The New York Jets have high hopes coming into this summer thanks to a star addition from the NFC North, as Aaron Rodgers is now in town to lead the offense and serve as the best quarterback they’ve had in a very long time.
With how well the Rodgers addition has been received in the locker room and by fans, the team has decided to seek out another offensive upgrade from the same division, with word breaking on Monday that the Jets are signing former Vikings running back Dalvin Cook to a one-year deal worth up to $8.6 million.
Free-agent RB Dalvin Cook is planning to sign a one-year deal worth up to $8.6 million with the New York Jets, per source. pic.twitter.com/SU95TqaQL4
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 14, 2023
It appears Cook waited for Ezekiel Elliott’s contract with the Patriots to be signed, setting the market for former veteran star backs at 1-year, $6 million ($3 million base). For the Jets, they add a back coming off of four straight 1,000 yard rushing seasons, including 1,173 yards and eight touchdowns a year ago in Minnesota. The former Florida State standout was released this summer by the Vikings and it was widely assumed he would land in New York for the past few weeks, it was just a matter of getting the details of the contract right. That has now happened and it’ll be interesting to get to watch the Jets integrate Cook into a running back room that unsurprisingly did not want him in town. Still, with Breece Hall working his way back from an ACL injury, Cook will give the Jets a second high-level back, pushing the rest of the Jets RB hopefuls further down the depth chart.