A Popular Landing Spot for Dalvin Cook May Be Out of the Race
Josh Frey
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Last Friday, the Minnesota Vikings officially made the decision to release their four-time Pro Bowl running back Dalvin Cook. This came as no real surprise, considering the finances committed to Cook over the next few years as he approaches the age of 30.
In the aftermath of this release, there have been numerous reports of potential landing spots for the four-time Pro Bowl running back. One of these popular landing spots has been the Denver Broncos, who currently employ George Paton as their general manager after years in the Vikings front office.
However, according to a recent report from Denver 9News‘ Mike Klis, this theory of Denver potentially acquiring the running back could be wrong. Klis wrote the following on 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.”
By this reasoning, it seems that a connection to Cook was fully dependent on whether or not the Broncos were going to be able to land Frank Clark. Seeing as they signed Clark last week, as Klis states, it doesn’t appear that Denver is going to find the wiggle room in order to bring the former Vikings running back aboard.
Currently, following the Clark deal, Denver has about $10.1 million in salary cap space remaining for 2023, so they could hypothetically have enough money to sign Cook. However, it may not be entirely worth doing so.
Javonte Williams is on the roster, and after suffering an ACL tear in 2022 that ended his season early, he is hoping to bounce back in 2023. The 2021 second-round pick has recorded 1499 yards from scrimmage over the course of 21 games in his career.
Denver also employs Samaje Perine, who had a bit of a breakout season in 2022 with the Cincinnati Bengals, particularly as a pass-catcher. Over the course of the season, he recorded 681 yards from scrimmage, the most since his rookie season of 2017 with Washington. This included a career-high 38 receptions for 287 yards and 4 TDs.
As a result, assuming both Williams and Perine are healthy, Denver’s need at running back is not all that pressing. It may not be worth spending big money to bring another player into the backfield, similarly to the situation that Minnesota found themselves in with the running back.
Ultimately, Cook is one of the more talented players remaining on the open market, and he shouldn’t have too difficult a time finding his next team. That being said, it appears that we can cross Denver off the list of potential suitors.
Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho and managing editor of PurplePTSD.com. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys running, gaming, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. Check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.