Saints shopping WR Brandin Cooks in a trade? Couple of teams identified as possible partners

Brandin Cooks was a first-round pick of the New Orleans Saints in 2014 and has been one of Drew Brees’ best targets in his first three seasons.

But Cooks has also been a bit inconsistent, grew frustrated with his role, and now the Saints reportedly might be willing to move on. Chris Mortensen of ESPN said the Philadelphia Eagles and Tennessee Titans have engaged in trade talks with the Saints about Cooks.

One would assume the Saints won’t be trading him for cheap. Cooks has at least 1,100 yards each of the last two seasons with 17 receiving touchdowns those two seasons. They have him under contractual control for two more seasons. It would be hard to replace one of Brees’ best receivers in a pass-heavy offense.

The Titans and Eagles are both in desperate need of an upgrade at receiver, especially because they have young quarterbacks who need weapons. The Titans have very little for Marcus Mariota in the passing game, and the same can be said for the Eagles and Carson Wentz. Cooks would immediately be the best receiver on either team.

Cooks has proven to be a very talented receiver at the NFL level. Whether he stays with the Saints or ends up moving on to the Titans, Eagles or another team in a trade, he’ll make that offense better. It’s rare to see such a good player switch teams at age 23, but it apparently could happen this offseason.

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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