The Vikings full roster starts training camp on Tuesday, and one of the biggest storylines heading into that date is what will happen with Dalvin Cook.
Earlier this offseason, news came out that Cook will reportedly hold out until he receives a reasonable deal, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
However, Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said he “totally” expects his team’s starting running back to be there, according to Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press. Zimmer also said that Cook assured him of it.
The CBA states that Cook would hypothetically be fined $50,000 for every day of training camp he missed, and he could lose an accrued season on his contract.
Losing that accrued season would make him a restricted free agent next offseason if he doesn’t get a new deal, meaning that teams could possibly have to give the Vikings draft pick compensation if they wanted to sign him and Minnesota didn’t want to match that offer. If that scenario happened, it’s reasonable to believe that Cook’s value would drop.
Dan Graziano of ESPN reported that players were told on an NFLPA rep call that so long as a player is on the Week 1 roster and they play at least one game, their contract this year won’t toll and they’ll still get an accrued season and benefits.
Of course, that helps Cook if that rule goes into effect, because his value as a free agent would almost certainly be greater.
