{"id":255443,"date":"2025-11-19T12:15:49","date_gmt":"2025-11-19T17:15:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=255443"},"modified":"2025-11-19T12:15:49","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T17:15:49","slug":"breaking-saints-release-brandin-cooks-could-join-contenders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/11\/19\/breaking-saints-release-brandin-cooks-could-join-contenders\/","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING: Saints Release First-Round Pick; Free to Join These Contenders"},"content":{"rendered":"

The New Orleans Saints have released wide receiver Brandin Cooks, but this likely won’t be the end of his NFL journey. Signed to a one-year deal before the season, the 32-year-old wide receiver is not the dangerous deep threat he was at the peak of his career. Through 10 games, the wideout has recorded 19 receptions for 165 yards and no touchdowns. This production admittedly isn’t much, but it’s not the reason the Saints let him go.<\/p>\n

3 Teams That Could Sign Brandin Cooks After Saints Release<\/h2>\n

The former first-round pick was generating trade interest at the deadline, and while no deal came through, New Orleans is allowing him to join a contender for the home stretch. With the Saints well out of the playoff picture<\/a>, Cooks now has the opportunity to hoist the Lombardi Trophy for the first time in his career. While he won’t be a featured part of any passing attack, the following three contenders could use him as a depth option.<\/p>\n

Main Photo: Bob Donnan – Imagn Images<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

3. Buffalo Bills<\/h3>\n

The Buffalo Bills offense looked unstoppable against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, as Josh Allen dominated the opposing defense<\/a> while scoring six touchdowns. Allen is the best quarterback in the league when playing to the best of his abilities, but it takes a team to win a championship. The Bills have a weak group of wide receivers, and second-round pick Keon Coleman<\/a> appears to be in the organization’s dog house.<\/p>\n

Brandin Cooks isn’t a game-changing talent at this stage in his career, but he could be a nice rotational piece for this offense. Just about every one of Buffalo’s wide receivers is at their best in the slot, while Cooks prefers to line out wide. This positional versatility, combined with his vertical route running, means he could have a mini career renaissance with the Bills down the stretch.<\/p>\n

\"Josh
Nov 16, 2025; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) runs the ball for a touchdown against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the second half of the game at Highmark Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/p>\n

2. Pittsburgh Steelers<\/h3>\n

The Aaron Rodgers injury<\/a> doesn’t appear to be serious, as current reports suggest the four-time MVP quarterback will return to the field in a week or two. However, what will the offense look like once he’s healthy again? D.K. Metcalf has been a good offseason addition, but the rest of the depth chart leaves something to be desired.<\/p>\n

The present-day Brandin Cooks might not be the ideal WR2 the Steelers have been trying to find for months on end, but he could be a valuable role player for a team looking for its first playoff win in nearly a decade. The Marquez Valdes-Scantling signing shows the team is looking for another vertical threat, and Cooks may have more in his tank than the former Packer.<\/p>\n

\"Three
Nov 9, 2025; Inglewood, California, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin and quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) walk off the field after the game against the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/p>\n

1. New England Patriots<\/h3>\n

The New England Patriots sit comfortably atop their division with a 9-2 record and an MVP candidate in second-year quarterback Drake Maye<\/a>. This season has gone as well as anyone could have imagined, and the Patriots are in a position to make a deep playoff run. While they weren’t willing to mortgage the future at the trade deadline, they should be open to a Brandin Cooks reunion.<\/p>\n

Maye is fantastic and has made do with an unremarkable wide receiver room, but it wouldn’t hurt to add another body to the mix. Stefon Diggs still has some juice in his tank and Kayshon Boutte has emerged as a reliable intermediate threat, but New England doesn’t have a true burner. Brandin Cooks won’t put up another 1,000-yard season, but pairing him with the game’s most accurate deep passer could be a lethal combination.<\/p>\n

\"3
Nov 2, 2025; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye (10) passes against the Atlanta Falcons during the first half at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The New Orleans Saints and Brandin Cooks mutually agreed to part ways, and the veteran is now free to join a contender.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2376,"featured_media":255444,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6431,3,5,28,9],"tags":[354,7659],"class_list":["post-255443","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-teams","category-bills","category-patriots","category-saints","category-steelers","tag-brandin-cooks","tag-saints-featured"],"modified_by":"David Latham, Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255443","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2376"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=255443"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255443\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":255445,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255443\/revisions\/255445"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/255444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=255443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=255443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=255443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}