Former Viking Hoping for 2024 Bounceback
Dustin Baker
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Former Minnesota Vikings running back Dalvin Cook encountered a forgettable season in 2024, failing to make a mark on the New York Jets organization despite grand plans for his life after purple.
Former Viking Hoping for 2024 Bounceback
Cook remains a free agent on the open market and is hungry to rebound this season.
He told KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson this week, “I’ve got it all. The tools are still here. I didn’t really get no reps last year. So, the legs are fresh, so the resumé speaks for itself.”
Cook rushed for 214 yards on 67 carries in 2023, a vast drop-off from 1,173 yards on 264 carries during his final season with the Vikings. He was a cap casualty last summer, rumored to latch onto the Miami Dolphins for months but ultimately signing with Aaron Rodgers’ New York Jets. The experiment didn’t work.
“I’m still Dalvin Cook. I’m still that guy. For me, I don’t like to toot my own horn. I just like to go out there, put my helmet on and line up on the grass,” Cook continued.
After the 2023 regular season kicked off, Cook wasn’t quite the same playmaker from 2020 or 2021, and New York quickly granted a larger carry load to Breece Hall, not Cook. Rodgers was injured four plays into the regular season with a torn Achilles, the same injury that beset former Vikings signal-caller Kirk Cousins in October.
Cook then finished 2023 with the Baltimore Ravens, a franchise that flamed out at home against the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship.
Cook also told Wilson, “I think last year was really like a learning curve for me. I got kind of itchy. At the time it was coming. the season. it was where I wanted to go and now it’s about the opportunities are going to come. It’s about what are you going to do with it. For me, patience is the key so let’s just stay ready and stay confident it’s going to explode.”
He left the Vikings in 2023 as the franchise’s third-leading rusher in franchise history (5,993 yards) behind Adrian Peterson (11,747) and Robert Smith (6,818). His 47 rushing touchdowns rank fourth behind Peterson (97), Chuck Foreman (52), and Bill Brown (52). And his rushing yards per game (82.1) are second, only trailing Peterson (95.5).
A few weeks ago, Cook was mentioned in the Dallas Cowboys rumor mill, a logical destination for a franchise needing RB oomph.
“Ezekiel Elliott and Dalvin Cook are two veteran options who stand to draw strong club consideration as free agency progresses. Elliott spent seven seasons in Dallas from 2016-22. Cook would reunite with Cowboys defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer, his head coach on the Minnesota Vikings from 2017-21,” Dallas News‘ Michael Gehklen wrote on March 24th.
Cook will turn 29 in August.
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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