Ope, Vikings replace Dalvin Cook with Alexander Mattison on social media banners

June 1 is a key date for any move involving Dalvin Cook.

Kevin O'Connell talking about Dalvin Cook in the past tense. The Minnesota Vikings allegedly removing Cook from their Twitter and Facebook banners. The writing certainly appears to be on the wall that Cook's time with the Vikings is coming to an end. 

Last week, O'Connell was a guest of Mike Florio on PFT Live and Florio noted afterward how the Vikings head coach seemed to be referring to Cook in the past tense. 

"I can just tell you what Dalvin meant to me," O'Connell said, never once taking the opportunity to say Cook will 100% be back in purple and gold for the 2023 season. 

"We want what's best for Dalvin and Dalvin knows that," he said. "We continue to work through that situation, knowing that the respect that the Minnesota vikings and our organization have for Dalvin has been earned. But it's more than that. We care about the player and ultimately he's under contract and very much something that 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 1."

All the while, the Vikings have recently removed Cook from their Twitter and Facebook banners and replaced him with running back Alexander Mattison, who re-signed with Minnesota despite having the opportunity to sign wherever he wanted as a free agent. Mattison returning was the first tell tale sign, but taking him off the social media banners seems like a nail in the coffin. 

The #Vikings Twitter and Facebook banner including Alexander Mattison and not Dalvin Cook. If this doesn’t mean Dalvin Cook is gone then i dont know what does. pic.twitter.com/rvrkToooTb

— VikingzFanPage (@vikingzfanpage) May 12, 2023

The previous images on the social media banners were of Cook, Justin Jefferson, T.J. Hockenson and Kirk Cousins. The new banner still has Jefferson, Hockenson and Cousins, with Mattison replacing Cook. 

When the change happened is a mystery, but Florio, citing a source "who is paying close attention," believes the flip happened two weeks ago. A different source told Florio that the switch coincided with last Thursday's NFL schedule release. 

Cook has a $14.1 million cap hit in 2023. The Vikings can release him after June 1 and trim his cap hit to $5.1 million, which would save them $9 million against the cap. If they can find a taker on the trade market and deal Cook after June 1, his cap hit would drop to $3.1 million, ultimately saving Minnesota $11 million. 

"I was told from a source that the Vikings want to do right by Dalvin Cook," ESPN's Jeremy Fowler said on SportsCenter on Sunday. "Right now, they're willing to hold onto his cap hit of around $14 million until they figure this all out. They want him to go to a place where he can play and be happy, whether that's via trade or eventual release or even staying in Minnesota. But that's sort of the thing they've been sorting through. I believe the Vikings have been willing to listen to trade offers."

The post-June 1 trade is the ideal scenario for the Vikings, even if they were only to get a future late round draft pick in return.