South Carolina Football: Ranking the highest-paid NFL Gamecocks of all-time
By Kevin Miller
South Carolina Football’s No. 7 NFL Career Earners:
Tight End Jared Cook
Jared Cook was the tight end that inspired so many angry “Why don’t they throw the ball to the tight ends?!” calls to “Carolina Calls” postgame shows. Arguably the most talented tight end to ever play for the Gamecocks, Cook was a productive player in garnet and black, but South Carolina football fans knew that he was capable of even more.
That “even more” came to fruition in the NFL as Cook became a top-20 tight end in the history of the game of football. An elite athlete as a receiving threat, the 6’5″, 250-pound monster was a matchup problem all over the field.
Cook bounced around the NFL a fair amount, but it was not because he wasn’t good enough. In fact, it was the opposite. Because he was so good, he often outpriced his teams as other franchises would outbid the incumbent for his services.
Despite playing a position that did not historically get paid very much until the end of Cook’s career, the Gamecock tight end tallied over $56 Million over his 13-year career in professional football.