Pats interested in Saints WR Brandin Cooks

[VrabelMayeWin]

When Welker was aging we had Edelman coming along. Now that Edelman is aging we don't have that shifty, get open quick guy coming along. Mitchell is nice but totally different. Cooks' testing numbers are very similar to Edelman's. I think some are underestimating how lucky we were to have Edelman ready when Welker left. I know Edelman isn't a pure slot guy like Welker but they both could get open so fast. We don't have one coming along, if anything would age Brady it would be having to hold onto the ball longer. Cooks would solve the problem in 2018 when (shudder) Edelman will likely be gone. Meanwhile next year : Gronk, Edelman, Cooks, Hogan, Mitchell with our good OL (need to get Solder extended though).

 

[Love The Drake]

Makes his value lower to see the team turn against him.
This doesnt seem like a player Bill would go for who would split a locker room unless BB thinks he can control him.

 

[VrabelMayeWin]

Ken not too many moons ago the Patriots spent quite a bit of Draft capital on Second Round WR's who flamed out...Aaron Dobson being the latest. Some Teams strike gold with 2nd Round WR's in the case of the Patriots it's not for a lack of trying.

Chad Jackson was taken 36th. Such a HUGE difference from 32nd

 

[VrabelMayeWin]

Ken, take Edelman out in 2014 & 2016. We're still looking for a SB win since 2004. He's great, we just got lucky with him. He'll be gone soon. Think about it.

 

[PatriotsPimp136]

I didn't see many deep routes with mitchell. I think he has good speed to break one long. Maybe we will more deep routes next year. Idk.

 

[Love The Drake]

Chad Jackson was taken 36th. Such a HUGE difference from 32nd

I remember celebrating and buying all his college gear and autographs after he was drafted.
Ive never been so wrong about a player.

 

[BTTA]

This all sounds reasonable if we didn't have greater needs on the other side of the ball. It's a LOT easier to find WR talent in the later rounds (as we have so often proven), than it is to find top end talent at DE, DT and LB.

Plus even when we DO find a talent like Flowers it often takes years to develop them. Consider Logan Ryan, he didn't come out of the box being the player he became. It took 4 years of coaching and development to get him to the point someone is going to pay 8-12MM/yr for him. (and I hope it's up at $8MM)

I think we all agree the D has more needs. Those needs can be filled many ways. The Pats generally fill all their needs before the draft, so they can draft BPA. They need Hightower or his replacement, Branch or his replacement, Ryan or his replacement, and Long's replacement. All could be achieved before he draft.

I don't think it is easy to find WR talent anywhere in the draft, unless you are the Steelers or Saints. If Edelman is going to play somewhere between 0 and 2 more seasons, and Amendola the same, then why not grab a player the Pats greatly admired from scrimmages and give Brady another potential great weapon, at the cost of only moving back in the draft? That's a lot more dependable for this team than is the draft, for WR's.

Plus, with the reported depth of this draft, and the one year of additional service on the first contract, high second round picks may actually be more valuable than #32.

 

[manxman2601]

I was reading the Saints Forums and they are so clueless. Here are some quotes:

"Think we can get butler out of the deal with pats"

"Yea, we need Ryan/Butler with that pick too."

"32rd AND Garropolo"

Silly saints fans think their loud mouth WR is worth all that lol.

Patriots offered #32 for Cooks - New Orleans Saints - Saints Report - Message Boards

All fans think that. Remember Ryan Mallett?

 

[patfanken]

What fans see as LEAST critical need usually differs from BB.
Going for Hopkins and now Cooks (reportedly) clearly hints #1 WR is on his agenda.
He's “on to Cincinatti“ but he is “on to“ 2017 postseason and 2018 as well.

Besides proven NFL playmaker > any pick - no matter what the need might seem..

It's not a matter of "least important". That's my view. Bill may agree or disagree, though history seems to favor the former. But don't mistake BB taking an interest in Hopkins and Cooks (IF there is any truth to either rumor), with giving up your #1 pick to get one.

If we see a continuing trend toward the Seattle mode of speed centric tight zone/man defense we saw in the superbowl, it doesn't surprise me that BB has interest in receivers who are adept in getting separation in one on one battles as opposed to receivers who get separation by scheming.

BB always is looking ahead to the trends he sees and is usually ahead of the game. Ie, he was using the 3-4 long before it became trendy, and just when everyone was going to the 3-4, he went back to the 4-3. He was ahead of the league in valuing TE's, 3rd down backs, etc, etc, etc. You know the drill.

But I digress (as usual) Bill is always going to look and explore personnel opportunities. Usually the ones he takes seriously are NOT those preceded by rumors. So by the time we see it on the news, it has probably long come and gone, it it ever happened at all.

I would think that any WR the Pats go after in FA or in the draft will have the ability to win one on one battles either by size or speed, and ideally both. But NOT at the expense of filling defensive needs.

(BTW- I planned to start a thread discussing this shift to the speed D trend of smaller faster players over the next few months, since I think it is a fascinating topic. And don't forget, while the Atlanta D left the superbowl with the impression they have a great defense, the truth is that on a day our offense didn't play at its peak., they STILL managed to put up close to 600 yds of offense, all without any "elite WR's", or their best offensive player. And once again the media driven perception overrode reality and became the truth. We see that alot these days)

 

[shmessy]

Understood that the Fantasy Football guys are all excited about Cooks

He seems like a real winner - A player who could elevate the Patriots to being an actual SB contender!!!! .....like the Facebook Live guy in Pittsburgh or the Playoff Week Boat Tripper on the Giants.......

 

[Ochmed Jones]

If bb could land cooks, it would be a huge win for us, and make our offense almost unstoppable.

But we need help defensively. We have Hightower, sheard, Logan, Harmon, long, and maybe branch to replace.

I think we resign branch and I am sure we resign butler, after that it is doubtful we sign any of the others.

 

[Love The Drake]

Hoghtower maybe back

 

[Ochmed Jones]

Hoghtower maybe back

We can all hope, but if someone offers him $16 million per year, bb says goodbye.

Hope for best but prepare for the worst,

 

[bormio]

Makes his value lower to see the team turn against him.
This doesnt seem like a player Bill would go for who would split a locker room unless BB thinks he can control him.

If Cooks is unhappy and upset, might cheapen the price. BB has gone in on some of those players before and often done well. Most recently Bennett.

 

[bormio]

Ken, take Edelman out in 2014 & 2016. We're still looking for a SB win since 2004. He's great, we just got lucky with him. He'll be gone soon. Think about it.

Our WR group set up for next year is certainly OK, in total. But if you subtract Edelman and do not have Gronk on the field and close to his former self, it is MUCH less imposing. Hopefully Mitchell and Hogan become even more productive, and they should, but neither are #1 wideouts. We are in better position than 2015, but still vulnerable to Edelman going down. Cooks (or someone similar) would help a lot, if nothing but keeping the #1 CB off Hogan and Mitchell. If we resign Hightower, our biggest need on defense is edge defender and the draft is very deep at that position - so you could get quality after the first or second round.

 

[Grogan14]

If he were still available at 32 (which I doubt after the combine) I think Christian McCafery would be the absolute perfect guy on this team.

He can play slot WR and take over for Edelman at some point

He can play quick RB and complement Lewis

He will be the PR/KR and bring explosiveness on special teams.

The guy is the swiss army knife of football and the perfect Patriot. McDainiels would use him to boost unpredictability in this offense. Its like getting 3 top quality draft picks in one and he would be on rookie contract. Pats would need to trade up

Much rather have him than Brandin Cook.

 

[Sciz]

I think the takeaway here isn't Cooks in particular, but that they're looking for more wide receivers. We would have been ecstatic with Mitchell as the #3 guy a few years ago, but now they appear to have some interest adding yet another guy ahead of him. I don't advocate for abandoning the run in general, but I do think they'll want to build the roster in a way that allows them to put five legitimate targets on the field and pass 30 times in a row if they need to, considering that's how they just won two Super Bowls.

More specifically, the Saints should probably make up their mind since the Patriots won't have any interest in Cooks after they sign Robert Woods on Thursday.

 

[luuked]

I'm fine with Cooks, he's a very good young player. He also whines about not getting the ball, and the Patriots have at minimum 3 very good players who already play his position. He was raved about, and that's a good sign. I have seen/heard Belichick rave about a number of players throughout their careers, and he did not attempt to acquire all of them. The biggest sticking point for me is the idea that the Pats would consider giving up a 1st round pick.

Over the entirety of Belichick's run, the worst first round picks he has made are Laurence Maroney, Domonique Easley and Brandon Meriwether. The vast majority of first round picks made by the Patriots have turned into very productive players and often have been cornerstone type players. McCourty, Wilfork, Hightower, Seymour....I know I don't have to list them all. These are not pure projections when the Patriots make a first round pick, because they very rarely get them wrong.

Again it all depends on the context of the trade. Do we have additional picks from a possible Jimmy trade ? What are we getting back from the Saints in a pick swap ?

If we get back a 3 or a 4 and get a few more picks from the Jimmy trade to take advantage of this deep draft class then I don't have a big problem with acquiring Cooks. If it is for our first rounder straight -- which appears to be a too steep price form BB/Caserio -- then I don't see the value.

My main issue with your post was comparing this to the annual Fitzgerald sign-the-beast thread and calling people who are intrigued by this fantasy football crowd.

 

[supafly]

We can all hope, but if someone offers him $16 million per year, bb says goodbye.

Hope for best but prepare for the worst,

Just curious where 16m came from? In other words, do you really think Belichick would pay him, say, 15m dollars a year?

 

[ViperGTS]

Some may wonder, if Hightower, Ryan, Harmon etc leave, with the offenses they will be facing BB is planning on needing to get into shootouts to win.

Maybe this is why he is targeting offensive guys.