Alec Ingold makes pitch for Dalvin Cook to join Miami Dolphins

Dalvin Cook is one of the hottest free agents in the NFL this season. Rumors have tied the former All-Pro running back heavily to the Miami Dolphins — and now even their players are starting to make pitches to lure Cook to South Beach.

“Man, we’ve got a plethora of backs right now,” Miami fullback Alec Ingold said on SiriusXM NFL Radio. “Especially with our [third]-round pick Devon [Achane], Raheem Mostert, Jeff Wilson, Myles Gaskin, Savon Ahmed — we’ve got some dogs here. So having Dalvin Cook in the mix, that competition breeds excellence, man.

“You want as [many] good, quality backs as you can possibly have — especially in our offense when guys can really make something happen with it.”

Mostert and Wilson Jr. combined for 1,283 rushing yards last season, but neither was able to surpass the 1,000-yard mark individually. No other returner rushed for more than 100 yards last season, so Cook would be a more than welcome addition to the Miami rushing attack.

To Ingold’s point — the versatility of head coach Mike McDaniel’s play-calling, who has hinted at wanting to run the ball more in 2023 — gives Cooks more options to play his brand of football. After all, Cook has been surprisingly transparent about his interest in teams, especially Miami.

His list of needs comes down to teams with a winning record, that can stretch the field and run outside zone schemes, which Miami does — Cook’s favorite. He grew up in Miami, too, and trains there regularly each offseason, which doesn’t hurt.

“You can touch [the football] in a million different ways,” Ingold said. “You’ve got out of the backfield, you’ve got in the backfield, outside zone, inside zone, we’re going to run some routes. So, it’s, man — more backs. Give me all the backs. Can we have 15 running backs in the training camp room? I would love it.”

Before his free agency, Cook spent six seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, where the former Florida State standout was selected by the Vikings in the second round of the 2017 NFL Draft. Since then, he’s been a star in Minnesota out of the backfield.

Since joining the franchise, Cook has earned four Pro Bowl appearances. He’s rushed for 5,993 yards with 47 touchdowns on the ground, adding 1,794 receiving yards and five scores on 221 catches. Cook still rushed for over 1,000 last season and reached the end zone 10 total times for Minnesota. It marked the fourth-straight year in which he hit the rushing milestone.