ORCHARD PARK - The Buffalo Bills, desperate to upgrade their sagging passing game, have taken a swing by signing wide receiver Brandin Cooks who was waived by the New Orleans Saints last week.
The 32-year-old was a 2014 first-round pick of the Saints, who has had an excellent career across 12 seasons with the Saints, Patriots, Rams, Texans, and Cowboys.
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He has 729 receptions on 1,124 targets for 9,697 yards and 60 TDs. Along the way he has enjoyed six 1,000-yard seasons, but he hasn’t had one since 2021 with the Texans.
During his last two years his production has dropped off significantly as he caught a career-low 26 passes for 259 yards in 10 games for the Cowboys in 2024, and this year, in his return to the Saints after a nine-year hiatus, he had just 19 catches for 165 yards. When he played against the Bills in Week 4, he had three catches for 22 yards.
Sep 28, 2025; Orchard Park, New York, USA; New Orleans Saints wide receiver Brandin Cooks (10) is tackled by Buffalo Bills safety Cole Bishop (24) during the second quarter at Highmark Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-Imagn ImagesThis season he has played 159 snaps in the slot and 263 on the outside, and it is on the outside where he’ll be needed in Buffalo. The Bills have gotten comically poor production from their boundary receivers Keon Coleman, Joshua Palmer and in the last two weeks, Gabe Davis.
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At one time Cooks possessed dynamic deep speed, but while he has certainly lost some of that, he can still give the Bills a down-the-field dimension that is sorely lacking for Josh Allen.
This year he was involved in 285 passing plays where he ran a route according to Pro Football Focus. He was targeted just 24 times and just nine were on passes thrown at least 10 yards down the field. He caught four of those for 64 yards, though it must be said the ball was being thrown by Spencer Rattler or rookie Tyler Shough.
The likelihood that Cooks can get on the field Sunday for Buffalo’s hugely important game at Pittsburgh isn’t great, so the Bills may decide to use their third and final practice squad elevation on Davis. Also, the ongoing saga with Coleman needs to be determined as he has been a healthy scratch the last two games following a disciplinary issue prior to the Tampa Bay game.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementSal Maiorana has covered the Buffalo Bills for more than four decades including 36 years as the full-time beat writer/columnist for the D&C. He has written numerous books about the history of the team, and he is also co-host of the BLEAV in Bills podcast/YouTube show. He can be reached at [email protected], and you can follow him on X @salmaiorana and on Bluesky @salmaiorana.bsky.social.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Brandin Cooks signs with Buffalo Bills to add wide receiver depth
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