It didn't take Brandin Cooks long to find his new home.
After being waived by the Saints on Friday, Cooks has signed with the Buffalo Bills, a move the team announced Tuesday afternoon.
Cooks requested his release by the Saints earlier this year, a move they granted after working to adjust his contract. The 32-year-old was a team captain but ultimately lightly used in the Saints offense, accounting for 19 catches and 165 yards over nine games. Cooks had 3 catches for 22 yards in the Saints' matchup with the Bills in Week 4, narrowly missing out on what would've been a go-ahead touchdown in the 4th quarter.
"He’s been great the way he’s handled himself, the way he’s helped our team and ... so I feel like it was in the best interest of the team moving forward," head coach Kellen Moore said last week. "It’ll be good for the Saints and, you know, Cooksy will have his plan moving forward as well, so it’ll all work out.”
The move comes just a few weeks after trading Rashid Shaheed to the Seahawks at the deadline.
The Saints were the team that initially picked Cooks in the first round of the 2014 draft, but he was traded to the New England Patriots ahead of the 2017 season. The Bills mark the sixth NFL team he'll take the field for, with Cooks also spending tie with the Rams, Texans and Cowboys.
Cooks was signed this past offseason to provide a veteran presence in a young WR room which now consists of Chris Olave, Devaughn Vele, Mason Tipton and Kevin Austin Jr. The Saints also waived kicker Blake Grupe in a flurry of moves Tuesday, meaning two team captains have departed the roster in the span of a week.
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The Saints also announced that they've signed RB Evan Hull from the practice squad and activated OL Barry Wesley from injured reserve, filling the two spots vacated by those moves. The team also signed K Cade York, RB Ian Wheeler and WR Samori Toure, while terminating the contracts of LB Eku Leota and WR Jha'Quan Jackson.
The Bills team Cooks is joining is one of the popular picks to contend for a Super Bowl, but they've lost four of their past seven games after a 4-0 start to the year. The most recent two games have also seen WR Keon Coleman, a 2024 2nd round pick, as a healthy scratch. Khalil Shakir is the team's leading WR with 54 catches for 564 yards and three touchdowns.