Patriots: revisiting the Brandin Cooks trades with the Saints and Rams

The Patriots traded for Brandin Cooks and then traded him away … within 13 months.

When the New England Patriots shipped a first- and third-round pick to the New Orleans Saints to acquire Brandin Cooks a month after their Super Bowl win over the Atlanta Falcons, the entire NFL couldn’t believe it. Adding another high-octane weapon to that offense? Who was going to stop this team?

Well, unfortunately it was the Philadelphia Eagles, after Malcolm Jenkins knocked Cooks out cold in the big game right before the half. He wouldn’t return, and that would be his last snap as a Patriot.

Belichick turned around dealt Cooks to the Los Angeles Rams for a first- and sixth-round pick in April of 2018 after acquiring him in March of 2017. Cooks was a Pat for about 13 months. Some truly wild stuff. Let’s take a look back on both of these deals and see how everyone made out.

In the deal with the Saints, the Pats got Cooks and a fourth-rounder, but that pick was surrendered due to the team’s role in Deflategate. As for the Saints, they used that first-round pick on Wisconsin tackle Ryan Ramczyk, who is now a fixture on the team’s offensive line, and then took FAU defensive end Trey Hendrickson, who hasn’t done much, but had his best season to date in 2019.

The Patriots ended up with a solid year from Cooks, who caught 65 passes for 1,082 yards and seven touchdowns from Tom Brady. He averaged a career-high 16.6 yards per reception. Those numbers were good, but sometimes Cooks was nonexistent, which may have prompted the next trade.

Belichick essentially got a year of Cooks for a couple of mid-rounders, because the Rams gave New England a first-rounder and a sixth-rounder for the speedy wideout (in addition to a fourth-rounder). The Patriots used that first-round pick on Georgia OT Isaiah Wynn, who is the team’s starting left tackle at the moment, and traded that sixth-rounder to the Chiefs.

They got two-seventh rounders from Kansas City in that micro deal and picked up West Carolina cornerback Keion Crossen and Florida State tight end Ryan Izzo. Crossen is no longer on the team, and while Izzo made his debut in 2019 and hauled in six receptions for 114 yards and a touchdown, Belichick drafted another two tight ends in the third round this year.

So if we want to break this down as simply as possible, the Patriots, aside from getting screwed out of losing the 2017 fourth-rounder due to Deflategate, got a year of Cooks that helped them make it to the Super Bowl, then offloaded him and (hopefully) acquired their franchise left tackle in the process, though we’re still waiting to see a lot more from Wynn.

If not for the lost fourth-round pick, Belichick would have only given up a third-rounder for Cooks while getting a sixth-rounder back. And when you look at it that way, you can see how Belichick’s wheeling and dealing constantly keeps the team in contention.