When the New England Patriots traded wide receiver Brandin Cooks to the Los Angeles Rams earlier this week, the move – while certainly a logical one to make considering the circumstances – came as a surprise to many. After all, Cooks was New England’s most prolific wide receiver just a year ago and was seemingly just scratching the surface of his potential within the Tom Brady-led offense.
With the outlook of keeping him around long-term a bleak one, however, the team decided to maximize Cooks' value by trading him and a fourth-round draft pick to the Rams for a first-rounder and a sixth-rounder.