Star Playmaker Dalvin Cook Sends Sales Pitch to Cowboys

NFL star Dalvin Cook remains a free agent and the playmaker made his pitch for joining the Dallas Cowboys. To be fair, Cook was asked by ESPN’s Louis Riddick about his potential fit in Dallas. While Cook’s comments were not unprompted, it does show the Pro Bowler has an interest in joining the Cowboys.

“Yeah Dallas, they’ve been right there [in recent seasons],” Cook when asked about the Cowboys during a July 29, 2023 “NFL Live” interview. “Just need to turn that page [over] the last few years. And like you said, T.P. [Tony Pollard] is a great running back. Just partnering up with a great running back, with a great running mate, it’d be good, man. So hey, I don’t know.”

Cook has posted four straight seasons topping 1,000 yards with the Vikings. The veteran had 264 carries for 1,173 yards and 8 touchdowns while also adding 39 receptions for 295 yards and 2 TDs in 2022. The Vikings released Cook in June choosing to move on from the final three seasons of Cook’s $63 million contract.

Here is a look at Cook’s comments about the Cowboys as a potential landing spot.

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Tony Pollard’s $10 Million Salary Makes the Potential Pursuit of Dalvin Cook Unlikely for the Dallas Cowboys

Cook appears open to joining the Cowboys but things are more complicated than Dallas simply running to the Pro Bowler with a new contract. The Cowboys are already on the hook for $10 million with Tony Pollard alone, a high price for an NFL running back given the continuous financial decline at the position.

Cook is unlikely to find something similar to his previous $63 million deal, but the running back is expected to land a more lucrative deal than the one Dallas is willing to offer. The Cowboys just moved off of Ezekiel Elliott’s $90 million contract and signing another high-priced veteran running back would likely be unappealing.

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Dalvin Cook Is Likely Out of the Dallas Cowboys’ Price Range, Says Insider

Sports Illustrated’s Mike Fisher reported that the Cowboys’ are unlikely in Cook’s financial range given Pollard’s $10 million salary. Dallas would need Cook to receive lowball offers from other interested teams to have a realistic chance at the former Vikings star.

“The problem with Cook’s eyelash-batting? A Dallas source reiterated to CowboysSI.com’s the team’s position on Cook,” Fisher wrote on July 29. “There is great respect for his talent. But there is no interest in employing two running backs both making more than $10 million APY.

“So that’s the end of that … unless for some reason the offers from the Jets, Patriots, Dolphins and Bills – all AFC East foes jousting for Cook’s services – all evaporate.”

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Jerry Jones on RB Contracts: ‘It’s Gotten More Quarterback Friendly & Less Running Back Friendly’

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones cited an evolving financial system in the league as the major reason why there has been a shift in running backs’ contracts in recent years. Jones hinted that the Cowboys have evolved their thinking of spending at the position since signing Elliott to a $90 million contract in 2019.

“There’s no free lunch,” Jones told reporters on July 25. “You have to weigh the impact to the team on every decision that you make and the system will cause it to evolve. And the system has gotten more [favorable], relative to the budgets that you have, it’s gotten more quarterback friendly and less running back friendly. That isn’t just the Cowboys. That’s the game as it is today.”

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