At the NFL Scouting Combine 11 years ago, wide receiver Brandin Cooks ran a 4.33-second 40-yard dash. That blazing speed saw Cooks get drafted by Sean Payton’s New Orleans Saints in the first round two months later.
With Cooks and the Saints mutually agreeing to part ways, according to New Orleans insider Nick Underhill, Payton may have a chance to reunite with his former first-round pick. Now, Cooks will first hit the waiver wire, which means another team could claim him, but his contract makes such a prospect uncertain.
If Cooks passes to the Denver Broncos on the waiver wire, should Payton pounce? The Broncos sniffed around the wide receiver market ahead of the NFL trade deadline, being linked to some explosive speedsters, like Miami’s Jaylen Waddle, so we know that Payton sees an opportunity to add a missing element to his offense.
The Broncos were linked to rumors about two Saints wideouts before the deadline passed. Neither of them were Cooks.
The big difference between Cooks and a player like Waddle? Cooks is 32 years old, while Waddle is 26. However, like Broncos wide receiver Lil’Jordan Humphrey and several others, Payton has shown a propensity for reuniting with players and coaches he’s worked with in New Orleans.
Payton and Cooks made a lot of magic together in New Orleans, with Drew Brees as their triggerman. Cooks had two straight 1,000-yard receiving seasons with Payton — before the Saints traded him to the New England Patriots in exchange for a first-round pick ahead of the 2017 season.
Cooks would rattle off another 1,000-yard campaign in New England that year, and again the following season with the Los Angeles Rams. All in, he has six 1,000-yard receiving campaigns in 11 NFL seasons, but he’s nowhere close to hitting that milestone in Year 12.
In fact, Cooks hasn’t been that productive since his 2021 campaign with the Houston Texans. He has just 19 receptions fo 165 yards this season, with zero touchdowns. Now, that doesn’t eliminate the possibility that he could be impactful as a role player in Denver, working into the wide receiver rotation with Courtland Sutton, Troy Franklin, Marvin Mims Jr., and Pat Bryant.
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Dec 18, 2016; Glendale, AZ, USA; New Orleans Saints wide receiver Brandin Cooks (10) carries the ball after a catch for a touchdown in the first half against the Arizona Cardinals at University of Phoenix Stadium. / Matt Kartozian-Imagn Images
Cooks is no spring chicken, but he’s still fast. If he’s claimed off waivers, he’s not exactly cheap.
Cooks has been playing on a $5.94 million base salary this year in New Orleans, but a good chunk of that has already been paid to him. Plus, according to Underhill, Cooks renegotiated the $2M that remained on his contract this season to facilitate his release.
He had a little over $2M in guaranteed money remaining on his deal, including around $1.7M in 2026 salary. https://t.co/Z4kvbKmEmN
— Mike Triplett (@MikeTriplett) November 19, 2025
Would it make sense for Denver? I’m not sure that it would. The Broncos could certainly use an injection of dynamism at wide receiver, but Cooks hasn’t been that type of game-changer for a few years now, though he does have value.
He’s still fast, and he gets open. And Cooks has experience in the Payton offense and would understand the culture being cultivated within the Broncos’ locker room.
It wouldn’t be a total shock if the Broncos were to claim Cooks, but he’d have to make it to them in the waiver order. That’s a big if, because the Broncos are 9-2, which is currently the best record in the NFL, and are the No. 1 seed in the AFC, which may put every other team ahead of them in the waiver order, depending on how the waiver math works out, as the Patriots are also 9-2.
Now, if Cooks makes it all the way to the Broncos on waivers, would it make more sense to claim him or let him pass through, and negotiate a late-season contract to bring him in? It would depend on whether Payton actually covets Cooks, which is no guarantee because of his age and the Broncos’ current roster math and the in-season balancing act that is.
Remember, if a player is signed to an already full 53-man roster, someone has to go. I’m not certain the Broncos would view Cooks that way. But if he passed through waivers, depending on his market as a free agent, the Broncos could try to sign him to the practice squad, where he could be elevated three times to the gameday roster without having to boot off another player.
At the end of the day, I have my doubts that it’ll happen, but because of Cooks’ history with Payton, and the Broncos’ recent search for receiver help, it wouldn’t shock me if he somehow lands in Denver. Cooks’ age is the big drawback, but he can still run and get open, so bringing him in for the stretch run could be fortuitous.
Time will tell. But I’d rather see the Broncos double down on the receiver talent they have. Franklin has been developing nicely, although he still has a troubling penchant for the untimely drop, and Bryant, a rookie, could be on the verge of really turning a corner.
The Broncos went two weeks without Mims, and the offense suffered for it. He came back this past week, fully recovered from a Week 8 concussion, and while he didn’t receive a target, he was on the field for 15 snaps, which forced the Kansas City Chiefs’ defense to reckon with his speed threat.
Cooks also doesn’t bring much to the table as a blocker, like Humphrey does. Cooks’ receiving prowess is proven and leaps and bounds beyond Humphrey’s, but the Broncos’ top four wideouts on the depth chart seem pretty locked in, and Bo Nix knows them.
There are arguments for and against Cooks landing in Denver. The waiver order means the situation isn’t within Denver’s absolute control, but all things being equal, it could be a boon to have Cooks on the practice squad.
Taking someone’s spot on the 53-man roster? Especially with a decision having to be made about tight Marcedes Lewis, who is out of practice-squad elevations? I would pass.
Reuniting with Payton would likely interest Cooks, but as a practice squad guy? Maybe not.
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