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Brandin Cooks Contract Terms
Brandin Cooks is signing a two-year deal with the New Orleans Saints worth $13 million, according to Adam Schefter.
Fantasy Football Impact
Brandin Cooks is returning to the New Orleans Saints, the team that selected him in the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft. He spent his first three seasons in New Orleans before being traded to New England. Cooks recorded six 1,000-yard seasons in seven years with four different teams, but the last of those was in 2021. He spent the last two seasons in Dallas, where he totaled 80 receptions for 916 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Cooks, who turns 32 in September, joins a receiving corps that struggled after injuries ended the seasons for Rashid Shaheed and Chris Olave after Weeks 6 and 9, respectively. Over the season, the team’s top receivers were running back Alvin Kamara (543 receiving yards) and tight ends Juwan Johnson (548 yards) and Foster Moreau (413 yards). Shaheed and Olave are expected to fully recover in time for training camp and return to their leading roles. Prior to signing Cooks, the Saints re-signed wide receivers Dante Pettis and Cedric Wilson Jr., who combined for 32 receptions, 331 yards, and two touchdowns.
Cooks signed before other veteran wide receivers Keenan Allen, Amari Cooper, and Stefon Diggs found landing places despite posting fewer receptions, yards, and touchdowns than all three.
The Fantasy Football Fallout
Brandin Cooks was expected to become a reliable WR2 opposite CeeDee Lamb, but he averaged 3.1 receptions and 35.2 yards per game as a Cowboy. Both figures were sharp dropoffs from his three prior years in Houston, where he averaged 5.2 receptions and 65.6 yards per game. The Saints' expectations align more with his recent performance. New Orleans is a great landing spot for Cooks, who will get opportunities to contribute in New Orleans as a WR3 behind Olave and Shaheed. Cooks might not have seen the field as often if he were signed as a fourth wide receiver elsewhere.
Even so, Cooks will be a flex option for fantasy managers at best. He has had two 100-yard games in the last three seasons and has not topped seven receptions in a game since 2021. As a third receiver, expect his ceiling to be lower. Cooks is not a running threat, having rushed 19 times in his 11-year career, so he will not take carries away from running backs.
Brandin Cooks will not affect the fantasy production of Olave and Shaheed. However, Cooks's arrival squashes any value the other wide receivers on the roster could have offered, including the aforementioned Pettis and Wilson. Mason Tipton, a once-hot waiver-wire acquisition who did not produce in his lone start, returns to being off the fantasy radar except in the deepest leagues. Dynasty managers who spent a late-round rookie pick on Bub Means last season must remain patient.
Cooks will not move the needle much, if at all, for quarterback Derek Carr, our consensus QB29 in the Footballguys draft rankings. Carr ranked 21st in passing yards per game in 2024 among quarterbacks who played at least eight games. Carr stands to improve on that finish as he benefits from the returns of Olave and Shaheed, something that was likely to happen with or without Brandin Cooks.
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Brandin Cooks Overview
Brandin Cooks signed a free-agent contract with the New Orleans Saints, the team that originally drafted him. The 11-year veteran should take the team’s WR3 role behind Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed, which kneecaps any potential fantasy value of the Saints’ other wide receivers. Even so, Cooks is likely no more than a flex option for dynasty managers unless Olave or Shaheed miss time.
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