Sports

Brandin Cooks reportedly lands with seventh NFL team amid 49ers’ receiver injuries

Nairavoice · Sep 23, 2026 · 3 min read

The San Francisco 49ers are signing Brandin Cooks to their practice squad, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Tuesday, with the plan of getting the veteran receiver up to speed for game action. It is Cooks’ 13th NFL season, and San Francisco will be his seventh team. He worked out for the Baltimore Ravens last week without reaching a deal.

Ricky Pearsall is out for the season after knee surgery, rookie De’Zhaun Stribling is on injured reserve with an ankle injury, and Demarcus Robinson has a high ankle sprain expected to cost him three to six weeks. Christian Kirk is also on injured reserve, designated to return. Mike Evans also left the Week 2 win over the Miami Dolphins with a hip issue that head coach Kyle Shanahan said the team will have to manage this week.

Brandin Cooks reportedly lands with seventh

Moving Cooks onto the 53-man roster would likely require placing Robinson on injured reserve, unless San Francisco carries seven receivers or waives someone else. Shanahan said on Monday that the team was weighing that IR move, so the practice squad stays could be short.

Source: free-agent WR Brandin Cooks is signing with the 49ers practice squad, initially to get up to speed for games. It is year 13 for the former first-round pick from Oregon State who now is 189 yards short of 10,000 receiving yards for his NFL career. pic.twitter.com/oJ93YEdLFU
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— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 22, 2026

How long could Brandin Cooks need to reach 10,000 receiving yards?

Cooks sits at 9,811 career receiving yards, 189 short of 10,000. He ranks sixth among active players in receiving yards, receptions and receiving touchdowns.

He last cleared 1,000 yards in a season with the Houston Texans in 2021. The New Orleans Saints waived him last November after he asked for his release, and he finished the year with the Buffalo Bills. Across the two stops, he caught 24 passes for 279 yards across 15 games, which works out to about 18.6 yards per game. At that rate, Cooks would need roughly 10 games of similar work to cross 10,000, so the milestone depends on how long San Francisco keeps him on the field once the room starts to heal.

Brandin Cooks reportedly lands with seventh

Robinson’s absence opens outside snaps right away, but Stribling and Robinson are both expected back during the season, and Evans’ hip still needs managing. If Cooks settles in as a rotational outside option, 10,000 could arrive in the second half of the year. If the 49ers get healthy quickly, he could spend Sundays on the inactive list with the number stuck in the 9,800s.

San Francisco is 2-0 after blowout wins over the Los Angeles Rams and the Dolphins. Behind Evans, the receivers on the active roster include KhaDarel Hodge, who mainly plays special teams, and Jordan Watkins, who was inactive for both of those games. That leaves little cover if the hip lingers into Sunday.

Cooks grew up in Stockton and will turn 33 on Friday, two days before San Francisco plays the Arizona Cardinals.