For the Buffalo Bills and their fans, Brandin Cooks is probably a name they’d like to forget.
The Athletic’s Daniel Popper put Cooks, who played for the Bills in 2025, at the top of his list of available NFL free agents on the eve of the NFL regular season, predicting Cooks will land on the NFL’s very worst team.
“The receiver market, like the edge market, has thinned out through the late spring and summer,” Popper wrote. “Stefon Diggs signed with the Commanders. Keenan Allen signed with the Colts. Deebo Samuel Sr. signed with the San Francisco 49ers. Cooks is the best remaining player of this group … Cooks can threaten defenses vertically. He is a refined and deceptive route runner. I like the Miami Dolphins as a fit here. Their offense is extremely thin at receiver. New quarterback Malik Willis needs some veteran help.”
Cooks played for the Bills for only part of the 2025 regular season and the playoffs after being released by the New Orleans Saints in November. He’ll always be remembered for 1 of the most controversial plays in franchise history — getting the ball wrestled away from him by Denver Broncos cornerback Ja’Quan McMillian for an interception in overtime of an AFC Divisional Round loss.
Drafted in the 1st round (No. 20 overall) of the 2014 NFL Draft by the Saints, Cooks has a staggering $125 million in career earnings through the end of the 2025 season — despite never making a Pro Bowl or earning NFL All-Pro honors.
Dominant Decade for WR Brandin Cooks
If you’re wondering how Cooks has made that much money without any postseason accolades, it’s kind of hard to explain. On paper, he definitely should have made at least 1 Pro Bowl.
In 7 seasons from 2015 to 2021, Cooks had 6 seasons of at least 1,000 receiving yards, and probably the most incredible stat above that is he did so for 4 different teams — the Saints, Los Angeles Rams, Houston Texans, and New England Patriots.
Cooks hasn’t had a 1,000-yard season since 2021, however, and missed 7 games due to injuries in 2024. In 2025, he played for the Saints and the Buffalo Bills.
Bills Still Looking for Answers at Wide Receiver
The Bills made a big move to trade for what they think will be an elite wide receiver in D.J. Moore, who flamed out with the Chicago Bears in 2025 but gets a fresh start in Buffalo.
Moore signed a 4-year, $110 million contract extension with the Bears before the 2024 season. That followed career highs of 96 receptions, 1,364 yards and 9 total touchdowns in 2023. He followed that with 966 yards and 6 touchdowns in 2024, then a dismal 682 yards and 6 touchdowns in 2025 as the Bears won the NFC North Division.
Bleacher Report’s Moe Moton gave the Bills 1 of his lowest grades — a “C” — for the trade in his postmortem for NFL offseason moves.
“The Bills needed to bolster their wide receiver group, but they did so at a costly price for a player who hasn’t eclipsed 1,000 receiving yards since 2023,” Moton wrote on July 7. “That said, Moore could be Buffalo’s lead pass-catcher and brings much-needed speed to the team’s aerial attack. Yet his receiving yard totals have been on the decline over the last two years. Nonetheless, it’s worth noting that Moore played with Caleb Williams, who has struggled with accuracy in his first two seasons, completing just 60.3 percent of his passes. Also, the 29-year-old wideout ceded targets to younger pass-catchers, Rome Odunze, Luther Burden III and Colston Loveland last season. Perhaps Moore plays a bigger role in the Bills’ offense, though it’s not a guarantee with wide receivers Khalil Shakir, Keon Coleman and Joshua Palmer vying for targets. Buffalo is looking for an offensive spark, and Chicago traded a player who had faded in its offense for premium draft capital.”
Ex-Bills $125 Million WR Predicted to Sign With Dolphins