Derrick Henry is worth twice as much.

Running backs should get their own special type of contract. Their careers are short, brutal and replaceable. They should have a higher rookie scale or something.

I haven't thought this through. It just sucks to be a running back. Dalvin Cook probably wishes he could go back in time and be a slot WR

No

A bit of a tough choice. Dalvin is so athletic and fast. McCaffrey is nearly as athletic, and so versatile, IMO.

i think I like McCaffrey more because of his versatility and elite football IQ.

So, I guess I don't think Dalvin is worth the same money, no. He's a top 6-7 RB though, so whatever that's worth.

The only list Cook lands on in the 6-7 range is games played per season.

I wasn't really thinking about a particular list (haven't even looked), but more about just how dangerous he is vs. other top RBs. What his value to his offense is, so to speak. it's obvious the Vikings offense is much less dangerous with him off the field, in fact, their offense pretty much goes through Cook.

Dalvin is the type of RB that can catch and run and score from just about anywhere. Spags thought enough of him to make Cook the focus of his scheme when we played the Vikes. That says it all for me.

Without factoring in durability, I’d agree with this post.

Unfortunately, to be paid that kind of $ in a cap league, you need to be available every game.

Agreed. Thing is, Dalvin's pretty young still. And we've all seen players have a few injury-ridden years early and then go on an extended stint without getting hurt. It is possible that Dalvin could go the next four years without getting injured. If he does, his stats will look pretty good. It's possible anyway.

But just factoring his performance, and what I think his production/performance ceiling is, he's a top 10 RB, just based on what he means to his team and how productive/dangerous he can be when he's on the field.

Agree completely. If he sits I expect Mattison to have marginally decreased production at worst and wouldn’t be surprised if it was very similar. He does that and the Vikings may make him expendable a la what he Chargers did with Gordon. He has zero leverage.

Hate to kick a guy when he's down, but Kareem Hunt did the Chiefs a favor by jettisoning himself from the team. We don't have to deal with the pressure of not paying his brainless ass. Because let's face it... he would have demanded Son of Ed money as well. And as the Chiefs proved last year, he's not ****ing worth it. No RB is.

Honestly, I think Boone is an NFL caliber player.

He was a guy I suggested the Chiefs make a trade for near cutdowns to boost their backfield depth. He plays a lot like Cook and should have success in a similar system.

In the 3 games he got double-digit carries in last season (2 starts) he went for 232 yards on 41 carries for 5.7 yards/carry with 3 touchdowns and 3 catches on 4 targets.

Cook's out of his ****ing mind. With Mattison and Boone in the wings, there's little reason for the Vikings to bring him back at ALL when his rookie deal is up. Let alone re-set the market on a deal before he even hits FA.

When healthy he is, sure.

An injury prone top 7 back is worth, what, half that figure when you can't build your offense around him or predict any kind of availability?

I'd maaaaaaybe give him an AAV at $5 million at this moment in time. Prove durability for at least one damn season and I'd be willing to maybe double that, but probably not.

There's just little in the way of market scarcity. Especially with the absolutely stacked FA class coming up.

Dalvin Cook isn't even worth Dalvin Cook money.

First, he's played in only 29 games out of a possible 48.

Now, there's a luck factor in injuries, so if you want to believe that he'll come back we can look at 2019, which is his best season. (He only missed two games.) In that season, he was 6th among running backs in yards from scrimmage, so that's pretty good. He was 9th in rushing yards. But he was 17th in yards per rush (among players with 100+ rushes).

For his career, he's 12th in yards per rush among running backs with 300+ attempts in the 2017-2019 time frame. And because of the injuries, he's 16th in yards from scrimmage.

Seems pretty replaceable to me.