Martellus Bennett should give the Green Bay Packers something similar to what they had in Jared Cook.
On the field, that is.
Off the field, however, Bennett might be unlike anyone the Packers have brought into their locker room since Ted Thompson took over as general manager in 2005. The veteran tight end, who signed a three-year, $21 million contract with the Packers in free agency, has perhaps a bigger social presence than anyone on Thompson's roster -- past or present.
He's a regular commentator on social issues and NFL policies. He's interactive on social media, letting the fans decide what uniform number he'll wear with the Packers. And the old-school Thompson sounds fine with it all.
"He's a bit of a renaissance man, and I think that'll be a good thing, a fun thing," Thompson told reporters in Phoenix at the NFL annual meetings. "Maybe he'll educate myself and some of the players."
When asked how much he takes a player's personality into account during free agency, Thompson said: "Well, you take that into account. You have things like personality, sometimes they don't get along with existing players and things like that. I think you take that into account. We don't sense any problem in that regard when it comes to Marty, which is what he likes to be called, Marty."
"We like him," Thompson added. "We like what he brings to the equation. He seems to be excited about being there, so we're happy to have him."
That's different from the soft-spoken Cook, who other than a bizarre experience with a chicken head in his Buffalo wing order never drew much attention to himself off the field.
In Bennett, the Packers signed another big target for quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who quickly integrated Cook into the offense. They also added another tight end in free agency, veteran Lance Kendricks. With Bennett, Kendricks and Richard Rodgers, the Packers should be able to use more multiple tight end packages this year. Last season, the Packers were tied for second-to-last in the league in snaps with two or more tight ends on the field, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
"Our offensive guys are pretty creative when it comes to things like that, so we're looking forward to getting them involved and hopefully they'll do a good job," Thompson said. "I know that they were happy to be able to join the Packers, and that makes us feel good."
ESPN's Kevin Seifert contributed to this report.