Dalvin Cook isn’t yet a free agent. The Minnesota Vikings reportedly intend to release him on Friday but, in theory, they could still spin a trade. Either way, he’s on the move.
The seventh-year running back just finished a season in which he played all 17 games and had 264 carries, 1,173 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns. He also had 39 catches for 295 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns. He is 27 years old and remains the prototype of a power running back in the NFL: 5-foot-10, 210 pounds.
At this point in the offseason, every team has a lead back. It’s just a question of quality. Cook will likely have to find a home with a team that has a good-not-great stable of backs.
Which teams need an upgrade at RB? Or, which teams need another offensive weapon, regardless of their talent at the RB position?
Let’s take a look.
This is the team I see as fitting most clearly. Miami’s current backs include Raheem Mostert, rookie Devon Achane and Chase Edmonds. It’s not an outstanding cast. But if the Dolphins started the season with that group, it wouldn’t be an issue, given the offense will run through the passing attack.
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But adding Cook?
The signing might make the Dolphins the most intimidating offense in the NFL. He brings an element of power to their offense that the team sorely lacked in 2022.
In Week 4 in 2022, Javonte Williams tore his ACL and LCL, which ended his season. And while that should give him plenty of time to recover, he might not come back in peak shape. He might need more time before he’s 100 percent.
Williams’ backup, Samaje Perine, is an oversized power runner. But Cook showed in recent years that he can contribute in the passing game, which would be useful for coach Sean Payton, who got the most out of Alvin Kamara as a versatile threat in New Orleans. Maybe Payton taps into Cook’s multidimensionality.
Most of what I wrote about Denver applies to New York.
Breece Hall is coming back from an ACL injury and will likely need some time before he’s truly comfortable with his knee. Cook makes plenty of sense for this team, given that the run game will be crucial to the Jets offense under new offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett. With Aaron Rodgers likely to retire within the next two years, the Jets need to jam talent onto their roster for this short championship window.
Houston has Dameon Pierce, who had an outstanding rookie season, and Devin Singletary, who was only OK with the Buffalo Bills in his first four seasons. Texans GM Nick Caserio comes from the Bill Belichick tree of team-building, and in New England, the Patriots don’t tend to have a lead back. They go by committee.
Cook would also take some of the pressure off rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud, a pocket passer who will require more out of his running backs than the dual-threat QBs now en vogue.
Cincinnati’s lead back is Joe Mixon, who recently pleaded not guilty to charges that he pointed a gun at a woman earlier this year.
“His future is here with the team,” coach Zac Taylor said in his post-draft news conference, via ESPN’s Ben Baby. “I like Joe Mixon.”
The Bengals now have the option of cutting Mixon and signing Cook. Maybe they like Mixon less, with a strong alternative in Cook.
I’m including them as a bit of an afterthought. But Dalvin’s brother James Cook is in Buffalo and I imagine Dalvin might take a one-year deal to play with family. Otherwise, the Bills are a stretch. They just signed veteran running backs Latavius Murray and Damien Harris. They’re in plenty of salary cap trouble in 2023 and 2024.
But if Dalvin would take a big discount to play with James? Why not?
Prior to joining FOX Sports as the AFC East reporter, Henry McKenna spent seven years covering the Patriots for USA TODAY Sports Media Group and Boston Globe Media. Follow him on Twitter at @McKennAnalysis.
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