Texans GM Nick Caserio says trading WR Brandin Cooks was ‘best decision for everybody involved’

The Houston Texans offloaded receiver Brandin Cooks in a trade with the Dallas Cowboys Sunday morning.

The transaction netted Houston a 2023 fifth-rounder and a 2024 sixth-rounder and gave Dallas ostensibly a weapon to help quarterback Dak Prescott. Cooks also gets to make good on his statement that he no longer wanted to be a part of a rebuild.

Texans general manager Nick Caserio joined “Payne & Pendergast” on Sports Radio 610 [KILT-AM] Monday to talk about the trade, and prefaced his remarks with having the utmost respect for Cooks as a player and a person.

“Brandin has been a good player for a number of years in this league,” Caserio. “He has been a very productive player.”

Although Caserio would not elaborate on where pundits and the media were incorrect in their reporting and speculation about Cooks’ failed attempt to be traded during last regular season’s deadline, Caserio nevertheless opined.

“I would say going back to the season stuff, quite frankly there’s a lot of ‘experts’ that spoke on this topic that quite frankly had no idea what they’re talking about,” said Caserio. “So, I think things that are actually reported aren’t even close to being true. But nonetheless, in this particular case, in the end, we felt this was the best decision for everybody involved.”

When the Cowboys called during free agency with their offer, Caserio had to take in all of the information.

Said Caserio: “The trade, the markets, trades are always dictated by what a team is willing to pay, and then a team on the other end, in this case the Houston Texans, we have to make the decision whether or not we feel comfortable and it makes sense, or we want to wait around and see if you can ‘get a better deal.’ So, in the end, our responsibility is take all of the information there is, process that information, make the decision that we feel is in our best interest. So, that’s why we did what we did.”

Caserio added that he wished Cooks sustained success in Dallas and that he would, “be a good player for a number of years here moving forward.”