Ex-Cowboys WR Predicted To Be Traded To The Steelers

The Dallas Cowboys just made one of the biggest trades of the 21st century when they sent All-Pro edge rusher, Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers in return for a pair of first rounders and defensive tackle, Kenny Clark.

However, Bleacher Report’s Moe Moton suggests that a trade could be underway for a former Cowboys player – wide receiver, Brandin Cooks.

In listing some of his “bold predictions” to ahead of the start of the regular season, Moton projects that the receive-needy Pittsburgh Steelers get more ammunition for future Hall of Fame quarterback, Aaron Rodgers in the form of Cooks, who is currently residing with the New Orleans Saints.

Former Cowboys WR Predicted To Move Conferences Soon After Free Agency Signing

“Cooks is past his prime, though he can still be a serviceable pass-catching threat with a veteran quarterback. The Saints will start second-year pro Spencer Rattler, and rookie second-rounder Tyler Shough may see some time on the field if the former struggles early in the season.

In his 12th year, Cooks would be a better fit on a playoff-contending squad rather than a team in its early stages of a rebuild with a starting quarterback who has an uncertain short-term future.”

After once being a player who could be trusted to reliably (minus one season with the Rams) put up a cool 1,000 receiving yards in a season, but not a ton more – Cooks became a solid WR2/3 with the Texans and Cowboys in 2022 and 2023, posting between 600 and 700 yards in both years.

A down year which saw the former first round pick miss a total of seven games and record just 259 yards through the air gave Dallas little reason to re-sign him to a new deal, and the Saints swooped in with a generous two year, $13 million offer.

Cooks Might Not Be A Necessary Commodity For Rebuild Year In New Orleans

However, after the retirement of former QB, Derek Carr, almost all realistic playoff hopes seem to hang in the balance for New Orleans – hopes that are currently resting solely on the abilities of Spencer Rattler and second round rookie, Tyler Shough.

So it could make sense for the team to make an instant profit on Cooks and send him away for a decent Day 3 pick like the fifth rounder suggested by Moton – especially after the Saints traded a fourth rounder for Broncos wideout, Devaughn Vele.

“Moreover, the Saints have a young trio of receivers in Chris Olave, Rashid Shaheed and Devaughn Vele.” Moton continued, “Regardless of how their season pans out, they may be willing to move Cooks for draft capital.”

“The Steelers should be one of the strongest suitors for Cooks, who would be the team’s second-best wideout behind DK Metcalf. Calvin Austin III made strides as a big-play receiver last season, but quarterback Aaron Rodgers can target Cooks as his reliable chain-mover in the aerial attack.”

Cooks may not be the star he once was, but with a high-level quarterback and some other pieces on offense, he could certainly be a more than capable auxilliary piece for Pittsburgh.

Legendary Former Teammate Calls Out Broncos Icon Shannon Sharpe

Denver Broncos great Shannon Sharpe has made one of the most successful transitions from player to media personality in the NFL, but his public (i.e., television) persona is not for everyone, including a well-known former teammate.

Sharpe did not spend his entire playing career with the Broncos. He also spent two years with the Baltimore Ravens.

His former Ravens teammate, Ray Lewis, is among those put off by Sharpe’s act.

Ray Lewis Admits Parting Ways With Ex-Broncos TE Shannon Sharpe

“I’m not surprised [by Sharpe’s success in media]. I’m shocked at his content. I would in a million years, the things that Shannon has said now or did now, I would never believe that Shannon will say or do any of those things,” Lewis told Patrick Bet-David on the “PBD Podcast” in a clip shared on August 30.

“Take drinking. Shannon, in my entire career, I’ve never saw Shannon with a drink. Ever. Like, it was against the law, right, because he had some stuff in his family that he didn’t want to follow that. And, yeah, and then, so, I kind of started to watch him. And then, we kind of went our own separate ways because I’m like, ‘You’re going to take that route. I can’t go that route. Never can go that route.”

Sharpe and Lewis had always been close, even publicly roasting one another while they were teammates.

Sharpe, a Hall of Famer like Lewis, played 14 seasons in the NFL, 12 of which came with the Broncos. He finished his career with 815 receptions, 10,060 yards, 62 touchdowns, eight Pro Bowl trips, three First Team All-Pro selections, and two Super Bowl wins, one in Denver.

Ray Lewis: Shannon Sharpe, Others Promoting ‘Ignorance’

GettyRay Lewis (L) and Shannon Sharpe (R) of the Baltimore Ravens celebrate after the AFC Championship Playoffs against the Oakland Raiders.

Lewis, whose own career was marred by double homicide charges stemming from a stabbing during his Super Bowl run with the Ravens in January 2000 (between Sharpe’s Broncos stints) and performance-enhancing substance use, is an ordained minister and motivational speaker.

His basis for splitting personally with Sharpe is deeply rooted in that faith and vocation.

Lewis said, “That route is to become so worldly that you become popular because you’re talking about ignorance.”

He added that he is trying to “teach people what does it mean to be a better man, or get back to the kingdom [of Heaven],” not engage in “gossip conversations.” Sharpe has been in the news amid rape accusations from a former girlfriend and his exit from his role as an ESPN personality.

Sharpe still has his popular “Club Shay Shay” and “The Nightcap” podcasts.

“A lot of times, and a lot a lot of the guys get in trouble with these podcasts and things, man, because everybody wants to follow, or everybody wants to be popular. Everybody wants to make money, but that’s a tight rope into what you call influence and popularity, right? And the devil has the ability to make you popular. God has the ability to give you influence that when people see you, they see an image of him,” Lewis said.

“That’s the thing for me that started to switch with not just Shannon, but just a couple of people. I’m like, ‘Wow, you would switch out like that? Really?’ And I would never, ever. Why? Because of the respect that I have for my mother, my daughters, my granddaughter’s life. Period.”

Sharpe settled his rape case out of court, in which the plaintiff initially sought $50 million in damages from the former Broncos playmaker, but no financial details were disclosed.

Ray Lewis Staying in Own Lane

Lewis noted the influx of podcasters like Sharpe, whom the Broncos drafted in the seventh round of the 1990 draft. Lewis decried the lack of internal reflection from the hosts of those programs.

“I think men given these new platforms, we’ve overrode what the platform is actually for. The platform is supposed to help somebody find a new direction. We don’t help. Everybody just gets on. Everybody’s talking now, everybody got a podcast, everybody is the new marriage coach, everybody’s the new relationship coach, and ain’t nobody coaching themselves,” Lewis said.

“If you were coaching yourself, when it says ‘power of life and death is found in the tongue,’ then go back and check out a couple of episodes and ask yourself, ‘Do you give life or do you give death?’ And that’s why me, personally? Yeah, I kind of do my own thing, stay in my own lane.”

Sharpe, once dynamic on the field for the Broncos and Ravens, has become polarizing off it.

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