Well, this was an unceremonious end for a franchise player. The Minnesota Vikings have officially cut Dalvin Cook after being unable to find a bidder for the running back’s services on the trade market, ending the 6-year tenure of one of the franchise’s most prolific backs.
At least Cook can go to a contending team now.
The Minnesota Vikings have been unable to restructure Cook’s contract or find a suitable trade partner to take on the running back’s services, thus ending Cook’s Vikings career with a silent, sad, and bitter whisper. And, even though I get the idea behind the move, I’m not really sure why the Vikings felt the need to move on from Cook so desperately.
The Vikings are going to be hard pressed to find a running back as prolific on both sides of the football as Dalvin Cook has been for the team these last six years as the now former Vikings garnered an impressive 1,282 CAR, 5,993 rushing yards, 47 rushing TDs, 4.7 yards/carry, 221 receptions, 1,794 receiving yards, 5 receiving TDs, and 8.1 receiving yards/catch.
Oh, and Cook has earned 4 Pro Bowl nods and has been named as one of the league’s 35 best players these last three years (2020: 21st, 2021: 20th, 2022: 31st) by his peers. Pretty good career so far, right?
Of course, Cook is no Adrian Peterson and will never be a player that can rush for nearly 15,000 yards, have 120 rushing TDs, 3,230 rushing attempts, win the MVP award, the Offensive Player of the Year award, Rookie of the Year award, make 10 Pro Bowls, 7 All-Pro teams, and earn a spot on the 2010’s HOF All-Decade Team like the great 28 was able to do, but he’s still one of the best back in the league.
And he’s not even 28 yet.
Yes, Dalvin Cook is only 27 years old as of the time I’m writing this article and is coming off his 3rd greatest statistical season in his career with 1,1173 rushing yards, 8 rushing TDs, 39 REC, 295 receiving yards, 2 receiving TDs, a Pro Bowl inclusion, the Vikings winning the NFC North division title for the first time in 5 years, a 13-4 season, and a playoff berth for the Vikings (which they did lose 31-24 to the New York Giants).
Simply put, Cook is nowhere near a “broken down” status or too old to still be a Pro Bowl running back in this league, let alone a starter for a playoff team. So, I’m not really sure why the Vikings would so needlessly throw away one of their key pieces on offense for nothing, even if his contract was a little high.
Prior to getting released earlier today, Dalvin Cook had signed a 5-year, $64M contract extension with the Vikings during the 2020 season with an average base salary of $12.6M/year, a signing bonus of $15.5M, and a 2023 base salary of just $2M this season.
Why would they clear his salary off the books? I’ve got no idea other than the fact cutting Cook now saves $9M off their entire salary cap heading into next season…even though free agency and the draft have already passed.
To me, this move just makes no sense at all as the Vikings would be getting the “scrapes” (no offense) left off the free agent and draft class markets now, which has a very slim chance of turning into a 1/10th of a player that Cook is today. Now, unless the Vikings are preparing to make a huge offer to recent free agent WR DeAndre Hopkins or maybe Ezekiel Elliott, then I don’t know why they chose to make this move RIGHT NOW.
Anyways, I’m sure Cook will land on his feet and join a contender as I’ve seen that the Miami Dolphins are interested in him.
Imagine that high-powered offense with Dalvin Cook as the primary back? That would be a nightmare for every AFC East team.
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