Earlier this offseason, former Oregon State star wideout Brandin Cooks was looking for a job. Today, he finally found one.
First reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Cooks has agreed to join the San Francisco 49ers practice squad.
Last season, Cooks split time between the New Orleans Saints and Buffalo Bills, catching 24 passes for 279 yards across 15 games. Over a 13 year career, the veteran wide receiver has started 149 of his 173 games played, scored 60 touchdowns, and racked up just over 9800 receiving yards.
The 32 year old wide receiver was drafted 20th overall by the New Orleans Saints in the first round of the 2014 draft. In his first game, Cooks hauled in 7 catches for 77 yards and a touchdown. After three seasons in The Big Easy, the New England Patriots acquired Cooks for a first round pick and a third round pick. In 2017, the Stockton native trailed only future hall-of-fame tight end Rob Gronkowski in the Patriots’ receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns. A year later, the Los Angeles Rams traded a first round pick for his services.
From there, Cooks’ professional career took several twists. In the 2020 draft, the Rams traded up with the Houston Texans, offering Cooks and a fourth round selection to leap into the second round. Cooks surpassed 1000 receiving yards in each of his first two seasons in Houston, before tapering off in 2022. Houston then shipped him to the Dallas Cowboys for a pair of late round picks, tying Cooks with hall-of-fame tailback Eric Dickerson as the most traded players in NFL history. In recent seasons, Cooks has spent time with the Cowboys, the Saints, and the Bills.
Before turning pro, Cooks thrived in Corvallis. He started 12 games during his true freshman 2011 season, catching 31 passes for 391 yards and 3 touchdowns. A year later, Cooks started 13 games, with a breakout 67 catches, over 1000 receiving yards, and 5 touchdowns. Following a 1700+ yard junior year with a whopping 16 touchdown catches, the Oregon State star won the Fred Billetnikoff Award as the nation’s best collegiate wideout. To this day, his 24 career touchdown catches remains an Oregon State record, and his 1730 receiving yards in 2013 is the Pac-12’s all-time season high.
Cooks now joins a 49ers roster missing injured wideouts Ricky Pearsall, De’Zhaun Stribling, Demarcus Robinson, and Mike Evans.
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