Which quality tight ends should Steelers pursue this offseason?

Jared Cook: Don’t pursue

Jared Cook is an absolute unit, still going strong after 12 hefty seasons in the National Football League. He has not only shown outstanding durability with his quality of performance over the years but also by doing it all with the array of franchises he has played for. While all the other TEs in this slideshow have spent years with the same team that they first took a professional snap for, Cook is now moving on from his fifth team! Yet still, in 2020, Jared reeled in his highest number of touchdown catches in a season (7) outside of his first run with New Orleans the year prior (9).

Hold up, what was that? Yeah, I did nothing but hype this man up all throughout that introduction, just to declare that he is still not worth Pittsburgh’s time nor money. This is nothing personal against Cook. Everything I said about him in the first bit was true. However, he is still the oldest tight end available, while not being the biggest.

If I wanted hands, I would look for the noticeably younger Zach Ertz. If I wanted blocking (which I do), I would go for the slightly younger and bigger Kyle Rudolph. And all of those years of flexibility and receiving prowess? That all comes with a pretty penny.

Now yes, the Steelers just recently made some strides in getting their salary cap dilemmas under better control. But an organization would nonetheless make financial conservation a top priority. If one does have to shovel money out the door to get ahold of a particular talent, it will make sure it’s doing so to guarantee that it is scooping up the best option for the job in the process. Unfortunately, Jared Cook is not the best option.