moves on Sunday, trading top receiver Brandin Cooks and signing Laremy Tunsil to a massive extension.

You rarely ever see big news made on a Sunday in the NFL offseason. The Houston Texans made two major moves on Sunday that everyone was expecting at some point. These stories pretty much landed on top of each other, so we will just address them both here.

First, the Texans finally reached an extension agreement with Laremy Tunsil. The official terms amount to three years and 75 million.

While the deal officially makes him the highest paid tackle in football, it also lowers his cap figure for the 2023 season. The deal was expected and it works out well for both sides. Tunsil gets more than 50 million guaranteed and gives him bragging rights. The Texans get a little bit of breathing room under the cap if they want to continue to add a player here and there in free agency.

Not to be outdone, Nick Caserio completed another deal that has been long expected. Brandin Cooks is going from the Texans to the Cowboys in advance of the draft. The deal will bring them a fifth-rounder in the 2023 draft and a sixth-rounder in the 2024 draft. The two deals in concert actually bring in less money than people might think, but the deal finally gets a malcontent out the door.

How we should feel about the Cooks trade depends greatly on whether you want to believe the rumors about the deadline last season. Supposedly the Cowboys offered the Texans a second round pick during the season, but there was never any confirmation of that rumor. No one is quite sure how that deal was structured and why it fell apart. Only Nick Caserio and the Jones family know for sure.

If we ignore those rumors then getting two late picks for Cooks is a decent haul. After all, the deal seems in line with what the Rams got for Jalen Ramsey in their trade with the Miami Dolphins. Certainly, a third rounder would have been nice, but Cooks was highly paid and he didn’t have a good 2022 season. Now, the Texans can move on.

How do you feel about the Tunsil extension? Did the Texans get enough for Brandin Cooks? Are you feeling good about the Texans future? Let’s hear from you in the comments.