Jets Day 3 steal could cause the team to pass on Dalvin Cook

The New York Jets have been rumored as one of the teams possibly interested in signing free agent running back and Pro Bowler Dalvin Cook, but there are reasons to believe their potential interest is overblown. The Jets certainly have plenty of cap space with over $23 million available, even after all of the acquisitions the team has made throughout the 2023 offseason. They have the space available to do it on the salary cap, but do they have the space on the roster?

That is the massive looming question.

The health of rookie sensation Breece Hall certainly plays a factor in all of this. Before going down with a season-ending knee injury last year against the Broncos, Hall was averaging almost six yards per carry with almost 100 yards per scrimmage per game.

He was emerging as one of the top young star running backs in the NFL, and he might have won offensive rookie of the year honors over his teammate Garrett Wilson had he been able to stay healthy for the whole year.

Aaron Rodgers changes the conversation for the New York Jets at RB

With Aaron Rodgers on the roster, the conversation certainly changes for the Jets. You go from being a team that might not be in a position to sign a player like Dalvin Cook to being in total “win now” mode, and any possibility to make the roster even slightly better has to be on the table.

But the Jets also have a very intriguing stable of young running backs which goes beyond just Breece Hall, of course. Last year’s rushing leader — Michael Carter — returns for the 2023 season and offers outstanding chops in the running game. Zonovan Knight had 400 yards from scrimmage on 98 touches as an undrafted player and perhaps etched a place on this roster going forward.

The newest addition is former Pittsburgh Panthers running back Israel Abanikanda, a fifth-round pick by the Jets who certainly gives this team another option with tremendous size and an elite combination of speed and explosiveness.

A bit of a late bloomer at Pitt, Abanikanda had 1,431 yards rushing last year and a whopping 20 rushing touchdowns. His physical makeup is just about ideal for what you look for at the running back position, and when you factor in his explosiveness and speed metrics, it’s hard to fathom why a player like this lasted all the way to the fifth round of the NFL Draft.

It’s easy to get excited about the possibility of adding a player like Dalvin Cook given the fact that he’s a proven player in the NFL, especially in the Jets’ context when you factor in the team having the longest playoff drought in the NFL currently. The fan base is going to naturally gravitate towards wanting to add proven players, especially when they are big-name players.

But the Jets might want to pump the brakes on the Dalvin Cook idea and move forward with their young stable of backs instead.