Despite making him a good offer, the New England Patriots are apparently missing out on the services of tight end Jared Cook — in the wake of Rob Gronkowski’s retirement, to boot. Per a report from Peter King of NBC Sports, Cook is committed to signing with the New Orleans Saints as the two sides close in on a contract agreement. In King’s own words:
Some connected with the Patriots felt strongly early last week that Gronkowski was likely to retire, and it chagrins the organization that the free-agent receiver/tight end crop is now totally denuded after established tight end Jared Cook—who I am told will not reconsider his decision—committed to signing with New Orleans last week. It’s no exaggeration to say the Patriots’ skill-position players, post-Gronk, might be the worst in the Belichick Era.
Make no mistake: should King’s reporting hold true, this is a big victory for the Saints, and an embarrassment for the Patriots. The reigning Super Bowl champions were not able to recruit the best player on the market at a position of need away from a verbal commitment to another contender in another conference. Maybe Cook is eager to win a lot of games and have fun doing it in New Orleans rather than embrace the joyless death march to success New England has patented. Or maybe he’s just a man of his word.
Either way, this story should be wrapped up in the near future. It’s been 12 days since contact between Cook and the Saints was first reported. Surely that’s enough time to negotiate any wrinkles out of his contract?
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