NFL Trade Rumors: Breaking Down Latest Buzz on Vernon Davis, Jared Cook

The NFL trade deadline is a little more than two weeks away, and hopeful teams that are looking to add missing pieces could make moves for second-half pushes. A few high-profile tight ends have been linked to possible trades with the Nov. 3 deadline approaching.  

Vernon Davis is in the final year of his contract, and the San Francisco 49ers tight end has indicated he’d “welcome a change of scenery,” according to Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports.

His status among the league’s top tight ends has drastically fallen since quarterback Colin Kaepernick assumed the starting role in Week 10 of the 2012 season. Davis was the team's second-leading receiver in 2012 and 2013 (though Michael Crabtree played just five games in 2013), then dropped to fifth in 2014. 

Davis has missed two games in 2015 and returned for the team's Week 6 matchup against the Baltimore Ravens, but the tight end made no catches as Kaepernick targeted him just once, which Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News highlighted:

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They're up and playing well, so it doesn't matter, but is Vernon Davis ever going to catch another pass?

— Tim Kawakami (@timkawakami) October 18, 2015"

With the right quarterback and scheme, Davis could be a viable asset at a marginal cost, as La Canfora noted:

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The 49ers have already had an exodus of veterans in recent years and Davis could well be the next; landing a draft pick for Davis now -- rather than waiting for a compensatory pick in 2017 should he leave as a free agent -- would appeal to the 49ers. Similarly, a team that trades for him could then offset the loss of the draft pick traded for Davis by netting a 2017 compensatory pick should he not be re-signed.

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Despite a win over the Ravens, San Francisco is 2-4 and rebuilding. With Davis likely to leave in the offseason anyway, a move within the next two weeks would make sense.

Given his oncoming free agency, the market for Davis will likely feature playoff hopefuls. The Atlanta Falcons would be a good fit, but his addition would put them narrowly over the $143 million salary cap, according to Over the Cap, which means they would have to offset money in a potential trade.

Quarterback Matt Ryan thrives when he has a diverse arsenal—as he did in 2012, when he connected with Tony Gonzalez for 930 receiving yards, good for second in the league among tight ends—and Atlanta already has an established ground game and the league’s best receiver in Julio Jones. 

Davis isn’t the only tight end who has been linked to the trade market. La Canfora reported the St. Louis Rams have also fielded calls on Jared Cook. Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk also noted the Rams have made calls to “gauge interest” in the tight end they signed to a handsome free-agent deal in 2013.

Cook has two years left on his contract with a base salary of $7 million per season, per Spotrac. But as La Canfora noted, the Rams do not owe him any more guaranteed money:

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So a team could part with him in the offseason without cap or cash ramifications. His production has been spotty, but he does have the capacity to make explosive plays. It may prove difficult for the Rams to get the kind of return they would hope given the expense involved in picking up the contract, but with tight end Lance Kendricks under contract in St. Louis through 2018, teams will continue to gauge Cook's value ahead of the deadline.

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This year, Cook has hauled in 15 catches for 169 yards, including three 20-plus-yard receptions. The Rams have become a run-first team with the emergence of rookie Todd Gurley, and with Lance Kendricks in the fold at tight end, Cook may be expendable.

Though he'll cost a higher price than Davis, Cook's market could be wider, given that a potential buyer would have an additional year on his contract to work with—if the team chooses to.

The Carolina Panthers could be a good landing spot, given their 5-0 start despite having no one for Cam Newton to throw to. The Arizona Cardinals could also benefit from Cook, with Jermaine Gresham becoming a bigger disappointment by the day. Both teams, however, are at the salary-cap limit and would have to make serious adjustments to meet Cook's price tag.