Following being traded to the Rams earlier in the week, Brandin Cooks doesn't have any hard feelings towards Bill Belichick and the Patriots.
Cooks was introduced to the Rams media on Thursday and speaking to reporters afterwards he was very complimentary towards the Patriots organization with the way they handled things.
"Coach Belichick gave me a call a couple of hours before it happened," he said to reporters. "I have a ton of respect for him and we have a ton of respect for each other. You hear the horror stories of guys finding out [they've been traded] on Twitter. At the end of the day, the way they run things over there and the respect that we have for each other, he gave me a call and he gave me a heads up. At the end of the day all you can do is respect it and understand it is a business."
Cooks added: "It's part of the game, the business of it. So much respect for Bill [Belichick] and that organization on how they went about it. ... To be closer to home, back on the West Coast where the sun is shining every single day, you can't complain about that."
In his only year in New England, Cooks finished with 65 catches for 1,082 yards and seven touchdowns.
Rams general manager Les Snead says he's been eying Cooks for awhile.
"I think it started probably before the 2017 season, probably at the combine 2017, and he was a Saint at the time,'' he said. "And I do think that, I'm not sure that this was true, but New England had a first-round pick, we didn't. So I think they won the trade that way. So, it started then and obviously continued into this offseason and made a phone call to the Patriots relatively early in the game and we've been discussing it for a while.''
Head coach Sean McVay is excited to get to work with the speedy wide out.
"I think the thing that makes this such a unique opportunity is clearly the production speaks for itself,'' McVay said. "You're talking about a guy who, over a four-year career has almost 4,000 yards. He's had over seven touchdowns each of the last three seasons.''
