My major complaint and really the only one is whether the addition of Cooks is worth the assets you gave up for what is likely a 2 year rental. Did the offense get THAT much better vs the potential loss of that first round pick to the defense. We had the 2nd best offense in the league last season. How much better can it get? If it averages over 36-40 ppg and Cooks is a significant contributor, then I will stand corrected. But if it only averages a couple of points better, even if Cooks puts up numbers then I will be vindicated, especially if the defense is worse.
FWIW, I really don't like this line of reasoning. You can always improve, and if you have a chance to do it then you should. Just because the offense was already one of the best in the league doesn't mean it can't get better and more versatile.
Then we have the other questions that can only be answered on the field next fall. Will he be a distraction when he isn't a focus of offense that week? Can he run the inside routes that are featured in THIS offense? Can he make someone miss for YAC (something I haven't seen in his highlight reels)? And a big one, what will happen to him when the weather turns bad?
I think it can be confidently stated that he'll be fine on all accounts. He excels at running inside routes and using his agility to get open. He's always been good at that, with the physical attributes that make a great, shifty inside receiver: good hands, good 3 cone, great 10 yard split, phenomenal shuttle and short shuttle times. By just about every measure he's quicker and more agile than Amendola was even before his injuries.
These are all legitimate questions that I'm sure you will want answered as well. Hopefully they will be answered positively, but at this point all we can do is ask them and hope for the best.
I agree up to a point, but this being the offseason and all there's also a third option of learning more about Cooks. I strongly recommend that anyone with any doubts about the guy we're getting read this Grantland article from a couple years ago:
The Big Promise of Brandin Cooks. This is the kind of guy we want on the Patriots. He will fit right in here, from day one. I'd like to think I'm not prone to hyperbole, and I don't say this lightly, but I strongly believe he'll be a better, younger, more versatile version of Edelman, and that he'll be fully integrated into the offense and ready to go well before week 1. If you read that article, it gives a number of anecdotes and quotes demonstrating why every coach he's played for loves him and why he'll fit in perfectly with our team culture.
Perhaps my concern about giving up our glorified 2nd round pick has been exacerbated by that fact that if the draft order stands now, the Pats will have nothing to show for their first round selections in 3 out of the last 4 drafts (Easley, MBrown, Goodell, and traded). EVENTUALLY that is going to take its toll, especially when you are drafting at the end of the round every year.
I do agree here, that's a major concern. Our 2012 draft class is gone with exception of Hightower, and 2013 is gone with the exception of Harmon. 2014 is looking like pretty much a bust of a year, barring a huge trade return for Garoppolo, and while 2015 and 2016 have promise, Malcom Brown hasn't developed anywhere near like I hoped he would. I've got high hopes for Flowers, Mason, Mitchell, Valentine, Jones, etc., but the talent pipeline of cheap, rookie contract talent is looking a lot barer right now than it has at any point since 2009. I like Cooks enough that I'm happy with the trade anyway, though.