Brandin Cooks is officially signing with the San Francisco 49ers’ practice squad, with the full intention of getting him onto the active roster. Man, does that tell you everything you need to know about the state of their wide receiver room right now. General Manager John Lynch is clearly in scramble mode, pulling out all the stops for any help he can get after a brutal string of early-season injuries that have hammered their depth.
San Francisco’s WR Room Is a MASH Unit
It sounds like a disaster down in Santa Clara. The 49ers’ receiving corps has been absolutely decimated by injuries. Ricky Pearsall, De’Zhaun Stribling, and Demarcus Robinson are all sidelined. Head coach Kyle Shanahan even said Monday they are weighing putting Robinson, who is out three to six weeks with a high ankle sprain, on the injured reserve list. When you are losing that many key guys, especially for a team with high hopes, you absolutely have to do something, and Lynch is making moves to try and stop the bleeding.
While guys like Mike Evans, Deebo Samuel, Jacob Cowing, Jordan Watkins, and KhaDarel Hodge are still healthy and on the active roster, the depth chart behind them is looking perilously thin. This move for Cooks isn’t just a minor tweak; it’s a huge neon sign flashing that their receiving corps is hurting badly for reliable hands, and they need help fast.
Can Brandin Cooks Turn Back the Clock For the Niners?
So, what are the 49ers hoping for with Brandin Cooks? The guy is turning 33 on Friday, and he is well past his prime, with his last 1,000-yard season coming all the way back in 2021 with the Houston Texans. Last year, playing a combined 15 games for both the New Orleans Saints and Buffalo Bills, the 6-foot Stockton native only managed a meager 24 catches for 279 yards. That is not exactly lighting it up for a guy who used to consistently put up monster numbers.
But here is the kicker, and why this move makes sense: Cooks was still one of the most accomplished receivers on the market. He ranks fifth among active players in career receiving yards with 9,811, sixth in receptions with 734, and sixth in receiving touchdowns with 60. Talk about an impressive career: he and Brandon Marshall are the only two players in NFL history to rack up 1,000-yard receiving seasons with four different teams. That kind of experience and historical production is absolutely rare, even if it is a few years removed, and that is what Lynch is banking on. He is joining rookie receivers Wesley Grimes and Will Pauling on the practice squad, and it is a safe bet they are hoping he gets up to speed fast. To get Cooks onto the active roster, the 49ers will likely have to make a tough roster call. They will either put Robinson on IR as planned, carry a whopping seven receivers which is pretty rare, or wave goodbye to someone else currently in that room. It is a messy situation and a real puzzle piece for a team that definitely doesn’t want these kinds of headaches this early in the season.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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