3 Teams Should Sign Brandin Cooks After Saints Release

For the seventh time in his 12-year NFL career, Brandin Cooks will play for a new team after officially clearing waivers after being released by the team that drafted him and re-signed him during the offseason, the New Orleans Saints.

One of the leading players in the 2014 NFL Draft class, Cooks has long been touted for his speed and deep-play ability, with prospect after prospect trading for his services over the past decade to a near-record high. But at 32, his best days may be behind him, as he is he recorded fewer yards in 2024 and 2025 combined, 424than he had in each of his previous 10 individual seasons with the Saints, New England Patriots, Los Angeles RamsHouston Texans and Dallas Cowboys.

Still, even if Cooks is no longer an elite threat, that doesn’t mean he can’t still help a good team succeed in the short term, even if he comes in as a VR3 or even a VR4 on a really good team. He can still get up, has a lot of experience in multiple schemes, and most importantly, brings a speed threat to any offense every time he takes the field, which could force opposing defenses to change their plans to avoid getting burned.

With the playoffs quickly approaching, there are multiple teams that should be pushing hard for Cooks’ services, as he could change the outcome of a game, a drive, or even just a game that could be the difference between making the playoffs and taking an early break in January.

Brandin Cooks could return to the New England Patriots

After ending the 2024 NFL season with a top-5 draft pick, the New England Patriots have been one of the real bright spots in the 2025 campaign, with second-year quarterback Drake Maye leading the team to a 9-2 record through Week 11.

With a cost-controlled quarterback under contract for the next four years, some exciting young players around him like Will Campbell, Christian Gonzalez, and Corey Durden, and quality veterans like Mack Hollins, Stefon Diggs, and Harold Landry III filling out the roster, more than a few fans were pounding the table to see Elliott turn the company around in Vrabel and Mike Wolf move on. roster before the playoffs.

Unfortunately, that didn’t happen, as the Patriots opted to trade players like Keion White and Kyle Dugger from the previous administration instead of throwing in more players who have now won, forcing Vrabel to play with the players he has instead of bolstering his roster with new ones.

Enter Cooks, who could add some deep threats to the Patriots offense like he did in 2017 for Tom Brady.

Despite moving on from deep threats like Tyquan Thornton and Ja’linn Polk, the Patriots offense has seen plenty of success on the field in 2025, with Hollins, Diggs, Kaishon Boutte, Kyle Williams and DeMario Douglas all averaging at least 10 yards per reception on the season. Add a deep threat like Cooks to that group, who has a career 13.3 yards per reception, and it could provide Vrabel with a solid spark plug if any of New England’s young players hit a wall down the stretch.

Brandin Cooks could return to the Los Angeles Rams

Like New England, Cooks has already played for the Los Angeles Rams, having spent two seasons with Matthew Stafford and company under Sean McVay from 2018-19.

In 2018, Cooks ended up having his best season as a pro, catching 80 of 117 balls thrown his way for 1,204 yards and a career-high five touchdowns. While that production was worth the 2018 first-round pick — and trade — Les Snead gave up to bring him to town, a lackluster 2019 season made him expendable, and the Houston Texans acquired the Oregon State product plus a 2022 fourth-rounder for a second.

In 2025, the Rams are a good team with two of the best wide receivers in the game in Puka Natsu and Davante Adams, but their spot at VR3 has been underwhelming, with Tutu Atwell having four receptions for 164 yards, Jordan Withington catching 13 balls for 130 yards and the rest of the team’s 10 receiving yards below 0 yards. 11 weeks.

Sure, the Rams hit their tight ends in 2025, with 13 recruits becoming a fixture in Los Angeles and McVay looking for mismatches, but adding another good wide receiver could provide even more options for Stafford and company.

Can Cooks live up to his 2018 or even 2019 standards in 2025? Probably not, but given what the Rams have in the closet, he’s at least not tall enough to be a quality contributor.

Brandin Cooks could finally sign with the Philadelphia Eagles

Unlike the Saints, Patriots, Rams, Texans, The Cowboys, and once again the SaintsCooks never played for the Philadelphia Eagles, but was associated with the team for most of his NFL career.

Cooks was famously one of six players Chip Kelly considered a draft pick in 2014 before bringing back and selecting Marcus Smith, and during his prime, the Eagles were seemingly always linked to Oregon State’s deep threat as a potential long-term replacement for DeSean Jackson on the outside.

In 2025, those connections could finally come to fruition.

Of course, like the Rams, the Eagles also have two very good wide receivers in AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith, and that duo has already complained about their touches in 2025, but behind the duo, VR3 Jahan Dotson has 10 catches for 194 yards and Xavier Gipson has three, threeyards on just one reception.

Can the Eagles succeed with just three wide receivers with more than one reception? No, even if Jalen Hurts is one of the more conservative passers in the game, he still needs more weapons to unlock the Eagles’ full offensive potential, which was missing in 2025.

While he was far from a perfect player, Ques Watkins provided a certain level of verticality the Eagles have lacked since falling out of favor at the end of 2023. While Watkins is technically still on the practice squad, Cooks is a more ready option who can bring veteran leadership to a wide receiver room that is lacking, so to speak, in that department. If he can get everyone on the same page, Cooks will be worth a lot more than the production he delivers on the court.