Brandin Cooks Wants Another Shot at the Broncos. He Knows Exactly Where That Has to Start.

Brandin Cooks is still out there in free agency. And he’s not shy about where he wants to land.

The veteran wide receiver told The Athletic’s Tim Graham that his preferred destination for the 2026 season is Buffalo. Not a surprise, maybe, given he was there last year. But the way he talked about it, this isn’t just about finding a roster spot. It’s personal.

“Obviously, Buffalo is the place I’d love to be,” Cooks said.

Anyone who watched the Bills’ playoff loss to the Broncos remembers the play. Fourth quarter. Cooks went up for a pass, came down with it, and then Ja’Quan McMillan ripped it out of his hands while Cooks was flat on the turf. The call on the field was a catch, but it got overturned to an interception. That decision effectively ended the Bills’ season and got head coach Sean McDermott fired.

Cooks wants to rewrite that ending. But he also wants to rewrite how it started.

“I want to prove that to them and have a full offseason with them,” he said. He added that both sides are working on it, but he’s hoping something happens soon. “We’ll see, but hopefully something transpires because I love going to training camp. That’s where you build that callus.”

There’s some real context here. Cooks didn’t get a full training camp with Buffalo last year. He signed late, missed the ramp-up period, and it showed. The timing on that play against Denver — the split-second where a veteran and his quarterback need to be on the same page — might have looked different if they’d had more reps together.

Now the Bills are under new leadership. Joe Brady stepped up from offensive coordinator to head coach, and his first big move was bringing in Jim Leonhard to run the defense. Leonhard was on the Broncos staff when that play happened. He saw it live. At the time, he said he didn’t think it was a catch. That’s the kind of insight Brady wanted on his staff.

But Cooks isn’t signed yet. The Bills haven’t committed, and other teams that need receiver help — and there are a few — could jump in. Cooks is 32, but he’s still a credible deep threat. He’s got 10,000-plus yards and 50 touchdowns in his career. Teams desperate for a reliable veteran might look past the age.

Or maybe the Bills circle back. They know what he can do. They know what went wrong. And Cooks knows the only way to really move past that Denver game is to play another one against them.