Vikings trading Dalvin Cook this season not out of the question

It should not come as a surprise if the Minnesota Vikings choose to deal running back Dalvin Cook to another team before the 2022 trade deadline.

For the last few seasons, Minnesota Vikings running back Dalvin Cook has been the centerpiece of the team’s offense. During the Mike Zimmer era, if Cook had himself a good game, it typically resulted in a victory for the Vikings.

After the first two weeks of the 2022 season, it doesn’t seem as though Cook’s value for Minnesota is as high as it was even just one year ago.

The Vikings running back finished with 108 total yards on 23 touches in Week 1, but his numbers were a bit of an afterthought compared to the monster performance Minnesota wide receiver Justin Jefferson had in the same contest. Then in Week 2, Cook only accumulated a total of 36 yards on 10 touches, tied for the fewest times he’s had the football in his hands since Week 4 of the 2018 season.

There could be a scenario that sees the Minnesota Vikings trade Dalvin Cook this year

Following the Vikings’ loss in Week 2 to the Philadelphia Eagles where Cook only touched the football 10 times, Minnesota head coach Kevin O’Connell sounded apologetic when he stated that the talented running back is “a very important player to our offense,” and that he’s going to “make sure we get [Cook] touches” moving forward.

That’s encouraging, and O’Connell can claim that he’s going to make sure Cook is more involved in the offense as the season progresses, but we’re going to have to see it to believe it first. Especially if the Vikings’ defense continues to play two-hand touch for the rest of the year as they did in Week 2 and the offense is constantly playing from behind.

If Cook’s role with Minnesota isn’t enough to justify his $17.7 million cap hit this year, then the team might be better off seeing what they can get for him in a trade before this season’s deadline on November 1.

Not only would the Vikings free up almost $9 million in cap space if they traded the running back this year, but his value in a potential deal might also be much higher right now than it would during the upcoming offseason. A deal involving Cook could probably fetch a future third-round draft pick or possibly a second-rounder depending on the circumstance.

The trade deadline is still more than a month away and a lot can happen between now and then in the NFL, especially injuries. If a team in contention loses their top running back to a significant injury during the next few weeks, they might be interested in making a trade for Cook.

If Minnesota’s season also winds up spiraling out of control, they might end up being the ones to initiate a trade involving the running back. With a different regime in charge of the Vikings now, nothing in terms of roster moves should be ruled out.

At this point in time, two weeks into the season, are the chances of Cook getting traded low? Yes, but if the running back is dealt to another team by the November 1 deadline, don’t act like it’s the most shocking news in the world.