Dalvin Cook has been a Pro Bowl running back the past four seasons, but he’s now a free agent after the Minnesota Vikings made him a cap casualty on Friday.
Cook’s release was somewhat of a surprise much like DeAndre Hopkins, but the reality is that most teams would rather move on from a player early to help their salary cap situation even if they’re still performing well, especially running backs.
There appear to be several teams interested in Cook, who should still be a viable contributor wherever he lands even if he ends up in a committee backfield to the demise of fantasy football players.
The latest odds in the market show five teams appearing interested in signing Cook, and we’ve broken down what signing him would mean for each team.
FIVE POTENTIAL DALVIN COOK LANDING SPOTS
Miami Dolphins (+125)
The Dolphins have a crowded running back room, but they lack a true difference maker at the position. Cook would immediately start over veterans Raheem Mostert and Jeff Wilson, but the Dolphins are a past-first team under head coach Mike McDaniel to where Cook likely won’t see his usual rushing workload even if he starts since they’ve also got a promising rookie in Devon Achane. It’s an appealing landing spot though since Cook should have plenty of goal line opportunities in an explosive offense.
Denver Broncos (+500)
Cook would make sense for the Broncos with Javonte Williams coming off a torn ACL and being questionable for the start of the season. The issue is that their cap situation is tight after signing defensive end Frank Clark recently, and it wouldn’t be the best situation for Cook from a fantasy football standpoint since Williams should be back relatively early in the season and would command a healthy amount of carries, and Sean Payton traditionally prefers a two-back system.
New York Jets (+900)
The Jets appear to be a similar situation to Denver in that Cook would likely get to start early on in the season with Breece Hall also coming off a torn ACL, but it doesn’t appear very appealing since Hall is set to be ready for Week 1 and was a dominant runner last season while healthy. While Cook could opt to sign here in a quest for a ring, there doesn’t appear to be enough room here for him to shine from a statistical standpoint.
Buffalo Bills (+900)
The Bills make sense on paper being that they lack a true starter at the running back position and have Dalvin’s younger brother James Cook in their backfield. Uniting the Cook brothers would form a strong one-two punch and make this stacked offense even more dangerous, but the reason the Bills don’t have better odds to land the elder Cook is because their cap situation likely won’t allow it unless his asking price comes down.
Dallas Cowboys (+1000)
The Cowboys appear to be an intriguing landing spot considering they have very little depth behind Tony Pollard after the release of Ezekiel Elliott, but Cook would immediately solve that problem and be a nice compliment to Pollard in Mike McCarthy’s offense that plans to run the ball plenty. Bringing Elliott back would be a more familiar and cheaper option, but the team might opt to swing for Cook if they can fit him in under the cap since he appears to have more left in the tank.