The Cincinnati Bengals going after the recently-released Dalvin Cook in free agency might seem like a fun idea — but Ezekiel Elliott remains a better option.
It’s not hard to see why fans might raise an eyebrow at Cook, though. Going into his age-28 season, he’s posted four straight 1,000-yard seasons, including 1,557 with 16 touchdowns in 2020, averages 4.7 yards per carry for his career and has production as a receiver.
But the Bengals haven’t given off any hint Joe Mixon won’t be on the roster by the season opener. And when comparing the two, there are minimal cap savings to be had unless Cook signs for a shockingly low number. Cook might be a slightly better pass-blocker, but Mixon is coming off a season in which he posted his best numbers as a pro as a receiver. There’s still the tough fact he’s off the field in key passing situations because of that pass-blocking, but the gap between the two isn’t nearly as big as offseason June hype might suggest.
Which brings us back to Elliott instead.
The Bengals are more on the hunt for a complement to Mixon, if anything. They were a “finalist” for Elliott in the mind of the running back himself and the only one of those finalists not to directly shoot down the idea of signing him.
As we broke down at the time, Elliott is also going into that age-28 season and could flirt with the near-30 running back fall-off soon. He’s a better pass-blocker than Mixon though, which could make for a viable one-two punch in the backfield. He’s also likely going to command less money than Cook.
Most likely, the Bengals are probably content to roll with fifth-rounder Chase Brown and Trayveon Williams as complements to Mixon after unexpectedly losing Samaje Perine to the open market. But if we’re eyeballing free agents, Elliott still makes the most sense.
