Saints Sign Jared Cook

Drew Brees hasn’t had a real tight end since Jimmy Graham. After the Saints traded Graham, it’s been a bunching of walking corpses playing the position. 800-year-old Ben Watson and a bunch of guys you never heard before. Well, now the Saints have a new tight end that can actually play. Jared Cook has signed a deal with the Saints.

Mike Florio at PFT was the first to report the news:

Per source Saints are close to deal with TE Jared Cook.

— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) March 20, 2019

Cook, 31, actually had a really great year with the Oakland Raiders in 2018. Cook set career highs with receptions (68), receiving yardage (896), and receiving touchdowns (6). He led the Raiders in each of those categories as well. Pro Football Focus had Cook graded as the 9th best tight end in the sport a year ago. Football Outsiders actually had him ranked 5th.

Now Cook gets paired with Drew Brees instead of Derek Carr. Oh, boy. The Saints have lost Ben Watson to retirement but otherwise, have Dan Arnold and Josh Hill on the roster. The Saints really needed a secondary weapon too. Outside of Michael Thomas, the Saints don’t have a receiver or tight end that scares you. Cook at least gives the Saints somebody to worry about in the middle of the field.

New Orleans Saints 2019 NFL Draft War Room

Cook has a great chance to put up numbers with the Saints. The Saints are really starting to become a run first team behind Alvin Kamara with Drew Brees getting the ball out fast. Jimmy Graham never caught less than 9 touchdown passes outside of his rookie year with the Saints. Cook might have that kind of potential. If you’re looking for a fantasy tight end to target, Cook isn’t looking like a bad option.

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