Vikings could look to move on from RB Dalvin Cook
Running back Dalvin Cook played a full season for the first time in his six-year NFL career in 2022, and yet it’s possible the Minnesota Vikings may not bring back the 1,000-yard rusher.
It’s not that Cook had an unproductive year, in fact quite the opposite. But Cook’s $14.1M cap hit, according to Judd Zulgad of the USA Today, is merely too much money for a cash-strapped team like the Vikings, who are approximately $23M over the cap, to absorb.
“(GM) Adofo-Mensah is more of an analytics guy and that likely means his philosophy is that paying big bucks to backs is a bad idea,” Zulgad said. “… Cook will cost the Vikings $6.1M in dead cap money if he’s jettisoned, but he also will save them $7.9M to the cap and that’s valuable. Could the Vikings’ attempt to trade Cook? Absolutely, and they probably will. But it’s questionable what type of return they might get for an aging player who has had injury issues.”
Cook is coming off the second-most productive season of his career. He rushed for 1,173 yards and eight touchdowns while adding 39 receptions for 295 yards and two more scores.
He’s rushed for over 1,000 yards each of the last four seasons but he’s missed 13 games over the last five years for various injuries.
According to Vikings insider Darren Wolfson of KSTP, Cook’s trade value is no more than a third-round pick. Wolfson said just a few days ago he believes if the Vikings are offered a Day 2 draft pick for Cook that they’ll pounce.
If Cook is cut before June 1, Minnesota would eat $6.2M in dead money but gain $7.89M in cap savings. If the Vikings cut him after June 1, they’ll absorb just $3.1M in dead money and save $11M, according to Over the Cap.
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