Jared Cook hits it off with Derek Carr, will be ‘another weapon' for Raiders

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Jared Cook bonded quickly with Derek Carr. The veteran tight end and his new quarterback watched film together early Thursday, and Carr explained to Cook how he’d fit into the Raiders offense.

He liked what he heard. He liked what he saw on a contract offer. He signed shortly after, inking a two-year contract with the Silver and Black. Cook had a good visit with the Raiders that day, and Carr played a big part in it.

“Yeah, (he and I) sat in on a meeting. We watched some film together today,” Cook said Thursday in conference call with local media. “Love the kid, man. He’s cool. He’s a real down to earth guy. I enjoy talking with him about the offensive system and different plays that they run and how they see me fitting in this offense.”

He could be an integral weapon in the Raiders offense, a compliment to what Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree do on the outside. The Raiders also have assets Seth Roberts, Cordarrelle Patterson and Clive Walford in the passing game not counting the running backs, making the Raiders a diverse, versatile weapon.

Cook is a large presence at 6-foot-5, 254 pounds, and could be a safety net on third down and in the red zone.

“I’m just another weapon for Derek to use,” Cook said. “Just to be able to stretch the field, be able to beat one-on-one matchups, be able to get down into the secondary at a fast pace, be able to create separation off of different routes. When I’m coming out of my breaks, just a different radius that it gives him. A different element to put the ball in places and just keep chains moving.”

Cook played with Green Bay last season, and thrived in the playoffs. He had 18 catches for a club-record 229 receiving yards in the postseason, though one catch stands over the others.

Cook caught a toe-tapper 35 yards downfield on 3rd-and-20 that set up a last second field goal that beat the Dallas Cowboys.

“I probably hear about it every day,” Cook said with a laugh. “It was such a huge catch in a huge moment and to keep our hopes alive in the playoffs last year. I hear about it in the grocery store, in the airport, at the playground from some little kids. You constantly hear about it. It was a huge game for us to win down in Dallas against a really good Dallas team.”

He’ll join a really good Raiders team that went 12-4 last season and made the playoffs for the first time since the 2002 season.

“When you have a team that are going on an upward trend and they’re doing big things and they’re making it to the postseason, that’s what you want as a player,” Cook said. “That’s what you want to look for as a player, a team that’s building success. They implement success in their players. They promote it and preach it, and that’s exactly what you want to be around. That’s the type of organization you want to be a part of.”

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