Texans' Brandin Cooks: Agrees to new deal

Cooks and the Texans have agreed to a contract restructure that frees up $6.5 million in cap space for the team, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Cooks previously was scheduled for a $12 million cap hit, which was more than reasonable after he rebounded from a subpar 2019 to record the his fifth 1,000-yard receiving season of his career in 2020. This restructure likely converts most of his 2021 base salary into a bonus, reducing this year's cap charge by pushing some of it to the final two seasons of Cooks' contract (2022, 2023) instead. The Texans apparently intend to keep the veteran wideout, though he might end up playing for a young, overmatched team with a new coach and a new quarterback (TBD). Cook's fantasy value for the upcoming season partially hinges on the Deshaun Watson situation.