The Patriots have acquired wide receiver Brandin Cooks and a fourth-round pick in 2017 from the Saints in exchange for first- and third-round picks this year, tweets Dianna Russini of ESPN. New England will receive the 118th selection, while Nos. 32 and 103 will go to New Orleans.
The Titans were also involved in the Cooks sweepstakes, but he’ll join the reigning Super Bowl champions instead. New England will now assume responsibility for the $781,599 bonus Cooks is due Monday, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter (Twitter link).
As of Thursday, the Patriots were reportedly considering sending cornerback Malcolm Butler to the Saints in exchange for Cooks. It’s still possible Butler will end up in New Orleans in a separate trade, according to Schefter, while Mike Reiss of ESPN.com notes that Butler couldn’t be a part of this deal because the restricted free agent is without a contract at the moment (Twitter link).
Still only 23 years old, Cooks was eminently productive in New Orleans during the first three seasons of his career and will now team with Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski, among others, in a loaded group of targets for Pats quarterback Tom Brady. Cooks is coming off his second straight 16-game, 1,100-yard campaign. The 5-foot-10, 189-pounder also combined for 162 catches and seven touchdowns over the past two seasons.
Cooks will come with a modest $1.56MM price tag in 2017, but after a fifth-year option season at approximately $8.5MM, it’s possible he’ll enter eight-figure-per-year territory on his next contract. Barring an extension before then, the Patriots will have an opportunity to see how Cooks fares in their offense before deciding on his long-term future. New Orleans, meanwhile, still has a pair of high-end receivers in Willie Snead and Michael Thomas, thereby rendering Cooks expendable in the club’s estimation. The likelihood is the Saints will look to strengthen their defense with their newly acquired first-rounder.
Sheesh.
LETS GO!!!!!!!!
Highway robbery
For who? Pats got robbed or Saints got robbed?
Saints
AND WE KEEP BUTLER HOLY CRAP
Did you read it???
Woah!!!! Didn’t lose butler hell yea
Woo goo go Pats
This team is gonna be 99 offense 99 defense 99 overall in Madden
True
Now all that is left is to sign Hightower.
This is why other teams can’t have nice things…Hoodie must have Jedi mind control powers.
Patriots have made 3 great trades in the past two days
Define great? And this is coming from a pats fan. I don’t believe we will keep cooks for more than the two years he has left and we could’ve got two guys for like 4 or 5 years and they may have even been better. I like that we didn’t give up Malcom, but I wouldn’t classify this as great. Or the Ealy trade. He’s an average player at best who works well in a rotation but shouldn’t be relied on to be a starter
Yeah but that’s finding better is pretty unlikely. Ealy is a young guy at a position of need who we traded back 8 slots for. That’s a great deal. The Cooks deal is good because we now have every aspect of the passing game covered.
Wait so your a Pats fan but your name is Bravesboi? How?
Band wagoner
We sent 2 picks and got 1 back so we are only losing 1 pick. End of the first round you say they could have been better, the chance of that is very low. That pick could have turned out to be another Dominique Easley which is more likely than being better than Cooks an established playmaker. Your argument and reasoning is extremely flawed. And Ealy the trade we moved down 8 spots and picked up a depth rotational d end who will contribute this year. Again for only moving down 8 spots that’s a great trade.
Now we trade garropolo for the browns no.12 and first round pick next year
Lolol no
If the Browns were actually that stupid it would have already happened
That trade will NEVER happen.
you idiots never quit, do you
We need to sign Hightower and then trade Jimmy G and Amindola to the Browns for the 12th pick and a second and a 2 third round picks. Maybe Cook will still be around when we pick. If we are able to get Cook we would be great. Have Cook as our primary back and then Lewis as our back up and then White as the 3rd down back is amazing
The Browns are not going to give that much away for Jimmy G. Hopefully the Browns stand their ground. Offer them pick 33 and 108 and throw in 145. They got a proven WR for 32 and 103, so why should the Browns have to pay a ransom for an unproven QB? I would basically offer them what they lost. If they don’t bite then so be it.
The reason why the Browns have too pay the ransom is because they suck! Your present starting QB Ostweiler was basically replaced by a career college QB in Houston.
The browns new regime values draft picks way too much to trade 4 picks for a backup qb who has had 2 pretty good starts. I think a first and second is max what we would be able to get for him if we do trade him. Which I hope we do. He’s gonna walk when his contract is up
you idiots never quit, do you
Unreal BB is on a roll..Now sign Hightower and maybe go afterwards AP…
He won’t touch AP with a 28 ft pole
Patriots are loading up for another Super Bowl run.
Wow! The Patriots just keep getting it done.
Ive never seen a team get so much better after winning a SB
I really think they trade jimmy G now they have given up their 1 and 2 this year but we picked up another 3rd I think we have 3 3rds now
It’s a 4th so now we have 2 thirds I think.
They be repeats now
I hate the Patriots.
He’s a great deep threat going to a team that doesn’t throw deep. Great receiver, great team, I’ll just be interested to see how they use him.
Like I have been saying I say they package Amindola and Jimmy G together for the 12th pick and 2 other picks one in the 2nd and one in the 3rd round(Pats lower the asking price in order to make the Browns take on all of Jimmy Gs and Amindolas salary) that way we then have more money to spend and our WR position is less crowded. If we do that trade(draft RB Cook at 12 and RESING HIGHTOWER) we will win SB52 for sure, the rest of the NFL should just stay home and not even try
just stop
Is he a racist for spelling Amendola wrong? But still, that trade is ridiculous. Pats don’t want to trade Garoppolo for God knows why, but honestly unless someone massively overpays like mentioned above, I think he stays.
sure, why not. hes racist for spelling amendola wrong.
You’re absurd. You think Jimmy G is worth a first, second, and third rounder?
Do you think Brock osweiler was worth 4/72million when he was a back up as well.
Pats are top 3 in yards per pass. They throw downfield plenty.
or brady just throws it for a yard or two and then the receiver runs for 20. makes it look like a 20 yard pass when it was anything but
There is a difference between the Pats “can’t” throw deep and the Pats “don’t” throw deep. Throwing deep requires a team to have a deep threat receiver? The closest thing to a deep threat is Malcom Mitchell and possibly Chris Hogan. I’m pretty sure Brady had a lot of success throwing to Randy Moss! If Cooks can get separation and is a true deep threat, then Brady will throw deep!!!
And even if we do end up trading Butler to the Saints it should be for their 1st round pick where we can draft a CB to replace him
Can’t trade Butler until he signs his contract tender, which he doesn’t have to do until after week 10 next year.
Be lucky to get #42 for Butler
No way. Butler is worth a late first. You literally take the most pessimistic ridiculous anti-Pats view I have ever seen.
You going to cry about it? I’m so sorry I offended you by disagreeing with you and others concerning the Patriots. Now, run along to your safe space.
If there were fans of other teams pushing the same nonsense as many of you Patriots fans do on here, I would probably have the same view concerning them as I do for you. Maybe you Patriots fans are the problem, not anyone’s anti-Patriots views?
Or maybe it’s jealous idiots like you that make the problems
Jealous? Swing and a miss. You’ve really got the wrong person if you think I am jealous of the Patriots. First, I don’t let football or a football team dictate my life enough to be jealous of another team or claim other fans are jealous of the team I root for (like you). Second, “IF” I were to be someone so wrapped up in the sport that I “WOULD” get jealous of another team, it wouldn’t be the Patriots. Rather it be a team that doesn’t need to constantly bend the rules in order to win.
Constantly bend the rules?
Is your head up your ass for the warmth??
Never mind I don’t wanna know
Yes, “constantly bend the rules”. At least we know you can read. How many times have they been fined, had draft picks taken away, etc. for bending the rules? More times than you can count without your mommy’s help, that’s for sure.
You’re truly a jealous idiot
You say you aren’t but you’ve proven that to be bs
Sorry loser whatever team you root for is terrible (prob the jets) so you just distort facts
You really are stupid aren’t you? Name says “browns” and you are so dumb you say “prob the jets”.
No distortion of facts. The Patriots have been fined numerous times and lost numerous draft picks for bending the rules. Can’t dispute that.
Just go back to milking yourself in front of your Tom Brady poster.
Name says jking7675
Learn to read dumbass
Cheaters always prosper
so bitter. Get over it
If he was smart he would sign it and if the Pats are smart(which they have proven they are but also proven that they are unpredictable as well) should keep Butler. They have enough money to pay him what they gave Gillmore and still give Hightower a big deal and he should want to play for us because if he and Hightower stuck around we might as well just have everyone in the NFL play each other to see who will play us in the SB
What’s gonna be funny is when the saints sign Butler to an offer sheet, and then they give us back that #32 pick lol
Doesn’t work that way. If the Saints signed him to an offer sheet, it would be for their 1st round pick, #11, and that’s not going to happen.
Good trade for the pats. Now sign Hightower. Also the pats are NOT trade jimmy g. So other patriot fans please stop. It’s not gonna happen
Jimmy G.
Jimmy G.
for #12, 3 future #1’s, 6#2’s, LeBron, some pancakes and David goddamned Putney
Easy boys.
I feel like since no one has signed Hightower he is going to sign a one year deal. And if he doesn’t sign with us he will go somewhere else for a year and then realize that he was able to thrive in our defense because it was a perfect fit so even if he leaves this offseason I see it on a one year deal, I see him coming back the next offseason, kind of like what happened with Chung. The downside of this is that he misses out on a ring
Kind of funny that you think I tower thrive them and look at his numbers kind of a joke
Once Brady has a major injury this year (40 years old) NONE of this is going to matter. The cheating franchise is on their way out! Good luck with that piece of crap Jacoby Bisquit!
Awww another butt hurt loser
you want to come out from behind the keyboard and run your mouth and see who ends up hurt?
I’d gladly do it dumb ass
You punk kids are truly pitiful
You internet tough guys are a real joke
give me an address to send a ticket, you can come down here and ‘gladly do it’. one thing though, your family will need to pay to ship your body back, im not going to cover that cost
You better get a lot of help dumbass
dont need any help to deal with you
Yeah ok dumbass
come on then, stop wasting time
I’m not wasting time dumb ass bring it
sure youre not fairy. thats why you keep ducking giving an address to send ticket to and just running your punk ass mouth
Actually it’s because unlike you I have a life
I know a dumbass like you can sponge off of mom and dad
whatever you have to tell yourself to make it easier for you to back out. i knew you were nothing but talk.
You wouldn’t send a ticket anyway and we both know it so why don’t you stfu
wanna bet fairy? why dont you come shut me up then? we both know you are the one thats all talk, so you stfu
If you wanna get a ticket get yourself one to come here dumbass
works for me. where?
If you’re coming by airplane best bet is Rochester NY
bledrules, fitting that you responded to your own post trying to act tough when saying that internet tough guys are a real joke. youre right, you are a real joke
Cooks has had 17 TD’s over last two years, not 7.