Cowboys signing RB Dalvin Cook following visit

The Dallas Cowboys are adding another notable veteran to their running back room. 

Former Pro Bowler Dalvin Cook is signing with the Cowboys following his visit with the team, his agency announced Wednesday. Cook traveled to Dallas on Monday night to visit the club, NFL Media previously reported.

The star running back and four-time Pro Bowler is coming off the worst season of his seven-year career. Cook, who turned 29 earlier in August, rushed for just 214 yards on 3.2 yards per carry and didn't have a touchdown in 15 games with the New York Jets in 2023. As his workload decreased toward the end of the year, Cook requested to be released and was cut ahead of the regular-season finale. 

Cook eventually joined the Baltimore Ravens for the postseason. He rushed for 23 yards on eight carries in their divisional-round win over the Houston Texans, but didn't record a carry in their AFC Championship Game loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.

While Cook is coming off a lackluster season, there is some reason for optimism that he'll turn things around in 2024. After spending the majority of the 2023 offseason rehabbing from shoulder surgery, Cook has been able to lift weights again this offseason and feels "the best he has in years," according to NFL Media. 

Cook was one of the game's top running backs prior to 2023. He rushed for at least 1,110 yards in each season from 2019 to 2022, including a 1,173-yard campaign in 2022. He also had eight rushing touchdowns that year to go with 39 receptions for 295 yards and two touchdowns. 

The Cowboys didn't make any major running back investments after losing Tony Pollard in free agency this offseason. They brought back another top running back from the late 2010s, former Cowboys star Ezekiel Elliott, on a one-year deal, and kept a few backups who didn't see the field much for them in 2023. 

Even though Elliott enjoyed a lot of success during his first tenure in Dallas, the 29-year-old's production has tailed off consistently over the past several years. He rushed for 645 yards on 3.5 yards per carry and three touchdowns last season with the New England Patriots, splitting carries with Rhamondre Stevenson.

Still, Elliott had the most productive 2023 out of all the running backs on the Cowboys' roster and is listed as the starter on their depth chart. Rico Dowdle, who rushed for 361 yards and two touchdowns last year, is also expected to have a role out of the backfield for Dallas. 

The Cowboys' decision to sign Cook fell a day after the NFL's roster cutdown day. It also came two days after the team gave star wide receiver CeeDee Lamb a four-year, $136 million extension, ending his holdout less than two weeks before the start of the regular season.

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