Veteran wide receiver Brandin Cooks agreed to a free-agent contract with the New Orleans Saints on Friday, according to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo.
Last season, Cooks caught 26 passes for 259 yards and three touchdowns on 54 targets with the Dallas Cowboys. He was limited to 10 games after suffering an infection following a knee procedure.
It was a tough year for Cooks and the Cowboys offense in general. Dallas went from first in scoring in 2023 to 21st one year later. Quarterback Dak Prescott notably missed eight full games due to a season-ending hamstring injury.
Cooks started the year with a solid four-catch, 40-yard, one-touchdown day but slowed down afterward, perhaps in part because of him playing without Prescott for much of his season.
Over 11 seasons, Cooks has fared quite well, amassing 710 catches for 9,532 yards and 60 receiving touchdowns. He’s had six 1,000-yard seasons too.
For whatever reasons, Cooks was unable to find a long-term home in the league, never staying in any town for more than three seasons. The Saints selected the former Oregon State star with the No. 20 overall pick in 2014. He was there for three seasons before being traded to the New England Patriots in 2017. Cooks then spent two years with the Los Angeles Rams and three more on the Houston Texans before making his way to Dallas in 2023.
Overall, it’s been quite a successful career for Cooks. He somehow never earned a Pro Bowl, but he’s been consistently good. Last year wasn’t the best for Cooks, though. Perhaps it was a combination of things, such as mileage, working with a new quarterback or the offense’s doldrums in general. But a fresh year could bring about more success.
With Cooks and the Saints reuniting eight years after they traded him to the Patriots, the hope is he can become a reliable target for quarterback Derek Carr and lend some support to wideouts Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed after both of them missed significant time due to injury last season.
