RAVENS SIGN PRO BOWL RB DALVIN COOK TO THEIR PRACTICE SQUAD
Four-time Pro Bowl running back Dalvin Cook officially cleared waivers on Thursday and is signing with the Baltimore Ravens’ practice squad, as first reported by NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.
Cook, who was released by the New York Jets on Tuesday by mutual agreement, has struggled to earn game time this season and was reportedly looking to join a Super Bowl contender. Cook signed with the Jets in August on a sizable one-year, $8.6 million deal and will now have a chance at competing for the Super Bowl with Baltimore, who clinched the AFC’s no.1 seed last week against the Miami Dolphins.
The former Florida State Seminole is expected to compete for the Ravens’ third running back spot, now occupied by 31-year-old Melvin Gordon. Gordon has been on Baltimore’s practice squad all season and patiently waited for his opportunity, which came after the Ravens unfortunately lost rookie running back Keaton Mitchell to an ACL injury in Week 15.
Baltimore has been in the market for a game changing running back since the loss of no.1 running back JK Dobbins in Week 1 and had, for some time, thought they found one in Mitchell before the rookie sustained a season-ending injury against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
For now, the addition of Cook seems very much a low risk acquisition with high upside, which in the end, worked in the favor of the Ravens. Baltimore is still in connection with Cook’s agency, LAA Sports & Entertainment, which is the same organization that represents Ravens’ first-round rookie wide receiver Zay Flowers.
With the New York Jets already having paid $6.8 million of Cook’s salary this year, the Ravens are expected to only incur a maximum of $52,222 for the remainder of the regular season if Cook is elevated for the team’s game on Saturday. The former Minnesota Viking signed for the practice squad maximum weekly value of $20,600 and should have a chance to be elevated in the playoffs in two weeks, when postseason pay does not count towards the cap.
Cook was a healthy scratch for the first time in his career last week for New York against the Cleveland Browns with both team and player expecting a parting of ways. Cook had only contributed 214 total rushing yards for the Jets all season, averaging 3.2 yards per carry. Speaking in the offseason last year, Cook told NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero that he wanted to play somewhere he felt valued and wanted to establish a home for himself in the league.
“I want the value, I want somebody that values Dalvin Cook,” said Cook about his next playing destination, on the Rich Eisen Show with NFL Network reporter Tom Pelissero in June. “I want somebody that wants me to be there and wants to give me the ball. I just want to go into the right situation so I can just go help somebody win…”
“I just want to go somewhere and feel like it’s home for me. Go somewhere and help somebody win, just go be me. Just go turn it loose, [I’m] just looking for a home. That’s it.”
As for Gordon, he’s back to competing for a roster spot, exactly the same place he began the year. The ninth-year running back impressed with his first score of the year this past week against the Dolphins but registered a quiet 10 total rushing yards off of 6 carries, a figure that did almost nothing to cement his spot on the roster.
The Ravens are in the hunt for their first Super Bowl ring since 2013 and could give Cook an opportunity to contribute to that goal if he wins the third running back spot on the roster in the next two weeks. Baltimore play the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday at 4:25pm ET in their regular season finale before taking a well deserved two-week break. The team will then host one of the two AFC Divisional round games at M&T Bank Stadium for the first time since 2019.
-Maher Abucheri
Twitter: @pabloikonyero
Photo: Maryland Gov Pics. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.