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Reports out of Minnesota say the Vikings are getting ready to cut bait with running back Dalvin Cook. The four-time Pro Bowler has been mentioned in trade talks throughout the offseason, but now his outright release “seems likely if not completely certain.”
According to ESPN’s Kevin Seifert, the Vikings are prepared to hand the starting job over to Alexander Mattison and let Cook hit waivers. The Miami Dolphins and Buffalo Bills are considered the odds-on favorites to pick him up. Don’t count out the Philadelphia Eagles, though.
The Eagles are currently +700 to land Cook which gives them the fourth-best odds of all teams in the running. Sportsline’s Matt Severance added fuel to the fire with a convincing case for why Philadelphia might go for Cook:
The Philadelphia Eagles are clearly all-in for Super Bowl 58 after coming up just short in Super Bowl 57 vs. Kansas City, and they did lose leading rusher Miles Sanders. Philly replaced him with former Seahawks tailback Rashaad Penny, but he’s really injury-prone. The team also has trade acquisition D’Andre Swift (also injury-prone and more of a pass-catcher), Kenneth Gainwell and Boston Scott. Thus, tailback isn’t really a need — but when your title window is open, you go for it.
Cook Mocked to Eagles in Pre-Draft Blockbuster
There was plenty of smoke around Cook and the Eagles going back to the pre-draft period. NFL Network’s Chad Reuter had Philadelphia sending the No. 10 pick to Minnesota in exchange for No. 23 in 2023, plus No. 87 (third round) and a 2024 first-rounder. Obviously, that deal never got consummated. Instead, the Eagles rescued hometown hero D’Andre Swift from Detroit.
Swift is expected to battle for the starting running back job at camp with former Seahawk Rashaad Penny. Picking up Cook wouldn’t seem to make a ton of sense at this point, although the Eagles were high on him coming out of college. They did an in-depth scouting report on him back in 2017.
Fran Duffy broke down his tape: “He’s got lightning-quick feet and the ability to get downhill and pull away from defenders in space, but really an underrated part of his game is his ability to read between the lines here. Dalvin Cook is explosive. He’s got the ability to make big plays both in the run game and in the passing game as a receiver.”
Nick Sirianni Voiced Support for RB Room
Head coach Nick Sirianni seems to like the depth the Eagles have in the running back room. He made sure to point that out when answering a post-draft question about Swift. He’s another talented chess piece in what should be an explosive position to watch at training camp.
“We really are happy with our running back room. This was just another great piece to add,” Sirianni said of Swift on April 29. “But you can definitely see his ability to make people miss in space, and you saw that against our defense last year. He had some unbelievable runs against us last year, where you look at each other like man, that guy is hard to tackle. So, he has the ability to make you miss and also accelerate through the hole, which will serve us well in some of the draws that we run and some of the RPOs that we run.”
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