On Monday, the Dallas Cowboys took care of their most important offensive weapon, wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, giving him a four-year contract extension worth $136 million. The Cowboys spent Tuesday trimming their roster down to 53 players.
On Wednesday, the Cowboys made a move they had needed to make for months: adding depth to the backfield.
The Dallas Cowboys have needed running back depth
![BREAKING: Dallas Cowboys Sign 4X Pro Bowl Running Back 1 Dallas Cowboys, Ezekiel Elliot](https://gridironheroics.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/USATSI_23468455_168400517_lowres-683x1024.webp)
Cowboys beat writers have been worried about the team’s depth at running back since they lost Tony Pollard in free agency. The Cowboys signed Ezekiel Elliott in April after choosing to address other needs on the roster besides running back.
Royce Freeman signed with the Cowboys in free agency, but his performance in the preseason wasn’t enough for the Cowboys to keep him on the 53-man roster. On Tuesday, the Cowboys retained running backs Elliott, Rico Dowdle, and Deuce Vaughn on the roster.
The Cowboys signaled they needed more help for their backfield when they flew in four-time Pro Bowl running back Dalvin Cook for a “promising” visit on Monday.
Dalvin Cook is signing with the Cowboys
![BREAKING: Dallas Cowboys Sign 4X Pro Bowl Running Back 2 Dallas Cowboys, Dalvin Cook](https://gridironheroics.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/USATSI_19561789-683x1024.webp)
According to Tom Pelissero with the NFL Network, the Cowboys are signing Cook on Wednesday.
By the way, we called this move in June
The Minnesota Vikings selected Cook in the second round of the 2017 NFL Draft. He signed with the New York Jets last summer. However, he didn’t see much action following Aaron Rodgers’ Achilles injury, and the Jets released him in January. He signed with the Baltimore Ravens in January to help with their playoff run.
Cook has appeared in 88 games and made 73 starts. He’s rushed 1,349 times for 6,207 yards and 47 touchdowns. Between Cook and Elliott, the Cowboys running back room has seven Pro Bowl appearances.
The Cowboys backfield has aging stars at RB
![BREAKING: Dallas Cowboys Sign 4X Pro Bowl Running Back 3 Dallas Cowboys, Dalvin Cook](https://gridironheroics.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/USATSI_11919137_168400517_lowres-e1724715392132-1024x989.webp)
The experience comes with one downside: age. Elliott and Cook are 29. The NFL favors young running backs because aging veterans typically give diminishing returns. Elliott and Cook were expected to be rational running backs last season.
The Cowboys will expect them to play a more prominent role on the offense this season. That’ll be a tall order for a team in win-now mode.
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