NOLA Saints: Reuniting with Brandin Cooks could be an option

The New Orleans Saints selected Brandin Cooks with the No. 20 overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft and it was a popular pick amongst the fan base at the time. After three seasons with the NOLA Saints, however, Cooks had made a lot of people mad and was sent to New England following the 2016 season.

Since then, he’s played for the Rams and Texans, meaning he’s been on four different teams since the 2014 season. That’s not a great sign.

That being said, the Saints need another wide receiver outside of Michael Thomas and the Texans might be in a spot where they’ll trade anyone in order to get draft capital. It’s no secret that the Texans are in a terrible position right now with their quarterback’s legal problems and not wanting to play for them and they’re going to be a really bad team in 2021.

If the Texans have a firesale, the Saints should consider putting an offer in for Cooks. It didn’t end well between him and the Saints when he last played for them in 2016 but a lot has changed since then and Cooks is no longer the top 10 wide receiver he once was. He’d have a chance to make a lot more noise in the Big Easy than he would in Houston with the faltering Texans.

The NOLA Saints should consider trading for Brandin Cooks.

Cooks might not be a top 10 receiver anymore but he had a great year in 2020 with the Texans, hauling in 81 receptions for 1,150 yards and six touchdowns through 15 games. His quarterback had the most passing yards in the league though and that won’t be the case in Houston this year so Cooks probably wouldn’t be upset about getting traded.

As for the Saints, they have Thomas as their WR1, and then the WR2 job is still up in the air. Former third-round pick Tre’Quan Smith is the favorite to land the job and the WR3 spot will be a battle between 2020 UDFA Marquez Callaway and 2021 seventh-rounder Kawaan Baker.

Adding Cooks — who went for over 1,100 yards a season ago — to an offense with some question marks is a smart idea. It might not be the most popular move considering the drama Cooks caused in his final year with the organization, but desperate times call for desperate measures. The Saints need a WR2 and Cooks not only fits that bill but could easily step into the WR1 role should Thomas get injured again this year.

Contract-wise, Cooks had an out this year on his original five-year deal that he signed with the Rams but the deal runs through 2022 otherwise. The Saints would have Cooks for this year and next, which gives them plenty of time to draft and develop another receiver while they’d have Cooks on their roster.

What do you think of this idea, Saints fans?