Oakland Raiders: Grading Reggie McKenzie’s Offseason Moves To This Point

Jared Cook (TE)

While some hailed the signing with cheers and ticker tape parades, the signing of tight end Jared Cook continues to be a real head-scratcher for many.

Tight end didn’t seem to be a position that needed to be addressed as Oakland already has Clive Walford, Lee Smith, and Gabe Holmes in the fold. They let Mychal Rivera walk – as expected – but the tight end position seemed to be in pretty good shape.

But then came the Cook signing.

To be fair, this isn’t necessarily a bad signing. Having solid red zone targets is never a bad thing. But this seemed to be a very unnecessary signing when there are more glaring issues that needed to be addressed.

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Obviously, for whatever reason, Walford’s star in Oakland has dimmed. The organization no longer seems as high on him as they did when they drafted him a couple of years ago.

What makes the deal even more puzzling is that a side-by-side comparison of their stats shows that Walford and Cook are basically the same guy. Their stat lines are incredibly similar – and Walford actually has better stats in many categories.

Plus – Walford is younger (and cheaper) than Cook. At 25 years old, Walford is just getting started and we haven’t seen his ceiling yet. At 30, Cook has probably already hit his peak and likely isn’t going to get better.

Now, it’s entirely possible that new OC Todd Downing has plans in place to deploy both pass catchers, giving Derek Carr even more weaponry to take advantage of. Having a 1-2 punch like Walford and Cook coming at you would be pretty solid. But if Cook is essentially taking over the role, the signing makes little sense.

Having Cook in a Raiders jersey isn’t a bad deal, it just seemed to be an unnecessary one.

Grade: C