Chris Cooley really wants back in the NFL.
The former Washington tight end said on his radio show that he has told his former team that if they’ll bring him back, he’ll take the league minimum and even agree to forego the salary he’s entitled to if he ends up on injured reserve.
“And it hurts to beg,” Cooley said, via the Washington Post. “I’m literally begging.”
Washington, however, is not listening to Cooley’s begging. The team is desperate for healthy tight ends and hasn’t signed Cooley, which should tell him everything he needs to know. (He should also know that some of the concessions he’s offering if the team signs him, like giving up his pay if he gets hurt, would violate the Collective Bargaining Agreement.)
Cooley’s comeback attempt sounds like a joke, but he insists he’s serious.
“I’m going to play for someone this year. I’m going to get an opportunity. I personally know [that] for a fact,” he said.
The reality is, it’s Week Two of the preseason. If teams were interested in Cooley, they would have brought him to camp by now. It’s not impossible that some team will suffer an injury at tight end and ask Cooley to come in for a workout, but when you have to beg for a contract, that should tell you that NFL teams think you’re done. Whether you’re ready to admit it or not.