Controversial Social Media Photos All the Current Buzz for Vikings
Dustin Baker
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Sometimes it’s ‘likes.’ In other circumstances, it’s NFL players’ scrubbing Instagram profiles of any team references.
Now, it’s cover photos. Yes, those.
Controversial Social Media Photos All the Current Buzz for Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings recently opted to showcase Alexander Mattison — not Dalvin Cook — in its social media cover photos, fueling speculation that Cook will be released or traded. General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah traded outside linebacker Za’Darius Smith last week, so Cook must be next, right?
The Fantasy Football Show first noticed Mattison-not-Cook in the Vikings graphic last Friday and tweeted, “The Vikings have Mattison featured on their cover photo here on Twitter too ?. The rumors of Dalvin Cook going to the Atlanta Florida Dolphins are at an all-time high as well…will be interesting to see where he lands if he’s released.”:
To get started, this is the Vikings current Twitter cover photo:
At the top left, that’s Mattison instead of Cook. And Cook has been ‘the guy’ in Vikings social media graphics, such as this, in the past. Minnesota re-signed Mattison for two years and $7 million in March when many fans believed the Boise State alumnus would fetch a contract with a new team. But no cigar, as Mattison re-upped with the Vikings, seeming to signal an RB1 job afoot.
Then, six weeks later, Adofo-Mensah selected UAB’s DeWayne McBride from Round 7 of the 2023 NFL Draft, a halfback who would’ve been a 3rd-Rounder or so five years ago or if the NFL still valued running backs like in years past. Newsflash: they don’t.
Meanwhile, the Vikings also employ Ty Chandler and Kene Nwangwu at RB, so, you know — what on earth is going on? This is too many RBs — was the mindset this spring.
Well, between Mattison’s re-signing, last year’s addition of Chandler, and this year’s addition of McBride, Cook is indeed probably on his way out. It’s not that mysterious, especially when one peels back the salary cap curtain and realizes Minnesota can save about $9 to 11 million by cutting or trading Cook after June 1st.
Last weekend, a new option entered the Cook hubbub. Adofo-Mensah might be trying to ‘do right by’ the 27-year-old. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler said on SportsCenter, “Dalvin Cook’s future has been sort of open-ended recently. I was told from a source that the Vikings want to do right by Dalvin Cook. Right now, they’re willing to hold on to his cap hit of around $14 million until they figure this all out.”
Perhaps Minnesota’s loyalty to Cook — he’s been a beloved Viking for six seasons — is ‘holding up the show’ for his exodus, with a side dish of the financial benefit of waiting until June 1st.
But all the clues — including the social media photos — indicate Cook will be jettisoned soon. It’s a waiting game.
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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