Jets' Dalvin Cook talks speculation ahead of trade deadline

New York Jets running back Dalvin Cook told reporters Thursday he hasn’t yet asked general manager Joe Douglas for a trade despite Cook's limited role in the team's offense. 

"That’s something that I have to sit down and talk with my agent and [Douglas] about," Cook explained, per Alex Smith of SNY. "But for me, I’ll let the business side handle the business side...but it’s something I can’t control, that my name is being floated around in trade rumors. It might be a good thing, it might be a bad thing, you never know." 

Cook signed a one-year contract reportedly worth up to $8.6M with the Jets in August and spoke later that month about the club embracing a "realistic" goal of winning the Super Bowl. That was before starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers suffered a torn Achilles in Week 1 and before Cook recorded 109 rushing yards on 39 carries (an average of 2.8 yards per attempt) across his first six games with the organization. 

Brian Costello of the New York Post reported Wednesday that he doesn't think "Douglas would hang up the phone if a team called about Cook" ahead of Tuesday's trade deadline. Costello added, however, that he "can’t see Douglas giving Cook away" for pennies on the dollar as the 3-3 Jets look to remain in playoff contention with Zach Wilson leading the offense in Rodgers' place. 

"Of course, it’s frustrating," Cook acknowledged about his situation. "I’m an honest person. I work, I want to play. That’s just anybody. Yeah, it’s frustrating because it’s new for me. I come from getting the ball 20 times a game or however many times. I come from that, but yeah, of course, it’s frustrating but it’s something that I’ve been adapting to." 

Cook always was going to take a backseat to Breece Hall unless the second-year pro experienced a setback related to the torn ACL he suffered in October 2022. As noted by ESPN stats, Hall comes off New York's bye ranked ninth in the league with 426 rushing yards on the season, and he's averaging a ridiculous 6.5 yards per carry. 

The Jets enter this Sunday's game against the 2-5 New York Giants ranked 30th in total offense with an average of 277.0 yards per game, so Gang Green probably shouldn't ship Cook out of town unless Douglas feels the 28-year-old isn't a good fit in an offense that features Wilson in the lineup. 

"Whenever those carries come my way, I’m going to be ready to explode and be ready to be Dalvin," Cook vowed. 

Whether or not such carries will come his way against the Giants shall be seen.