vikingsrule Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 Smart move by the Vikes in forcing Cook to play out the year on his rookie deal. Cook gave in realizing he has zero leverage. It seems favorable to just slap the franchise tag on Cook next year, or at least until he can prove he can finish a season healthy and productive. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swede700 Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 1 hour ago, babababa said: ...or the Vikings should pay the man. That's not really an option...only financially irresponsible franchises would pay him that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babababa Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 48 minutes ago, vikingsrule said: Smart move by the Vikes in forcing Cook to play out the year on his rookie deal. Cook gave in realizing he has zero leverage. It seems favorable to just slap the franchise tag on Cook next year, or at least until he can prove he can finish a season healthy and productive. He proved he could finish the season healthy last year. He missed 1 game due to a tender shoulder (he wanted to play but Zimmer wanted him to rest), while the final game all the starters were rested. He played in both playoff games so that's 16 games. To expect a RB to play every single game during a season isn't realistic. When you carry the ball as much as Cook did last year you're going to get dinged up. "Cook gave in realizing he has zero leverage"' You realize how much this run-first team depends on him correct? Cook could still decide to skip out on his 1.3 million and sit this season -- that's leverage. He has to ask himself if it's worth the health risk to keep playing the most punishing position for so little. I don't believe he will because I think he feels respected by the team (other than the contract situation) and thinks that he will eventually still get what's coming to him. Maybe he should become a backup QB since teams love paying them so much money: https://fanbuzz.com/nfl/highest-paid-backup-qbs/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babababa Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 (edited) 31 minutes ago, swede700 said: That's not really an option...only financially irresponsible franchises would pay him that. Pay him what? ... Swede -- you and I are both on the same train of thought regarding what we would offer him. I proposed those numbers (11 million/season) back in March. We don't know what the Vikings final offer was before the negotiations stalled. The point about the video wasn't meant to say he should be payed Zeke money although that's what McFarland apparently thinks (right or wrong). The greater point is -- regardless of how much each side wants for numbers -- that hopefully Cook isn't being expected to play like he did last year -- 250+ carries @ 1.3 million because he's going to regret it the second he takes a serious hit from Danny Trevethan. He could still consider sitting out this season. Edited August 20, 2020 by babababa detail Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swede700 Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 (edited) If he sits out the season, then he doesn't get an accrued season and would only be a RFA instead of a UFA and still under the Vikings' control. Sitting out isn't an option for him either. And in response to your question of "pay him what", it's the $13M that reportedly he's asking for. Only financially irresponsible teams would pay him $13M a year. Edited August 20, 2020 by swede700 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wcblack34 Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 Should the Vikings pay Dalvin? Of course, but what they "should" pay him has to be commensurate with the realities of the salary cap, the devaluation of the RB position, and, to some extent, Cook's injury history. Everyone knows the cap will be less next year. He plays a position where production can be approximated with lesser talent, and he has only been fully healthy for 1 season out of 3. Even if you make the case that he's a top 5 RB in the NFL, it makes little sense to pay him what he wants if you can control him for the next 3 years at a lesser amount. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cearbhall Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 5 minutes ago, wcblack34 said: Should the Vikings pay Dalvin? Of course, but what they "should" pay him has to be commensurate with the realities of the salary cap, the devaluation of the RB position, and, to some extent, Cook's injury history. Everyone knows the cap will be less next year. He plays a position where production can be approximated with lesser talent, and he has only been fully healthy for 1 season out of 3. Even if you make the case that he's a top 5 RB in the NFL, it makes little sense to pay him what he wants if you can control him for the next 3 years at a lesser amount. Given that tweet, the Vikings could currently control Cook fpr the next three season as barely over $20M: 2020: $2MM (last year of rookie contract) 2021: $8.3MM (First year of franchise tag) 2022: $9.96MM (120% raise from second year of franchise tag) And to think, I would have been willing to give Cook a contract that would have paid him $24M over those three seasons. It is a good thing I am not the GM. It is even better that those of you that would have paid him even more are not the GM. Those next three seasons keep the year-to-year injury risk with Cook. It doesn't make sense for the Vikings to take on that risk unless they get a discount from the $20M over the next three seasons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swede700 Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 4 minutes ago, Cearbhall said: And to think, I would have been willing to give Cook a contract that would have paid him $24M over those three seasons. It is a good thing I am not the GM. It is even better that those of you that would have paid him even more are not the GM. Those next three seasons keep the year-to-year injury risk with Cook. It doesn't make sense for the Vikings to take on that risk unless they get a discount from the $20M over the next three seasons. But, the thing is that both sides likely want to get it done so Dalvin can get some security and the Vikings can have some certainty and move forward in their planning. Therefore, it's likely going to cost a little more than that $20M over 3 seasons for Dalvin to get the security that he feels he needs. It's similar to the reasons why the Titans paid Henry what they did. He got more than what the franchise tag was for this year and next and the Titans got some certainty in their cap planning without going overboard. It was a win-win. That's where the Vikings and Cook need to get to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babababa Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 1 hour ago, swede700 said: If he sits out the season, then he doesn't get an accrued season and would only be a RFA instead of a UFA and still under the Vikings' control. Sitting out isn't an option for him either. And in response to your question of "pay him what", it's the $13M that reportedly he's asking for. Only financially irresponsible teams would pay him $13M a year. Yes, but it's still a fluid negotiation I presume. Just because the Vikings decided to stop talking doesn't mean that Cook's agent won't come down to whatever middle ground the Vikings were proposing. What were the Vikings proposing anyway? I never said pay the man X right now, but they need to pay the man, and before the first game in my opinion. If Cook sat out and became a RFA he loses control -- yes, but the Vikings could still be outbid if they didn't want to match some other team's offer. Hypothetically, the relationship could sour to the point where they wouldn't want to counter any offer anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babababa Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 40 minutes ago, swede700 said: But, the thing is that both sides likely want to get it done so Dalvin can get some security and the Vikings can have some certainty and move forward in their planning. Therefore, it's likely going to cost a little more than that $20M over 3 seasons for Dalvin to get the security that he feels he needs. It's similar to the reasons why the Titans paid Henry what they did. He got more than what the franchise tag was for this year and next and the Titans got some certainty in their cap planning without going overboard. It was a win-win. That's where the Vikings and Cook need to get to. Well said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swede700 Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 3 minutes ago, babababa said: Yes, but it's still a fluid negotiation I presume. Just because the Vikings decided to stop talking doesn't mean that Cook's agent won't come down to whatever middle ground the Vikings were proposing. What were the Vikings proposing anyway? I never said pay the man X right now, but they need to pay the man, and before the first game in my opinion. If Cook sat out and became a RFA he loses control -- yes, but the Vikings could still be outbid if they didn't want to match some other team's offer. Hypothetically, the relationship could sour to the point where they wouldn't want to counter any offer anyway. That is true, they could pick up the negotiations again any time. As I have read, they haven't ever pulled their offer, which was supposedly somewhere around $8M. Certainly, he could go somewhere else as a RFA, but the Vikings would almost certainly tag him at a 1st round level, and I'm not sure he'd get as much money anywhere else as he would here, based on his utilization in this offense. It's probably more in his interest to get here what he can get, because he's probably not going to get it elsewhere, as the others that are similar offensively either don't value paying one RB that much (Seattle, SF) or already have one (Tennessee). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cearbhall Posted August 21, 2020 Share Posted August 21, 2020 3 hours ago, swede700 said: But, the thing is that both sides likely want to get it done so Dalvin can get some security and the Vikings can have some certainty and move forward in their planning. Therefore, it's likely going to cost a little more than that $20M over 3 seasons for Dalvin to get the security that he feels he needs. It's similar to the reasons why the Titans paid Henry what they did. He got more than what the franchise tag was for this year and next and the Titans got some certainty in their cap planning without going overboard. It was a win-win. That's where the Vikings and Cook need to get to. Maybe they would pay a premium for having control of his rights for more than the next three seasons but with a RB it is hard to value anything beyond the next three seasons. It is also true that they would be transferring risk to themselves if they signed him. That can't be lost on them either. It is true that the Titans gave Henry more over the first two years of his contract than he would have earned with the tag this year plus the tag next year. That is a solid point. It is also true that Henry will be earning less in the next three seasons than eh would if the Titans tagged him again that third season so the Titans did earn a discount on three seasons as compared to going year-to-year. They also got another option year after that. I don't think it is that simple. I think your point has a lot of merit and is solid. Thanks for bringing that up. It will be interesting to see how the negotiations go between the Saints and Kamara. That will be a better gauge IMO since Kamara is in the same position with respect to having a year left on his contract. That is quite a bit different than a guy that has already played out his rookie contract. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelKing728 Posted August 21, 2020 Share Posted August 21, 2020 What if we let Dalvin Cook walk and sign Aaron Jones next year? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swede700 Posted August 21, 2020 Share Posted August 21, 2020 45 minutes ago, SteelKing728 said: What if we let Dalvin Cook walk and sign Aaron Jones next year? I think I'd almost rather just roll with Mattison and draft another guy. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vikes_Bolts1228 Posted August 21, 2020 Share Posted August 21, 2020 40 minutes ago, swede700 said: I think I'd almost rather just roll with Mattison and draft another guy. Same. If you're not going to pay Cook to stay, what would be the point in paying another running back who will probably want a decent contract himself? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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