The New York Jets have been busy adding former Green Bay Packers to their roster this offseason. Aaron Rodgers leads that list, but he has had multiple former teammates also make the jump from Green Bay to East Rutherford. Could a former rival of theirs also be making the switch?
Running back Dalvin Cook spent the first six seasons of his career playing against the Packers for the rival Minnesota Vikings. But, Minnesota released him a few weeks ago to save some money on their salary cap.
Now a free agent and able to choose where he plays next, the Jets have been mentioned as a potential landing spot. New York is very clearly in win-now mode with Rodgers at the helm and should leave no stone unturned when it comes to talent acquisition.
Could the Jets have the upper hand in the Cook race? Not only is playing with Rodgers appealing but his former teammate with the Vikings, tight end Tyler Conklin, recently did a little recruiting.
Conklin appeared on Good Morning Football on NFL Network this week and was asked about the possibility of the Jets bringing on his former teammate. Not surprisingly, it is something that he would be all for.
“There’s plenty of room. We’ve got room for whoever wants to come help us win a Super Bowl,” Conklin said. “Me and Dalvin were basically locker mates my first couple years, and he was an awesome guy. I reached out to him because I was just curious, like are the rumors true? Is this actually possible?
“That’d be a special backfield with Breece [Hall] and Dalvin and the rookie (Israel Abanikanda) and whatnot, Mike Carter. I don’t know. That’s a lot of running backs, but I think that’d be special, especially in this outside zone scheme.” (H/T ESPN)
It is a sentiment that Cook seems to agree with. He shared a quote tweet on Twitter of a clip from Conklin’s appearance on the show.
The Jets also have Zonovan Knight on the roster, who came out of nowhere as a rookie last season. There is certainly a lot of depth in place, but Cook is a seasoned veteran that would provide the team with insurance in case Hall isn’t ready at the start of the season or needs more time to round into shape.
After he went down last season, Michael Carter and Knight saw their production slip in the second half of the season. Adding a four-time Pro Bowler in Cook would keep from having that repeat.
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