One Frontrunner Reportedly Out of Dalvin Cook Pursuit
Dustin Baker
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If you had the Denver Broncos are your Dalvin Cook bingo board of free-agent landings spots, it may be time to eliminate the club.
The Minnesota Vikings released Cook on Friday, and the Miami Dolphins, Buffalo Bills — and Broncos — were expected to express interest in his free agency.
One Frontrunner Reportedly Out of Dalvin Cook Pursuit
But the Denver part was merely a theory, according to Denver 9News‘ Mike Klis.
Klis wrote Sunday, “Some may look at the Broncos’ running back position and see depth concerns, the way the team’s edge-rusher position looked before veteran Frank Clark and his 58.5 career sacks were brought in Thursday for a one-year, $5.5 million agreement. Yet, the Broncos do not appear to be in on newly set free running back Dalvin Cook, who is coming off four consecutive 1,100-yard rushing seasons for the Minnesota Vikings.”
Cook tabulated 1,173 rushing yards in 2022, plus 10 touchdowns.
“Cook was scheduled to make $11 million this year before he was released Friday and even if he accepts a pay cut to say, $8 million, the Broncos after the Clark deal will only have about $6 million in cap space,” Klis added.
Per Klis, it seems Frank Clark’s free agency or the hypothetical intrigue in Cook was an either-or arrangement. Denver chose Clark — who used to be a foremost rival playing for the Kansas City Chiefs — dampening potential interest or feasibility in landing Cook.
Regardless, the Broncos should be fine sans Cook as the franchise already employs Javonte Williams, who is recovering from a torn ACL suffered last October, free-agent addition Samaje Perine, and Tony Jones Jr.
Cook could’ve made Williams’ immediate recovery less urgent, but the tailback is progressing well this summer and on track for Week 1 RB1 duties.
And while other teams will spring up in the Cook free-agent mill, the Dolphins remain the pace-setter to sign the 27-year-old. Cook is from Miami, and when the Cook rumor mill ignited in March, the Dolphins have been the number-one-with-a-bullet theorized landing spot.
Denver hopes to rectify a woeful 2022 campaign that was supposed to be exciting after the acquisition of Russell Wilson 15 months ago. Wilson didn’t fit with head coach Nathaniel Hackett, Hackett was fired after 15 games and a 4-11 record, and Sean Payton was hired to fix the pandemonium in January.
NFL Network‘s Tom Pelissero reported this weekend that Cook won’t settle for a contract as small as $4 to $5 million per season.
Cook turns 28 in August.
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Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sal Spice. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band).
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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