Two reasons why the Brandin Cooks trade to Dallas is historic

Although it doesn't count toward his record, Cooks was involved in a trade before entering the NFL. During the 2014 NFL Draft, the Saints traded a first-round and a third-round pick to Arizona to select Cooks 20th overall. 

After spending his first three seasons with the Saints, New Orleans traded Cooks to New England in 2017. In his lone season as a Patriot, he played in his first Super Bowl before being traded to the Rams. 

Cooks would then play two seasons in Los Angeles, where he made his second Super Bowl appearance, before being traded to Houston in 2020. 

Assuming Cooks suits up for Dallas, he'll have a leg up on Dickerson and Alonso, as neither played for the last teams that acquired them.

The Texans saved $4M by trading Cooks, but he left behind a $22.2M dead cap hit, which also makes history. As first mentioned by former Packers vice president Andrew Brandt, Cooks is the first player to leave behind a dead cap hit of at least $20M with two teams.

Cooks' trade from the Rams to the Texans in 2020 left behind a then-NFL record $21.8M dead cap hit. Since then, the record cap hit has been surpassed several times, most recently by QB Matt Ryan, whose dead cap hit was $40.53M after Atlanta traded him to Indianapolis. 

Last season, Cooks recorded an uncharacteristic 699 yards and three touchdowns. Despite this, having exceeded 1,000 yards receiving in all but three of his nine seasons, he's more than capable of returning to form with QB Dak Prescott throwing to him.