According to NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport, the Green Bay Packers will sign veteran tight end Jared Cook to a one-year, $3.6 million deal. Cook traveled to Green Bay on Sunday to take a physical and sign his contract on Monday. Apparently Cook and the Packers agreed to terms on a contract sometime last week.
For Jared Cook & #Packers, it's a 1-year deal worth $3.6M, source said. Hope is, as with FAs this time of year, to kill it & sign long-term
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 28, 2016
Tight End Jared Cook To Sign with Packers
Cook, 28, spent the last three seasons with the St. Louis Rams after signing a five-year, $35 million contract back in 2013, but failed to live up to expectations (1,786 yards receiving with only eight touchdowns in three seasons). He was subsequently released after an extremely disappointing 2015 season in which the veteran tight end only recorded 39 catches for 481 yards while failing to find the end zone. By cutting Cook, who had two years left on his contract, the Rams will save roughly $5.7 million in cap space.
Prior to signing with the Rams in 2013, Cook spent his first four NFL seasons with the Tennessee Titans who drafted the tight end in the 2009 NFL Draft out of South Carolina. The former Gamecock, who is listed at 6’5″, 254 pounds, showed great speed and potential for a tight end that size during his time in Tennessee. His best season with the Titans was back in 2011, where he had 49 catches for 759 yards and three touchdowns.
Packers general manager Ted Thompson is not someone who is known to sign free-agents. The last time Thompson and the Packers signed a free agent to play on offense was back in 2013. Thompson believes in building through the draft and retaining his own players, but when he does venture into free-agency, he usually does extremely well. Some of Thompson’s free agent signings include cornerback Charles Woodson, defensive end Ryan Pickett and outside linebacker Julius Peppers.
The Packers haven’t had a threat at tight end since Jermichael Finley, who had to retire in 2013 because of a neck injury. Cook will compete with Richard Rodgers, who was second in receptions (58) for the Packers in 2015, for the starting tight end job. Even though Cook’s production never quite lived up to the contract the Rams gave him, he never had a quarterback nearly as good as the two-time MVP Aaron Rodgers.
