A look at Cook’s numbers, and what he could bring to Miami.
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Friday is the day that running back Dalvin Cook may officially become a former Minnesota Viking. News dropped on Thursday that Cook was being released, however, it was soon clarified by ESPN’s Adam Schefter that Minnesota would make one last effort for a deal, and should that not happen, Friday would result in his official cut.
The last several weeks and months saw speculation run wild on potential trade partners, and as it’s more than likely no trade will occur, Cook will become a free agent once the Vikings release him.
The two teams mentioned in the last 24 hours with heavy interest are the Denver Broncos and the Miami Dolphins. Thursday was also a day, in which, the Broncos signed defensive end Frank Clark, so they may have softened their financial ability to land Cook.
The Dolphins, who recently recouped $13.6 million from the Byron Jones release, still have plenty of other priorities ahead, including extending Christian Wilkins and Zach Sieler, as well as now dealing with center Connor Williams and his absence from minicamp due to his contract needs.
Additionally, Miami still needs to sign rookie cornerback Cam Smith, and of course, leave themselves with some money for in-season maintenance and potential emergencies.
While Cook will enter his seventh NFL season, his last four were Pro Bowl campaigns. He comes off a full season played, and four consecutive seasons over 1,110 yards. The Dolphins haven’t had a lone running back hit even 1,000 yards since Jay Ajayi did so back in 2016.
Since 2000, Miami has only seen seven seasons where a running back went over the 1,000-yard rushing mark.
Adding to what’s been missing in Miami Gardens the last decade-plus, has been red zone scoring from running backs, especially inside the five-yard line.
Cook has been the guy for the Vikings in terms of the majority of those types of carries deep into enemy territory. Last season, he carried the ball 60% of the time when the Vikings were inside the red zone overall. Inside the five-yard line, Cook hit 60% of the carries as well and scored five touchdowns.
In the red zone last season, Cook scored six times, while the entire Dolphins’ backfield accounted for seven. Diving further into Cook’s ability to put points on the board, over the last four seasons, he has 33 touchdowns inside the 10-yard line, while Miami has just 18 total among their running backs in this span.
Since Cook’s rookie season, he’s scored 26 times inside the five-yard line, and all of Miami’s running backs in this span have accounted for just 20 touchdowns from the same yardage range.
The Dolphins need that “closer” type of runner, and Cook is the guy they’ve been missing. Back to that 60% of the carries inside the five-yard line, only five Dolphins running backs this century have been relied upon with this type of goal-line area consistency, being at or above 60%:
- Lamar Smith
- Ricky Williams
- Ronnie Brown
- Lamar Miller
- Kenyan Drake
The Dolphins’ offense is extremely potent as it stands now, with weapons all over the field. However, the potential landing of Cook could just make this the scariest unit in football.
The money will be interesting to see, as Cook is still due $2 million from the Vikings following his release. So a “home-town discount” for Miami, in terms of yearly money, could be tolerable at around $7-8 million, taking into account the friendly tax environment Florida offers.
The potential of Cook leading the pack of Raheem Mostert, Jeff Wilson and rookie De’Von Achane may be too good for general manager Chris Grier to pass up. We all know his conservative nature and frugalness at the running back position, but Grier and the Dolphins shouldn’t be worried about spending money on yards. They should be excited about spending properly for touchdowns.
Friday is the day Cook should no longer be a Viking, and even the running back himself is getting into the hype, as he shared an Instagram story of him on the field at Hard Rock Stadium, but that’s neither here nor there.
The Dolphins are off of the practice field until the team fully returns in July for training camp.
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