Dalvin Cook and Vikings Break Off Contract Talks

Dalvin Cook will reportedly NOT play the 2020 season under a new contract. He will be playing on his rookie deal, which is worth pennies over $2 million. After the season, he will become a free agent, though the Minnesota Vikings will have the option to franchise tag him.

Contract talks broke off Tuesday between the #Vikings and star RB Dalvin Cook, sources tell me and @RapSheet.

Talks could restart later, of course. But for now, Cook has said he's focused on Week 1 as he enters last year of his rookie deal, with franchise tag looming in 2021.

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) August 19, 2020

for now, there is no more negotiating taking place.

Minnesota anticipated Cook signing last week, and then on Saturday after an in person meeting w/ his rep and then wanted an answer by yesterday. No movement from Cook's side, so the talks have reached a stalemate.

— Courtney Cronin (@CourtneyRCronin) August 19, 2020

This blows my mind a little bit. I am on the record saying that Dalving would have his new contract by the time he suited up for camp activities. The, that timeline rolled by. His agent said he wouldn’t even show up at camp if he didn’t have a new deal. Dalvin Cook told the media, he was never holding out.

Even with the extended timeline, most around football still expected Cook to be under a new contract relatively soon. Nick Olson of VikingsTerritory.com was just on Wake Up Minnesota! this morning, telling Strom that he still foresaw Cook with a new deal by Week 1. Wrong.

(Listen to Nick talk about Dalvin at the 8-minute mark)

With the rollercoaster that these negotiations have caused, Nick could still be right before it is all said and done. It wouldn’t shock anyone involved if both parties sat down at the table again before the season starts.

Clearly, Courtney Cronin has a source within the Vikings organization who is giving her details. I wasn’t wrong when I predicted Dalvin’s contract being signed when he rolled up at TCO… If Cook has a different agent, it’s possible he would have.

I wrote about it the other day but Zac Hiller is either smarter than all of us and everyone around the NFL, or he is really fucking things up for Dalvin Cook. If his client plays this season under his current deal then the Vikings can still franchise him next year, meaning we still have no idea when he will get his long-term payday.

That was always going to be the most likely outcome but at least they both seemingly negotiated in good faith. Tag likely between $8.3M and $9.5M depending on next years cap https://t.co/l2zz8ug6dQ

— Jason_OTC (@Jason_OTC) August 19, 2020

Those questions come with a player who is yet to play a healthy season of football in the NFL. I hope numbers start to flow out, so we can have an idea of who is pulling the wool over our eyes.

I don’t want to drive Cook’s agent too far into the ground and then find out that the Vikings are offering Cook less that what Phillip Lindsey is making. Context matters. I guess we’ll wait and see…..

Closer to Gordon.

— Darren Wolfson (@DWolfsonKSTP) August 19, 2020

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan