What It Means:

The Vikings have been making noise about moving on from Cook for much of the offseason, and are now making the move official. Cook signed a 5-year, $63 million deal with the team before the 2020 season and will now enter free agency just 2 years later. We have already begun seeing reports of interest in Cook from teams like the Miami Dolphins, New York Jets, and Denver Broncos, so it seems like Cook should find a new landing spot relatively quickly. The Vikings are now expected to enter the season with Alexander Mattison as their primary back.

Cook finished each of the past 4 seasons with at least 1,300 yards from scrimmage, but the 4-time Pro Bowler's efficiency has decreased in each of the past 2 seasons. According to Next Gen Stats, Cook ranked 7th-worst in the league in Rushing Yards Over Expectation last year, finishing with an estimated 41-fewer yards than an average back with his carries would be expected to produce. The 4 other backs who ranked worse than Cook in that metric last year (excluding those on rookie contracts) were each also cut from their teams this offseason, but teams do still seem interested in Cook's ability to create big explosive plays.