With the NFL’s Oct. 31 trade deadline sitting four days away, plenty of players will hear their names bandied about as candidates to be shipped out of town.
Different reasons abound for why a player might be considered a trade candidate, from an expiring contract to an ill fit to lack of production. New York Jets running back Dalvin Cook is one of those players whose production has not lined up with the expectations after he signed with Gang Green during training camp.
Cook admitted Thursday he’s frustrated by his situation and touched on the trade rumors.
“It’s a different scenario for me, like I said, it’s all different for me,” he said. “But it’s something I can’t control, that my name’s been floated around in trade rumors. It might be a good thing. Maybe a bad thing. You never know.”
Cook has looked slowed from the start, generating 109 yards on 39 carries in 95 offensive snaps in six games. He hasn’t had a contest with more than 33 rushing yards on the season, far below the standard he set in Minnesota.
“We all thought it was going to be more than it is,” Cook said, via the team’s official website. “Of course it’s frustrating. I’m an honest person, man. I want to play. That’s just anybody. It’s frustrating, it’s new for me. I come from getting the ball 20 times a game. Of course it’s frustrating. It’s something I’ve been adapting to.”
Cook hasn’t earned 20 touches a game, particularly with how well Breece Hall has looked behind the same offensive line. Still, the veteran said he has no plans to ask general manager Joe Douglas for a trade.
“As a player and as a man, I prepare myself, I work my tail off. I just want the situation to be best for both sides,” he said. “I’m not going into JD’s office and tell him I want to go somewhere. When a player gets into the business side. It kind of dictates how you go about your day. I wake up every day thinking how I can get better.”
Given Cook’s replacement-level production thus far, it’s difficult to imagine anyone trading for the 28-year-old running back. A Jets player who could be more easily moved is edge rusher Carl Lawson.
Lawson, a former big-money acquisition, has been squeezed out of the Jets’ deep edge-rush rotation, playing just 71 snaps in four games this season. The veteran noted he wouldn’t have imagined things playing out as they have and just wants a shot at getting on the field.
“I’ve always wanted to help the Jets win, I’ve always wanted to be the best version of myself for the team,” Lawson said. “But at the end of the day, I do want to be a football player, I do want to produce, I do want to help, because I’m a football player, not a cheerleader.”
