On Tuesday afternoon, the Rams snaked tight end Jared Cook from the Dolphins, finally getting themselves a viable target for Sam Bradford. But it didn't come cheap.
According to Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean, Cook's deal is worth $35.1 million over five years and has a stunning $19 million guaranteed.
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That's for a guy with eight touchdown catches in his career. Granted, those eight touchdowns came in just 11 starts, but still, the Rams are paying for a lot of potential.
Cook can earn up to $38.5 million in incentives as well.
But 54 percent of the contract is guaranteed? Yeesh, man. Cook is one of the highest-paid tight ends now, behind just Rob Gronkowski, Antonio Gates, Vernon Davis, Jason Witten and Aaron Hernandez.
Those guys are the elite tight ends in this league (even if you want to knock Gates for getting older, he signed his deal when he was producing monster numbers). They do it all. Cook doesn't do it all, because despite being a talented receiving threat, he's not a great blocker.
It's no wonder the Titans ended up unable to retain Cook, and the Dolphins bowed out of the race for the tight end.
At this point, the Titans' four-year deal with Delanie Walker (for a reported $4.375 million a year) looks like an absolute steal. Cook's going to need to put up some big numbers to justify this deal.
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