Bills Trade for Dalvin Cook to Replace Devin Singletary? How it Could Work
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The Buffalo Bills have yet to make a serious move in free agency to address their running back room for 2023.
Unless their plan is to rely solely on running back James Cook as a RB1 in his second season in the league, the Bills - with free agent Devin Singletary now gone to Houston - will likely need to sign a veteran (maybe Ezekiel Elliott or Leonard Fournette?) to give themselves a running-back-by-committee approach for next season.
But what if the Bills are looking to add a true RB1? And what if they don't even need to look toward free agency in order to do so?
Of course, the most obvious player for the Bills in that scenario would be Minnesota Vikings running back Dalvin Cook, the brother of Buffalo running back James Cook. Dalvin has already been a hot trade topic for Bills Mafia this offseason due to the family connection and the fact that the Vikings could deal him away in cap-clearing move. The team has reportedly already received trade offers for the star ball-carrier.
And now, in a recent trade idea from Bleacher Report, we can see what a potential Bills-Vikings trade would look like with Dalvin as the centerpiece.
In this scenario, BR has a potential deal occurring either a bit before or during the 2023 NFL Draft in April.
Bills get - Dalvin Cook
Vikings get - 2023 second-round pick (No. 59)
While running backs have become some of the most expendable players in the league due to the nature of the position, giving up just a second-round pick to add a guy like Dalvin is a price the Bills should be willing to pay, as he's been one of the league's most consistent ball-carriers over the past handful of seasons ... and he's still only 27.
Cook has topped at least 1,000 rushing yards and six total touchdowns in each of the last four seasons. He's also not too far removed from his incredible 2020 season, which saw him finish second in the league in rushing yards (1,557) and tied for second in rushing touchdowns (16).
Dalvin's brother has even caught wind of the trade rumors, responding recently on Twitter in typical eye-emoji fashion.
Despite all this, the Bills may not feel that trading away a second-pick along with taking on Dalvin's contract is worth it for a running back who could very well hit a decline as soon as next season. Additionally, he's been a bit injury prone in previous years, though maybe there's room for optimism after he played the full 17-game slate this past season.
But if they want to be convinced, the Bills might have to look no further than the 81-yard rushing touchdown Dalvin scored against them in a thrilling 33-30 overtime win for the Vikings on Nov. 13.
You can follow Zach Dimmitt on Twitter at @ZachDimmitt7
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