Paul Allen ‘absolutely’ believes the Vikings will extend Dalvin Cook

The Minnesota Vikings play-by-play announcer recently shared his thoughts on the Dalvin Cook negotiations.

Beginning the 2020 season without Dalvin Cook in their backfield is not something the Minnesota Vikings would like to do. However, if Cook isn’t offered an extension before Week 1, he could end up sitting out at least 10 games in 2020 in an attempt to get a new deal.

Last season, the talented running back was a huge part of the Vikings’ offensive success. Cook’s importance to Minnesota became even larger last March when the team decided to trade Stefon Diggs to the Buffalo Bills.

So with Diggs no longer a part of the team, are the Vikings still willing to stand their ground and risk the possibility of Cook missing a significant portion of the upcoming season?

Minnesota Vikings play-by-play announcer thinks the team will get a deal done with Dalvin Cook.

Paul Allen has been the radio play-by-play announcer for Minnesota for almost two decades now. Allen not only calls the plays he sees on the field though, he also has a bunch of insight into what moves the Vikings are considering when it comes to building their roster.

Most recently, he answered a question about Cook’s current contract negotiations and whether or not there should be any reason to be concerned about something not getting done. Allen made his thoughts on the situation pretty clear.

"“The answer is yes, because of what we know now. The long play answer is no because I absolutely believe Dalvin Cook and the Minnesota Vikings will get together on some form of deal. But there’s no real urgency right now.”"

This offseason, Allen has debunked the Odell Beckham Jr. to Minnesota trade rumors and he has shared locker room info from when Stefon Diggs skipped practice last year. If he’s sharing info about the Vikings, it’s usually a good idea to pay attention.

Allen is one of many who knows how much Minnesota is planning to depend on Cook in 2020. He also knows neither side would like the contract negotiations to get to a point where the running back chooses to sit out any games next season.

Cook views himself as the best running back in the NFL, but all he is hoping for in an extension from the Vikings is to be paid like one of the five best in the league (which would be around $13 million per year).

Last season, Minnesota called a run play 49.1 percent of the time. If the Vikings are fine with paying Kirk Cousins $40 million in 2020 to hand the ball off for half of his time on the field, they should at least pay their top running back what he’s worth.