Steelers Shouldn't Sign Saints WR

Cooks' 2025 Season

After spending the 2023 and 2024 campaigns as a member of the Dallas Cowboys, Cooks signed a two-year deal worth $13 million with the New Orleans Saints this past offseason.

He began his career with New Orleans after it selected him in the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft and played three seasons for the organization before being traded to the New England Patriots in March 2017.

Cooks' homecoming didn't go as planned, though, as he recorded just 165 yards with no touchdowns on 19 catches over 10 games (three starts) before leaving the Saints.

Per Yahoo's Matt Harmon, the 32-year-old's 8.8% targets per route and 0.58 yards per route are both the lowest marks among receivers who have run at least 250 routes so far this season, which provides some context for his mediocre numbers.

Why Steelers Shouldn't Pursue Cooks

Cooks has had an excellent career, logging 9,697 yards and 60 touchdowns on 729 catches in 168 games, but he's on the decline. Just last year, he missed seven games with a knee injury and finished with 259 yards while hauling in only 26 passes on 54 targets for the Cowboys.

Though Cooks is a big name, Pittsburgh should let some other contender take a chance on him, especially considering he'll likely land a 53-man roster spot rather than settle for a practice squad opportunity.

At this point, there's no guarantee that Cooks would be a more reliable target for Aaron Rodgers (once healthy) than Calvin Austin III or even Roman Wilson.

Though it's not always fair to compare the stats of players who are in two different situations, Austin's 242 yards in eight games is greater by a considerable margin than Cooks' mark of 165 in two more contests.

Furthermore, Wilson has 159 yards and two scores on 11 receptions in the six games following Pittsburgh's Week 6 bye. He's heating up at the right time as the playoff push heats up, and there'd be no reason for the Steelers to take away meaningful reps from the second-year receiver just so they could force Cooks into the mix.

Marquez Valdes-Scantling, who is currently on Pittsburgh's practice squad and has yet to be elevated, may also be a better fit for the Steelers' offense given his chemistry with Rodgers.

Perhaps Cooks still has something left to give, but the Steelers shouldn't entertain signing him once he hits the open market.