Running back Dalvin Cook became a free agent earlier this month when the Minnesota Vikings couldn’t find a trade partner to take him and opted to release him instead. Minnesota was dead set on not paying him the $10.4 million that he was owed and this was the only avenue to accomplish that.
The market for running backs this offseason has been a compressed one. Teams aren’t willing to pay a premium for players at the position as running backs have become devalued around the league. The most a running back signed for this offseason was $6 million annually while Saquon Barkley, Josh Jacobs and Tony Pollard all received the franchise tag.
The one team that Dalvin Cook has been linked to the most is the Miami Dolphins, who could certainly use a running back upgrade. However, they may only be an option if they are willing to also sign wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins.
While making an appearance recently on “The Adam Schefter Podcast” Dalvin Cook revealed he has an interest in teaming up with Hopkins, who was released by the Arizona Cardinals earlier this offseason. “If we end up on the same roster, that would be something epic for the NFL.”
Dalvin Cook turns 28 years old in August but is coming off of four straight 1,000+-yard seasons. The franchise that lands him is getting a player that has been one of the most productive in the NFL and hasn’t shown signs of slowing down.
Can his free agent plans line up with Hopkins? The All-Pro wide receiver has taken visits with the Tennessee Titans and New England Patriots, two teams Dalvin Cook likely wouldn’t be a fit for. But, their ultimate goals do align.
“I know his mindset, and I done play against D-Hop a numerous amount of times,” Cook told Schefter. “When I been with D-Hop, we done chill together, we done been around each other like, and it’s like I kind of see the person that he is like, he wants to win and that’s what my mind at too.
“I want to go win. Like I said, the money gonna come and that’s going to happen. But like as far as going to lift that [Vince Lombardi] Trophy up, he got the same mindset as me.”
Teaming up together would certainly bring an offense a ton of firepower, but the options for that to actually occur are limited. There aren’t many teams around the league who need a veteran running back and wide receiver at this point in the season that would cost as much as Dalvin Cook and Hopkins.
Nonetheless, this is something to keep an eye on. If they want to play together that badly, they may be willing to take a team-friendly deal to make it happen. In that scenario, both of their markets could improve. The Buffalo Bills, if they could make it work monetarily, are one team that has been linked to both Dalvin Cook and Hopkins this offseason.
