Despite a 12-year resume that features 734 receptions and 60 touchdowns, wide receiver Brandin Cooks has not found a team since free agency opened in March. It apparently hasn’t been for lack of interest across the NFL, as agent Ryan Tollner told Tim Graham of The Athletic that contenders have made offers to Cooks.
The nomadic Cooks finished 2025 with the Bills, his sixth NFL team, and so they have seemingly left the door open for a brand new contract. A number of weeks before April’s draft, general manager Brandon Beane said the Bills and Cooks had engaged in talks. Beane went on to draft receiver Skyler Bell within the fourth round, adding to a bunch that also includes D.J. Moore, Khalil Shakir, Keon Coleman, Josh Palmer, Mecole Hardman, Trent Sherfield and the injured Tyrell Shavers, amongst others.
Despite the offseason acquisitions of Bell and Moore, it appears Buffalo still has interest in Cooks. It’s unclear whether the Bills have made a suggestion, however the 32-year-old revealed to Graham that he recently talked to move coach Joe Brady. Cooks also made it clear to Graham that he would favor to re-sign with the Bills.
“Obviously, Buffalo is the place I’d like to be,” Cooks said. “I would like to prove that to them and have a full offseason with them. Either side are figuring things out. We’ll see, but hopefully something transpires because I like going to training camp. That’s where you construct that callus.”
Then desperate for receiving help, the Bills signed the field-stretching Cooks after the Saints cut him at his request last November. Recent Orleans restructured Cooks’ contract to extend the possibilities he would undergo waivers unclaimed. After that happened, Cooks weighed five offers in free agency, he told Graham. One in every of them got here from the Seahawks, who went on to win Super Bowl LX in February. Meanwhile, the Bills were unable to get past the second round of the playoffs.
When he selected Buffalo over Seattle, Cooks turned down a likelihood to play with close friend Cooper Kupp and reunite with a pair of Saints connections in Rashid Shaheed and offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak. Nonetheless, he explained to Graham that he had a greater likelihood to see the sector with the Bills. He also desired to play with quarterback Josh Allen.
The 5-foot-10, 190-pound Cooks got into five of the Bills’ last six regular-season games (they rested him and a slew of others in Week 18) and caught just five of 11 targets for 114 yards. But he and Allen began developing a stronger connection on the very end of the yr. Cooks closed his regular season with a four-catch, 101-yard showing against the Eagles in Week 17. He added one other three receptions for 58 yards in a 27-23 wild-card round victory in Jacksonville. In his biggest contribution of the day, Cooks pulled in a a pivotal 36-yard grab that arrange the winning touchdown late within the fourth quarter.
The Bills’ season ended per week later in Denver, where they lost 33-30 in time beyond regulation. The Broncos held Cooks to 2 catches and 20 yards, and he missed a chance to emerge as a hero in OT. Cooks was unable to secure a 43-yard catch that will have moved the Bills deep into Broncos territory. Cornerback Ja’Quan McMillian wrestled away possession and got here away with an interception (a ruling Cooks still disagrees with, as detailed in Graham’s piece). The Broncos then drove for the winning field goal. Two days later, the Bills fired longtime head coach Sean McDermott.
The Brady-led Bills and the remainder of the league are a few weeks away from the beginning of coaching camp. Cooks, who told Graham that camp is “the purest type of football,” hopes to sign somewhere by then. After going and not using a touchdown for the primary time in his profession and totaling just 24 catches and 279 yards in 2025, it appears Cooks may have to accept a comparatively inexpensive contract.