Dalvin Cook Signs with New York Jets: Fantasy Football Impact (2023)

Dalvin Cook has agreed to a deal with the New York Jets, joining his former NFC North nemesis Aaron Rodgers in the AFC East. It feels like forever ago that the Minnesota Vikings released Cook, but that might be because there were rumors that he was on his way out of Minnesota for months before they actually pulled the trigger on releasing him. Let’s take a look at what this means for the fantasy values of Cook and some of the other offensive playmakers on the Jets.

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Dalvin Cook Signs with New York Jets

The dream for Cook was probably the Dolphins or, if things really went south with Joe Mixon, the Bengals, right? The Dolphins had a crowded backfield but showed an early interest in Cook, but things ultimately didn’t materialize there, and Miami took De’Von Achane in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft. And when Miami didn’t work out, we entered a waiting period.

The fit with the Jets is an interesting one. On the one hand, New York has an excellent incumbent RB in Breece Hall who impressed during his rookie season. But Hall missed the second half of the season with a torn ACL and began training camp on the PUP list. The Jets have third-year RB Michael Carter and rookie Israel Abanikanda behind Hall, but the former has seemingly fallen out of favor after a promising rookie year, and the latter is an unproven fifth-round rookie. With Super Bowl aspirations now that they’ve paired Aaron Rodgers with their excellent defense, the Jets are clearly trying to capitalize on the small window they’ve opened. That means Cook should receive plenty of opportunities in this offense, especially if Hall is limited to start the season.

Free-agent RB Dalvin Cook is planning to sign a one-year deal worth up to $8.6 million with the New York Jets, per source. pic.twitter.com/SU95TqaQL4

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 14, 2023

What the Dalvin Cook Signing Means for Breece Hall

At first glance, Cook signing in New York isn’t great news for Breece Hall, right? But if you look a little bit closer…nope, it’s still bad. The immediate concern here is that it means Hall isn’t as healthy as he or the Jets would like him to be as he recovers from last year’s ACL tear. The Jets have said they’re optimistic he’ll be ready for Week 1, but he started training camp on the PUP list. And even if he’s “ready” for the season open, are the Jets really comfortable giving their young RB a full workload right away?

The Jets open the season with a six-week GAUNTLET of a schedule: Bills (home), Cowboys (away), Patriots (home), Chiefs (home), Broncos (away), Eagles (home) before their bye in Week 7. And even after their bye, three of their next five games are against the Chargers, Bills and Dolphins. If they really want to make a Super Bowl run this season, they can’t take the risk that Hall isn’t 100% and ready for a full workload.

For fantasy managers, this is a dagger. Not only does it make concerns about Hall’s health greater, but even a completely healthy Hall will now be sharing the workload with a Pro Bowl RB. Hall is currently 23 in FantasyPros ECR with an ADP of 24 in Half PPR. With the Cook signing, look for him to drop about a full round in most drafts.