Ahead of his 13th season, free-agent receiver Brandin Cooks is finding motivation in the Buffalo Bills' heartbreaking January playoff loss that featured a controversial call late.
Cooks and the Bills narrowly fell to the Denver Broncos in overtime of the divisional round last season. The 32-year-old seemingly made a clutch catch in the game's extra frame, only for it to be overturned by the officiating crew, which ruled that defensive back Ja'Quan McMillian stripped the ball from Cooks before he went to the ground.
"I will continue to process it until I get back on the field, but I think the biggest thing I can say is that I still feel like it was a catch," Cooks told The Athletic's Tim Graham. "After it happened, seeing some of the so-called controversial calls that were called a catch, I just had to turn the playoffs off because I'm like, 'Yo, what is going on?'"
What a play in OT by Ja'Quan McMillian 😳
— NFL (@NFL) January 18, 2026
BUFvsDEN on CBS/Paramount+
Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/noqikIoPQC
Cooks remains unsigned and has drawn attention from other teams this offseason. However, he insists that he'd like to run it back with the Bills in 2026.
"Obviously, Buffalo is the place I'd love to be," Cooks said. "I want to prove that to them and have a full offseason with them. Both sides are figuring things out. We'll see, but hopefully something transpires because I love going to training camp. That's where you build that callus."
Cooks dressed for five regular-season games with the Bills after being waived by the New Orleans Saints in November. To that point, Buffalo's receiving corps had dealt with injuries and a lack of production, yet the veteran wideout said he couldn't pass up the opportunity to catch passes from quarterback Josh Allen.
In March, Buffalo acquired DJ Moore in a trade with the Chicago Bears. Khalil Shakir, Joshua Palmer, and Mecole Hardman are among the team's other receiving options.
Cooks is still chasing an elusive Lombardi Trophy following stints with the New England Patriots, Los Angeles Rams, Houston Texans, and Dallas Cowboys in addition to the Saints and Bills.
