The Vikings 'Want to Do Right' By Dalvin Cook, Whether Via Trade or Not

Cook's future remains uncertain as Minnesota's offseason moves forward.

With the Za'Darius Smith domino falling on Friday night in the form of a trade to Cleveland, all eyes now turn to Dalvin Cook as the next Vikings star with an uncertain future.

Cook has been in a state of limbo for a while now. The four-time Pro Bowl running back has been with the Vikings for seven seasons, but his eighth NFL campaign may end up taking place elsewhere for a variety of reasons. Cook turns 28 in August, is coming off his worst season in terms of advanced metrics, and has a $14.1 million cap hit in 2023. The Vikings have seemingly prepared for life without Cook by re-signing Alexander Mattison in free agency and drafting DeWayne McBride in the seventh round.

Minnesota has reportedly listened to offers on Cook, but nothing has materialized yet. A trade remains a distinct possibility — likely after June 1st for cap reasons — but that requires finding a team willing to take on much or all of his contract. Cook could also be released eventually — or return to the Vikings for one more season on a reworked deal.

The big thing is that the Vikings have reportedly had open lines of communication with Cook, who had offseason surgery to repair a shoulder issue that he's dealt with for a few years. The organization wants to do right by one of its long-tenured star players, said ESPN's Jeremy Fowler.

"Dalvin Cook's future has been sort of open-ended recently," Fowler said on SportsCenter. "I was told from a source that the Vikings want to do right by Dalvin Cook. 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."

That's consistent with what head coach Kevin O'Connell said in a recent interview with Mike Florio. The message was that although the Vikings are working through things with Cook, they value him as a player and person and want to figure something out that works for everyone involved.

"I can just tell you what Dalvin meant to me as one of our core leaders of our team, but also just the impact he had on the field," O'Connell said. "We want what's best for Dalvin and Dalvin knows that. We continue to work through that situation, knowing that the respect that the Minnesota Vikings have for Dalvin has been earned. 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 one. We'll see where things go here the rest of this offseason."

There were reports earlier this season about trade talks between the Vikings and Dolphins, Cook's hometown team. But Miami re-signed both Raheem Mostert and Jeff Wilson Jr. and then drafted Devon Achane in the third round, so they feel like an unlikely suitor at this point. As for which other teams could be interested in Cook, it's anyone's guess.

Everything seems to still be on the table: A trade, a release, or a pay cut that brings Cook back to Minnesota for what would presumably be one final season. It's helpful for both sides that there's been plenty of communication and the possibility of a continued relationship, which SI's Albert Breer says wasn't the case with Smith.

"Cook won’t play for Minnesota at his current number this year," Breer wrote. "The Vikings have come close to trading him, going deep into talks with Miami a couple of months back. But all along, the communication has been good, and the team has been open to bringing him back on a reduced number. It wasn’t like that with Smith."

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