There’s still a lot of offseason left, but Dalvin Cook and the Minnesota Vikings still haven’t worked out a deal to continue their partnership.
So far this offseason the Minnesota Vikings have remained relatively quiet. Blame a mediocre free agent class or the team trying to not paint itself into a salary cap corner, but there hasn’t been a ton of action to get fans excited.
Most of the moves the team has made involves players leaving Minnesota. Most notably, Adam Thielen time with the team official came to an end, and he’ll be wearing Carolina Panthers colors next season.
Thielen’s exit makes some sense in that not only was he an aging veteran, if not a fan favorite, but the wide receiver baton belongs to Justin Jefferson. Chalk JJ up to the reason the team is being a bit more frugal in free agency, as his massive contract extension is coming up and there’s absolutely zero chance the Vikings won’t pay him every cent he’s owed.
Dalvin Cook seems to be caught in the middle of the Vikings attempts to remain competitive but not spend money now that takes future moves off the board. He’s set to make $10.4 million in base salary and has a $14.1 million cap hit in 2023, which has prompted trade rumors to crop up as the NFL Draft nears and a decision by the Vikings needs to be made.
Vikings GM comments on Dalvin Cool contract talks
Speaking with the media this week, Minnesota Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah commented on the status of contract talks with Cook and was strikingly non-committal.
“Conversations are always ongoing with him, we’re trying to be solutions-oriented always, trying to put the roster together within our constraints,” Adofo-Mensah said.
That’s not a complete dismissal of Cook but it doesn’t sound like the Vikings are going to be bending over backward to keep him around. In the same press conference, Adofo-Mensah made reference to Alexander Mattison, who the team brought back on a fully guaranteed two-year contact, which is notable in that Minnesota has a replacement for Cook already on the roster.
Pair Mattison on a cheap deal with a rookie the Vikings draft — perhaps Texas running back Bijan Robinson — and all of a sudden the backfield looks pretty decent and not at all expensive.