A former New York Jets veteran will get a chance to prove he still has plenty of gas left in the tank.
On Thursday, January 18 NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero shared on social media that the Baltimore Ravens have signed Dalvin Cook to the 53-man roster. In a corresponding move, the team cut ties with running back Melvin Gordon.
Pelissero added that Cook is “expected” to make his debut for the Ravens during its divisional playoff matchup against the Houston Texans.
Corresponding move: Baltimore is signing RB Dalvin Cook to the 53-man roster and he’s expected to make his Ravens debut in Saturday’s playoff vs. Houston, per his agency @LAASportsEnt. https://t.co/UUJffleOPU
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) January 18, 2024
Cook Will Have a Chance to Shut up a Lot of Doubters on Jets Twitter
The Jets signed Cook on August 15 ahead of the 2023 season on a one-year deal for $7 million. Cook, 28, was expected to be a key cog in the backfield for the green and white.
It didn’t work out that way.
Corresponding move: Baltimore is signing RB Dalvin Cook to the 53-man roster and he’s expected to make his Ravens debut in Saturday’s playoff vs. Houston, per his agency @LAASportsEnt. https://t.co/UUJffleOPU
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) January 18, 2024
Cook appeared in 15 games, making one start, but only touched the ball 82 times. He finished with just 214 rushing yards on a pedestrian 3.2 yards per clip average.
Ahead of the regular season finale against the New England Patriots, the Jets and Cook agreed to mutually part ways.
That left the door open for Cook to join a contender ahead of the 2024 NFL playoffs. Cook quickly found a home in Baltimore.
He signed a one-year deal for $289,800 but it was prorated for the rest of the season. According to Spotrac, Cook’s base salary is $16,100 for the Ravens.
The Jet Press said on X previously Twitter that Cook is “completely washed” at this stage of his career.
Some people have argued on social media that Cook’s lack of production is due to his abilities diminishing with age. However, Jets general manager Joe Douglas explained at his end-of-season presser that Breece Hall’s emergence is one of the reasons the Cook-Jets dynamic didn’t work out.
.@antwanstaley asked #Jets GM Joe Douglas why things didn’t work with Dalvin Cook:
While Cook didn’t have the production anyone wanted JD called that ‘a little bit of a hindsight is 20/20 thing’ because of the unknown about Breece Hall’s recovery from a torn ACL + Jets thought… pic.twitter.com/nMTT3ihLxd
— Paul Andrew Esden Jr (@BoyGreen25) January 9, 2024
Cook will have a chance with the Ravens in the postseason to either prove he has plenty of juice left or that he is indeed over the hill.
Hall Is a Freaking Alien for the Jets
The reason why the Jets added Cook to the roster in the first place was due to the uncertainty of Hall’s recovery from a torn ACL.
Every player responds differently to treatment. Some players are back to their normal selves after a few months. Other players take years to return to form. In some rare cases, players never are who they once were.
Hall proved that he was in a class all to his own. He ended up appearing in all 17 games of his sophomore season. Not only did he earn a perfect attendance record, but his statistics were among the best at his position.
The Jets’ social media team argued that Hall, “deserves some Comeback Player of The Year love” for what he went through and for what he was able to accomplish.
From a torn ACL in October 2022 to 1,500 total yards in 2023.
We think @BreeceH deserves some Comeback Player Of The Year love.
And we documented every step in Breece: The Road Back ➜ https://t.co/R75L25q2IM pic.twitter.com/8HNcYyzCe9
— New York Jets (@nyjets) January 18, 2024
Seth Walder of ESPN ranked the top 100 most valuable players in the NFL from the 2023 season. Only two running backs made the list: Christian McCaffrey of the San Francisco 49ers and Hall. That is the list.
