Dalvin Cook Has Multiple Offers On Table Right Now, Including From Dolphins

In an interview on The Rich Eisen Show, NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero says former Vikings RB Dalvin Cook has already garnered a healthy amount of interest as a free agent. 

Specifically, Pelissero says Cook has multiple offers on the table right now, and around a half-dozen teams have shown interest in Cook so far. Barry Jackson confirms one of those offers is from the Dolphins, although he doesn’t know for how much. 

Pelissero adds whenever Cook chooses to sign he will command a “significant” contract. The timeline for that remains up in the air, though.

Pelissero told Eisen Cook is weighing his options and will choose a team he believes presents the best opportunity in terms of fit and money. Pelissero doesn’t get the sense that Cook and his agent view the start of training camp at the end of July as a hard deadline and are willing to be patient to see if a better offer than what’s currently on the table comes along. 

For instance, it’s possible a team suffers an injury to a starting running back and needs a replacement, or a young player who’s expected to take a step forward isn’t ready. A situation like that could change the market for Cook, per Pelissero. 

He also outlines a situation where a team interested in Cook decides to pivot and lock up one of a number of other notable veteran running backs who are currently available for $3 or $4 million instead of waiting around for Cook to take $7-$8 million. That would be the downside to Cook waiting too long to sign. 

However, Pelissero reiterates Cook entered the open market in a strong situation compared to a number of other running backs this offseason, as he’s coming off of his fourth straight 1,000-yard season and has said he feels healthy after getting a lingering shoulder issue fixed earlier this offseason. 

Pelissero didn’t confirm any of the teams with offers on the table but he did list the Jets, Dolphins, Patriots and Broncos as teams who should have some level of interest in signing Cook. 

Cook has previously expressed a willingness to be patient and wait for the right “value.” Other reports have said he wants to make as close to the $10.4 million he was scheduled to make in 2023 as possible.

The veteran also confirmed he’s had contact with the Dolphins, who had trade talks for Cook at one point earlier this offseason, and called Miami the “perfect fit.” There are other potential landing spot options that could afford to pay Cook closer to his previous 2023 salary. 

Cook, 27, is a former second-round pick of the Vikings back in 2017. He was in the third year of his four-year, $6.35 million rookie contract and set to make a base salary of $1.13 million for the 2020 season when the Vikings signed him to a five-year, $63 million extension through 2025. 

Cook was due base salaries of $10.4 million and $11.9 million over the next two seasons when the Vikings released him. 

In 2022, Cook started all 17 games for the Vikings and rushed 264 times for 1,173 yards and eight touchdowns. He added 39 receptions on 56 targets for 295 yards and two more touchdowns. 

We’ll have more on Cook as the news is available.