When one door closes, another one opens. Darius Cooper will learn that better than anyone else after the Philadelphia Eagles waive wide receiver Marquise "Hollywood" Brown.
NFL insider Jordan Schultz reported that the Eagles are waiving Brown after they failed to trade him at the deadline. The two sides mutually agreed it was best to part ways. Brown caught just five passes for 63 yards and ran twice for 12 yards this season.
Brown is no longer going to be on the team, which leaves Philly with limited options at wide receiver since DeVonta Smith and Dontayvion Wicks are hurt and have missed the last three games. It seems like a great time to remind the Eagles that they have a pretty good wide receiver in Cooper who could be very good.
Darius Cooper has had some impressive moments with the Eagles in 2026
The first half of the season for Cooper has been an interesting one, with so many highlights, but it also feels like there are still too few.
His first career touchdown was a game-winner with less than 10 seconds left in the Eagles' 24-20 win over the Tennessee Titans in Week 2 (the last time Eagles fans would feel any joy in 2026). He had a memorable first half in Week 4 against the Los Angeles Rams, scoring two first-half touchdowns, but the Eagles still lost. It was capped off the next week against the Jacksonville Jaguars with a 62-yard touchdown in front of the London crowd, but we all know how that one ended.
Since that London game, though, Cooper has been pretty much non-existent on offense. He has been targeted 19 times, catching just six passes for 70 yards.
This season, Cooper has 13 receptions on 32 targets for 200 yards and a team-high four touchdowns, averaging 15.4 yards per catch. His catch rate certainly needs to improve, but the potential is there for him to be great after the bye week.
Eagles must get Darius Cooper more involved in the offense the rest of the way
There have been some true highlight moments for Cooper this season, but many plays haven't shown him in the best light. The young second-year receiver has some work to do.
Among receivers with 30 or more targets this season, Cooper has the worse catch rate in the NFL with 40.6%. He has had two dropped passes this season, with the rest of the incompletions being off-target throws.
It doesn't help that Cooper has had three different quarterbacks throw him the ball. None of them have had a completion percentage over 64%.
Still, Smith and Wicks are hurt, and it's unclear whether they'll take the field again in 2026. The Eagles could consider shutting them down for the season, since the team is 2-7.
That would leave the door open for Cooper to start the season, with rookie Makai Lemon and Elijah Moore as potential starters. Cooper is the biggest, so he could be seen as a goal-line weapon for the offense.
The Eagles were hoping for more from Cooper after a stellar training camp and beginning of the year, but the chaos and mess of the offense have hindered any momentum from being built. Instead, Cooper has found himself trying to build rapport with quarterbacks who are struggling to get into the flow of the offense.
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With the bye week and some extra time to work with new starting quarterback Joe Milton III, the hope is that Cooper could have a much stronger second half of the season. The Eagles may not have a choice but to go Cooper's way and let him work. He has a chance to be great, but Philly needs to let him do it.
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