Dalvin Cook to wear No. 33 with New York Jets

New York Jets running back Dalvin Cook will wear the No. 33 jersey with his new team this season, his agent Zac Hiller revealed on Thursday.

The former Minnesota Vikings star donned the No. 33 jersey during his first five seasons in the league. He ultimately reverted to the No. 4 for the 2022 season, which is the number he wore while in college at Florida State.

New Jersey swap: Dalvin Cook is going back to his old No. 33 with the #Jets, per his agent Zac Hiller. pic.twitter.com/jRoPsPZrhG

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) August 17, 2023

The New York Jets only have one player who wears the No. 4 jersey, on defense, so it’s unclear why Cook chose to go back to 33.

He went through the league’s process of buying back his old jerseys in Minnesota when he wanted to wear No. 4 to honor his late father.

“My dad passed away like a year ago, and that was a promise I made to him, that I was going to get back in my number and get back to getting us a Super Bowl around here,” Cook said before the 2022 season. “That number means a lot to me. I started playing football because of my bigger brother, and he wore number four and he was like a hero in my eyes when I seen him play football, so I tried to carry the legacy on because he switched sports and started playing basketball. I kept the number going, passed it on to my little brother and passed it on to my little cousins, and it’s like a tradition in my family and a tradition back in Miami.”

Cook picks 33 over 4 in New York

Dalvin Cook’s younger brother, James Cook, the running back for the Buffalo Bills, currently wears No. 4. Perhaps there’s only room for one Cook brother to wear No. 4 in the state of New York.

Cook and the Jets agreed this week to a one-year contract worth up to $8.6 million. He was released by the Minnesota Vikings in June after six seasons with the team. He made the Pro Bowl each of the past four seasons with the franchise.

During that span, Cook rushed for over 1,000 each season. He has also added at least 224 receiving yards each season.

His best year came in 2020 when he carried the ball 312 times for 1,557 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns.

“It’s dynamic,” Jets head coach Robert Saleh said of his running backs room after the Cooks addition. “If I’m trying to game plan and I know there’s a combination of Breece (Hall), Michael Carter, Dalvin Cook… there’s a lot of mismatches that can be created when you have dynamic people like that.”