Brandin Cooks had a successful first season in New England, posting 1,082 yards and seven touchdowns for the AFC champions after he was acquired from the Saints last offseason in exchange for a first-round draft pick. However, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports, Cooks was very nearly traded to the Eagles, the team he will be playing against in tonight’s Super Bowl.
Per Rapoport, the Eagles had agreed to trade safety Malcolm Jenkins, a third-round pick, and two fourth-rounders to New Orleans for Cooks, but the trade was scuttled at the last minute.
It is impossible to say how the deal would have impacted the Saints, Patriots, or Eagles, but at least from Philadelphia’s perspective, it is probably for the best that it did not happen. If it had, the Eagles likely would not have signed Alshon Jeffery, who was terrific in his first season in Philly, and they would have sorely missed Jenkins, who earned a Pro Bowl nod this year.
Plus, the third-rounder that would have been sent to New Orleans ended up being used in a separate trade to acquire Timmy Jernigan, and one of the fourth-rounders was used on promising young wideout Mack Hollins. All in all, then, it seems as if all parties involved are happy with the way things worked out.
Thank goodness that didn’t go through