Even before the 2024 NFL season started, there was ample concern among Cowboys fans and observers about the state of the team’s running game. They’d let Tony Pollard go in free agency and passed on a chance to pursue star back Derrick Henry, who preferred to play in Dallas but signed with the Ravens.

The Cowboys then let the NFL draft pass without picking a running back. Teams around the league had devalued the position, no doubt, but the Cowboys were blatantly ignoring it altogether, which seemed a bad idea. After the draft, they brought back veteran Ezekiel Elliott to pair with 2023 returnee Rico Dowdle.

Indeed, it all was a bad idea. Elliott showed himself to be washed up. Dowdle had a sold year, but took a while to get started and needs to work in tandem with a bruiser, which the Cowboys did not have on hand.

But the Cowboys did have a running back of some reputation on the roster, at least on the practice squad. And despite some desperate times in the running game, the team never used him: four-time Pro Bowler Dalvin Cook.

Cook was signed just before the start of the season, and placed on the practice squad. Fans and media members eagerly awaited his arrival in the team’s RB rotation, but it never came. Cook played just two games all season, with eight carries for 20 yards.

One of the great mysteries remains: Why didn’t Cook play more? What did the Cowboys have to lose by not putting him on the field?

It’s all a moot point now. This week the Cowboys cut ties with Cook completely, deleting him from the team’s practice squad. Cook, who is still just 29, might be washed up, but he will hit free agency and see if he can give himself a chance to prove otherwise.

Cowboys’ Running-Back Room Facing Questions

As for what’s next in the Cowboys’ running game, only two running backs are under contract—Malik Davis and Deuce Vaughn. Davis is a practice-squadder, and Vaughn had just 17 carries for 70 yards last year. Dowdle is a free agent who has earned a raise, having rushed for 1,079 yards on the 2024 season.

Whether the Cowboys would pay him that raise is another issue. Remember, they let Pollard fo on a three-year, $21 million contract after he rushed for 1,004 yards in 2023. Dowdle could be in line for a bigger payday.

There’s also a strong chance the Cowboys finally draft a running back. Boise State star Ashton Jeanty has been vocal about hoping that Dallas picks in, though the Cowboys would have to use the No. 12 overall pick to make that happen.

“I would love to play for the Cowboys,” Jeanty told Pat Doney of NBC. “It’d be like a dream come true. Obviously, I used to play in their practice stadium, and all our home games in high school even my freshman year when we came down here for the Frisco Bowl, we practiced there again.

“So, it would just feel like I’m at home, honestly. I ain’t going to say too much, but Dallas, they’ve always had a good running back, and when they’ve got a good running back, they play a lot better.”