Last week brought reports that the Cardinals were interested in the possibility of bringing tight end Chris Cooley onto their roster, but they opted for signing Jermaine Gresham in a move that likely closed the door on Cooley in the desert.
Cooley’s not giving up his hopes of making a comeback, although he’s also not “holding out hope” that he’s going to be signed by any team at any point in the immediate future. Cooley said he did talk to Arizona before they signed Gresham, but that he expects that camp will play out for a while before he’ll pop up on anyone else’s radar.
“I will absolutely continue to work out,” Cooley said, via ESPN.com. “And look towards realistically a later date in someone’s camp after an injury were to occur or even into the season, which I would be fine with. It would probably have to be a team that realistically has a chance of winning this year. Teams that don’t have a chance of winning don’t sign 33-year-old tight ends.”
If Cooley is on a roster for the first week of the season, his salary is guaranteed for the entire year so it’s probably a good bet that teams would be hesitant to bring him on board before that point. And it won’t be a return to the Redskins regardless of their circumstances at the position (or their chances of winning this year) as Cooley is barred from playing for them because the team employs him in a broadcasting role.