Dec 9, 2021; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings running back Dalvin Cook. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports.
Friday has hit the calendar, and after months of speculation, it is the day when Minnesota Vikings running back Dalvin Cook can be traded for the most sapient cap savings — if the team is interested in the trade strategy at all.
Back in March, Cook was the subject of trade rumors, mainly because he’s scheduled to incur a $14.1 million cap hit against the Vikings books in 2023. That number was too rich to accommodate, or so onlookers thought, and Minnesota employs an analytics-focused general manager in Kwesi Adofo-Mensah who would likely shed the ginormous salary.
It just hasn’t happened yet.
Effective now, if the Vikings trade Cook, they’ll save $11 million in 2023 cap space while acquiring a mid-to-late-round draft from somebody. And according to Outkick’s Armando Salguero, the somebody could be the Miami Dolphins or Buffalo Bills.
Salguero wrote Thursday, “Count the Miami Dolphins, who gain some $13.6 million in cap space from a post-June 1 cut of cornerback Byron Jones, as one of the leading candidates to be interested in Cook if he’s suddenly a free agent.”
He believes Cook could be released, which would be a little strange because Adofo-Mensah could’ve executed the move anytime in the last three months with a post-June-1st designation, enabling Cook to have multiple suitors on the open market. But Minnesota did not outright release Cook, suggesting he’ll be traded or retained in 2023.
Salguero continued, “Cook is from Miami. Has made it known through sources he’d like to play either for the Dolphins or with his brother James Cook on the Bills. And the Vikings have let it known Cook probably isn’t in their future.”
So, if you’re keeping score at home and trust Salguero’s sourcing, it’s the Dolphins and Bills to circle on your scorecards. Those destinations, too, are nothing new. Miami was at the top of the list when the Cook rumor mill ignited before free agency. Since then, however, the AFC club re-signed its 2022 running backs and drafted Texas A&M’s Devon Achane in the NFL draft. Adding Cook now would create a crowded house at RB — but that’s for Mike McDaniel to figure out if the Dolphins chatter is legitimate.
If nothing occurs in the next week via the prolonged Cook Sweepstakes, the Vikings may hold onto the 27-year-old until training camp, examining the NFL’s lay of the land until a team needs Cook because of injury to an existing player or otherwise.
In theory, Cook could also accept a paycut if he and his agent learn his market value is less than the proposed paycut from the Vikings.
Cook will turn 28 in August and is the third-leading rusher in Vikings history behind Adrian Peterson and Robert Smith.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sal Spice. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band).
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.