Saleh accidentally confirmed Cook before running back joined New York Jets
New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh gave away Dalvin Cook's signing a couple of weeks before it was announced that the running back would join the franchise as a free agent.
When answering a question posed by Mirror Sports US during a press conference in late July, Saleh had to correct himself after making an admission about his running backs with Cook visiting the Jets that day following his release from the Minnesota Vikings. "Love the running back room, we have four really good ones," Saleh said. "So there is some competition already between Izzy (Abanikanda), Michael (Carter), trying to get that third spot... Or the two and three spots."
Saleh also gave Cook a gushing review after meeting the running back in person. He described Cook as "a tremendous young man" with a "tremendous mindset," which turned him "into a believer with the words that came out of his mouth." Saleh added on Cook: "Excited for him, whether he's here or somewhere else just excited for him and the next page in his journey."
The four-time Pro Bowl select's future has now been decided and it's with the Jets for the next year, after inking a one-year, $8.6 million deal. Cook, 28, will link up with new quarterback Aaron Rodgers, as the Jets look to break their playoff and Super Bowl appearance droughts. The running back brings a string of four consecutive 1,000-yard seasons - something the New York franchise hasn't seen since Chris Ivory in 2015.
"I want to go and be the piece that can just help somebody win and get over the hump and whatever that situation comes with, if it comes with me taking less reps, but me being in the perfect situation to hold up that trophy, I don't mind," Cook said during an appearance on Sirius XM Radio. "I just wanna go somewhere I can just get the ball and just help somebody win, and turn the next page."
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Cook has been tipped to cause opposition defences headaches in the 2023 season. "As a defensive coach you sit there and say ‘God, you’ve got Breece [Hall] and Michael [Carter] and him, and you’ve got two guys in the backfield," coach Saleh said. "There’s a lot of different things that you can do to create a bunch of headaches for defensive coaches. And he’s not a trick back either. You can turn around and hand him the ball and he can run downhill, and he’s done it for a long time. I look at it like our D-line. You can never have enough. You can just let them rotate and be fresh and get downhill and wear people out.”
New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh gave away Dalvin Cook's signing a couple of weeks ago (gETTY)Saleh added: "Nothing that we’ve done is without a plan. Even when we talked with Dalvin when he was here, just mapping out the vision of how this running back room would look, talking with [GM Joe Douglas] and his staff about what our vision would be for Dalvin and Breece and Michael and Bam [Knight] and Izzy and just how that room’s going to shake out.
“So, we have a plan in place. I think expressing that plan to the players was very, very important to make sure that everybody was on board and just being transparent.
"We’ll always be transparent with the players, transparent with everybody, and I think everyone was pretty comfortable with it, and we’re rolling.”
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