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The last five days have been a seemingly non-stop slew of Brandin Cooks trade rumors. The Eagles and Titans were rumored to both be interested in the young Saints wide receiver. Initially, the Titans had the reported lead. Then, the Eagles had the lead. Then things were quiet for a day. And now, the order has reversed!
According to a report from Yahoo!’s Charles Robinson, Tennessee is the current leading candidate to acquire Cooks. At least, as of early Monday afternoon.
Hearing #Titans may now be the front runner to trade for #Saints WR Brandin Cooks.
— Charles Robinson (@CharlesRobinson) March 6, 2017
Robinson is a good reporter with good sourcing, so this is certainly worth our time and exploration. Could Tennessee, a team with more trade options because of its insane draft pick bounty, be pulling ahead of the Eagles? Certainly.
What’s interesting with this report coming out today, however, is it comes on the heels of yesterday’s Twitter meltdown between Cooks and his (soon-to-be-former?) Saints teammates. He and his fellow wideouts from New Orleans traded subtweets and Instagram barbs, and while that sounds like the dumbest thing you’ve ever heard of, it may have also moved the needle a bit in trade talks.
Because guess what happens when teammates don’t get along, and the public — like, everyone in the social media-using world — finds out? The team trying to get good value for that disgruntled player loses leverage.
It’s starting to become pretty clear that Cooks won’t be returning to New Orleans in 2017. The waters are toxic, and it would appear Cooks and his teammates are burning bridges. That means teams like the Titans and Eagles can ease up ever so slightly on their offers, because they know the Saints probably feel they need to move Cooks in order to avoid a gross locker room situation.
In the wake of all this, a rumor floats out that could force Howie Roseman’s hand, pushing leverage back ever so slightly towards the Saints? Hmm.
No matter what, we’ll be getting lots of answers in the next 48-72 hours. The legal tampering period for free agency starts tomorrow, which means general managers and front offices will start showing their hands, doling out contracts, and revealing roster plans.
The wait is almost over.