JULY 29: Cook went on ESPN today to discuss his visit plans prior to tomorrow’s date with the Jets. According to Rich Cimini of the network, Cook confirmed tomorrow’s plans but claimed that, as of right now, no other visits are in the books. He did say that “thing are definitely heating up,” and a Patriots visit has been rumored for a couple days now, so there’s a chance he could be shipping up to Boston in the coming days, as well.
As for the Jets, Cook pointed to their roster as a factor that piqued his interest. The team, the coaching staff, and the prospect of playing in an offense with Rodgers all certainly contributed to his desire to take tomorrow’s visit. It will be interesting to see if he comes away from New York tomorrow with a new deal or not.
JULY 28: Since being released by the Vikings back in early-June, veteran running back Dalvin Cook has been a bit hush-hush about his free agency. Rumors and speculations have come from all over without any hint of how much was true, but today, during an appearance on the Dan Patrick Show, Cook informed Patrick that “probably about five” teams have shown legitimate interest in acquiring his talents.
As soon as Cook was released, early speculation was pointed at his hometown Dolphins and the Broncos. It was established fairly soon after that Denver was unlikely to bring Cook aboard. The team apparently felt confident in a 1-2 punch of the recovering Javonte Williams and career-RB2 Samaje Perine. There seemed to be quite a bit of back and forth between Cook and Miami, but in the end, the Dolphins never gave Cook an offer worth taking.
As the weeks rolled on with no deal, two other AFC East teams entered the fold as the Jets and Patriots began to show interest. Both teams have been active in adding new talent this offseason. The Patriots added JuJu Smith-Schuster to their wide receiving corps and seemingly finished second in the DeAndre Hopkins sweepstakes. Adding Cook to a backfield led by Rhamondre Stevenson could be extremely attractive for new Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien.
New York added wide receivers Allen Lazard, Mecole Hardman, and Randall Cobb to a corps that already rostered Garrett Wilson and Corey Davis. All these weapons were brought in to provide new quarterback Aaron Rodgers with a strong offensive cast. They do have a solid, if not unproven, group of running backs in Breece Hall, Michael Carter, and rookie Israel Abanikanda. Adding a veteran like Cook could be beneficial for the room, but it certainly isn’t a necessity. Cook is set to visit the Jets this Sunday.
So, who are the five teams? Assuming the Broncos, who ruled themselves out early, aren’t on the list, the Dolphins, Jets, and Patriots should make up three of those teams. The fourth AFC East team, the Bills, was mentioned as a possibility as Cook entertained the idea of playing with his little brother, James, according to Zach Dimmitt of Sports Illustrated.
It’s unclear who the fifth team would be. Our early speculations listed the Ravens, Bengals, Browns, Cowboys, Buccaneers, and Commanders as early possibilities, but no serious interest has been reported from any of these teams. Regardless of who the fifth suitor happens to be, it still seems like there is at least an 80 percent chance that Cook ends up in the AFC East.
Just sign with the Jets it’ll make Hard Knocks more interesting.
Buffalo did just lose Hines as technically a RB. Could be fun as the real life version of too many cooks.
You are technically correct – the best kind of correct.
Nyheim Hines was a KR — ended New England’s playoff hopes in fairytale fashion in Week 18 last term.
His contract should be so interesting, he’ll be 28 this season so he’s got 2 left, but hes better than every other RB mentioned in this article 2 years 25 million fully guaranteed
So he throws out “about 5 teams” are interested and that makes it true?
2 is not 5 lol, as of now it is just the Jets and Dolphins. I doubt the Patriots are trying to pay his price, and with R. Stevenson as the Pats RB1 I do not think Cook would get the workload he is hoping for. Cook is just trying to get teams to start a bidding war for his services.
It is a smart play by him and his agent; a team will not overpay for a RB, unless that team is worried their division rival would be more competitive then them if they were to sign said RB first.
It’s smart up to a point. What’s he been free 2 months now? We’re hearing the same teams mentioned the whole time. It’s time for him to make a decision and live with it instead of holding out hope for a pipe dream
Have listened to his interviews here in MN. I hope the deep thinking is being done by his agent. Not the brightest bulb on earth. But to be fair , far from the dimmest.
To quote Dan Marino in Ace Ventura: “I don’t know, I get hit in the head a lot”
Broons????
From the BH?
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Mango tree reference has me curious. Jr GM is looking for you.
Seems as though all of these “interested teams” rumors are mere fabrication and media manipulation by Cook & his agent. Is he “free” now due to his cost or due to his rumored off-field personal issues?
Exactly, agent talk, “why there’s 47 teams that have been in contact bout my client” BS let’s watch n see what kinda deal n team he ends up with, then it’ll be “had offers for more$ n for more years but we like so n so”