Dalvin Cook adds ingredient for Jets' ground and pound

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Dalvin Cook is at least a week away from joining the Jets. When he arrives, he will be another weapon for Aaron Rodgers on an offense that will be even tougher to defend.

“Very excited to add a really, really good football player to this team,” Robert Saleh said following practice Tuesday. “He adds another dynamic to this group that I think anybody would be excited about.”

The Jets came to terms with Cook on Monday on a one-year deal worth up to $8.6 million. Cook is in Florida awaiting the birth of his child. He’s also rehabbing from shoulder surgery.

There will be a ramp-up period when Cook officially joins the Jets to get him ready for their Week 1 Monday night game against Buffalo. There’s no denying what Cook, a four-time Pro Bowl running back, can do when he’s healthy.

The 28-year-old Cook has been one of the most productive backs over the last four seasons. He’s run for at least 1,135 yards each of those years and totaled 43 rushing touchdowns. Cook also had 170 receptions for 1,399 yards and three scores in that span.

The former Viking is not coming to the Jets to be their top back, either. That’s Breece Hall, who came off PUP on Tuesday and practiced for the first time since tearing his ACL last October.

Cook will help take some of the workload off Hall and give the Jets perhaps the best 1-2 running back punch in the NFL. They also have Michael Carter, who hopes to remain in the running back rotation.

Saleh said there’s “a lot” that Cook can bring to the Jets. Saleh feels that trio will provide “headaches” for defenses and so many options for the Jets

“As a defensive coach, I’ll just sit there and say, ‘God, you got Breece and Michael and [Cook], and you got two of those guys in the backfield.’ There’s a lot of different things that you can do to create a bunch of headaches for different coaches. And he’s not a trick back, either. You can turn around, hand him the ball and he can run downhill. He’s done it for a long time.

“I look at it like our D-line, you can never have enough. Let them rotate and be fresh, get downhill and wear people out.”

The Jets will have difficult decisions to make in their running back room, which also features Bam Knight and rookie Izzy Abanikanda. Saleh said they have been transparent with everyone about how things would shake out.

Some believe Carter could be the odd man out, but he said he’s not worried. Carter appreciated Saleh calling him before Cook agreed and letting him know the plan.

“I don’t worry about [expletive], really,” Carter said. “I can’t worry about that in all honesty because if I’m worrying about that, I’m not getting better. The main thing is about getting better. That’s really the only thing that matters from my perspective: helping the team get better and getting better along the way.

“I was told by Coach that this doesn’t change anything for me,” Carter added. “It might . . .     All I can do is grind and let the chips fall where they may.”

Hall said he’s looking forward to the competition among the backs and believes everyone will benefit.

“It’s going to bring the best out of everybody,” Hall said. “It’s going to be fun. He’s going to come in, he’s going to challenge us, we’re going to challenge ourselves and we’re going to challenge him, as well.”

Cook does come with some baggage. Two years ago, an ex-girlfriend filed a lawsuit against Cook, alleging physical and emotional abuse. Cook then filed a defamation suit against her. Both cases are pending. Last month, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported that Cook offered her $1 million to drop her suit.

The Jets did their own background check and felt comfortable with adding Cook.

“I’m obviously not going to go into detail,” Saleh said. “The conversations we had and the depth with which we researched everything, we all came to the agreement that we’re very comfortable with the person and his situation.”

By Al Iannazzone

al.iannazzone@newsday.comAl_Iannazzone

Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.