The talented running back is coming off the best season of his young career and everything is pointing to him landing a lucrative extension from the Minnesota Vikings this year.
Despite missing time during his first two seasons with the team due to multiple injuries, the Minnesota Vikings never lost faith in running back Dalvin Cook. His role as the top back on the Vikings’ roster was still safe in his third year with the team and they benefited greatly from this decision in 2019.
Cook went on to set single-season career highs in rushing yards, catches, receiving yards, and touchdowns last year. His 1,654 total yards were the most by a Minnesota running back not named Adrian Peterson since 2000.
Cook is currently in the final year of his rookie contract, but there are many who believe the talented rusher will be given an extension from the Vikings before the start of the 2020 season. Especially when one considers the number of times Minnesota’s offense put the ball in Cook’s hands last year (303 touches).
There are also some who don’t believe the Vikings should invest a bunch of money in their top running back. But much of the reasoning behind this has to do with other backs whose talent levels aren’t as high as Cook’s.
Minnesota currently has a special player at the top of their running back depth chart and there are multiple reasons to believe the team will be rewarding him with a lucrative extension sometime during the next few months.
Minnesota has already done this before
Remember that guy who wore No. 28 for the Vikings from 2007 to 2016 by the name of Adrian Peterson? He’s also the guy who’s earned more money than any other running back in NFL history.
You know who paid him most of that money? Oh, that would be the Vikings.
So if there is any team who should know what to do when it comes to paying a high-level running back, it would be Minnesota. Especially since a number of people who helped sign Peterson to his lucrative deals are still working for the Vikings’ front office.
Minnesota will certainly use the experience and knowledge they gained from their contract talks with their former star running back when they negotiate an extension with Dalvin Cook this offseason.
For the most part, Peterson proved to be worth the large amounts of money the Vikings gave him. Minnesota will be will hoping for a similar outcome with the deal they give to Cook and there’s a possibility it could turn out even better with their current running back.
Minnesota’s offense is already built around Cook
In case anyone didn’t notice, the Vikings offense liked to run the ball a tiny bit in 2019. So much so that one of their top receivers in Stefon Diggs forced his way out of town in part because he wasn’t getting enough opportunities to catch passes last season.
Minnesota was willing to part with Diggs though because they know how much more important Dalvin Cook is to the success of their offense. If Cook is producing at a high level, then so is the Vikings offense.
Only three teams had more rushing attempts than Minnesota last season and with Gary Kubiak shifting into the role as the team’s offensive coordinator, this philosophy isn’t expected to change for 2020.
The Vikings’ decision to trade Diggs is also just another indication to expect more of the same from the team’s offense next season and beyond. Minnesota wouldn’t make such a big move if they were just going to part ways with Cook after 2020.
So with the Vikings continuing to base their offense around running the ball and play-action passing, they’re going to want one of the top rushers in the entire NFL to be the one leading the charge.
Cook is worth the money
Whenever the topic of extending Dalvin Cook is brought up, the argument against paying running backs is usually mixed in the conversation as well. This is a fine argument to use, but only if it’s used in relation to the running backs who don’t have the same level of talent as Cook.
Let’s look at former Vikings running back Jerrick McKinnon as an example. No one told the San Francisco 49ers to give a career backup a $30 million contract in 2018. The team’s inexperienced front office did that all on their own.
What about the New York Jets giving Le’Veon Bell $52 million last offseason? The Jets were certainly not the only team who was willing to pay top dollar for a running back who was a First-Team All-Pro selection in two of his first five seasons in the league?
Ezekiel Elliott should be included in this argument too right? Elliott got a $90 million extension from the Dallas Cowboys last year and all he did was score 14 touchdowns and finish with the second-most total yards of any player in the NFL last season.
Many are going to use Todd Gurley as part of their argument against paying running backs as well. But Gurley entered the league with knee issues and the Los Angeles Rams knew the large risk they were taking when they gave him a $57.5 million extension in 2018.
Minnesota should be careful with giving too much money to Cook because of his injury history too, right? Well, he tore his ACL in 2017 and then dealt with a hamstring injury in 2018 likely related his injured knee from the year before.
Cook had no previous history of knee injuries before 2017 and It can be argued that Cook is an even better player now than he was before he tore his ACL.
Of the running backs who got their hands on the football over 300 times last season, only one (Christian McCaffrey) averaged more yards per touch than Cook. Like McCaffrey, Minnesota’s top rusher is going to get paid this offseason and he deserves every penny.