The Minnesota Vikings are visiting with free agent tight end Jared Cook today. The former Green Bay Packers tight end was expected to re-sign with his old team last week before the Packers chose to sign tight end Martellus Bennett instead. That decision has left the athletic Cook searching for a new team after one season in Green Bay. Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers had publicly pleaded with his team's decision makers to re-sign Cook. However, Rodgers apparently approved of the Martellus Bennett signing, as he tweeted "relax" after the news of Bennett's signing broke.
Jared Cook's sudden availability has peaked the Minnesota Vikings interest, and a one-two combination of Cook and Kyle Rudolph would have the potential to give teams match-up nightmares.
Jared Cook's potential role
If the Minnesota Vikings and Jared Cook can agree to terms while he's making his visit, the team will have to find creative ways to use both Cook and Kyle Rudolph at the same time effectively. Cook is one of the league's best deep-threat tight ends, with game breaking speed that Rudolph simply doesn't have. However, Rudolph is a much more capable blocker and short-yardage tight end, meaning the pair would complement one another very well. Cook would also be able to line up in the slot at times, creating a blocking mismatch for the running game.
Minnesota Vikings spending big in free agency
The early NFL free agency spending frenzy has calmed down a bit at this point, with most notable names off the board. The Minnesota Vikings have already signed two new starting offensive tackles. Reilly Reiff and Mike Remmers, and for a surprising sum of money. Free agents often use bidding wars to drive up their price, but the market for offensive tackles was expected to favor teams as there were several options available at the position.
The Vikings signed Riley Reiff for five years and $58 million, and Mike Remmers for five years and $30 million. Even with those two signings, the team could easily fit Jared Cook into their salary cap space, and he would be a short-term solution for an offense badly in need of play-makers. Remmers signed in the evening after his visit, and both Cook and the Vikings would love for that to be the case here as well.
