When the Rams cut Todd Gurley, they did so before $10.5 million of his contract became fully guaranteed. One day later, they owed Brandin Cooks a $4 million roster bonus. Rather than trading Cooks before that deadline and saving that money, they opted to hold onto him and trade him less than a month later.

On Thursday, they sent Cooks to the Texans, ridding themselves of his massive contract – a contract the Rams gave him in 2018. By trading him away, though, the Rams don’t actually save any money like they did when they cut Gurley.

Quite the opposite, actually. Had they traded Cooks before his bonus was owed, they would’ve taken on $17.8 million in dead money. Since they waited, that dead cap charge jumped to $21.8 million – $5 million more than it would have cost them to just keep Cooks on the roster.

If the trade is designated as a post-June 1 transaction, it will allow the Rams to split the dead cap charge over the next two years, but regardless, they’re still eating $21.8 million for Cooks to not play for them.

The Rams quickly gave Cooks an $81 million extension after acquiring him from the Patriots in 2018, locking him up before he could play out the final year of his rookie contract. It didn’t seem like a terrible decision at the time, and even after Cooks’ first year with the Rams, it didn’t look bad.

But in hindsight, the Rams got very little out of Cooks for what they paid. He got $40.4 million from Los Angeles for just two seasons and 1,787 yards – 1,204 of which came in 2018 alone.

To say this contract was a mistake would be a massive understatement.

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