The 1-6 Saints have looked like sellers at this year’s trade deadline for weeks, and GM Mickey Loomis is indeed receiving calls from other clubs. Players like wide receivers Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed, running back Alvin Kamara, defensive ends Cameron Jordan and Carl Granderson, linebackers Demario Davis and Pete Werner, cornerback Alontae Taylor, and offensive lineman Dillon Radunz have all been named as possible trade candidates.
Add WR Brandin Cooks to that list. Sources tell ESPN’s Adam Schefter that Cooks is a player who could be on the move, which Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network confirms.
Cooks, 32, is no stranger to trade rumors. As Rapoport observes, the former first-round pick of the Saints would set an NFL record if he is dealt again. Cooks has been traded four times already, which is tied with Kiko Alonso and Eric Dickerson for the most in league history.
A 2014 draftee, Cooks spent the first three years of his career in New Orleans before being traded to the Patriots. After just one season in Foxborough, the Pats sent Cooks to the Rams, who dealt him to the Texans two years later. He stayed with Houston for three years and was traded to Dallas in 2023.
Despite the nomadic career, Cooks has been quite productive, posting five seasons with over 1,000 receiving yards and earning over $123MM along the way. He circled back to the Saints this offseason on a two-year, $13MM deal, which includes a modest $1.26MM salary in 2025. An acquiring club would only be responsible for the prorated portion of that amount, and just $1.69MM of Cook’s 2026 pay is guaranteed, so his contract is eminently movable.
Per Rapoport, there is mutual interest in a trade. When Cooks rejoined New Orleans, he still believed Derek Carr might be his quarterback. With Spencer Rattler at the controls, Cooks has generated just 14 catches for 127 scoreless yards.
Of course, that is not entirely Rattler’s fault. Cooks’ production naturally has been trending downwards as he has gotten older, and he has not recorded a 1,000-yard season (or anything particularly close) since 2021. Olave, Shaheed, Kamara, and tight end Juwan Johnson have all earned substantially more targets in 2025 than Cooks, who has just 18 through seven games.
A WR-needy team could nonetheless see Cooks as a useful and attainable complementary addition to its pass-catching contingent. He surely will not cost as much to acquire as Shaheed, for whom Schefter says New Orleans is seeking a third-round pick (despite the Saints’ predictable public stance that they are not interested in trading any of their wideouts).
The Saints do appear likely to keep Olave in the fold (as is the case with Kamara). Under club control through 2026 by virtue of his fifth-year option, Olave wants to stay in New Orleans, and player and team have been discussing an extension.
Dianna Russini of The Athletic (subscription required) confirms the Saints are unlikely to trade Olave. The receiver himself said the two sides are “on the same page” in their contract negotiations, per Schefter.