The New Orleans Saints hired Kellen Moore as their new head coach after Super Bowl 59 and opted to retain their own players rather than spending big in free agency. The team restructured Derek Carr’s contract this offseason, locking him in as the starting quarterback next season while saving $30 million in cap space.
New Orleans didn’t address the offense in the first wave of free agency but recently brought back a familiar face to bolster its receiving corps.
Saints Bring Back Brandin Cooks on 2-Year Deal
New Orleans got off to a hot start in 2024, scoring 91 points en route to a 2-0 start. Unfortunately, that was the high point of the season as an ensuing seven-game losing streak led to Dennis Allen’s firing and took the team out of playoff contention.
Carr was limited to 10 games in 2024 due to an early-season oblique injury and a fractured hand/concussion in Week 14. Carr threw for 2,145 yards, 15 touchdowns, and five interceptions, going 5-5 in his 10 starts. Neither Spencer Rattler nor Jake Haener won a game in their combined seven starts, and the offense was lifeless without Carr.
Alvin Kamara led the team with 1,493 yards from scrimmage (950 rushing, 543 receiving) and eight total touchdowns. The rest of the offense ran through the tight end room as Juwan Johnson led the team with 548 receiving yards.
Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed were expected to lead the receiving corps heading into the season, but neither played more than eight games. Shaheed injured his meniscus after six games, and Olave’s season ended after his second concussion of the year in Week 9. New Orleans needs to add to its receiver room and did so by signing veteran Brandin Cooks to a two-year, $13 million deal.
Comp update: Free-agent WR Brandin Cooks is signing a two-year, $13 million deal with the New Orleans Saints, per source. https://t.co/zdduuuXzoy
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 21, 2025
“Comp update: Free-agent WR Brandin Cooks is signing a two-year, $13 million deal with the New Orleans Saints, per source,” reported ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
The Saints selected Cooks with the 20th overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft and spent his first three seasons with the club before being traded to the New England Patriots. In those three years, Cooks was a key component of the team’s offense, gaining over 1,100 yards twice. He scored 17 combined touchdowns in his final two years with the team and returns home after spending the last two seasons with the Dallas Cowboys.
Cooks is coming off two tough years in Dallas; he totaled just 916 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns. He missed seven games in 2024 with a knee injury and posted 26 receptions, 259 yards, and three scores. The 11-year vet was critical about his time as a Cowboy, saying, “I don’t think they fully used me to my strengths,” in an interview earlier this offseason.
In his career, Cooks has 62 total touchdowns (60 receiving, two rushing), and should have something left in the tank for his second stint in New Orleans