After being mentioned as a potential trade candidate earlier this month, New Orleans Saints wide receiver Brandin Cooks will be able to pick his next destination for the remainder of the season.

Per Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football, Cooks will become a free agent after agreeing to a mutual parting of ways with the Saints on Wednesday.

For teams seeking help at wide receiver for the stretch run, Cooks immediately becomes a viable option as soon as he hits the free-agent market.

Some of the playoff contenders with an obvious need at wideout include the Buffalo Bills, Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers.

NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reported on Oct. 26 that Cooks was among the players being discussed by the Saints prior to the trade deadline. They wound up holding on to most of their players, with Rashid Shaheed and Trevor Penning being the only ones who were moved.

The Steelers were all over the receiver market prior to the Nov. 4 deadline, but were unable to make a deal. They reportedly made offers to the Saints for Shaheed and Las Vegas Raiders for Jakobi Meyers that were both turned down.

DK Metcalf has been exactly what Pittsburgh wanted when he was acquired from the Seattle Seahawks in the offseason. No other pass-catcher on the Steelers has more than 300 receiving yards entering Week 12.

Calvin Austin III played a season-low 29.2 percent of the offensive snaps in Sunday’s 34-12 win over the Cincinnati Bengals.

The Bills tried to make a big deadline splash with an offer for Jaylen Waddle, but the Miami Dolphins reportedly turned it down because they didn’t want to trade him within the division unless Buffalo would pay an even steeper price than they were asking from other teams.

Buffalo also pursued Cook’s teammate in New Orleans, Chris Olave, to no avail. Receiver seems to have taken on an even bigger priority for the Bills after Keon Coleman was benched for Sunday’s win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for being late to a team meeting last week.

Khalil Shakir leads the Bills with 454 receiving yards, but he is only averaging 9.9 yards per reception.

The Packers have been a frustrating team for a lot of the season, despite their 6-3-1 record. They don’t have an obvious need for a wide receiver given the amount of depth at the position, but a lack of consistency from that group makes it hard to fully trust them.

Green Bay pass-catchers had six drops in Sunday’s win over the New York Giants after three in a Week 10 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. ESPN’s Rob Demovsky noted the receivers had one drop through the first nine weeks of the season, so it’s reasonable to assume things will improve going forward.

If the Packers don’t want to take any chances, pursuing Cooks to add more depth behind Romeo Doubs, Matthew Golden and Christian Watson wouldn’t be a bad idea for a team chasing a Super Bowl.

Cooks’ stats this season don’t jump off the page. He has 165 yards and no touchdowns with 19 receptions in 10 games, but the Saints offense has been such a mess that it’s fair to think he would play better in a more receiver-friendly environment.

The 12-year veteran has been credited with just two drops on 79 targets since the start of the 2024 season. He won’t be a difference-making player at this point in his career, but the ability to add a veteran at a low cost makes the risk worth taking for a club looking to boost its receiver room over the final seven weeks of the regular season.