Former All-Pro RB to sign with Jets

Injuries stalled Tarik Cohen‘s career early in the 2020s. The former Bears running back and Pro Bowl return man managed a comeback opportunity with the Panthers last year, but the team ended that bid recently. The Jets will now take a flier.

Cohen is heading to New York on a one-year agreement, ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter reports. This comes after the Panthers cut him earlier this month. Robert Saleh confirmed the deal, and the fourth-year Jets HC (via SNY’s Connor Hughes) pointed to the new kickoff rules when discussing Cohen.

With the NFL greenlighting an experiment that will reintroduce the kick return to prominence, some teams are making notable additions in preparation. The Steelers brought in Cordarrelle Patterson hours after owners approved the one-year trial for the XFL-style kickoff, and the Seahawks added Laviska Shenault Jr. with a return role in mind. Cohen has contributed on offense, but his best NFL work has come in the return game.

Cohen, 28, led the NFL in punt-return yardage in 2018, earning first-team All-Pro acclaim, and returned a punt for a touchdown as a rookie a year prior. The bulk of Cohen’s return experience has come on punts, however. After his rookie season, the Bears removed the 5-foot-7 back from the kick-return role. Of course, Chicago rostered Patterson from 2019-20. Ceding a job to one of the best kick returners in NFL history did not prove detrimental for Cohen, who signed a three-year, $17.25M extension in 2020.

Although the Panthers stashed Cohen on their practice squad last year, injury trouble — which initially cropped up not long after his extension came to pass — resurfaced. Cohen spent several weeks on Carolina’s practice squad injured list. The North Carolina A&T alum has not played in a game since the 2020 season; Cohen also suffered a torn ACL in September 2020 and missed the 2021 season. Shortly after being released in 2022, Cohen sustained an Achilles tear.

The Jets used UDFA Xavier Gipson as their primary return man last year. That fit produced one of the most memorable special teams moments in team history via the walk-off Week 1 punt return. Saleh confirmed Gipson remains the frontrunner for the kick-return role. As nearly four years have passed since Cohen’s last game, the small-school product is running out of chances. But the Jets, who will have 16 practice squad spots in addition to their 53-man roster, will see what the former Bears standout has left.