Rams sign WR Cooks to five-year, $80M extension
The Los Angeles Rams announced a five-year extension for wide receiver Brandin Cooks on Tuesday, putting him under contract through the 2023 season.
Terms of the deal were not announced, but ESPN reports it is worth $80 million over the five years of the extension, bringing the total to around $88.5 million over six seasons.
Cooks, whom the Rams acquired from the New England Patriots this spring for a first-round pick and a swap of later-round picks, was entering the $8.5 million fifth-year option of his rookie contract.
The $16 million average of the extension ties Cooks for fourth among all NFL wideouts with Sammy Watkins, whom Cooks replaced in L.A. after Watkins joined the Kansas City Chiefs in free agency. The $14.75 million average -- including Cooks' 2018 salary -- would rank seventh among wideouts.
"Just want to say I'm excited and blessed to be here for the next six years," Cooks said in a video posted by the Rams on Twitter. "I look forward to making a lot of memories with you guys. Go Rams!"
Yet to turn 25 as he enters his fifth NFL season, Cooks topped 1,000 yards for the third consecutive year in 2017, finishing with 65 grabs for 1,082 yards and seven scores in 16 games (15 starts).
Cooks spent his first three seasons with the New Orleans Saints, who took him 20th overall in the 2014 draft, before being traded to the Patriots in a package that included a first-round pick. He has 280 receptions for 3,943 yards and 27 touchdowns in 58 games (47 starts) across four seasons.
The Rams also have been making an effort to re-sign reigning Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald, who is entering the fifth-year option of his rookie contract. Donald has told others he expects to have a deal done before the start of training camp, according to a report from CBS Sports on Tuesday.
Donald is expected to become the highest-paid defender in football whenever a deal gets done.
Los Angeles also has defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, franchise-tagged safety Lamarcus Joyner and starting offensive linemen Rodger Saffold and Rob Havenstein entering the final year of their contracts. Joyner will play out the 2018 season on his $11.3 million franchise tender after the sides failed to reach a long-term agreement before Monday's deadline.
--Field Level Media
