NFL rumors: 3 contenders a Brandin Cooks trade immediately elevates
By Kristen Wong
NFL Rumors: Sean Payton can lure Brandin Cooks to the Denver Broncos
Cooks is probably already shaking his head at this one because a lot of players don’t want to ride with Russell Wilson after that pitiful 2022 performance.
Forget Wilson for now. Cooks can reunite with head coach Sean Payton on the Denver Broncos and help make them…. if not serious playoff contenders then just less pathetic in the AFC West. Payton coached Cooks for the first three years of Cooks’ career back when the two were on the New Orleans Saints, and Payton oversaw Cooks’ breakout sophomore season when he recorded 129 catches for 1,138 yards and nine touchdowns.
Denver already boasts a talented receiving unit with Courtland Sutton, Jerry Jeudy, and Tim Patrick, so Cooks may have to fight for a starting spot come the 2023 season. And to revisit the elephant in the room, yes, he will have to adjust to playing with Russell Wilson, who is notorious for throwing ducks, doing high knees, and spouting cringey catchphrases.
Wilson can’t be worse than the quarterback carousel that Cooks had to deal with on the Texans, and besides, Cooks would have someone willing to hear his complaints in an old friend and an even-keeled coach like Payton.
In terms of the specifics of a trade, the Broncos admittedly don’t have much to offer the Texans after selling their soul to Seattle. Cooks would probably command at least a second-rounder in any compensatory trade package, which isn’t egregious for a player of his skillset and experience.
Ending his career with the coach who drafted him in the first place would, after all, complete the full circle. And Cooks wouldn’t be doing it for Russ or anybody else — he’d do it for his own career.