We were all real excited when the Green Bay Packers brought tight end Jared Cook in for a visit early last week. That excitement quickly dissipated as the Packers stayed true to form and did nothing after his visit.
Were the Packers not interested in Cook?
No, the fact that they brought him in says they were interested. More likely, Cook is overvaluing himself, asking for more money than the Packers — or anyone else for that matter — think he’s worth.
Packers coach Mike McCarthy reinforced that assumption on Tuesday. While raving about Cook, McCarthy was also sure to point out the business side of the equation.
“I spent a lot of time with Jared Cook and he’s a fine, fine young man,” McCarthy said. “I was impressed with him. So we’ll see what happens. It’s in the business phase of it and that’s where it stands.”
We interpret that as the Packers are still interested in Cook, but aren’t willing to pay whatever salary he’s demanding.
The longer Cook remains on the market, the more his price will drop, unless he plans on retiring. That puts the Packers still squarely in play.
Frankly, as far as we can tell, they’re the only team in play. If Cook has visited any other teams since being released by the Rams, he’s done it in top secret mode.
There simply are no reports of him visiting anyone besides Green Bay.
The number of teams in need of a tight end isn’t increasing either. At this point, it certainly seems Cook’s options are either, A. take whatever the Packers offered or, B. wait around until training camp and hope a team loses their tight to a season-ending injury.
Cook just might find himself retired like Jermichael Finley did back in 2014 if he goes the latter route.