Chargers fans shouldn't be banking on a Brandin Cooks miracle

The LA Chargers did not make a single trade at the deadline this season and frustrated fans in the process. This is a team that has pitched the mantra of being all-in and despite all of the injuries and holes on the roster, the Bolts decided to keep what they have in-house.

Making the Chargers' inactivity even worse is the fact that Keenan Allen suffered a setback with his hamstring and will likely miss even more time. That leaves Justin Herbert without his WR1 and WR2 for the foreseeable future.

Joshua Palmer cleared concussion protocol and was back at practice on Wednesday but his Week 9 status is TBD. While it seems likely he will play, if he doesn't, Herbert will be without his WR1, WR2, WR3 and WR4. He would be throwing to a career special teams player in DeAndre Carter and a bunch of practice squad guys.

While the team broke fans' hearts at the deadline, that has not stopped the hope for a miracle to happen in relation to Brandin Cooks. Cooks was one of the biggest available names at the deadline but was ultimately not traded. That has upset Cooks, who will not play on Thursday for "personal reasons" and cook try to force his way out of Houston the ugly way by getting waived.

Chargers fans should not be banking on this Brandin Cooks miracle to come true.

Even though Cooks has familiarity with Joe Lombardi and that might actually prompt the Chargers to bring Cooks in if he becomes available, the chances of him actually being available seem very, very slim.

As bad as it is getting in Houston, the Texans have no real incentive to release him this season. This is not a team that is trying to make any kind of run and quite frankly, him not playing gives them a better chance of getting the first overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.

If he was an expiring contract it would be a different story but he isn't. The Texans have more incentive to just keep him under contract the rest of the season and revisit a trade in the offseason for draft capital in the 2023 NFL Draft. They might not get much but getting something is better than getting nothing.

Since this is happening after the trade deadline, Cooks would have to pass through the waiver wire first. The Chargers cannot absorb his current contract and would only be able to sign him as an unrestricted free agent. While he is expensive, there is a good chance that at least one team would be willing to take on his contract.

If not, Cooks would become an unrestricted free agent and would have to choose the Chargers over anyone else. Perhaps the familiarity with Lombardi as well as the prospects of playing with Justin Herbert would entice Cooks but there are better contending teams out there that would probably bring him in as well.

MUST-READ: Promising rookies the Chargers could have drafted in 2022

It is hard to see the Chargers being his top choice, especially with all of the dysfunction that is going on with the team right now.