Patriots Pick Up WR Brandin Cooks’ Fifth-Year Option

The New England Patriots have picked up WR Brandin Cooks‘ fifth-year option, according to Field Yates.

The fifth-year option will run the Patriots $8,459,000 million for the 2018 season, according to Joel Corry, but is guaranteed only for injury and won’t prevent them from working on a long-term extension over the next year.

This is a pretty easy decision for the Patriots, especially after they traded their first- (#32) and third-round (#103) picks to the Saints in return for Cooks and New Orleans’ fourth-round pick (#118).

The Patriots will have now two years to evaluate Cooks before needing to sign him to a long-term extension.

Cooks, 23, is a former first-round pick of the Saints back in 2014. He’s entering the final year of his four-year, $8.4 million contract and stands to make a base salary of $781,599 for the 2017 season.

In 2016, Cooks appeared in 16 games for the Saints and caught 78 passes for 1,173 yards receiving and eight touchdowns. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 28 receiver out of 115 qualifying players.