The New England Patriots lost superstar tight end Rob Gronkowski to retirement Sunday, explaining their interest in pursuing free agent Jared Cook — the veteran tight end who agreed to a deal with the New Orleans Saints, though he still has not officially signed anything. Per a report from Mike Reiss of ESPN, New England “aggressively courted” Cook before he reached an agreement with New Orleans:
Similar to how the Patriots made an aggressive pitch to receiver Adam Humphries in free agency and didn’t close the deal, a source close to tight end Jared Cook said the Patriots aggressively courted him before Cook elected to sign with the Saints late last week.