The Roster Opportunity Behind the Dalvin Cook Cut (or Trade)
K. Joudry
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Well, it took a long time, but finally there has been some clarity about what will happen with Dalvin Cook. League insiders aplenty such as Adam Schefter, Tom Pelissero, and others shared the news yesterday.
A sensational player, Cook will be cut if there isn’t an 11th-hour trade offer. It’s a bold gamble from Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, putting out a trade deadline for other teams to ensure they don’t lose out in free agency. Part of the issue with the trade is that it actually requires a trio of parties to agree on a deal: the Vikings, the acquiring team, and Cook for a new deal.
Indeed, much of the reason why it has been hard to move Cook is due to his gargantuan cap charge. Like Za’Darius Smith, Dalvin Cook would very likely need to agree to a re-worked contract before a trade could come to fruition.
Now, the opportunity that (understandably) hasn’t gotten as much air time is that moving on from #4 means there will be an open roster spot. No reason to throw a parade, but something of note regardless.
The team could certainly use some help at all levels of the defense, but especially at corner and pass rusher. The rumor about Danielle Hunter’s potential trade isn’t going to help Vikings fans to sleep easy at night. Would bringing in someone like Justin Houston help to assuage some of the purple anxiety?
During free agency and the draft, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah made provisions for life after Cook. The GM re-signed Alexander Mattison and then added RB depth by snagging DeWayne McBride (which is to say nothing of already having Ty Chandler and Kene Nwangwu). Minnesota is unlikely to have an otherworldly RB room but there’s enough talent to be average to above average.
Moving on from Cook is yet another instance of Kwesi flipping over the roster. More and more, the team resembles Adofo-Mensah instead of Rick Spielman.
One other detail: the Vikings are already sitting on ample cap space (at least for this stage in the offseason). A cut or trade for the star running back will toss even more money onto the pile. In other words, the GM will have the money he needs to sign an impact player if the desire is present.
