Do You Recognize the NFL’s Top Free Agent?
The Minnesota Vikings suddenly own the NFL’s eighth-most dollars via cap space as mandatory minicamp kicks off Tuesday.
The number ballooned for Minnesota after the club released running back Dalvin Cook last week.
Do You Recognize the NFL’s Top Free Agent?
And don’t look now, but according to ESPN, Cook is considered the blue-chip free agent on the open market right now.
ESPN’s Matt Bowen ranked the 12 best free agents leaguewide as of June 9th, and Cook lived at No. 1. Bowen explained, “The best cutback runner in the league, Cook topped the 1,000-yard rushing mark in 2022 for the fourth straight season. The downhill acceleration still jumps out on the tape, and Cook can create big plays; he had 66 rushes of 10 or more yards over the past two seasons.”
The Vikings drafted Cook in 2017, and the Florida State alumnus places fourth in rushing yards (5,993) and sixth in rushing touchdowns (47) since.
“Cook fits best with a zone-run team that will also deploy him in the pass game, given his ball-carrying vision and open-field juice after the catch,” Bowen concluded.
The soon-to-be 28-year-old likely won’t remain a free agent for too long. NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero said on The Rich Eisen Show last week that Cook and his representation will probably decline any contract offer of $5 million or less, as Cook hopes to still fetch upper-echelon RB money. Once he and a team meet in the middle, Cook should be on deck for RB1 duty in September.
Cook was scheduled for a $14.1 million cap hit with the Vikings in 2023, a number too rich for an analytics-focused general manager’s blood. Kwesi Adofo-Mensah re-signed Cook’s teammate, Alexander Mattison, in March for two years and $7 million, and the veteran halfback is on deck for RB1 duty in Cook’s stead this season.
Mattison, second-year RB Ty Chandler, kick returner Kene Nwangu, and rookie DeWayne McBride will replace Cook’s RB1 production, perhaps in a committee fashion.
Frontrunners to land Cook in free agency? The Miami Dolphins, Denver Broncos, New York Jets, and Buffalo Bills. The Dallas Cowboys, Chicago Bears, or Kansas City Chiefs could also express interest, according to oddsmakers.
The other top remaining free agents defined by Bowen included DeAndre Hopkins (WR), Yannick Ngakoue (EDGE), Marcus Peters (CB), and Dalton Risner (OG).
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.
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