The Buffalo Bills and Pittsburgh Steelers are still in need of more help at the wide receiver position.
Both teams were reportedly in the market for one ahead of the trade deadline, but neither Buffalo nor Pittsburgh acquired a wide receiver.
The Steelers are still lacking reliable options behind DK Metcalf, as neither Calvin Austin nor Roman Wilson has stepped up the way Pittsburgh needs them to. The addition of Marquez Valdes-Scantling simply isn't sufficient, either.
In Buffalo, Keon Coleman is reportedly going to be benched for a second straight game in Week 12 and Joshua Palmer continues to be a major disappointment. The Bills have added Gabe Davis and Mecole Hardman, but neither is guaranteed to make the kind of impact Buffalo needs.
The Steelers and Bills now have a new option to consider and that is former New Orleans Saints wideout Brandin Cooks, who was cut loose by the team this week.
AllSportsPeople' Vinnie Iyer believes the Bills and Steelers are the best landing spots for Cooks.
"Josh Allen is short on wide receivers and his weapons are getting thinner with second-year man Keon Coleman being unreliable and field-stretching tight end Dalton Kincaid hamstrung," Iyer said of the Bills. "Cooks would be a natural fit to deliver in a variety of situations with big-play pop and open-field after-catch skills. He would fare well in Joe Brady's offense, given Brady's ties to Sean Payton and the Saints."
"Aaron Rodgers is seeing DK Metcalf get tight coverage and between options such as Calvin Austin III and Roman Wilson, there's little else at wide receiver, forcing the team to get deeper with tight ends in the passing games," Iyer said of the Steelers. "Cooks would be a good solution to boost the No. 2 depth chart with his savvy to get open for Rodgers (or Mason Rudolph) in key situations all over the field, playing well off the attention Metcalf gets."
Because all cut players go to waivers this time of year, Cooks has to be claimed. The Steelers have the higher waiver priority over the Bills, so they have a better chance to land him.
Cooks isn't the same player he once was and has been on the decline for a few years now, but Buffalo and Pittsburgh are in such a precarious spot at wide receiver that they should still take a swing on him.
The veteran wideout has posted just 165 receiving yards in 10 games this season, but it stands to reason he could do better in either Buffalo or Pittsburgh, both of whom have a far better quarterback situation than New Orleans.
While there will likely be more teams interested other than the Bills and Steelers, we could definitely see Cooks landing with either team.
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