Kelly: Is Dalvin Cook Worth His Asking Price From Dolphins?

Take a look at what the NFL's highest paid backs earn this season and compare it to what Dalvin Cook is reportedly seeking from his next team

It has been reported that Dalvin Cook and his team are seeking a new deal that will pay the talented 27-year-old tailback north of $7 million a season.

It’s doubtful that any team has put that type of offer on the table, otherwise the South Florida native would have likely been signed, and wouldn’t be playing this waiting game.

But how much sense does a $7-8 million a year salary make for his suitors, which are reportedly the Miami Dolphins, New York Jets, New England Patriots and Denver Broncos when factoring in the currant tailback landscape?

That’s something I wanted to dig into this week after hearing the NFL Network's Tom Pelissero mention a $7-8 million asking price for Cook, who was one of the five highest paid tailbacks in the NFL before the Minnesota Vikings released him last month as a cost cutting mechanism.

Top five back all clear $10 million

San Francisco’s Christian McCaffrey, whom the 49ers traded for at midseason last year and rode all the way to the NFC Championship game, will have the highest take home salary in 2023 for all tailbacks.

McCaffrey will make $12 million this season after restructuring his contract to help the 49ers create cap space this offseason. McCaffrey pushed $10.72 million to a roster bonus and will make $1,080,000 as a base salary this season.

For comparison's sake, he’ll also be slated to make $12 million a year in 2024 and 2025, but all those are option years, which means none of it is guaranteed. But the 49ers would have to release him to avoid paying that $12 million a season price tag.

New Orleans’ Alvin Kamara will be the second highest paid tailback in the NFL this season, earning $11 million in 2023. And that’s after doing a similar restructured deal to help the Saints create cap space.

Kamara is slotted to make $11.8 million next season and his release creates an identical amount of cap space for the Saints, which are projected to be $61 million over the projected salary cap in 2024.

Tennessee’s Derrick Henry could make $11 million this season if he reached all his incentives. But $10.5 million is his base salary, and this will likely be his final season with the Titans, which reportedly shopped him all offseason.

This is the last year of Henry's deal with the Titans because the remaining two seasons are voidable.

Cleveland’s Nick Chubb will earn $10.85 million in 2023, and Green Bay will potentially pay Aaron Jones $10.06 million after he re-worked his initial four-year, $48 million deal to shorten it into a two-year deal that is potentially worth $23 million.

Backs with franchise tags remain unsigned

Then we’ve got the three tailbacks - Saquon Barkley, Tony Pollard and Josh Jacobs - who have been slapped with the franchise tag, which is worth $10.1 million.

We can pretend all we want that Barkley, Pollard and Jacobs won’t show up for work, but the odds of them pulling a Le’Veon Bell, sitting out the entire season because they are unwilling to play on the franchise tag is slim.

With this new CBA the players have very little no leverage when it comes to contract disputes, so expect the Giants, Cowboys and Raiders to have their star backs signed by the time the regular season arrives if they don't get a multi-year deal done sooner.

Now we get into the under-$10 million club, which is headed by Cincinnati’s Joe Mixon, who has the potential to make $8.7 million if he plays every game next season, fulfilling his per game roster bonuses.

Year one cap hit can be manageable

We've finally reach the salary neighborhood Cook is trying to reside in, at least for this season.

If I were an interested team I’d be tempted to use the new four-year, $25.4 million deal Miles Sanders got from the Carolina Panthers as a free agent this offseason after rushing for 1,269 yards and scoring 11 touchdowns for the Philadelphia Eagles last season as a benchmark for Cook.

Sanders, who will make $6.98 million this season, had $13 million of that contract guaranteed, and received a $5.9 million signing bonus. His cap number is $2.5 million this season, and it escalates to $7.7 million next year, which is when the guaranteed portion of that contract concludes.

If Miami offered Cook an identical deal to Sanders' he’d be locked up for two seasons at a relatively affordable rate, and one that wouldn’t drastically deplete this year’s cap space, which would allow Miami to re-sign an impending free agent or two with the team's remaining cap space.

A more realistic deal to use as a blueprint would be the three-year, $21 million deal James Conner got from the Arizona Cardinals last offseason. Conner will earn $6.44 million this season, and based on the details of that contract, which guaranteed the former Steelers starter $13.5 million, and paid him a $6 million signing bonus, the year one cap hit was just shy of $4 million.

Los Angeles Chargers tailback Austin Ekeler and David Montgomery, who signed a free agent deal with the Detroit Lions, are tied for the NFL’s 12th highest paid tailbacks, taking home $6.25 million for the 2023 season.

Ekeler is in the final year of a four-year, $24.5 million deal he signed in 2020 as a restricted free agent, and has expressed his desire to get a new deal done, or be traded this offseason. 

Montgomery received a three-year deal worth $18 million from the Lions, which guaranteed him $8.75 million. He also received a $4.5 million signing bonus, and his year one cap hit is $2.84 million. 

Montgomery's year two cap hit jumps to $6.87 million, and he likely won’t see the final season of that contract unless he outperforms it, and it becomes team friendly.

That's a total of 12 tailbacks who will take home $6 million or more this season.

It is clear Cook, who has rushed for more than 1,100 yards for four straight seasons, feels he’s still a top 10 tailback, and wants to be compensated like one. 

It’ll be interesting to see if, and when a team meets his asking price, and which organization it will be.