Which teams could be on red alert after a report indicated the Minnesota Vikings were willing to trade Dalvin Cook?
Dalvin Cook‘s talent is absolutely undeniable. The star running back is one of the league’s best and the Minnesota Vikings should once again lean on the former second-round pick heavily during their first season under new head coach Kevin O’Connell in 2022.
However, a recent report from Jason La Canfora indicated that the Vikings could be willing to move on from the Florida State product if they receive a suitable offer from another team. This would be a franchise-altering call to make, but one that the front office might deem a necessary evil considering their current salary-cap predicament.
Cook is set to count $12 million against the salary cap next season. According to Over the Cap, trading the player before June 1 would come with a cap saving of $2.69 million compared to $9.3 million in dead money, although it could be negotiated that another team has to take on his signing bonus too for a trade to be confirmed.
Minnesota has Alexander Mattison, who has proven capable of shouldering the load to a certain extent. The Vikings could also get themselves another talented rookie from the 2022 NFL Draft if this unlikely scenario ever came to fruition.
Even though Cook’s dealt with some injury problems, one suspects there could be one or two teams willing to give up draft capital to acquire a player that could possibly get them over the hump.
With this in mind, here are four teams that could make a call to the Vikings regarding Cook.