In only 10 days, the New Orleans Saints will take the field against the Arizona Cardinals for their regular season opener. Wide receiver Brandin Cooks wears No. 10 for New Orleans. In his second stint with the team, Cooks is expected to add speed and valuable experience to the offense. Here’s a closer look at the career of our Saints Player of the Day.
Name (age): Brandin Cooks (31)
Height, weight: 5-foot-10, 193 pounds
Relative Athletic Score: 9.14
Drafted: Round 1, 20th overall in 2014 (Saints)
2025 salary cap hit: $3,154,118
At Stockton High School in California, Cooks was the 26th-rated receiver nationally before committing to Oregon State. As a true freshman in 2011, he flashed his big-play potential with 31 catches and 391 yards. Cooks broke out in 2012 with 67 receptions for 1,151 yards and 5 scores, leading the Pac-12 with a 17.2 average per catch. He led the Beavers with 128 catches, 1,730 yards, and 16 touchdowns in 2013, also leading the Pac-12 in all three categories. Those numbers not only earned Cooks 1st Team All-American honors, but also the Biletnikoff Award as the nation’s best receiver.
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New Orleans traded up from 27th to 20th in the first round of the 2014 NFL draft to select Cooks as the fourth wideout off the board. Injuries limited him to only 10 games as a rookie, but he still flashed tremendous upside with 53 catches for 550 yards with 73 rushing yards and 4 total touchdowns. In 2015, Cooks showed why he was a first round choice by leading the Saints with 84 receptions and 1,138 yards with 9 scores. Rookie Michael Thomas took over as the primary receiver by the end of 2016, but Cooks still had 78 catches, 8 touchdowns, and a team-high 1,173 receiving yards. Included in that was a 98-yard scoring reception that is the longest play from scrimmage in franchise history.
Unfortunately, Cooks grew discontent with his slightly decreased role in the offense. This forced the Saints to trade him to the New England Patriots during the 2017 offseason for 1st and 3rd round draft picks that turned out to be Ryan Ramczyk and Trey Hendrickson.
Cooks followed up his consecutive 1,000-yard seasons for the Saints with 1,082 yards for the Patriots in 2017. New England still traded him to the Los Angeles Rams the following offseason, where Cooks responded with 1,204 receiving yards. His production dipped to 583 yards in 2019, prompting yet another trade to the Houston Texans during the 2020 offseason. Cooks responded to that move with 1,150 yards for Houston that year, then 1,037 yards on a career-best 90 catches for the Texans in 2021.
After a 2022 drop in production, Cooks was again traded in 2023 to the Dallas Cowboys. He’d been with the Cowboys the last two seasons, combining for 80 catches for 916 yards.Brandin Cooks was reunited with the organization that drafted him when signed two-year contract by the Saints this offseason. He returns to New Orleans with 710 career receptions for 9,532 yards and 60 touchdowns, with six 1,000-yard seasons to his credit. Cooks may have lost a step, but still has explosive big-play capabilities to add to the Saints offense.
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This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Countdown to Kickoff: Brandin Cooks is the Saints Player of Day 10