A veteran wide receiver has been granted his release for the stretch run of the 2025 season.
New Orleans Saints wideout Brandin Cooks mutually agreed to part ways with the team on Wednesday, according to multiple reports.
Since Cooks is being cut between the trade deadline and the end of the season, he will have to clear waivers in order to become a free agent.
There were reports ahead of the trade deadline that Cooks might be traded for a record fifth time in his NFL career, but nothing came together. He has remained with the Saints and played in all 10 games this season, though his production has been modest. Cooks has just 19 catches for 165 yards on the year.
Cooks was in his second stint with the Saints. The 32-year-old began his career in New Orleans when he was drafted in the first round out of Oregon State in 2014. He has since been traded four times, which is tied with linebacker Kiko Alonso and Hall of Fame running back Eric Dickerson for the most times a player has been traded in a single NFL career.
The Saints traded Cooks to the New England Patriots in 2017. Cooks was then dealt to the Los Angeles Rams the following season and from the Rams to the Houston Texans in 2020. The Texans traded Cooks to the Dallas Cowboys in 2023, and Cooks landed back in New Orleans on a two-year, $13 million free-agent contract this past offseason.
Cooks is healthy and has had six seasons in his career with more than 1,000 receiving yards, so he should draw some interest from contending teams.
