Future Extension for Cooks

[203Pat]

Cracks me up they way folks casually continue to throw around the terms "#1WR", "#2WR", "#nWR" as if there's some specific definition for those terms.

Yes I’m sure that’s never mentioned when contract time comes.

 

[maineman209]

Yes I’m sure that’s never mentioned when contract time comes.

I very much doubt that any agent who's worth a damn uses such a spurious and superficial categorization when negotiating contracts with the Pats.

 

[maineman209]

 

[mgteich]

Who said mediocre? He’s not great but he’s better than average. Just not worth number 1 receiver money.

He's not being paid #1 receiver money

 

[203Pat]

He's not being paid #1 receiver money

You don't say???

 

[captain stone]

My sense is that this is likely to be primarily a Gronk-and-RB pass game with only occasional throws to any WR not named Amendola.

That's why I would LOVE to see, at least once during EVERY series, a triple-backfield of Lewis, Burkhead/Gillislee, and Develin behind Brady. A Patriots version of the run/pass option.

 

[FCB02062]

If Cooks is a no show tomorrow his chances of an extension should be greatly reduced

 

[Angelpats]

He got his best game of the season against a rookie cb. He needs to produce against better dbs if he wants a big extra extension. He really needs help to get separation consistently and I’m not real sure without other good receiver drawing better coverage he can improve upon that. He’s been this way since New Orleans and it’s likely why they traded him. We have hogan back now so he should be better off. Without hogan and Gronk during the Miami game it displayed his weakness getting away from good dbs. He’s supposed to be blazing fast but defenders are always on his hip.

 

[TinhWoodhead]

he would be faster if he take bigger steps

 

[mgteich]

If Cooks is a no show tomorrow his chances of an extension should be greatly reduced

The chances with regard to an extension this offseason if he has an average performance is about ZERO.

The chances with regard to an extension if he has a great performance is even LESS.

 

[captain stone]

The chances with regard to an extension this offseason if he has an average performance is about ZERO.

The chances with regard to an extension if he has a great performance is even LESS.

I don't think we have to worry about the latter happening...at all.

 

[maineman209]

Without hogan and Gronk during the Miami game it displayed his weakness getting away from good dbs.

LOL!

The Pats had Brady working on an injured Achilles, no ground game, a half-dead Hogan, Amendola, 3 RBs, Develin and Allen. But, yeah, let's pile on Cooks for not being able to get consistent separation from good DBs under those circumstances.

 

[maineman209]

The chances with regard to an extension this offseason if he has an average performance is about ZERO.

The chances with regard to an extension if he has a great performance is even LESS.

Cooks' average performance is 4 catches on 7 tgts for 67 yards -- 2nd only to Gronk on the Pats and 12th best in the league (10th best among WRs only). That was ahead of AJ Green, Mike Evans, JuJu, Davante Adams, ...

 

[slackerjack]

Cooks' average performance is 4 catches on 7 tgts for 67 yards -- 2nd only to Gronk on the Pats and 12th best in the league (10th best among WRs only). That was ahead of AJ Green, Mike Evans, JuJu, Davante Adams, ...

Top receivers don't get their catches from rub routes, bunch formations and screen passes. I do concede he occasionally uses his speed. But, it seems that other teammates have to work very hard to get him his stats. A top receiver doesn't need that assistance.
Oh, and by the way do you think that having Gronk on the line of scrimmage inflates Cook's numbers just a little bit?

 

[Angelpats]

LOL!

The Pats had Brady working on an injured Achilles, no ground game, a half-dead Hogan, Amendola, 3 RBs, Develin and Allen. But, yeah, let's pile on Cooks for not being able to get consistent separation from good DBs under those circumstances.

We are just making an observation. He’s a good receiver and gets his catches and yards. This thread is about his extension and we’re makings points in regards to that. It’s been said he wants to be paid like a top wr in New Orleans. It seems you agree with that? I don’t think so because he has difficulty getting separation consistently.

 

[maineman209]

Top receivers don't get their catches from rub routes, bunch formations and screen passes.

You're kidding, right?

I do concede he occasionally uses his speed. But, it seems that other teammates have to work very hard to get him his stats. A top receiver doesn't need that assistance.

Last time I checked, football was a team sport.

Oh, and by the way do you think that having Gronk on the line of scrimmage inflates Cook's numbers just a little bit?

Because no other top receiver has ever benefited from having another excellent pass-catcher on the field that defense had to account for?

smfh

 

[supafly]

If Cooks is a no show tomorrow his chances of an extension should be greatly reduced

Not so sure that Id agree with that, especially against the likes of Bouye and Ramsey in year one of our offense, which actually went pretty good all things considered on the injury front and with some changing responsibilities.

Lots of room for improvement still (2018), with a pretty strong base of speed, youth, excellent conditioning, a strong work ethic, and big play ability—much of which Belichick has praised. No reason to talk extension until at least fall/winter of next year unless he wishes to get paid now while signing a team friendly deal.

 

[DropKickFlutie]

- He's fast and has good hands
- Putting up 1000 yards in year1 here is not easy
- He doesn't seem to fit perfect
- Brady prefers to get the ball more to Gronk, or his slot WR, or his RBs
- When he is open, Brady seems to underthrow him as well

 

[Ivan]

Not so sure that Id agree with that, especially against the likes of Bouye and Ramsey in year one of our offense, which actually went pretty good all things considered on the injury front and with some changing responsibilities.

Lots of room for improvement still (2018), with a pretty strong base of speed, youth, excellent conditioning, a strong work ethic, and big play ability—much of which Belichick has praised. No reason to talk extension until at least fall/winter of next year unless he wishes to get paid now while signing a team friendly deal.

This is how I see it as well.

 

[maineman209]

We are just making an observation. He’s a good receiver and gets his catches and yards. This thread is about his extension and we’re makings points in regards to that.

What it sounds like to me is folks bending over backward to nitpick Cooks' 2017 performance (out of context) in an attempt to justify their contention that he "is not worth" and "should not be paid" some arbitrarily-derived $$ amount (stated without even bothering to try to understand the current WR market and its trends within the context of an ever-increasing salary cap, or how the APY for an extension signed this spring will compare to other WR contract by the end of its term) "because he is not" some completely-undefined, arbitrary standard and/or doesn't fit in to some mythical category of #1 WR, #2 WR, etc. that the market likely won't care about when determining the amounts for his next contract.

It’s been said he wants to be paid like a top wr in New Orleans. It seems you agree with that? I don’t think so because he has difficulty getting separation consistently.

"It seems I agree with ... " ... what, exactly?

"It's been said that he wants ..." Yeah, I agree with that. It's been said over and over again in the thread by folks who obviously have greater telepathic powers than I do (or who simply buy whatever ESPN and the other mediots are selling). That doesn't make it true, no matter how many times it's repeated.

"... like a top WR." Again referencing an undefined standard that many (or most) of the 31 participants in the market may blithely ignore.

Here's what I know about Cook's performance during his first season grappling with the Pats' offensive system:
... he hasn't missed a game due to injury this season (and, according to BB, hasn't missed a snap in practice).
... his 65 catches were 2nd on the team to Gronk's 69
... his 4.1 receptions per game was tied with Amendola for 2nd behind Gronk's 4.9
... his 1082 receiving yards were 2nd only to Gronk's 1084 ... which also makes him the third player ever - along with Troy Brown(2001), Moss and Welker (2007) - to crack 1000 receiving yards in his first season catching passes from Brady, and the first player to do so in 11 seasons
... his 1122 yards from scrimmage was tops on the team
... his 7 receiving TDs were 2nd only to Gronk's 8
... his 67.6 receiving yards/game was about 10 less than Gronk's 77.4, and almost 20 yards better than #3 Hogan at 48.8
... his 64-yard TD catch against the Raiders in week-10 was the longest reception of the season for the Pats
... his 18 receptions for 20+ yards tied Gronk for the lead in "splash plays" (no one else was even close)
... his 44 1st downs were 3rd behind Lewis' 59 and Gronk's 57
... and he didn't fumble once.

And yet ... all of that represents, for Cooks a down year (slightly) in some catgories and an up year in a couple others - compared to his last two seasons in NOLA.

COOKS ..... 2017 ........ 2016 ....... 2015 (league rankings in parentheses)
YDS ..... 1082 (11) ... 1173 (7) ... 1138 (13)
Yds/gm .. 67.6 (10) ... 73.3 (9) ... 71.1 (22)
YPC ..... 16.6 (7) .... 15.0 (14) ... 13.5 (45)
20+ ....... 18 (7) ...... 15 (16) ..... 18 (10)
TDs ........ 7 (15) ....... 8 (9) ...... 9 (11)
1Dn ....... 44 (19) ..... 46 (27) ..... 47 (22)

BTW, Cooks hasn't missed a game since 2014.

He's been consistently in the top-15, if not the top-10 in nearly all of those categories for the past two seasons. If he just matches his 2017 performance in 2018, his 3-year and 4-year averages will easily put him in the top-10 ... at age 26.

What's his current $APY value for the Pats from their perspective? I have no clue how they perceive his value.

What's his $APY value likely to be on the open market in the spring of 2019? Given the current WR market price and cap space trends - IF Cooks matches his 2017 production in 2018 - $15M APY or more seems like a reasonable guess. But that's just my opinion.

Would that outrage some folks on the forum? That also seems like a reasonable guess.

Would that constitute "#1WR money"? ROTFLMFAO.

Will the Pats pay that in 2019 - assuming they haven't signed him to a (likely cheaper) extension before then? I have no clue as to what they're thinking NOW, much less what they'll be thinking in 14 months from now.