Eagles NFC East Review: Cowboys Sign Dalvin Cook

The Philadelphia Eagles have created the blueprint to having a successful team without paying a top running back in recent years... even if they've gone away from that in 2024.

The idea of paying a collective of running backs to star in a backfield together is so that no one player runs himself into the ground late in the year.

That plan only works if the running backs aren't already broken down, though.

When it comes to the Dallas Cowboys, they still haven't gotten the memo.

The Cowboys signed four-time Pro Bowl running back Dalvin Cook to join their current backfield. While Cook begins on the practice squad, the reality is that the former Vikings runner will have an opportunity to get elevated to the 53-man roster.

Once there, he joins the likes of the aging Ezekiel Elliott and young runners such as Rico Dowdle and Deuce Vaughn. The problem Dallas faces is that the primes of Elliott and Cook are well gone - making the recent signing pretty confusing.

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Signing Cook - a similar player to Elliott's stature, means that the Cowboys have three different power backs with two coming-off seasons that were mediocre at best or (in the case of Cook) the worst of their careers.

It makes Dallas' approach to the running back position confusing - and Philadelphia's change of heart at the position even more enticing.