Dalvin Cook's agent raises eyebrows in podcast interview
Dalvin Cook's future with the Minnesota Vikings may be in doubt, but according to his agent, his future has never been brighter.
During an appearance on the Caps Off Podcast this week, Zac Hiller said Cook has Hall of Fame credentials and has been held back by the Vikings' mediocrity and a shoulder injury suffered in 2019.
"People are starting to realize that Dalvin...has Hall of Fame numbers, but he's been in Minnesota and they've been mediocre," Hiller said. "...He actually has incredible statistics but also he's been playing with one shoulder."
Cook has averaged 82.1 yards per game during his career, which ranks 12th among running backs with a minimum of 100 carries since the NFL and AFL merger in 1970. Of the 11 players ahead of him, seven are in the Hall of Fame.
Cook has also averaged 86.6 rushing yards per game since 2019, ranking fourth behind Derrick Henry (109.9), Nick Chubb (90.6) and Jonathan Taylor (89.3).
While those numbers are impressive, Hiller believes they could have been even better if he wasn't dealing with a shoulder injury suffered in December 2019.
"He's been purposely turning certain ways and thinking about the fact he's about to get hit and trying not to land on it," Hiller said. "So now this is going to be the first time in a while that he has both his shoulder [and] that's what we're looking forward to the most."
Hiller went on to note that the Vikings knew about Cook's shoulder when he signed a five-year, $63 million extension prior to the 2020 season and after undergoing surgery to fix the issue this offseason, Hiller believes that the best for his client is yet to come, especially after a report from NFL Network's Tom Pelissero said that Cook is making "excellent progress" in his recovery.
While Cook still became the second Viking in franchise history along with Adrian Peterson to run for at least 1,100 yards in four straight seasons, Hiller's account leaves out that Cook suffered from a lack of consistency last season.
According to Football Outsiders, Cook had a success rate (which is how often a running back keeps an offense on schedule depending on down and distance) of 48 percent last season, which ranked 33rd among 42 qualifying running backs.
Cook also ranked 33rd among 42 running backs in defense-adjusted value over average (DVOA), which signals the strength of the defenses he was facing.
While Hiller attributed this to Kevin O'Connell's play-calling, O'Connell noted the Vikings' lack of success running on first and second downs while speaking to reporters at the NFL Scouting Combine.
"It comes down to efficiency," O'Connell said. "The home runs and long [runs] are great, but as a play caller, I'd love to be second-and-5. If you tell me I'm second-and-5...we're in a position to do a lot of different things regardless of field position, score of the game and personnel groupings."
Improving the Vikings' efficiency on the ground has been one of the focal points of this offseason, signing blocking tight end Josh Oliver and extending fullback C.J. Ham. But the Vikings also re-signed Alexander Mattison to a two-year, $7 million contract and were reportedly interested in David Montgomery before he signed with the Detroit Lions.
With a $14.1 million cap hit, Cook has been the subject of trade rumors and Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah was non-committal about Cook's status when asked about it during his pre-draft press conference.
"Conversations are always ongoing with [Cook]," Adofo-Mensah said. "We're trying to be solutions-oriented and always try to put the roster together within our constraints."
The Vikings currently have the least amount of cap space in the league at $1.4 million and need to find a way to sign their draft class. According to Over The Cap, Minnesota could save $7.8 million by trading Cook during the draft and $11 million if they trade him after June 1.
