Report: Vikings RB Dalvin Cook Unlikely to Accept Pay Cut

The Vikings could look to trade Cook this offseason to clear up cap space.

The Vikings have tough decisions to make on several expensive veterans this offseason, including some multi-time Pro Bowlers who have been staples of the team for a long time. One of those is running back Dalvin Cook, who had a down season in 2022 and turns 28 in August.

Cook has three years left on the five-year, $63 million extension he signed prior to the 2020 season. His cap hit in 2023 is $14.1 million, currently sixth-highest on the team. That goes up to $15.6 million in 2024 and then down to $13.5 million in '25, the last year of the deal.

$14 million is a lot of money for an aging running back whose advanced metrics cratered in 2022. Cook played all 17 games, racked up nearly 1,500 yards from scrimmage and ten touchdowns, and made his fourth consecutive Pro Bowl — albeit as an injury replacement — but he also finished dead last among qualified running backs in rushing yards over expected.

If the Vikings want Cook back in 2023, it doesn't sound like asking him to take a pay cut is an option. 

"I had a conversation this morning that leads me to believe ... that Dalvin is not inclined to take a pay cut," KSTP insider Darren Wolfson said on SKOR North this week.

If that's off the table, the Vikings have two options. They can do nothing with Cook and bring him back next season at that $14.1 million number, which is the sixth-highest cap hit among running backs in 2023, or they can move on.

I tend to think the latter might be more likely. Not only did Cook have a down season in 2022, but the Vikings were the third most pass-heavy team in the NFL. Plus, the analytical approach you'd expect GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah to take is that there's little reason to pay running backs a lot of money, especially aging ones.

If the Vikings choose to move on from Cook, they could look to trade him somewhere, which Wolfson believes Cook is open to. There might be a team out there willing to give up a third or fourth-round pick for a star running back who still may have a couple years of his prime left. If the Vikings don't find much of a market, they could just release Cook outright. Things can also change. If a trade doesn't happen and Cook wants to remain with the Vikings, perhaps his camp would change their mind about being open to a pay cut or some sort of restructured deal.

Trading or cutting Cook before June 1st would save the Vikings $7.9 million in cap space, but it would come with a $6.2 million dead cap charge. Post-June 1, the Vikings would clear $11 million in space with just $3.1 million in dead money.

If Cook isn't back next season, who would the Vikings turn to at running back? They have a couple young options on the roster in Ty Chandler and Kene Nwangwu, and they could potentially look to bring back free agent Alexander Mattison. They could also use another late-round draft pick on a back. Chiefs RB Isiah Pacheco, who will start in Sunday's Super Bowl, was taken in the seventh round a year ago.

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