LaCanfora: Teams Interested in Trading for Cook

[rdlkgliders]

I found this of Cook as a kid

 

[Prime Time]

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/writer...davis-jared-cook-as-tight-end-market-heats-up

Teams target Vernon Davis, Jared Cook as tight end market heats up
October 18, 2015
JASON LA CANFORA
CBS Sports NFL Insider

Vernon Davis and Jared Cook have sparked interest around the league. (USATSI)

Several teams are exploring upgrading at tight end ahead of next month's NFL trade deadline, with the 49ers and Rams fielding recent calls exploring the availability of Vernon Davis and Jared Cook, respectively, according to multiple league sources. Both clubs appear open to that possibility, and while no deals are imminent at this time, they could well come to pass prior to the Nov. 3 deadline.

The 49ers and Rams have not begun shopping those players to all comers, but it is widely held among other teams that they could be had, and teams will continue to monitor that market and determine price points for those players up until the deadline.

San Francisco is rebuilding, Davis is in the final year of his deal and he has not clicked with quarterback Colin Kaepernick and will not be returning to San Francisco next year in all likelihood. He has been injured, but is nearing a return and would very much welcome a change of scenery, sources said.

Dealing him at the deadline would require a team to pay a little more than half of his $4.7-million salary (including weekly roster bonuses). The 49ers have already had an exodus of veterans in recent years and Davis could well be the next; landing a draft pick for Davis now -- rather than waiting for a compensatory pick in 2017 should he leave as a free agent -- would appeal to the 49ers. Similarly, a team that trades for him could then offset the loss of the draft pick traded for Davis by netting a 2017 compensatory pick should he not be re-signed.

Cook's contract makes a move for him trickier, but that has not stopped teams from at least making exploratory phone calls. He has two years, worth $7 million a season, left on his deal beyond 2015, but all of his guaranteed money is paid, so a team could part with him in the offseason without cap or cash ramifications.

His production has been spotty, but he does have the capacity to make explosive plays. It may prove difficult for the Rams to get the kind of return they would hope given the expense involved in picking up the contract, but with tight end Lance Kendricks under contract in St. Louis through 2018, teams will continue to gauge Cook's value ahead of the deadline.

Several NFL executives believe this could be a more fertile trade deadline than normal, with clubs now adjusted to the later deadline and with there being a growing delineation between the haves and the have nots, with half a dozen teams undefeated and a legion of clubs with one win or less.

Teams generally have been reluctant to assume the seller's role in the NFL, even when struggling, but that stigma seems less relevant to some of the younger general managers in the game, and with bigger name players available (includingMatt Forte in Chicago) and the salary cap finally seriously on the rise, the potential for meaningful moves seems greater.

 

[Zaphod]

Watching Gronkowski now, and it's obvious. Cook can't cut like he does. He has straight line speed to burn, but he's no slot receiver.

Is he a fan scapegoat who's better than we are giving credit for? Sure, but the team is moving on from him due to the emerging importance of blocking tight ends. So there is trade value, regardless of our own frustration in him.

Cook was a Titan pick sure, but he was a Shottenheimer toy. We have better slot receivers on the team. Heck, Austin has surprised me when he lined up there. This is a different offense.

And we haven't seen Quick targeted much either, that kid has proven be can block well on screens.

We shouldn't worry about this, it's and opportunity to dump a salary looking ahead to next year, an opportunity for a draft pick, an opportunity to spread the field horizontally a bit for our run game, and an opportunity for our wide receivers.

 

[LACHAMP46]

You've got to be kidding. You think Cook's performance is now Foles' fault?

http://www.stlouisrams.com/team/statistics.html
http://espn.go.com/nfl/team/stats/_/name/stl/st-louis-rams
http://www.nfl.com/teams/statistics?team=STL
http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/ram/2015.htm

The entire offense, whether right or wrong, is basically on the QB's back.....Every offensive player in the passing game is a reflection of Foles & Cig...

 

[GabesHorn]

Anyone see how well in just one week our old WR looked and caught some pretty passes from Flacco today? Just as we have to watch Amendola look so well for the cheaters. Givens was impressive in just a short time with the Ravens. Would'nt surprise me to see Cook all of a sudden grow catching fingers on his Block hands. Do you all want to see that happen this year too?

 

[jrry32]

Anyone see how well in just one week our old WR looked and caught some pretty passes from Flacco today? Just as we have to watch Amendola look so well for the cheaters. Givens was impressive in just a short time with the Ravens. Would'nt surprise me to see Cook all of a sudden grow catching fingers on his Block hands. Do you all want to see that happen this year too?

Givens had 2 catches for 18 yards. On a team with nobody at WR except for Steve Smith...who's playing through fractured ribs or back. I mean nobody. Their next best WR wouldn't make our team.

And Amendola never had any issues producing for us. His issue was staying healthy. Like Danario.

Cook? Sure, he could produce elsewhere. I'm sure if you stuck him on a top passing team, he'd produce. Problem is that the guy only plays when he wants to. And that is often enough for this team. He makes too many stupid errors and gives poor effort on too many plays. And he doesn't make the crucial plays when we need him. He's not getting the job done.

 

[ChrisW]

I unload him just to get rid of that contract. I'll swallow the dead money and move forward. Kendrics, Harkules, and Cunningham going forward. It's a shame the Alex Bayer fell off this preseason. He looked promising last year.

 

[Rams43]

Very interesting thread, indeed.

La Canfora says teams are calling the Rams about Cook.

Florio says he hears Rams are calling other teams.

Makes a huge difference which reporter is correct, huh?

I will say this.

For the Rams to even be entertaining calls speaks volumes, doesn't it?

And if Florio is right, then it means that the Rams not only have come to the same conclusion as to Cook's Ram future as many of we fans, but that they might be willing to pull the trigger right away. In a possible playoff year. Wow! That's quite a statement, and on more than just one level.

Stay tuned...

 

[RamzFanz]

http://www.stlouisrams.com/team/statistics.html
http://espn.go.com/nfl/team/stats/_/name/stl/st-louis-rams
http://www.nfl.com/teams/statistics?team=STL
http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/ram/2015.htm

The entire offense, whether right or wrong, is basically on the QB's back.....Every offensive player in the passing game is a reflection of Foles & Cig...

I just don't know what to say to that, so I'll just leave it where you laid it down.

 

[HometownBoy]

I get wanting to stand by your team no matter what, but this is starting to remind me of the Spags situation, where people wouldn't call a spade a spade and kept trying to say he was right around the corner and he was THISSSSSSS close to turning everything around.

Neither were, Spags was terrible and so is Cook, the proof is in the pudding give that the Rams are trying to be rid of him already. People are trying to blame all sorts of things, the offense, coaching, hell even the QBs, but all of that has changed.

Over the span of 7 years, he's had 10 QBs throwing to him, Vince Young, Kerry Collins, Matt Hasselbeck, Jake Locker, Sam Bradford, Kellen Clemens, Austin Davis, Shaun Hill and now Nick Foles. 2 coaches in Mike Muchiak and Jeff Fisher, and 4 OCs in Mike Heimerdinger, Brian Schottenheimer, Chris Palmer and now Cignetti. Under Air Coryell, WCO or balanced, he's played in many offenses. All of that's changed, but the only consistent is drops, lackluster effort, a bad attitude and the penchant to point fingers at everyone but himself. A lot of this is so ingrained it's in his scouting reports and his inability to succeed at his role plagued him in college too. Are we also going to say that college failed him too? Was it the Gamecocks' fault?

The one constant is Jared Cook, he is who he is because of him, nobody else. Lets stop the finger pointing and put the onus on who it really belongs. Cook being lazy, lackadaisical and not putting his whole heart into it until he's throwing a temper tantrum when everybody's pissed at him is what made him fall out of favor with one team and appears to be all but finished with another. The guy sounds like a good person, but as a football player he's terrible and he has nobody to blame but himself.

We should be happy the Rams are moving on, too long have we held onto people with loser mentalities, we're finally moving on from people like Pead and Cook, two halves of the same coin of not giving a shit about failure as long as they get their own dues. Pead yukking it up on the sideline after fucking up another kickoff, Cook throwing a temper tantrum on the sideline and instigating with his own teammates or pointing fingers at the coaching staff rather than his own poor play. It's not bad we're moving on from players like that, it's players like this, that only think of themselves that kept us all the bottom of the barrel. We all asked for it, and now the coaching staff is finally holding these guys accountable.

This is a good thing.

 

[FRO]

Givens had 2 catches for 18 yards. On a team with nobody at WR except for Steve Smith...who's playing through fractured ribs or back. I mean nobody. Their next best WR wouldn't make our team.

And Amendola never had any issues producing for us. His issue was staying healthy. Like Danario.

Cook? Sure, he could produce elsewhere. I'm sure if you stuck him on a top passing team, he'd produce. Problem is that the guy only plays when he wants to. And that is often enough for this team. He makes too many stupid errors and gives poor effort on too many plays. And he doesn't make the crucial plays when we need him. He's not getting the job done.

Your last paragraph sums it up perfectly. Each of the last 2 years Fisher has made major changes/adjustments to the offense after 4/5 weeks into the season. The last few years were at RB, hopefully they have seen enough of Cook's uneven effort and have pulled the plug. We are a much better passing team with Bailey in the slot and a much better running team with Kendricks/Harkey at TE. Cook doesn't fit our run first style. I think they would be willing to trade him, for one because they will cut him after the season anyways so they want to get value, and two because he has potential to be a distraction if not getting playing time.

 

[blue4]

I get wanting to stand by your team no matter what, but this is starting to remind me of the Spags situation, where people wouldn't call a spade a spade and kept trying to say he was right around the corner and he was THISSSSSSS close to turning everything around.

Neither were, Spags was terrible and so is Cook, the proof is in the pudding give that the Rams are trying to be rid of him already. People are trying to blame all sorts of things, the offense, coaching, hell even the QBs, but all of that has changed.

Over the span of 7 years, he's had 10 QBs throwing to him, Vince Young, Kerry Collins, Matt Hasselbeck, Jake Locker, Sam Bradford, Kellen Clemens, Austin Davis, Shaun Hill and now Nick Foles. 2 coaches in Mike Muchiak and Jeff Fisher, and 4 OCs in Mike Heimerdinger, Brian Schottenheimer, Chris Palmer and now Cignetti. Under Air Coryell, WCO or balanced, he's played in many offenses. All of that's changed, but the only consistent is drops, lackluster effort, a bad attitude and the penchant to point fingers at everyone but himself. A lot of this is so ingrained it's in his scouting reports and his inability to succeed at his role plagued him in college too. Are we also going to say that college failed him too? Was it the Gamecocks' fault?

The one constant is Jared Cook, he is who he is because of him, nobody else. Lets stop the finger pointing and put the onus on who it really belongs. Cook being lazy, lackadaisical and not putting his whole heart into it until he's throwing a temper tantrum when everybody's pissed at him is what made him fall out of favor with one team and appears to be all but finished with another. The guy sounds like a good person, but as a football player he's terrible and he has nobody to blame but himself.

We should be happy the Rams are moving on, too long have we held onto people with loser mentalities, we're finally moving on from people like Pead and Cook, two halves of the same coin of not giving a crap about failure as long as they get their own dues. Pead yukking it up on the sideline after freaking up another kickoff, Cook throwing a temper tantrum on the sideline and instigating with his own teammates or pointing fingers at the coaching staff rather than his own poor play. It's not bad we're moving on from players like that, it's players like this, that only think of themselves that kept us all the bottom of the barrel. We all asked for it, and now the coaching staff is finally holding these guys accountable.

This is a good thing.

Your last sentence sums it up. We should be encouraged that the franchise finally seems to be willing to get rid of players who aren't getting it done, instead of using the old "just wait until 2020 when he puts it all together". It is indeed a good thing.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

Cook? Sure, he could produce elsewhere. I'm sure if you stuck him on a top passing team, he'd produce. Problem is that the guy only plays when he wants to. And that is often enough for this team. He makes too many stupid errors and gives poor effort on too many plays. And he doesn't make the crucial plays when we need him. He's not getting the job done.

We should be happy the Rams are moving on, too long have we held onto people with loser mentalities, we're finally moving on from people like Pead and Cook, two halves of the same coin of not giving a crap about failure as long as they get their own dues. Pead yukking it up on the sideline after freaking up another kickoff, Cook throwing a temper tantrum on the sideline and instigating with his own teammates or pointing fingers at the coaching staff rather than his own poor play. It's not bad we're moving on from players like that, it's players like this, that only think of themselves that kept us all the bottom of the barrel. We all asked for it, and now the coaching staff is finally holding these guys accountable.

I think you have both summed up the reason the Rams are moving on from Cook quite well. I just hope some team in the league doesn't realize these things about him.

Too bad he doesn't play to his full potential. He could have been a top TE.

 

[lockdnram21]

I'm just looking for someone (some support) to look past 5 games.

He's not a pass dropping fool.

What about td he dropped last year. All catches he's dropped over years. What abkut cook for Bennett strait up

 

[Ram_Rally]

Remember cooks first game with us when he blew up on the cardinals? That one week where we got to celebrate him. Seems so long ago now lol

 

[LumberTubs]

I've got mixed feelings about this scenario.

Cook put up some decent stats the last two seasons (103 receptions, 1305 yards, 8 TDs according to NFL.com) especially when compared to his fellow receivers. I know they're not stellar numbers but they stood out on this team. This season, no one else has really stepped up to the point where we can really afford to give up what Cook has given us the last two years. Obviously there are mitigating factors for that (as there always are with the Rams ). Things might get better, they might not.

On the flip side, Kendricks is the better run blocker and I would personally want Harkey out there more often anyway as he can lead block well and has shown he can contribute on play action so you wonder if there's room for someone like Cook on this year's version of the Rams and if the plan is to cut him anyway (I have no idea if it is) then why not get something for him now.

Also if Fisher has become tired of him and wants to make a statement then I'm all for that. Again I have no idea if this is the case but others have alluded to it.

So, to summarise, screw the mixed feelings. I've talked myself into trading Cook. @CGI_Ram If you're not going to get the pitchfork out, can I borrow it? I haven't got one of my own.

 

[Amitar]

Wow, how things change. Before the season started I got lambasted for wanting to trade Cook. I still would have traded Cook and not signed Kendricks and went with Harkey and Bayer and used all that cap money to sign a couple OL.

To answer FrankenRam's questions Givens looked pretty good in presesaon. Bailey looks good. Tavon looks good, Britt is OK. This is why it was a foolish move to trade Givens for a 7th round conditional pick. Yah he may not have been the best but just like Baltimore when you are short WR's...

http://thebaltimorewire.com/2015/10/08/baltimore-ravens-what-to-expect-from-chris-givens-on-sunday/

 

[LetsGoRams]

It seems pretty basic to me: You trade him now and get something for him. If you don't, you release him after the season and get nothing. It all boils down to what he will be able to bring us THIS year. And if the Rams are making calls, then they don't have much confidence in him.

I've said all along that Cook's problem is an effort / attitude problem. He's got all the talent in the world, but if you don't care, you don't care.

 

[RamBill]

Could Rams trade tight end Jared Cook?
By Nick Wagoner

http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/22604/could-rams-trade-tight-end-jared-cook

EARTH CITY, Mo. -- Depending on who you ask, St. Louis Rams tight end Jared Cook could be available for trade before the early November deadline.

On Sunday, two outlets reported that Cook could be available, though, under different circumstances.

At CBSSports.com, Jason La Canfora wrote that other teams have inquired about Cook's availability (and the same for San Francisco tight end Vernon Davis).

But ProFootballTalk.com says it's the other way around and the Rams are more vetting potential interest in Cook.

My read here is that the latter is probably something closer to the truth though nothing appears imminent on this front because Cook has a contract that could make him difficult to move even if the Rams would like to.

Cook currently counts $8.3 million against this year's salary cap with $5 million of his base salary guaranteed. There are also two years of prorated signing bonus worth more than $2 million left on Cook's contract beyond this year, meaning that if the Rams dealt Cook, they'd have to take on the accelerated portion of that signing bonus as one lump hit of dead money for next year.

That, of course, assumes there's a team not only willing to take on Cook's contract but also that the Rams would get the right compensation to do a deal.

From a pure logic standpoint, a Cook trade wouldn't come as a huge surprise. Originally signed to play in a more wide-open offense, Cook hasn't been used that way and hasn't been able to have the type of breakout season many hoped he would upon signing. Additionally, the Rams gave tight end Lance Kendricks a fairly large four-year deal this past offseason and they would like to re-sign fellow tight end Cory Harkey before he reaches unrestricted free agency this offseason.

Which begs the question of whether Cook has a place with the Rams in the long-term and if he does, would the Rams be willing to have so much tied up into a position where run blocking takes precedence?

The benefit of trading Cook now is that the Rams could theoretically get compensation for him, but they also could part ways with him after the year with a cap savings of nearly $5.7 million. That, of course, doesn't take into account that the Rams are currently banged up at tight end with Kendricks recovering from finger surgery and Justice Cunningham recently called up from the practice squad.

The Rams haven't been shy about making trades in recent years, acquiring safety Mark Barron before the 2014 deadline. This year's deadline is set for Nov. 3.

I.C.Y.M.I.

A roundup of the weekend's Rams stories appearing on ESPN.com. ... On Friday, we examined the Rams' next man up, guard Garrett Reynolds. ... A lighter schedule post-bye guarantees nothing for the Rams in terms of record. ... Injuries to key players adds intrigue to what figures to already be an interesting offseason for the Rams. ... A look at what's next for Rams guard Rodger Saffold. ... Running back Todd Gurley is one of three reasons for optimism at the bye week. ... An incomplete offense is one of three reasons for pessimism at the bye.

Elsewhere:

Packers linebacker Clay Matthews was fined for his hit on Rams quarterback Nick Foles last week.

Grantland's Bill Barnwell offered his NFL all surprise team so far this season.

Week 6 game balls from ESPN's NFL Nation.

At 101sports.com, Bernie Miklasz takes a closer look at the Rams at the bye.

At stltoday.com, Dan Caesar writes that the Rams aren't doing too well when it comes to television ratings in Los Angeles.