Rams sign Cooks to five-year, $80M extension

1:02 pm | July 17, 2018 | Go to Source | Author:

4:42 PM ET

Lindsey ThiryESPN
Close
- Covered Rams for two years for Los Angeles Times
- Previously covered the Falcons
- Has covered the NBA and college football and basketball

The Los Angeles Rams have signed Brandin Cooks to a five-year contract extension, the team announced Tuesday.

The deal is worth $80 million, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Cooks, 24, has yet to play a snap for the Rams, but coach Sean McVay liked what he saw from the receiver throughout the offseason program. Cooks is expected to provide a consistent deep threat for quarterback Jared Goff.

“Brandin Cooks has shown himself to be a class act on and off the field since the first day he joined our team,” McVay said in a statement. “He’s a proven professional in this league and signing him to a long-term contract was always our goal.”

A fifth-year pro, Cooks is entering the final season of his rookie contract, which is scheduled to pay him $8.4 million. He will remain with the Rams through the 2023 season.

After receiver Sammy Watkins signed a free-agent contract with the Kansas City Chiefs, the Rams sent their No. 23 overall pick in the 2018 draft, as well as a sixth-round selection, to the New England Patriots in exchange for Cooks.

Last season, Cooks caught 65 passes for 1,082 yards and seven touchdowns.

A first-round pick in 2014, Cooks played three seasons with the New Orleans Saints before the Patriots exchanged a first-round draft pick for him.

Cooks has 280 career receptions, including 27 for touchdowns.

The Rams open training camp on July 26.