The New Orleans Saints desperately needed to add to their wide receiver room, so they signed Brandin Cooks. The veteran receiver was initially drafted by New Orleans back in 2014, so his return to the Saints after playing with four other teams is already a cool story. While he may be on the decline at 31 years old, he can still contribute, playing alongside Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed.
The Saints signed Cooks to a two-year, $13 million deal, which is considered a cheap contract for the team. However, experts aren’t applauding New Orleans for this move. Instead, the team is being criticized for its decision to bring in Cooks for the next two seasons.
In an ESPN piece, grading free agency moves, Seth Walder graded the signing of Cooks a D. Walder has been hard on the Saints all throughout free agency, because he believes the team shouldn’t be handing out more money to aging veterans. While that’s one reason why this grade is bad, the bigger issue, according to Walder, is Cooks will take valuable snaps from younger wideouts on the roster.
"Because I think the Saints ought to be rebuilding, signing someone such as Cooks means they are paying him money to use up another one of their scarce resources: playing time.Seth Walder (ESPN)
Cooks' snaps this season could go to players who might develop into future contributors and help when New Orleans is closer to having championship aspirations."
ESPN argues Bradin Cooks will slow the development of young Saints receivers
It’s hard to argue Walder’s point. New Orleans isn’t expected to be a contender over the next two seasons, and Cooks doesn’t elevate the team to that status. Additionally, with younger wideouts like Bub Means Jr. looking to emerge, Cooks could possibly take reps from him, when Means needs to be on the field getting better.
All of that makes sense, but there’s one problem: the Saints don’t see themselves like everyone else does. New Orleans is convinced it can contend, so the team is making the moves it believes moves it closer to contender status. The Saints won’t have many believers until they prove it on the field.