It's been something of a waiting game for Jared Cook. A supremely talented athlete, Cook is one of those players that just about every offseason, some NFL pundit somewhere seemingly pegs as the guy set for a season of major offensive output. And yet, to this point Cook has provided good, if far from great impact for the Rams and Titans. But with the tight end/big wide receiver reportedly joining the Green Bay Packers this offseason via NFL free agency, is it finally time for Cook to deliver on all that promise?
It's only taken seven NFL season, but from the looks of things, the answer is a resounding "yes."
Cook joins a Packers team a little light on weapons on the outside, but extremely well-situated when it comes to the game's most important position. After coming to terms on a one-year deal, Cook, who has spent the previous seven seasons of his NFL career catching passes from the likes of Vince Young, Kerry Collins, Jake Locker, Sam Bradford, and most recently Nick Foles and Case Keenum, will now find himself on the receiving end of Aaron Rodgers' well-timed, well-placed bullets.
That's quite the step up.
And with the limited number of receiving weapons already in place for the Packers - sure, Jordy Nelson should come back healthy, making Randall Cobb more effective, and you can probably assume another small step forward for Davante Adams and maybe a big one for Ty Montgomery - but Cook immediately slots in at the top of a Green Bay tight end depth chart that hasn't had a real threat at the position since the heady days of Jermichael Finley.
Richard Rodgers and Andrew Quarless, tough and at times effective though they may be, represent limited potential. Quarless saw just five games of action last year and Rodgers, despite ending the season second on the team in receptions (58), simply isn't the same kind of athlete. Cook, even at age 28, has the abilities of a guy who should, if put in the right situation and given his fair share of targets, be able to blow past his previous single-season highs of 52 receptions, 759 yards and 5 touchdowns.
Packers GM Ted Thompson is known for his patient free agency approach, oftentimes to a frustrating degree, but yet again it looks to have paid off in the form of a potential-filled pickup that can (see; should) pay big dividends for the Packers (and Cook's fantasy owners). You need look no further than the other teams that showed interest in Cook in free agency - the Falcons, Panthers and Bears - to know the kind of skillset he offers to an offense.
For Cook, landing in Green Bay is a far cry from when he signed that five-year, $35 million free agency deal to join the Rams for 2013, but jumping onboard an explosive Packer offense is an opportunity the former third-round pick has never had before.
It's an opportunity that could push Cook from middling pass-catcher to top of the line tight end, and that could make his next (and likely last) contract much, much bigger.
