Somewhat a surprising choice.
The New Orleans Saints have been able to make some great moves so far this offseason, with some others being questioned in the eyes of some fans. While the full contract details for Brandin Cooks have not been revealed yet, what we do know so far is the overall number is for 2 years, $13 million. It is a bit too early to judge the contract, but with how the national media works, their grades/opinions on deals go off of whatever information is available at the time of the announcement, and many of the grades were not great for this deal.
With that in mind, looking at PFF’s new article, Every NFL team’s free-agent signing with the most upside, by Ben Cooper, the expected names were Justin Reid or Isaac Yiadom. Both players are on great contracts that had a positive response throughout the NFL world, but instead, Cooper named Brandin Cooks as the signing with the most upside. This was definitely a surprising choice, but the explanation may be even more shocking:
“Cooks is three years removed from his most recent 1,000-yard season and missed a significant chunk of 2024 with a knee infection. But the Saints desperately needed a WR2 to pair with Chris Olave, who himself is coming off a season marred by concussions, and Cooks offers plenty of upside.
The 31-year-old began his NFL career with the Saints, amassing two 1,000-yard seasons and 20 touchdown receptions. While Cooks’ best years may be behind him, New Orleans did well to add a proven veteran to its receiving corps ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft.”
For most people, Rashid Shaheed is WR2 for the Saints, and many believed that New Orleans was looking for their third wide receiver with this move. So, when reading this quote, it was interesting to see an outsider’s perspective saying that the Saints were actually desperate to find WR2. Also, Cooks potentially being a WR2 does not seem like a popular viewpoint from fans. No matter what his final contract number ends up being, if Cooks does end up playing like the second-best wide receiver on the team, his deal will be definitely worth it. The issue is with his injuries and age, which initially makes this outcome doubtful.
Only time will tell if this signing will payoff for the Saints, but if Cooks does reach the upside of his potential, then PFF knew something very beneficial early on.