The last time Brandin Cooks wore a New Orleans Saints uniform, he was catching passes from Drew Brees in 2016.
Nine seasons later, Cooks is back in the Big Easy and will most likely be working with a young quarterback for his 12th NFL campaign.
A three-way QB competition is brewing between 2025 second-round pick Tyler Shough, 2024 fifth-round selection Spencer Rattler and 2023 fourth-round pick Jake Haener, and Cooks says it's been fun to watch the battle throughout the offseason so far.
"Yeah, absolutely it should bring the best out of you," Cooks told reporters Thursday, via the team website. "It's fun seeing those guys compete. All three of them are having a great spring. So, it's going to be fun to watch that competition."
New Orleans' current quarterback situation came about due to a seismic shift in its depth chart this offseason when Derek Carr announced his retirement on May 10. Carr, who called it a career after 11 seasons due to a shoulder injury, discovered the issue in late March while ramping up for the 2025 season.
Rattler and Haener have only started a combined seven games, all of which came last season. Rattler got the call for six of those, and the duo has yet to win an NFL game between them. Shough, of course, hasn't taken an NFL snap yet as a rookie, so there's plenty for New Orleans to figure out moving forward.
There's also been another slight bump in the road as Haener deals with a minor oblique injury. Head coach Kellen Moore said this week that Rattler and Shough have been sharing first-team reps during organized team activities with Haener sidelined.
Cooks has been impressed with the young quarterbacks so far in the little time he's worked with them.
"They're playing with a lot of confidence, both of those guys," Cooks said of Shough and Rattler. "And you can see the competition going on. They can definitely sling it. So, I look forward to continuing to see that grow"
Over the next few months, the Saints will get a better idea of who will be starting in Week 1 against the Arizona Cardinals. But for now, Cooks is just focused on building a connection with each of his potential signal-callers.
Not many see the Saints winning a ton of games in 2025 due to a young QB room with little experience; NFL Network analytics expert Cynthia Frelund has New Orleans projected at 5.3 wins for the 2025 season. Still, it's only a prediction, and Cooks isn't worried about much of the outside noise. Instead, he's eager to let the team's play do the talking once the season begins.
"At the end of the day, we all start 0-0. It doesn't matter what you did last year," Cooks said. "It don't matter what you did the previous year. It's a new slate for us and you can call it underdog or whatever the case may be, but we are putting in our work. We will let our actions do the talk come Sundays during the season."
