Re: Saints 2025 Off-Season Roster Moves
 

Was crazy money ten years ago. The times they are a-changing, per Bob Dylan. Now it's average.

Re: Saints 2025 Off-Season Roster Moves
 

Saints signed WR Brandin Cooks, formerly of the Cowboys.

Cooks re-joins the franchise that made him the No. 20 overall pick of the 2024 NFL Draft. Now 31, Cooks isn’t the explosive player he once was, and he’s coming off a season in which he posted career lows in catches (26), receiving yards (259), and YPR (10.0). Granted, he was limited to just 10 games last season, but it’s no secret that Cooks is on the back nine of his career. With Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed presumably locked in as the Saints’ top two receivers, Cooks’ role should be that of a WR3/WR4 in Kellen Moore’s offense next season. Outside of a dart throw in deeper leagues, it’s hard to imagine Cooks having much fantasy utility at this stage of his career.

Source: Ian Rapoport

Re: Saints 2025 Off-Season Roster Moves
 

I don't get this. I remember him as a guy who had great speed on the outside but didn't like going over the middle. We know the first part isn't true anymore, can't imagine the second part has changed.

Re: Saints 2025 Off-Season Roster Moves
 

Makes you wonder about Olave's long term outlook in N.O.

Re: Saints 2025 Off-Season Roster Moves
 

Re: Saints 2025 Off-Season Roster Moves
 

I’m not mad. He produces. He will be our #3 wr. Another weapon for Carr and frees up early draft picks. I see 500 yards and 3 tds.

Re: Saints 2025 Off-Season Roster Moves
 

I hope we trade him while he still has some worth.

Re: Saints 2025 Off-Season Roster Moves
 

I hope so but Cooks is small and fragile. It seems like every game I see him in he's getting concussed.
Not me. Olave is a really good WR.

Re: Saints 2025 Off-Season Roster Moves
 

Lol Brandin Cooks complained about QB play when Brees was in his prime.

Now he has Derek Carr throwing him the ball....

Re: Saints 2025 Off-Season Roster Moves
 

Not understanding the Cooks signing, but aight.

Re: Saints 2025 Off-Season Roster Moves
 

Cooks doesn't make sense to me. Are we trying to build the smallest WR group in the league?

Re: Saints 2025 Off-Season Roster Moves
 

Frfr. Will say...receiving corps is fast af.

Re: Saints 2025 Off-Season Roster Moves
 

Carr be underthrowing like crazy

Re: Saints 2025 Off-Season Roster Moves
 

His brain is scrambled. Good wr, but it's over for him.

Re: Saints 2025 Off-Season Roster Moves
 

Maybe Olave will be traded for a late round pick and we go big WR in first round. Cooks fills in olaves places place for one year

Re: Saints 2025 Off-Season Roster Moves
 

I have a feeling we’re hitting those trenches early in this draft.

Re: Saints 2025 Off-Season Roster Moves
 

Brandin Cooks for 13 million is not going to help the Saints. How are you able to live with such a **** front office?

Re: Saints 2025 Off-Season Roster Moves
 

Don't think of this as singular moves. Instead think of them as building a roster of offensive weapons that will stress any defense with mismatches and overloading the secondary as well as LBs.

Plus Cooks may be instrumental in helping Moore install/teach aspects of his offense to the WR room.

Re: Saints 2025 Off-Season Roster Moves
 

Depth signing at best. Neither Shaheed or Olave will play a full season.

Cooks hasn’t been good for 2 seasons & will be 32 in Sept.
This is a nothingburger.

Going from Scantling to Cooks is a more expensive downgrade.

Re: Saints 2025 Off-Season Roster Moves
 

Don't like the Cooks move one bit. Doesn't make sense from any angle. Small, slower, known to be a whiner. Nothing to like.
I hope he proves me wrong.

Re: Saints 2025 Off-Season Roster Moves
 

I know he had a couple of in game concussions back in 2018 and 2019. He missed two games to the one in 2019. Never missed another due to one the rest of his career. You must have watched both of those games. He also was placed on the practice report on a Thursday back in 2015 when with the Saints with possible concussion symptoms but played that Sunday according to Draft Sharks (from NFL records). They also have his Durability Rating as a 5.0 out of 5.

Re: Saints 2025 Off-Season Roster Moves
 

I agree that its a more expensive downgrade. They are blowing $13 million this geezer. Ridiculous.

Mickey Loomis should be arrested and prosecuted on reasonable suspicion of embezzling and elder fraud. The only explanation for these contracts is that he is taking kickbacks.

Re: Saints 2025 Off-Season Roster Moves
 

Disagree brother.

While we can debate whether Cooks or MVS is "better", their contracts are similar and MVS is 2 years younger, the edge goes to Cooks' experience with our new coaching staff.

No he won't be the #1 (or #2) WR but don't forget the guy is knocking on 10,000 career yards and 60+ TDs. He's still a very talented WR who may be the best "depth" WR on any roster.

Regarding recent performance, I just want to remind everyone who his QBs over the last few seasons have been:

'21 Tyrod Taylor, Davis Mills (90 rec, 1,037yds, 6 td)

'22 Davis Mills, Kyle Allen (57 rec, 699yds, 3 td)

'23 Dak Prescott (54 receptions, 657 yards, and 8 touchdowns while playing 16 games​). Notably, the 8 receiving TDs were a bright spot – just one shy of his career high – but his receptions and yards were his lowest in any full season since his rookie year. Dallas used Cooks more sparingly than Houston did; he averaged just over 3 catches and 41 yards per game.

'24 Dak (IR in Nov), Cooper Rush (10 games played, 26 rec, 259yds, 3 td)

So what did we get? A washed up nobody, or an invaluable depth piece who can, with stable QB play, step up when (not if) our other WRs miss extended time?

IMO, Cooks’ statistical downturn was multi-factorial. The most significant causes were the changing team contexts: quarterback instability, conservative play-calling in Houston, and reduced target share in Dallas. The “decline” is better viewed as a product of circumstance rather than a drastic drop in Cooks’ talent. He remained the same player, but the opportunities and environment around him shifted unfavorably for big numbers.

I'll bet you Kellen Moore sees BC more as the 2021 version than MVS could ever be. :bng:

Re: Saints 2025 Off-Season Roster Moves
 

Cooks has been with five teams in 10 years.

Being good enough to want but not good enough to stay is not organizational it’s personal. Let’s not forget his departure from both the Saints and Texan’s were rumored to be locker room problems with him.

Maybe it’s possible that 5 teams, including the Saints, got it wrong…

Re: Saints 2025 Off-Season Roster Moves
 

More context to this signing in this video;

https://youtu.be/SGEp0csxHb8?si=2q7U3QojG1kCWKuh

Re: Saints 2025 Off-Season Roster Moves
 

I’ll never forget the “closed mouths don’t get fed” remark. If I remember correctly, he was a bit of a diva.

Of course Michael Thomas makes him look like a choir boy. Sad that guy fell off the face of the earth after such a great start to his career.

Re: Saints 2025 Off-Season Roster Moves
 

He also threw Brees under the bus, even after logging nearly 1200 receiving yards.

Re: Saints 2025 Off-Season Roster Moves
 

When Cooks was young he was a fast dude who ran nice routes. However, he had the catch radius of a the trick basketball hoop at the carnival.

Re: Saints 2025 Off-Season Roster Moves
 

Saints, traded him for a 1st

Pats, traded him for a 1st

Rams, needed to shed salary after a failed Super Bowl push, and Cooks had a large contract.

Texans, four HC changes in 3 seasons. Cooks expressed frustration with instability and lack of direction in Houston. After multiple coaching changes and a rebuild, he requested a trade.

Cowboys, illustrated in my previous post.

Can he be a "diva"? Unclear. Was he brash or immature in his earlier years? Possibly.

But we can say, sometimes it's organizational, not personal... :bng:

Re: Saints 2025 Off-Season Roster Moves
 

With good QB play his catch rate was high 60 to mid 70 %.

Re: Saints 2025 Off-Season Roster Moves
 

Essentially the same contract as MVS who played Shaheed's role when he went down. We don't nee him. We signed a veteran WR who has familiarity with Kellen.

Re: Saints 2025 Off-Season Roster Moves
 

We signed a veteran WR who has familiarity with George Halas and Bear Bryant.

Re: Saints 2025 Off-Season Roster Moves
 

Good. I like players that are interested in the history of the game. By the way, Cooks was born ten years after (1993) both Halas and Bryant both died in 1983.

Re: Saints 2025 Off-Season Roster Moves
 

Re: Saints 2025 Off-Season Roster Moves
 

Nice.

Let's bring in another washed WR (Amari). Limited production in Cleveland & limited targets with an elite QB in Buffalo.

Saintsnation it's past time to reset this thing & look beyond 2025. Get some younger, hungry guys in here to compete.

Better hit on those draft picks.

Re: Saints 2025 Off-Season Roster Moves
 

Who do you want brother?

Cooper is 30 and costs $18MM per year

Diggs is 31 and will cost more than Cooper.

Allen is 32 and will be at least $10 MM per year.


I'd say at this point the draft is the best avenue.

Re: Saints 2025 Off-Season Roster Moves
 

It's almost always the draft. That is a problem when your team keeps giving away picks to move up. How many of those move up moves has worked out? The needs of this team, you should be trading down to stockpile as many picks as possible. Draft is hit or miss with very few sure things. Almost always better to have more bites at the apple

Re: Saints 2025 Off-Season Roster Moves
 

Carr is worth every penny to Loomis this year.

Re: Saints 2025 Off-Season Roster Moves
 

My guess is that he is the backup speedster if one of our two speedsters go down. We still need a big body wide receiver though.

Re: Saints 2025 Off-Season Roster Moves
 

I haven’t seen it posted anywhere… per reports:

Saints are picking up Chris Olave’s fifth year option.