By Ross Jackson
NEW ORLEANS, La. — Eight years after being traded to the New England Patriots, the New Orleans Saints are bringing wide receiver Brandin Cooks back to the Big Easy.
He’s back! The #Saints are signing Brandin Cooks, per The Insiders, as their first-round draft pick from 2014 returns.
Quick photoshop 👇👇👇 pic.twitter.com/IynHAN2Eh6
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 21, 2025
Signing a veteran wide receiver was always in the cards this offseason, and a reunion for Cooks and Saints gets it done.
Per NOLA.com’s Matt Paras, the Saints and Cooks have agreed to a two year deal. The compensation update, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter measures out to $13 million over the two years.
Cooks was drafted by the Saints back in 2014 as the team’s first-round, No. 20 overall selection. He was then traded to the Patriots and Los Angeles Rams over the next few years, making stops with the Houston Texans and most recently the Dallas Cowboys over the last two years.
The speedy wideout joins another pair of speedsters at the position in Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed. It’s clear that head coach Kellen Moore is going to be looking to attack the deep areas of the field with quarterback Derek Carr, one of his strengths as a passer.
New Orleans could certainly still use a big-bodied wideout, which could be a later free agent investment or perhaps a 2025 draft pick. One source close to the situation told LouisianaSports.Net that the team would be looking for a receiver with an “elite trait” to add to their role. In Cooks, they’ve found exactly that.
