New England Patriots: Top 3 players to add in free agency

Jared Cook

In a less-than-inspiring pool of free agent tight ends this spring, Jared Cook stands head-and-shoulders above the rest.

The 10-year veteran out of South Carolina has long since proven himself to be a valuable and reliable contributor in the modern NFL passing game. Despite bouncing around from team to team over the course of his career (whomever he signs with next will be his fifth franchise to play for), Cook is as steady as they come at what has evolved into a somewhat-volatile position.

As anyone who’s ever played fantasy football can tell you, tight ends are a difficult breed to predict. Unless you have a healthy Rob Gronkowski or Travis Kelce on your roster, you’re kind of throwing darts every year when it comes to drafting the position.

Cook has been a rock throughout his career, though, never playing less than 10 games in all 10 of his pro seasons. He had a career-high 68 receptions for 896 yards last year with the Raiders, and that was the Raiders. It stands to reason that were he to jump ship to a more stable situation, he could be even more productive.

Of course, his odds of signing in New England are largely contingent on factors outside his control. The Patriots must ask themselves two questions… first: how confident are they that Rob Gronkowski will return next season?, and second: do they believe there’s really a chance Michael Bennett can lure his brother Martellus out of retirement and back to the team?

If Gronk retires and Martellus Bennett stays himself happily retired, the Pats suddenly find themselves in drastic, dire need of reinforcements at the position. Even if New England only gets one of the two players back in 2019 (Gronkowski or Bennett), there’s still a real need for a second starting-caliber tight end to step into this offense.

It’s only if Gronkowski and Bennett both return to the team this offseason that a Cook signing would be extraneous.