New Orleans Saints: Postseason look at the Brandin Cooks trade

When the New Orleans Saints traded Brandin Cooks to the Patriots, they received Ryan Ramczyk. Who truly won the trade during the regular season?

In the offseason, the New Orleans Saints and New England Patriots orchestrated a trade fans couldn’t stop talking about. The Saints sent over their star wide receiver, Brandin Cooks, while the Pats sent over their first-round pick, No. 32 overall. With the 2017 regular season now over, it’s time to figure out who truly won the trade.

Trading Cooks was a head-scratcher. While the team has been successful without him, it puzzled a lot of people. In his season with New England, Cooks formed a relationship with Tom Brady similar to the one he had with Brees. Cooks played in all 16 games this season and finished the season with 65 receptions for over 1,000 yards and seven touchdowns.

Those numbers are eerily similar to his time with Brees. During his tenure with the Saints, Cooks surpassed 1,000 yards in each year except for his rookie season and managed at least eight touchdowns so nothing changed for Cooks. He’s still playing at an extremely high level, but then there’s Ryan Ramczyk.

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Ramczyk was selected with the pick received from New England, and this was another puzzling move for the Saints. Many of us thought they would go defense again, but they went for an offensive tackle. In hindsight, it was a good idea due to O-line injuries and Ramczyk did play in every game this season. He was the perfect guy to fill in with injuries to Zach Strief and Terron Armstead.

Looking at the two of them, they both had successful seasons, but which team won out? The argument could be made for both teams, honestly. The Patriots got another talented receiver who quickly developed a relationship with Brady. As for the Saints, they received a new lineman who they can build and mold into what they need.

Both came to their new teams and made an impact including picking up the slack where the team suffered injuries. A lot of people would give this one to the Patriots, but the Saints have won this trade. At least for now because the team lost one of their top receivers, but was able to completely turn their team around and survive injuries.

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The Patriots have been consistent for years while the Saints haven’t. They’re finally on the path to greatness including a playoff run. They didn’t even reach the playoffs with Cooks there. It wasn’t Cook’s fault but it’s strange to think about how the trade affected them.

The Saints might not be Super Bowl bound, but they have a great foundation due to the trade, good drafting and some surprising moves this season.