After a frustrating 2023 season and an extended free agency, Dalvin Cook has found his next home with the Dallas Cowboys, signing with their practice squad on Wednesday.
The 29-year-old running back said Thursday that despite his path to playing time looking a little different than what he’s experienced for most of his career, he’s nevertheless eager to contribute to the Cowboys’ offense in whatever capacity is expected of him.
“Obviously I feel like this is a great opportunity for me to come in and help a great organization to win football games,” Cook said. “And as I look around and I look at the running back room, it’s a bunch of guys that I can go in there and run the football with.
Cook has extensive experience in taking on a role as a bell-cow running back, averaging 18.5 carries per game in his last four seasons -- all Pro Bowl campaigns -- as a Viking from 2019 to 2022.
Over that span Cook accumulated four consecutive 1,000-plus rushing seasons, with his peak coming in 2020 with a 1,557-yard and 16-TD finish on the ground in 14 games.
However, after joining the ill-fated Jets in 2023, Cook saw a sharp downturn in usage, starting just one game (15 appearances) and recording 214 yards on 67 regular-season carries. He signed to the Ravens’ roster for the postseason, Cook added on just eight totes for 23 yards.
“Yeah, it was different. I don’t want to say disappointing, I learned a lot,” Cook said. “For me, I always take things as a lesson, for me that’s just how I take it, but no hard feelings or nothing. I just grow from it.”
With the struggles of the most recent season and his age -- on the older side for a running back -- in mind, Cook received questions Thursday as to whether he believes he still has the stuff he showed in Minnesota and will be able to show it off with his new team, a worry Cook emphatically dismissed.
"I got it. It’s right here, I’ve got it," he said.
Now he’ll try to prove that assertion in his upcoming eighth season, with the goal to work his way up from the practice squad to a spot on the active roster. But he’ll be doing so knowing his usage in the Dallas backfield would be much different than in Minnesota.
The Cowboys plan to go for a committee-based approach in 2024, with no running back tabbed as the main player in the system yet. The trio of Ezekiel Elliott, Rico Dowdle and Deuce Vaughn are expected to share snaps, though to what degree is so far unknown. If Cook were to be elevated to the active roster he’d join this rotation, a change of pace he is embracing.
“My years in Minnesota it was Dalvin, Dalvin, Dalvin, just give him the ball,” he said. “Now, just a little adjustment, help everybody, be productive, and that's just my mindset. I'm going to be ready to go.
"Being around Zeke, I can obviously learn a lot from him. He's older than me. Just soaking up the game, still. Learning from the young guys, too. Just being a part of this group, I feel like we're going to push each other.”
The Cowboys will kick off the regular season in just over a week when they face the Cleveland Browns on Sept. 8.