choice with Hill since 2016 third-round pick Maliek Collins is going into the final year of his rookie contract. Defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli considers their spot on the interior of the line the most important

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Moving from Oakland to New Orleans was as much a personal choice as a professional one for 2018 Pro Bowl tight end Jared Cook.“Location. Quarterback. Offense Greedy Williams Jersey ,” Cook began. “It’s important that at this point in my career — I think it’s awesome — that I’m closer to home. Drew Brees is a great quarterback, approaches the game like true vet and like a true perfectionist. He does all the little thigs right.“I also have a chance to come in right now and make an impact,” Cook added Wednesday, a day after formally agreeing to a reported two-year, $15.5 million free-agent contract with New Orleans. “I have an opportunity to come in and be a huge part of a prolific and high-powered offense.”Cook complimented the Raiders for the way they played to his strengths and helped him have the best campaign of his 10-year career last season. He knew there were inherent risks in leaving a good situation. But he said those risks were mitigated considerably by what New Orleans had to offer.The Saints have been among NFL leaders in offense since coach Sean Payton began designing the plays and Brees began executing them back in 2006. There have been some seasons, particularly while Jimmy Graham was on the roster, when the tight end position accounted for a significant portion of the passing offense.But that did not happen for the Saints’ eighth-ranked offense last season. Three tight ends — Ben Watson, Josh Hill and Dan Arnold — combined for 63 catches for 735 yards and four touchdowns. And Watson, who led the position group with 35 catches for 400 yards and two TDs, has retired.The 6-foot-5, 254-pound Cook caught 68 passes for 896 yards and six touchdowns with Oakland last season and was named to the Pro Bowl for the first time.“The last few years I’ve been able to kind of learn under one offense, play with one quarterback, get to know that one quarterback pretty well,” Cook said. “That’s been the biggest different in the transition of my career as of late — and they actually used me what I’m good at.”Cook said Raiders coach Jon Gruden “found ways to expose matchups all over the field. He found ways to move me around in different positions to actually help me and make me more versatile.”In Payton’s first NFL job in Philadelphia, he worked under Gruden, and the two offensive-minded coaches have philosophical similarities. Payton also is known for shifting players’ roles — sometimes considerably — from week to week in search of favorable matchups.Cook was well aware of that because his tight ends coach in Oakland was Frank Smith, who worked on Payton’s staff in New Orleans from 2010-14. Cook said Smith often would touch on his experience with New Orleans when they talked football.“So Sione Takitaki Jersey , I knew a lot about the Saints and the guys in that building before I got down there,” Cook said.Another attraction was the opportunity to stress a secondary in tandem with Saints top receiver Michael Thomas.“It’s going to be huge for both of us,” Cook said. “I like his mentality. That’s something that you don’t find in a lot of receivers —that, ‘I’m going to go get mine, and I’m going to go get this and nobody’s going to be able to stop me —and I think that’s important to have in this league.”Cook, who turns 32 next month, was born in Alabama and grew up outside Atlanta, where he often watched the Falcons practice from a hilltop with his father. He played in college at South Carolina and began his NFL career with Tennessee, which traded with New England to get him during the third round of the 2009 draft.He spent his first four seasons in Tennessee, where in 2011 he had 49 catches for 759 yards and three touchdowns.Cook later spent three seasons with the St. Louis Rams and one season with Green Bay before joining Oakland two seasons ago. In his career, Cook has 425 catches for 5,464 yards and 25 touchdowns.Being back near the Southeast puts Cook, who is married with children, in more manageable proximity to extended family and friends, he said. He sees that not as a distraction, but rather as a way to focus on football with greater peace of mind.“I have a bigger support system. I have more people around me and more family around me that can kind of help with daily life a little bit more,” Cook said. “It’s going to help me and my family out quite a bit.” FRISCO Sheldrick Redwine Jersey , Texas (AP) — For all the offseason talk about safety with the Dallas Cowboys, they ended up spending more resources from the draft on potential backups for two-time NFL rushing champion Ezekiel Elliott.Dallas used two picks on running backs, starting with all-purpose back Tony Pollard of Memphis in the fourth round Saturday. Then the Cowboys went back to Elliott’s alma mater, Ohio State, for a more traditional runner in Mike Weber with one of two seventh-round choices.Elliott was the fourth overall pick in 2016, won his first rushing title as a rookie for the NFC East champions, and did it again with another division winner last season.The Cowboys said running back was a priority after deciding not to bring back seldom-used backup Rod Smith. But it didn’t figure to rank ahead of safety since Dallas was never a serious bidder for free agent Earl Thomas, who made no secret of his desire to join the Cowboys but ended up in Baltimore instead.Owner and general manager Jerry Jones suggested that was the plan all along. Dallas took safety Donovan Wilson of Texas in the sixth round as five of the club’s eight picks were defensive choices. Cornerback Michael Jackson, taken in the fifth round, could have the flexibility to be in the mix at safety as well.“I knew it was very possible that we could get out of here without picking a safety,” Jones said. “We need to, from a standpoint of efficiency within a game as well as from managing our overall future, we need some good running back skill behind Zeke. That was a goal coming into this draft was let’s let us wisely use Zeke now and in the future. So those two address that perfectly.”Pollard also has potential as a return man after tying the FBS career record with seven kickoff returns for touchdowns. He had 552 yards rushing with six touchdowns and 458 yards receiving with three more scores as a junior at Memphis.“I think this guy can be a lot different than just a space player,” executive vice president of personnel Stephen Jones said. “He can do a lot of things. What excites me the most is just his home run threat as a running back.”Weber had his only 1,000-yard season at Ohio State as a redshirt freshman the year after Elliott left, rushing for 1,096 yards and nine scores. A hamstring injury limited him as a sophomore and he had 954 yards last season.WHO THEY GOTThe Cowboys followed the “best available” model with their first two picks in Central Florida defensive tackle Trysten Hill (58th overall Austin Seibert Jersey , second round) and offensive lineman Connor McGovern from Penn State (90th, third). Dallas hadn’t drafted an interior defensive lineman that high since No. 1 overall choice Russell Maryland in 1991. And coach Jason Garrett said McGovern was “by far” the best player on Dallas’ board when he was selected.SURPRISE MOVEIt’s been 10 years since the Cowboys didn’t have a first-round pick, and that 2009 draft was a poor one for Dallas. Jones said the lesson from a decade earlier was to stick with the picks you have rather than trade back (the first pick in 2009 ended up being a third-rounder).While Dallas followed that plan by making its first three picks — in the second, third and fourth rounds — the focus turned to stockpiling later when players the Cowboys wanted were drafted ahead of their slot. They traded back twice and ended up with five picks in the final three rounds.HOW THEY DIDThe Cowboys made a practical choice with Hill since 2016 third-round pick Maliek Collins is going into the final year of his rookie contract. Defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli considers their spot on the interior of the line the most important position on his defense, and wants to pressure the quarterback from there.While Dallas has invested in that spot for Marinelli, it was usually later for a coach who believes he can turn any pick, and any undrafted free agent, into a productive inside player. Collins has been a solid three-year starter, but he hasn’t been a force and has battled injuries. The Cowboys don’t want to rule out Hill becoming a starter.WHAT’S NEXT?The availability of Randy Gregory will go a long way toward determining the fate of late-round pass rushing picks Joe Jackson (fifth, Miami) and Jalen Jelks (seventh, Oregon). If Gregory is reinstated from an indefinite suspension, his fourth substance-abuse ban, it might be difficult for Jackson or Jelks to make the active roster. The Cowboys are optimistic Gregory will be allowed to return.