FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Patriots announced that they acquired WR Brandin Cooks in a trade with the New Orleans Saints, and DL Kony Ealy in a trade with the Carolina Panthers. Terms of the trades were not announced.
Cooks, 23, is a veteran of three NFL seasons with New Orleans after joining the team as a first-round draft pick (20th overall) out of Oregon State in the 2014 NFL Draft. The 5-foot-10, 189-pounder, has played in 42 NFL games with 31 starts and has 215 receptions for 2,861 yards and 20 touchdowns. Cooks has had 1,000-yard seasons each of the last two years with 1,138 yards on 84 receptions and nine touchdowns in 2015 and 1,173 yards on 78 receptions and eight touchdowns last season.
Ealy, 25, is a veteran of three NFL seasons with the Carolina Panthers after originally entering the NFL as a second-round draft pick (60th overall) by Carolina out of Missouri in the 2014 NFL Draft. The 6-foot-4, 275-pounder, has played in 47 regular-season games with 15 starts and has 76 total tackles, 14 sacks, one interception, five passes defensed, six forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. In addition, he has played in five postseason games with one start and has 12 tackles, including three sacks and an interception in Super Bowl 50 against Denver. One of the quarterback takedowns was a strip-sack and fumble recovery by Ealy. Last season, he played in 16 games with six starts and finished with 32 total tackles, 5 sacks, 3 passes defensed and 2 forced fumbles.
