As this time of year hits in the NFL, roster cuts are imminent. Who are some players that the Minnesota Vikings let go last year that ultimately failed in their new homes in 2023?
As new faces come in the door for the Minnesota Vikings, old faces leave during this highly volatile period in the NFL offseason. Even fan favorites are shown the door, as players will often remind you that this league is "a business."
While there is a mixed bag of emotions in this initial period, we are now a year removed from the players who left the Vikings after the 2022 season, and we can see which members of the 2022 roster the team regrets losing, as well as the guys that fans are now happy to see gone.
As Minnesota fans look back at the mass exodus of players in the 2023 offseason, some will always want to find those players who excelled elsewhere to form some sort of "gotcha moment."
While there will always be those kinds of moments, let's look back at some of the players who left the Vikings last year and ended up failing in their new destinations.
4 former Minnesota Vikings who failed with their new teams in 2023
Dalvin Cook - RB
Dalvin Cook spent six solid seasons with Minnesota, but in the 2023 offseason, he was a casualty of the team's roster cuts to free up money.
There was a large contingent of fans who were upset by the move to cut Cook, and while his successor, Alexander Mattison, failed in 2023, the former Vikings running back had an even worse year.
Cook signed with the New York Jets after being cut by Minnesota and he never found success during the 2023 season.
In the 15 games that Cook played for New York, he amassed 67 carries for only 214 yards and no touchdowns. Cook's 3.2 yards per rushing attempt was by far the worst single-season average in his career, and he was waived by the Jets this past January.
Father Time, once again, caught up to a highly talented running back in the NFL, and while there are no ill feelings from Vikings fans towards Cook, it's hard to deny that cutting him was the right move.