For football reasons, the deal is a no-brainer of all no-brainers:
Dalvin Cook to the Jets.
Get it done before his visit is complete, Joe Douglas. Don’t let the former Vikings running back out the door for visits to Miami or Foxborough or wherever else without a signed contract in hand.
Why should the Jets cook with Cook in the backfield in 2023? Let us count the ways.
There’s no argument that the Jets are in the win-now of all win-now modes, having gone all-in with the acquisition of Aaron Rodgers.
And speaking of Rodgers, he took a pay cut of some $35 million to help the Jets acquire the necessary talent around him to win a Super Bowl. Cook would qualify as said “necessary talent’’ that could help push the Jets to the Promised Land.
Devalue the NFL running back as much as you choose, but the Jets haven’t had anyone rush for 1,000 or more yards since 2015. That was eight seasons ago. Their record in 2015 was 10-6. Their record in the seven seasons since 2015 is a combined 34-87.
With all due respect to the running backs the Jets have on their current roster, Cook would be an accomplished man among a group of younger, less-experienced, less-accomplished men.
Cook has rushed for 5,024 yards and 43 touchdowns in the past four seasons, after all of which he was voted into the Pro Bowl. In those same four seasons, as a team, the Jets combined to rush for 5,246 yards and 26 touchdowns, and it has taken 21 different running backs to put up those numbers.
Any questions?
“He’s been a dynamic ball carrier for a long time,’’ Jets head coach Robert Saleh said Thursday. “You can’t say no to a good football player. They usually find a way.”
That’s why the Jets should find a way to add Cook to their kitchen.
The caveat here is Cook’s character. That is as important as his physical, something the Jets must be comfortable with before giving Cook a dime.
Cook is currently embroiled in a domestic violence lawsuit, stemming from the 2021 accusation of an ex-girlfriend, who alleges that he physically abused her, caused a concussion and held her hostage a year earlier. Cook, who was released by the Vikings earlier this year, has filed a countersuit claiming defamation and fraud. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported that Cook offered $1 million in hush money to the woman to get her to drop her suit.
That is, of course, an important issue for the Jets and Saleh, who often stresses the importance of a player’s character being a fit in his program, to sort through. If Saleh and Douglas, the Jets’ general manager, are comfortable with what they hear from Cook, then they should close the deal and live with it. Because Cook the football player will elevate their offense.
Yes, the Jets have some good backfield potential on the roster, particularly Breece Hall, who looked dynamic in his rookie season before he tore the ACL in his left knee during a Week 7 game at Denver. He had 463 yards, four TDs and a 5.8-yard average in just seven games.
Saleh has raved about how good Hall has looked during his recovery, but he’s not practicing yet and any running back coming off ACL surgery is a risk. Look at how long it took the Giants’ Saquon Barkley to return to form after his ACL surgery — more than a season.
Michael Carter is a proper complementary back, not a bell-cow 1,000-yard back. Zonovan Knight showed some promising signs last season and rookie fifth-round draft pick Israel Abanikanda has flashed early in camp. But they are not Dalvin Cook.
Cook, appearing on NFL Network’s “Good Morning Football’’ on Friday, revealed that he was scheduled to visit the Jets over the weekend and have a workout and physical with the team on Friday. He also said, “I think the possibility [of signing with the Jets] is high right now,’’ adding, “I think they’re in a position of a team that’s building something special, and I want to be a part of something special.”
Whether Cook was merely using that platform as a negotiating tool with Miami (his hometown) and New England reportedly in play is up for debate. But those words should be music to Jets fans’ ears.
So, too, should the Rodgers factor, which cannot be overlooked. If Rodgers wants Cook on the team, it’s highly likely Cook will be signed (see Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb).
“I’m always going to lean on him — on-the-field issues, off-the-field issues, personnel,’’ Saleh said when asked if he had consulted Rodgers about potentially signing Cook. “He’s as close to a coach as you can get as a player and he’s been in this league just as long as I have. So, of course, he’s going to have some thoughts and it’d behoove us not to seek his input when the opportunity presents itself.”
Well, the opportunity has presented itself. That opportunity is in the building. Seize the moment. It’s a no-brainer.
