The 2023 NFL offseason is moving right along, with free agency and the draft both in the rearview. And yet there is still no clarity regarding the future of Vikings running back Dalvin Cook. Although he's under contract for another three seasons, the Pro Bowler is still in talks with team brass about a potential departure, head coach Kevin O'Connell hinted this week.
"I tend to let (general manager) Kwesi (Adofo-Mensah) ... work through (those) things," O'Connell told ProFootballTalk. "I can just tell you what Dalvin meant to me, not only in Year One as one of our core leaders of our team, but also just the impact he had on the field. ... But we want what's best for Dalvin and Dalvin knows that, and we continue to work through that situation.
"I don't take for granted having had Dalvin Cook on this team and what that's meant to me as a coach here in Year One," O'Connell continued. "We'll see where things go here the rest of the offseason. They're still working through some things, and I'm sure we'll come to a great resolution. And if that means Dalvin Cook is still playing running back for the Vikings, that's something that will be a really good thing for me as the head coach and play-caller."
Cook has been one of the NFL's most productive ball-carriers when healthy, logging his fourth straight 1,000-yard rushing season in 2022. But Minnesota shed several fan favorites, including wide receiver Adam Thielen and linebacker Eric Kendricks, in the name of additional salary cap space this offseason. Cook, meanwhile, is due more than $14 million in each of the next three years, making him one of the NFL's most expensive players at an increasingly devalued position.
The Vikings could save up to $9M this year by trading or releasing Cook after June 1. Previous reports indicated they were willing to field trade offers for the former second-rounder, but an offseason shoulder surgery complicated his availability. Minnesota re-signed Cook's primary backup, Alexander Mattison, in free agency. The team also spent a seventh-round pick on UAB's DeWayne McBride.
