I much prefer signing younger players, but a guy like Cook could help mentor ASJ and the TE the Jets draft. He also would be perhaps a more reliable safety valve for our starting QB than ASJ or a rookie. Part of helping a QB develop is having solid play around him on the OL and at the skill positions. I can easily see how Cook could help the team for a year or two. Hopefully, Cook wouldn't get all the practice reps and playing time and ASJ or the rookie would get reps and playing time too to help them develop.
A 30 year old is never going to be an answer for a team for more than a year or so and he is a pitiful answer for a last place team trying to rebuild. Have what we have. Trying to pretend it is fixable as more than a parlor trick for a season is what got us into this mess.
I believe Jared Cook has at least 3 in his prime years left. It would help whoever our quarterback is having a reliable TE who can be that big target hot read. I'd love to draft a tight end in this year's draft too.
How many prime years did you think Cro had going into 2015? Revis in 2016? 30 is a real thing. Cook was one of the biggest factors in the Packers turnaround last year but as soon as he started talking 3 years for real money they stopped bidding. That's what good teams do. They don't let Father Time hit them with a blackjack over and over again.
If you give Cook a 3 year deal similar to Bennett, but with less guaranteed money, you can be out from under that contract by year 3 if his play is diminishing rapidly.
It's imperative for the Jets to come out of free agency and/or the draft with at least one good TE. Even more so if we are handing the keys to a young qb.
Yes however you've still had to deal with decline years in the process, years that are likely to happen based on the thousands of NFL players that have come before him. Do you think the Jets saw any chance that Revis would suffer successive declines in years one and two of his contract with them? Why not? That would have been the expectation, the rule, not the exception.
Are you saying Cook will suck at 30 and 31? I just want to understand your position. I'll take that bet if you think Cook doesn't have at the very least two quality seasons left in him.
If you look at a 30 year old TE as one of a class of 30 year old players, that being all the TE's who have played in the NFL at the age of 30, you will find that there is a step down in play from 29 to 30 as a group, that injuries are more common and harder to come back from for 30 year olds compared to 29 year olds as a group, that healthy production is lower for 30 year olds than 29 year olds as a group. 30 is a big deal in the NFL, 31 is a bigger deal, each successive year increases the chances that a player will fail and for TE's 99% of all of them that have played are done by 35 or so. Notice anything in the following list? http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/B/BechAn00.htm http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/B/BakeCh00.htm http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/K/KellDu00.htm http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/C/CumbJe00.htm http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/C/CookJa02.htm Look at Cook's numbers and tell me that 30 is going to be better than 29, which was worse than 28. He's on a classic decline phase for a mediocre TE as his skills erode and his ability to stay on the field follows. The Packers are letting him go because better a year early than a year late. Why should the Jets acquire a player who might well be in his big decline year, based on his current career path, when we're in a rebuild. Cook is already older than the Jets last 4 starting TE's were when they were done.
Tell me how old Martellus Bennett is. You know, the tight end the smart Packers just signed to a three-year deal worth approximately $21 million.
You're pointing at the exception to the rule. The very high value TE who has managed to avoid the ravages of time, although his peak season was at 27 two years ago and nothing he has done since then has approached that season. Because he was a better player in his prime he likely has more staying power than Cook. Truth be told the Packers probably just looked at the difference between paying that money over 3 years to a guy who had 121 catches over the last 3 years and a guy who had 198 catches over that period. Further truth be told, both players show signs of slowing down and the Packers probably should have just drafted a replacement for Cook. The upgrade to Bennett is understandable assuming they were going to have an established TE for Rodgers to throw to this season - however they'd have been better off playing fundamentals and trying to find Rodgers a great young TE to play with.
You have a right to your opinion, and I have a right to point out how ridiculous it is. If you can't stand the heat... Bowles WAS a hot commodity. The reasons why do not matter. Much of the board wanted him here. Of course he's not hot NOW. He did a good job in 2015 and not a good job in 2016. I was not happy with his work last year, but he's here so we might as well STFU and let the man coach and see how he does. Whining like a bunch of girls does nothing. I want him to succeed, whether he will or not remains to be seen. I don't have a lot of faith that he will, but again that's irrelevant. Feelings don't matter, results do. If YOU don't like it, root for another team. We have chosen the Jets and that means taking the good and bad that go with it. BTW I like Howard but not at 6.
That's your opinion, not fact. My opinion is Cook is gonna still be cooking at TE the next two years.
I prefer to let the actuarial projections rule the process and they say that a 30 year old TE is a bad investment barring some extraordinary factor in play, like him being a Hall of Fame candidate coming off a strong year and clearly still in prime shape.
I prefer to deal with facts. Fact: Martellus Bennett was born March 10, 1987, and he is 30 years old, which makes him older than Jared Cook (29) who was born April 7, 1987. That makes Jared exactly 4 weeks younger. FACT: I advocate signing the younger tight end at a cheaper price. Also, Cook isnt as outspoken as Bennett, which makes him less likely to be a diva distraction like Brandon Marshall.
I literally just said, I didn't say anything about helping long term. In general, I'm on record against the Jets signing any FAs over the age of 28, but I think one needs to look at each situation on an individual basis. I certainly wouldn't want to sign multiple FAs over the age of 28, but I don't think one would hurt, and his benefits would outweigh the negatives. Someone like Cook could help both ASJ and a rookie draft pick develop faster. If the Jets don't draft a TE, then it's all the more important that we sign Cook or a FA TE. The offense won't function as Morton envisions it and it will hinder the development of both the QB and the offense if we don't have a functional TE. ASJ has injury issues, and his production is spotty, so unless he has improved greatly over the offseason, he can't really be counted on to deliver the help at TE the Jets need. We don't have enough draft picks to address all our holes. Some will have to be addressed via FA. If Morton plans on using TEs, we have to actually have more than one on the roster, and even two are not really enough due to ASJ's injury history. Depth is needed. To help the youngsters develop and learn how to play the game, we actually have to have some veterans leaders and mentors. There are only a handful of 26 and 27 year-old FAs in the draft: Tim Wright (26) of the Lions, Mychal Rivera (26) of the Raiders, Chris Gragg (26) and Gerald Christian (23) of the Bills, Luke Willson of the Seahawks (27), Brandon Bostic (27), Gavin Escobar (26) of the Cowboys, and Philip Supernaw (27) of the Titans. If Mac likes one of them fine, but none have the experience that Cook has. Wright has had 89 receptions and 13 TDs in his 3-year NFL career, but has only lasted one year with each of the 3 teams for which he has played (Bucs, Patriots and Lions). There must be some reason why those teams didn't keep him when his stats were good. Rivera has had 146 receptions and 10 TDs in his 4-year NFL career. Christian was a rookie last season and had 1 reception. Gragg only has 24 receptions and 2 TDs in this 3-year NFL career. Willson has had 74 receptions and 7 TDs in his 4-year NFL career. Bostic's obviously not that good since the Jets decided not to keep him. Escobar has 30 receptions and 8 TDs in his 4-year NFL career. Supernaw only has 10 receptions in his 4 year NFL career, and is already played for 4 teams. Of those, the only 3 I'd consider would be Wright, Rivera and Escobar but would want to know why Wright hasn't been re-signed by the teams he played for. You're entitled to your opinion, but Cook is not pitiful, and would not be a "parlor trick". I totally disagree. In his career, he has averaged 12.8 yards per reception, which is pretty good for TEs. He has 303 receptions in 117 games and 185 of those receptions went for first downs and 17 for TDs. None of those young TEs has scored a TD longer than 37 yards. Cook has a number of them at 80, 61, 59, 49, and two at 47 yards, and he may have more than that, those were just the longest in various seasons over his career. He's had 54 receptions of over 20 yards and 7 of 40+ yards. Yeah, that sounds real pitiful.
Expressing our opinions is not "whining like a bunch of girls." That's a moronic opinion and attitude. I want him to succeed as well, but I'm going to be realistic and point out his flaws. If you don't like it, tough shit! You go root for another team.
No need to. The TE class for this years draft is stacked. We could realistically end up with a really good TE within the first 3-4 rounds.
