Stephen Lew-Imagn Images
By Ross Jackson
While it’s very possible that the team makes no trades before the deadline, the New Orleans Saints continue to be open for business, even if they aren’t putting many resources into advertising.
The team doesn’t sound like it’s ready to trade away star wide receiver Chris Olave, despite a wealth of interest around the league, but two other Saints wide receivers remain in focus: Rashid Shaheed and Brandin Cooks.
Rashid Shaheed
Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, teams around the league believe the Saints appear willing to move Shaheed for the right price. That asking price is likely to be set at a third round pick. The fleet-footed receiver is one of the team’s best and most explosive weapons, however he is in a contract year.
Should Shaheed not return with the team in the offseason, the best compensatory selection it could get in return would be a third round pick in the 2027 NFL Draft. In that case, a third-round pick in 2026 makes sense as a conversation starter for any wide receiver-needy team trying to get over the hump in 2025.
However, other teams believing that this is possible isn’t enough to actually move a deal through the league offices. So, whether or not something actually comes to fruition will be based solely on the Saints’ decision-makers.
Brandin Cooks
Cooks is already tied for NFL history’s lead as the most traded player in the NFL. He joined Hall of Fame running back Eric Dickerson and linebacker Kiko Alonso as the only players traded four times in their careers. The Saints have already played a role in two of those records.
New Orleans was the first team to trade Cooks away in 2017. The team also both acquired Alonso from the Miami Dolphins in 2019 and traded him to the San Francisco 49ers the next year.
The Saints could further cement their place in this ongoing legacy by trading Cooks a second time after having just signed him to a two-year, $13 million deal. The structure of the contract is very tradeable, however.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports that this is a possible move by New Orleans. If so, Cooks would become the most traded player in NFL history, having then been moved five times.
The trade would make a lot of sense, as Rapoport explains:
“For Cooks, there seems to be an openness on both sides in moving on. When Cooks signed with the Saints in March, there was still the belief that Derek Carr would be his quarterback. Two months later, Carr retired, creating a transition year under rookie head coach Kellen Moore.”
Who Gets Traded?
Of the two deals, it appears the potential Cooks trade could be the most realistic. The last time the receiver was moved, in 2023, the Houston Texans received a 2023 fifth-round pick and a 2024 sixth-round selection.
If the Saints received any early day three selections in return for Cooks, the move could make a lot of sense for them. The Pittsburgh Steelers (who have checked in on both Olave and Shaheed already), Buffalo Bills and New York Giants are among the teams that could use help at the position and therefore could be suitors.
Other names to watch in the Saints roster would include young veteran pieces on defense like cornerback Alontae Taylor (though communication has reportedly been open regarding a possible extension), linebacker Pete Werner and cornerback Isaac Yiadom, if healthy.
