NFL Trade Rumors
Once the first couple waves of free agency are done, there’s a lot less urgency for players and teams to lock up contracts. Teams often want to wait to see how the draft unfolds and if they can address needs there, while many players are content to wait and ensure they don’t get passed over by a rookie. Not having to attend OTAs and workouts is another perk from the player side.
With the draft behind us, now is a good time to re-evaluate the current free agent market. At NFL Trade Rumors, we have a running list of the top 100 available free agents that we update all year. Here’s a run-through of our top 10 free agents and some potential destinations that could make sense:
There was some buzz about a potential reunion between the Cowboys and Cooper a few weeks ago, but Dallas’ trade for WR George Pickens has almost certainly closed that door. The two teams he played for last year, the Browns and Bills, do have some questions at “X” receiver where Cooper plays, but both teams seem to be ready to see what they have in younger options like Keon Coleman and Cedric Tillman. Cooper almost certainly would have loved to join the Chargers and catch passes from QB Justin Herbert while reuniting with former WR coach Sanjay Lal, yet Los Angeles has been content to ride with younger options.
A reunion with the Raiders could be worth keeping in mind, as Las Vegas could use more weapons on offense. However, the Saints feel like the best combination of need and familiarity for Cooper as things stand right now. Multiple Saints coaches know Cooper well from his time in Dallas, including HC Kellen Moore and OC Doug Nussmeier. That should give both sides a comfort level about the fit and the scheme.
From an on-field perspective, Cooper would bring a different element to the Saints’ receiving corps. The top three players on the depth chart are Chris Olave, Rashid Shaheed and Brandin Cooks. They’re not clones of each other but all three are slighter in frame and win with speed and route running, not size and strength. Cooper is at least 20 pounds bigger than Olave, the biggest of the three, and would bring a physicality the other three don’t have while still being a quality route runner and a downfield threat, assuming he hasn’t lost too much of a step at 31 years old.
We’ll go ahead and mark the Saints down for the top two free agents on our board. New Orleans is actually flush with cap space at the moment at more than $20 million, and the retirement of QB Derek Carr should put them in the black in 2026 for the first time in years. They can afford to bolster the roster to try and make a good first impression in HC Kellen Moore’s first...
