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Dalvin Cook wants to combine forces with DeAndre Hopkins, and the Dallas Cowboys have been pitched as a home for the superstar duo.
Cook and Hopkins, the two biggest name free agents still available, were released in cap-saving moves by the Minnesota Vikings and Arizona Cardinals, respectively, and Cook revved up the idea of the two teaming up at their next stop.
“If we end up on the same roster, that would be something epic for the NFL,” Cook said on the June 19 episode of “The Adam Schefter Podcast.” “I know his mindset, and I done played against D-Hop a numerous amount of times. When I been with D-Hop, we done chill together; we done been around each other. … I kind of see the person that he is — like, he want to win and that’s what my mind at too.”
The Cowboys have been rumored as a destination for both players at times, although it’s been dubbed highly unlikely. However, Joe Rivera of The Sporting News identified the Cowboys as one of the teams that could land the star pair.
“Dallas said they weren’t making a play for either Hopkins nor Cook, so maybe this is more pipe dream than talent pipeline, but it’s hard to deny either wouldn’t make the Cowboys a better offensive team in the immediate,” Rivera wrote in a June 20 story. “Wouldn’t this be so very ‘Jerry’?”
Cowboys Called Out for Not Pursuing Dalvin Cook
The Cowboys have around $20.5 million in effective cap space but still have some significant contracts to figure out, including for Dak Prescott, Trevon Diggs and CeeDee Lamb. Cook and Hopkins likely wouldn’t get the most lucrative or long-term deals from the Cowboys — but they would get a chance to win.
After back-to-back 12-win seasons, the Cowboys have their sights set on a Super Bowl run. If they are truly invested in hoisting the Lombardi Trophy, going all in with a couple of veteran big names would help their cause.
“Dallas, don’t tell me you’re legit about wanting to do everything that you can do to go win a Super Bowl if you don’t sign Dalvin Cook,” Dan Orlovsky said June 12. on ESPN’s “First Take.” “Your starting tailback Tony Pollard broke his leg, like, five months ago. Dalvin Cook can still flat-out go. You’re an organization with head coach Mike McCarthy, who fired his offensive coordinator and says I want to run the football more. You want to run the football more with the guy that just broke his leg five months ago?”
Schefter: Cook-Hopkins Pairing Probably Not Happening
“Dalvin Cook said that he’d love to play with DeAndre Hopkins..
It’s not a likely scenario but it could happen”
While speaking to Schefter, Cook made it clear that winning was his priority and that he’s less concerned about the money. He said he believed Hopkins had the same line of thinking.
“I want to go win. Like I said, the money gonna come and that’s going to happen,” Cook said. “But like as far as going to lift that [Vince Lombardi] Trophy up, he got the same mindset as me.”
While it’s interesting to debate, landing with the Cowboys is likely more fantasy than reality. And Schefter is not sure a team would even bite on signing both players.
“[Cook] was like, ‘I’d love to play with him. It would be epic.’ Now, do I think that’s going to happen? Ultimately, probably not,” Schefter said on “The Pat McAfee Show.” “But it’s not out of the question. It’s just a question of whether a team would be willing to pay both. Whether each guy might be willing to take a little bit less to be together. Again, not a likely scenario, but not out of the question.”
Hopkins has visited with the Tennessee Titans and New England Patriots. Cook has been heavily linked to the Miami Dolphins since being let go by Minnesota.
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Cowboys Proposed as Home for Superstar Free Agent Duo