Los Angeles Rams should have traded for Odell Beckham Jr. instead of Brandin Cooks

Despite trading for Brandin Cooks, should the Los Angeles Rams gone for Odell Beckham Jr. instead?

As you may know by now, the Los Angeles Rams have struck a deal with the New England Patriots and traded for wide receiver Brandin Cooks. As part of the deal, the Rams also received a fourth-round pick, but also shipped away a first-round pick and a sixth-round pick.

Before the Cooks trade occurred, the Rams were interested in All-Pro wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. of the New York Giants. During the owners meetings, talks heated up between the two teams for Beckham, but it seemed as if the Rams and Giants just could not get on the same page and agree to a deal after New York stated they would want to receive at least two first-round picks for the star receiver. So instead of giving up too much for Beckham, Los Angeles made the move for Cooks while only giving up one first rounder in the process.

The fact that the Rams traded a first and a fourth-round pick for a one-dimensional receiver in Cooks instead of possibly two first-round picks for arguably the best receiver the NFL has to offer in Beckham is beyond me. Los Angeles will have to try and re-sign Cooks and will be in the same predicament as they were last year with Sammy Watkins. But with the trade the Rams previously made for Marcus Peters, who will also need to be re-signed, the brass will have to re-sign Aaron Donald and Todd Gurley as well at some point. Not to mention, the Rams will have to sign Jared Goff to a long-term deal as well down the road.

One would think that Beckham would be worth the extra $4 or $5 million dollars over Cooks based on the comparison of their of their first four years in the NFL along with the trajectory of their careers (Beckham has 44 games played with 313 receptions, 4,424 yards and 38 touchdowns while Cooks has 58 games played with 280 receptions, 3,943 yards, and 27 touchdowns).

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All things considered, it’s tough not to wonder if trading for Cooks is the right move for the Rams since the speedster has now been traded twice over the last two years for a first-round pick. In other words, Los Angeles may have been better off making a stronger push to land Beckham instead of settling for Cooks.