Brandin Cooks is back on the market and gets to choose his next shot at a ring.
After a quiet second stint with the New Orleans Saints, the team and the veteran receiver agreed to a mutual parting of ways, with Cooks even restructuring his deal to make the move possible. He leaves New Orleans with just 19 catches for 165 yards in 10 games, numbers that show how much of a mess the Saints’ offense was more than his game.
At 32, he is no longer a true number one option, but six 1,000 yard seasons and nearly 10,000 career receiving yards say there is still value here for a playoff hopeful that needs steady, professional snaps at wideout.
Saints and Brandin Cooks have mutually agreed to part ways, per @nick_underhill
— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) November 19, 2025
Cooks will become a FA if he clears waivers pic.twitter.com/1civgTfO3z
Cooks now heads to waivers and, if unclaimed, into full free agency. That gives contenders a rare midseason chance to add a polished veteran who runs sharp routes, understands multiple systems and rarely drops the ball.
Since the start of 2024 he has been charged with only two drops on 79 targets, which makes him especially appealing to teams battling inconsistency and miscues at receiver.
Brandin Cooks free agent market: why he still helps
On paper, Cooks’ 2025 stat line barely moves the needle. No touchdowns, modest yardage and only 24 targets suggest a player fading out of the league.
However, the Saints cycled quarterbacks, leaned heavily on Chris Olave and never really carved out a defined role for Cooks. In Week 10 against the Carolina Panthers, he did not see a single target, even though New Orleans had already traded Rashid Shaheed and clearly lacked explosive options.
#Saints WR Brandin Cooks, who was a possible trade target before the deadline, had been released, sources say. The two sides agreed on this, and now heads to waivers. pic.twitter.com/rhu3tbnyVw
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 19, 2025
What a contender would be buying is not prime Cooks, but a smart route runner who can line up inside or outside, run the full route tree and give a quarterback a trustworthy option on schedule throws.
He brings experience in big games from his time with the New England Patriots, Los Angeles Rams and Dallas Cowboys, and he has produced 1,000 yard seasons in completely different systems with four separate franchises.
Photo Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images
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