Saw some article today, citing an unnamed (of course) former NFL executive, trying to argue that Miami is a good landing spot for DeAndre Hopkins.
Guard Dalton Risner is by far the best OL still left unsigned, but the fact that he is unsigned leads me to guess there's something wrong. He suffered a UCL injury to his elbow in Denver's next to last game last season and didn't play in Week 18. It could be that he's still not right from that, and teams are wary to give him what he's asking for because of it. A UCL can be devestating for a QB (or a pitcher in baseball), but shouldn't be career altering for an OL.
This is shades of last offseason when J.C. Tretter was hanging out there like low-hanging fruit. Turns out, he was considering retirement, which he ultimately pursued. Clearly, team personnel departments know something about Risner that the rest of us aren't being told.
From espn.com: Would Dalvin Cook be a good fit with the Dolphins? Marcel Louis-Jacques, ESPN Jun 2, 2023, 06:00 AM ET MIAMI -- The Miami Dolphins couldn’t possibly add another star to their planetarium of a locker room ... could they? If the Minnesota Vikings indeed move on from running back Dalvin Cook, don’t be surprised if the Dolphins bite. Cook, a South Florida native, is the NFL’s fourth-leading rusher since entering the league in 2017, despite playing in the the second-fewest games of any running back in the top 10 of that category. He ran for 1,173 yards and eight touchdowns in 2022; although he set a career-low in yards per touch at 4.8, he played an entire season for the first time -- a positive sign for the 27-year-old. But does Cook to the Dolphins make sense? We know Dolphins general manager Chris Grier will perform his due diligence, as he does whenever a high-caliber player is available. Sources told ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler that Miami inquired about running back D'Andre Swift after the Detroit Lions selected Jahmyr Gibbs in the first round of last month’s NFL draft. But Grier selected running back Devon Achane two rounds after the Lions took Gibbs, after re-signing all four of the Dolphins’ free agents at the position, including leading rushers Raheem Mostert and Jeff Wilson Jr. The Dolphins finished the 2022 season ranked 25th in rushing yards, which coach Mike McDaniel attributed to his playcalling rather than the players carrying the ball. “Ultimately we had the opportunity to bring two of our strongest character contributors and really players we depend on in Raheem and Jeff,” he said at the league meeting in March. “They’re both, I think, above 4.7 yards per carry. I think there’d be a little bit of a different feeling if we didn’t run the ball because they didn’t run the ball well. We didn’t run the ball well in games that we were overly injured or some games I just didn’t call enough runs. “So when you look at it historically if you can get a runner 4.5-plus, they’re doing something pretty good. I see them as a big part of our team and just the fabric and who we are as human beings; they really contribute to that locker room.” Over his six-year career, Cook has averaged 4.7 yards per carry, and his 1,282 attempts rank fourth most in the league during that time frame. He traditionally has been a high-workload back with the Vikings, but the Dolphins’ running backs room is too deep for him to continue that role in South Florida. So, if he’s looking for carries, there are better options than Miami. He probably also would have to take a pay cut in the event he signed with the Dolphins; he is due $11 million this season if he remains in Minnesota and it’s unlikely a Dolphins offer would be close to that, even with roughly $13 million of salary cap space opening up after June 1. There are several factors that complicate a possible homecoming for Cook. But ultimately, the Dolphins are geared up for a Super Bowl run this year, and adding talent could help steer them toward that goal. https://www.espn.com/blog/miami-dol...d-dalvin-cook-be-a-good-fit-with-the-dolphins
PFF grades are subjective, before we think about pulling the trigger on Dalvin Cook, there needs to be an honest objective look at Minnesota's OL performance vs Miami's OL performance...and PFF grades are the only thing available (I believe) that can be used to assess that. If Minnesota and Miami's OL performances were relatively equal, then landing Cook is something that should seriously be looked at, but if our OL performance looks like a Pop Warner little league team comparatively, going for Cook would be a mistake.
Dalvin Cook rumors: Dolphins would be a contender to land Vikings RB if he's cut The four-time Pro Bowler is a Miami native and Florida State alum Garrett Podell By Garrett Podell Jun 3, 2023 at 11:13 am ET The Minnesota Vikings have been leaving breadcrumbs about their willingness to move from four-time Pro Bowl running back Dalvin Cook, despite each of his four Pro Bowl appearances coming in the past four seasons. He's the only player in the NFL to run for more than 1,100 yards in each of the past four seasons, but the Vikings apparently don't want to pay Cook at his $10.4 million base salary in 2023. Head coach Kevin O'Connell went out of his way to praise Cook's backup, Alexander Mattison, as a "three-down" back on Wednesday. Mattison re-signed with the franchise on a two-year, $7 million contract this offseason. If the Vikings can't find a trade partner willing to take on Cook, which would save them $11 million in cap space, then they could just cut him, a move that would save the team $9 million in cap space. If the release scenario plays out, Cook's hometown Dolphins could be "a real possibility" per the Miami Herald. The timing of a resolution on Cook's situation is murky because he hasn't shown up to the Vikings' offseason program following shoulder surgery. There's always a possibility Cook agrees to an Aaron Jones-like restructure/pay cut that the team finds amenable, but as of now, that scenario appears unlikely. https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/...panthers-laviska-shenault-to-jets-bryce-huff/
Not quite yet. It will become official tomorrow, but they are still trying to trade him if they can. https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/37818666/vikings-release-rb-dalvin-cook-source-says
I have a feeling the Jets are going to make a strong play. You can't count on Breece Hall coming off that injury. The Bears are a dark horse because they can over pay him. Let's see if Cook takes a hometown discount to play in Miami because that was the rumor.
Jests might make a run at him to keep us from getting him (or to drive up the price for us). Speculation is that Denver and Miami are the betting favorites to get him. Anybody but teams in the North Atlantic region, and I'm fine TBH.
I think he said he would play for Jets to get Dolphins more active in him. Who wants to play in sunny FL then say they will play in New York weather.
Love McD. The Vikings are set to release running back Dalvin Cook on Friday and the Dolphins have been rumored to be interested in bidding for his services, so it was no surprise that Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel was asked about him at a Thursday press conference. Cook remains a member of the Vikings, however, and that would make it tampering if McDaniel were to answer a question about the team’s reported interest. McDaniel’s reply made it clear that he is aware of that rule. “March 6, 1983, the day I was born, right? Now we take a closer look at that date and that in fact was not yesterday,” McDaniel said. “Okay, so people that are rumored to be tall, short, people that are rumored to be, you’re not going to get this guy. I’m Year Two. Okay? What I am excited about is talking about the most important thing which is the third day of veteran minicamp and we’ve got a lot of guys that are good players that have an opportunity to get better. Answer your question?” McDaniel did discuss the team’s current running backs and called Raheem Mostert, Jeff Wilson, Salvon Ahmed, Myles Gaskin, and third-round pick De’Von Achane “a really cool group.” We’ll have to wait until at least Friday to hear anything from the Dolphins about whether they’re looking to add Cook to it.
They have some big cap issues, and another RB to give the job to. And for them, the difference is keeping Cook at 14-15m per season, vs him signing with another club at a much lower price. I'm sure that if it was as simple as asking him to accept a pay cut to a third of what he was making it would be done. When that happens, the player usually wants to go somewhere else.
I think it’s pretty apparent Cook is all but stating he wants to play in Miami, and for him PERSONALLY, it only makes sense. He’s from the Miami area He’s played the last several season the the frozen tundra of the upper northwest Florida has no state income tax He trains in Miami I mean, if I’m Cook do I try to go home to my familiar surroundings with great weather and able to keep more of my paycheck, or do I go from one cold environment to another where a state gets another bite of my paycheck? I just hope the Dolphins don’t belittle the importance of the running back position and try again with “good enough”
Well, his numbers are off a little bit. Cutting Ahmed would result in a net gain of about 800k due to dead money, and Gaskin isn't actually one of the top 53 so cutting him doesn't technically help the cap right now regardless, but big picture for the regular season, its almost 2m compared to keeping them both in September (which was never going to happen) Ahmed is the very easy call to cut for Cook though, as we gain more cap space from moving on from him than we would from Mostert or Wilson, if someone were contemplating that. The team can also gain an easy 3m by cutting DB Crossen, who's unlikely to be more than insurance in case of an injury as well.
I believe the money from Minnesota would be offset by the new contract, so that isn't actual money to Cook.
what % discount would you take to for hometown discount? Making 10 million, would you take a 10%. 20% 30% discount? 50% discount?
Hmm, I don‘t know if I really want him here… He’s on the decline since the 2020 season and I would rather go for good depht in other positions (LB, DT, Safety, OL) and maybe extend some of our own guys. If they want to bring somebody in at RB, maybe Fournette he would make a „better“ fit because he’s a RB type we don’t have on the roster.
I am not excited by the thought of him coming here. Apparently, the Dolphins are not either or it seems a deal would have been done by now. I think they are happy with their 2 main guys and the rookie getting the job done.
I’d like to have Cook. I’m one of those old school folks who still places high value on running backs, but I don’t think we’re going to see Cook in Miami this season…or any other team for that matter in the near future. Dalvin Cook is demanding a $10 million a year deal AND wants the ball a great number of times. He’s been one of the most productive running backs over the last several years but the market for NFL running backs today is t what it used to be. As it stands, Dalvin Cook is without a contract… So is Saquon Barkley… So is Josh Jacobs… Team are going for younger running backs they can draft and lock into a 4 or even 5 year deal if they pick up their 5th year options for a fraction of the cost of paying an 8 figure salary for only one year. The evolution of the de-valuing of running backs has truly astounded me. Gone are the days of Jim Brown, Gayle Sayers, Larry Csonka, Franco Harris, Walter Payton, Erick Dickerson, Earl Campbell, Emmitt Smith and Barry Sanders. The closest to those we have today is Derrick Henry, but in today’s league, he’s an anomaly and not the standard…not just in pure talent, but the team philosophy of valuing the running game.
Mostert and Wilson combined for 1700 yards 8 TD's and a 4.9 average. Cook was 1173 yards 8 TD's and 4.4 Avg. I just think team thinks they get as much or more production out of those two for the money, and he loves the RB room continuity.
