The Miami Dolphins lost out on adding Dalvin Cook, with the veteran inking a deal with the rival New York Jets, but head coach Mike McDaniel likes the current crew in his running backs room.
"I'm very happy with our running back group," he said Wednesday, via the team's official transcript. "There's been a ton of development since camp started for already talented guys that I very much believe in. So overall, I'm really pumped with the running back group. As far as other team's transactions, really, I haven't even paid that much attention other than to what is today? Today is practice. The 16th of August. And I'm very happy with the crew that we're going to compete with and pumped to compete against this unit, too."
The Dolphins re-signed four players from last year's backfield -- Raheem Mostert, Jeff Wilson Jr., Salvon Ahmed, Myles Gaskin -- and added third-round speedster De'Von Achane.
Despite bringing back their top two options, Miami became a destination linked to Cook. However, it always seemed like a luxury item. The Dolphins would gladly add a player of Cook's caliber, but they wouldn't pony up a lot of dough. NFL Network's Cameron Wolfe reported that the club's talks with Cook didn't get close to the money he received from the Jets -- up to $8.6 million for one year.
Miami's rushing attack struggled early last year before trading for Wilson midway through the campaign. Mostert, who led the Dolphins with 891 yards in 16 games last season, and Wilson project to split carries early in the season. Achane should play the pass-catching role out of the gate and could siphon off carries as the year progresses.
With the trio healthy, it makes sense that the Dolphins weren't willing to match the Jets' offer for Cook. Now, however, Miami must face the South Florida native twice this season, with the first matchup coming Friday, Nov. 24, at MetLife Stadium.
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