3 best destinations for DeAndre Hopkins, Dalvin Cook as a duo

No. 1 landing spot for DeAndre Hopkins-Dalvin Cook duo: Miami Dolphins

The Miami Dolphins are on the rise. While the AFC can feel like a three-horse race between Kansas City, Buffalo, and Cincinnati, it wouldn’t be wise to count Miami out of the race entirely. A lot is riding on the health and development of Tua Tagovailoa under center.

When he’s right, Tua is one of the sport’s most aesthetically pleasing passers. He frequently slings his trademark high-arcing lefty dimes downfield for the Dolphins’ zippy receiving corps, which is spearheaded by two of the fastest humans alive: Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle.

Hopkins would present a slight change of pace. He doesn’t have the same burst and acceleration, at least not at this stage of his career, but he’s a bigger receiver who can thrive on short routes while still giving Tua another long-range target every now and again. The Dolphins would immediately have the most fearsome wide receiver trio in the NFL.

It’s Cook, however, who would be the real crown jewel of Miami’s offseason. The Dolphins’ current RB group is fine, but it’s not the kind of dream rotation that gets fans out of bed in the morning. Raheem Mostert and Jeff Wilson Jr. are both established, reliable vets with complementary skill sets. That’s enough to get the job done in today’s NFL. Even so, Cook is still one of the top workhorse backs in the league — at least, that’s how the Vikings treated him.

The Dolphins should be eager to invite a vicious, forceful downhill runner of Cook’s caliber into the offense. He would add new wrinkles to Miami’s early-down, short-yardage playbook, in turn setting up Hill, Waddle, and Hopkins for more big plays down the field.