Brandin Cooks have left New Orleans, for the second time. Where will he go next?

Those in league circles who have been paying close attention to the contract machinations aimed at getting Cooks his freedom in exchange for $2.11 million in current and future salary have been speculating that he hopes to land with the Broncos, Rams, or Bills.

Cross off the Broncos.

Chris Tomasson of the Denver Gazette reports that the Broncos "are not in the mix" to sign Cooks.

Cooks was drafted the Saints in 2014, when Sean Payton was the head coach. After three seasons, he was traded to the Patriots. Connecting him back to Payton is a fairly obvious exercise, especially with the Broncos at 9-2.

But, per Tomasson, it won't be the Broncos.

Presumably, Cooks has a destination in mind. Why else would he give up from than $2 million to exit from the Saints?

Buffalo obviously could use more capable targets for quarterback Josh Allen. And Cooks could share (if not claim) the Tutu Atwell role in the L.A. offense. (Cooks played for Sean McVay from 2018 to 2019.)

We'll see where it goes. The longer Cooks is free, the more puzzling his decision to walk away from current and future guarantees will be — especially given the clunky effort to deter a waivers claim.