Brandin Cooks‘ second run with the New Orleans Saints did not last a full season. His NFL career apparently will.
The veteran wide receiver is signing with the San Francisco 49ers‘ practice squad, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, with the initial plan to give Cooks time to get up to speed before potentially appearing in games. San Francisco has been hit hard by injuries at receiver, creating an opening for the former Saints first-round pick.
It is another turn for Cooks less than a year after his return to New Orleans ended early — and it puts a notable career milestone back within reach.
Brandin Cooks Gets Another Opportunity After Saints Exit
The Saints brought Cooks back in March 2025 on a two-year contract, reuniting with the receiver they selected No. 20 overall in the 2014 NFL draft.
The reunion never developed as hoped.
Cooks caught 19 passes for 165 yards and no touchdowns in 10 games for New Orleans, making three starts. The Saints eventually waived him in November at his request.
Buffalo moved quickly after Cooks cleared waivers. He signed with the Bills and caught five passes for 114 yards over five regular-season games, including a 101-yard performance against Philadelphia.
Those numbers hardly suggested Cooks was finished. But he entered the 2026 season without a team despite a career résumé that includes six 1,000-yard seasons.
San Francisco now has a reason to find out what remains.
49ers Injuries Open Door for Former Saints WR
The 49ers’ interest comes with their receiving corps taking damage early in the season.
San Francisco has already lost Ricky Pearsall, De’Zhaun Stribling and Demarcus Robinson to injuries, Schefter noted, while Mike Evans is also dealing with a hip injury that will require management this week.
Cooks is not being dropped directly into the active lineup. The practice-squad move gives the 49ers time to evaluate his conditioning and his grasp of the offense before deciding whether he can help on game day.
Still, this is not a typical September depth signing. Cooks has 734 career receptions for 9,811 yards and 60 touchdowns across 12 NFL seasons.
That leaves him 189 yards from 10,000.
Cooks Can Reach Career Milestone With 49ers
Cooks’ route toward that number has been unusually well traveled.
He spent his first three seasons with New Orleans before playing for the New England Patriots, Los Angeles Rams, Houston Texans and Dallas Cowboys. He returned to the Saints in 2025 and finished the year in Buffalo. San Francisco would become his seventh NFL team if he is elevated and appears in a game.
Yet Cooks has been more than a journeyman. He produced six 1,000-yard seasons and became one of the rare receivers to reach that mark with four different franchises.
His two Saints stints account for 234 receptions, 3,026 yards and 20 touchdowns. His 98-yard touchdown from Drew Brees in 2016 remains the longest reception in franchise history.
Now the team that once drafted him gets to watch the closing stretch from afar.
Cooks still needs to earn his way from San Francisco’s practice squad onto the field. But 189 yards shy of 10,000, the former Saints receiver has something tangible left to chase — and suddenly, a team that might need him to chase it.
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