Coming off their first season with seven or more wins since 2019, the New York Jets went into the offseason focused on building a contender. They already had the foundation, including the reigning offensive and defensive rookies of the year. They appeased their new quarterback by adhering to a reported list of demands, but something still felt off.
Like Thanos searching for the missing Infinity Stone, the Jets made it known that Dalvin Cook was their target. After weeks of offers, speculation, and drunken fan chants at training camp, Cook finally signed a one-year deal on Monday night, allowing to everything to fall into place.
In the hours following the deal, it’s easy to make comparisons on what this team. Some may think of the Philadelphia Eagles’ “Dream Team” back in 2011. New Jerseyans will reach for the 2007 New England Patriots. But the best comparison may come from Cook’s former franchise – the Minnesota Vikings.
That’s because the Vikings were in a similar spot in 2018. Coming off the high of reaching the NFC Championship game, the Vikings went all-in trying to push for the Super Bowl. But it wasn’t meant to be, and the Vikings were left trying to get back to that peak several years later.
The 2018 Vikings laid their foundation several years earlier in the draft. Rick Spielman’s 2015 draft class is one reason why he will probably wind up in the Ring of Honor at U.S. Bank Stadium someday, as it produced several players who are etched in franchise history.
There was Eric Kendricks, an All-Pro linebacker who would go on to become a key piece of Mike Zimmer’s defense. There was Danielle Hunter, who would become one of the greatest pass-rushers in a franchise that’s filled with them. Then there was Stefon Diggs, who was on the receiving end of the Minneapolis Miracle in 2017.
All three players, plus Anthony Barr, who the Vikings selected in the first round of the 2014 draft, were coming of age before the 2017 season. It led to a special year that Minnesota would never forget.
Cook was a part of that team and performed well before tearing his ACL in the fourth game of the season. Latavius Murray and Jerick McKinnon picked up the slack in the running game. Minnesota’s stacked defense went on to be No. 1 in points and yards allowed.
The Vikings were a juggernaut, but their one weakness was at quarterback. Case Keenum had led them within one game of the Super Bowl, but Minnesota didn’t view him as a long-term answer, even though Zimmer pleaded for the Vikings to stay economical at the position.
The Vikings signed Kirk Cousins in free agency and continued to beef up the infrastructure around him. They brought in John DeFilippo as offensive coordinator, and Minnesota surprised many people when they did some financial gymnastics to sign Sheldon Richardson to a one-year deal.
With big names everywhere, the Vikings were focused on heading toward the Super Bowl – only to fall short a few months later.
Zimmer brawled with DeFilippo over his pass-happy offense, and Cousins wasn’t as advertised behind a poor offensive line. The defense was good but not great, and the Vikings finished 8-7-1 and missed the playoffs.
Five years later, there are many parallels between that team and today’s Jets. New York hasn’t won more than seven games since 2015, but there was a sense of optimism that came with a 7-4 start a year ago.
Although they lost their final six games, the makings of a core were there. Garrett Wilson emerged on offense and Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner became one of the league’s top shutdown corners in his rookie year. With Jermaine Johnson and Breece Hall also contributing, the Jets had their cornerstone class – they just didn’t have the quarterback.
The Jets took Zach Wilson with the second-overall pick in the 2021 draft, hoping that he would be their first franchise quarterback since Joe Namath. However, a pair of benchings left his career at a crossroads. With the possibility of wasting their young core with a gauntlet of journeymen quarterbacks, the Jets swung big and somehow infiltrated the ayahuasca-infused lair of Rodgers’ darkness retreat.
After a public declaration on The Pat McAfee Show and a standoff between the Jets and Rodgers’ former employer, the Green Bay Packers, Rodgers made his way to Gotham. However, the Jets weren’t done adding to his support system.
Much like Chris Jericho once berated Dean Malenko through a commercial break to let him know he was “The Man of 1,004 Holds,” Rodgers became “The Man of 1,004 Demands,” facilitating the additions of Allen Lazard, Solomon Thomas, Mecole Hardman and, of course, RANDALL COBB!
But as Vikings fans would warn Jets fans, there is a lot that could go wrong between now and by the time they presumably etch J-E-T-S into the Lombardi Trophy.
While Rodgers is expected to be a savior, it might take some time for everyone to learn his offense. He won’t have the same learning curve that Cousins did with DeFilippo, but his team could suffer just as much as Nathaniel Hackett is coming off what Sean Payton deemed “one of the worst coaching jobs in the history of the NFL.”
Could Hackett’s happy-go-lucky, Austin Powers-themed presentations go haywire? Perhaps. But it also could short-circuit any hopes the Jets have at becoming a contender in a loaded AFC.
The Jets are also dealing with an extremely young cornerstone class compared to the one the Vikings had in 2018. Diggs, Kendricks, and Hunter were all entering their fourth season. However, New York’s foundational pieces are entering their second year, which could lead to a letdown and even the dreaded sophomore slump.
That led to Monday, when Cook presumably became the missing piece to a Super Bowl run. While Lazard, Hardman, and Cook would look great on a fantasy roster, none of them are coming off a career-best year and in most cases have already peaked.
This could be true for Cook, who could be the Vikings’ version of Richardson. While the Vikings brought Richardson in to be a one-year difference maker on a prove-it deal, he didn’t have the impact they imagined.
If Cook winds up like Richardson, it would be fine on a personal level; Richardson went on to get paid with the Cleveland Browns. But, as far as team success, it would be a letdown, even with some of the other assets on the roster.
This is the reality for the New York Jets, who have launched themselves into “Super Bowl or Bust” territory in a conference that contains Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson, Justin Herbert, Trevor Lawrence, and Patrick Mahomes.
Could it pay off? Absolutely. But if it doesn’t, the Jets could be just like the 2018 Vikings: a team with high hopes that weren’t rooted in reality.
