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05-26-2023, 02:13 PM

its time to move on, this team isnt a contender this year, and DC is at the end of his shelf life. He may still have a bright spot or two left in his career, but as a bell cow back IMO his days are over. better to get rid of him a year early than a year to late.

05-26-2023, 03:41 PM

Quote: @JimmyinSD said:
its time to move on, this team isnt a contender this year, and DC is at the end of his shelf life. He may still have a bright spot or two left in his career, but as a bell cow back IMO his days are over. better to get rid of him a year early than a year to late.

Agree Jimmy its time to move on from Cook. He had good years with the Vikings but you could see he wasn't as explosive last season as in previous seasons. He seemed to dance trying to find a hole to hit, some may say he was playing with a bad shoulder but that doesn't take away from the fact that time may be catching up to him as it does to all players.

05-26-2023, 04:16 PM

Cook is 27, won't turn 28 until August. That's the age many players hit their 1st post-draft contract. Wanna go young in the backfield, I get it. Wanna save $9M, I get it. Maybe his shoulder is a concern. All of those I get. But let's not pretend he's past his prime.

05-26-2023, 04:52 PM

if Cookie is healthy he’s still a gamebreaker. Mattison is not a premier back in the NFL so theres no argument that Mattison et al>Cook

I seem to recall Cookie has a chronic or lingering injury in his shoulder the past 2 years. It would explain his upright style ( he already is an upright runner) and lack of contact acceptance if they are consciously protecting it.

whatever the case, the Cookie of 22 is not worth 14 million in 23.

05-26-2023, 05:46 PM

Quote: @MaroonBells said:
Cook is 27, won't turn 28 until August. That's the age many players hit their 1st post-draft contract. Wanna go young in the backfield, I get it. Wanna save $9M, I get it. Maybe his shoulder is a concern. All of those I get. But let's not pretend he's past his prime.

Some people think he’s took a step back already, but I think
most people think that he’s definitely close to the age where RBs are entering
the decline. 30’s a pretty common number. Look at how many people shit on Thielen and
Kendricks for having lost a step. I think
a lot of it comes down to keeping a guy a year late vs letting him go a year
too soon. If you give him another contract, you are going to be committing to paying him while he's in his decline.

05-26-2023, 05:51 PM

Quote: @MaroonBells said:
Cook is 27, won't turn 28 until August. That's the age many players hit their 1st post-draft contract. Wanna go young in the backfield, I get it. Wanna save $9M, I get it. Maybe his shoulder is a concern. All of those I get. But let's not pretend he's past his prime.

pretty widely accepted that NFL RBs hit their peak at 27-28, so its not likely that his play maintains or improves at 28 or in my post past this coming season. yes some do keep putting up good years until about 30 as a RB, but they would be the exceptions. If they could get a mid round pick and get the cap savings, I take that and thank DC for being a great Viking.

05-26-2023, 06:53 PM

Quote: @medaille said:

@MaroonBells said:
Cook is 27, won't turn 28 until August. That's the age many players hit their 1st post-draft contract. Wanna go young in the backfield, I get it. Wanna save $9M, I get it. Maybe his shoulder is a concern. All of those I get. But let's not pretend he's past his prime.
Some people think he’s took a step back already, but I think
most people think that he’s definitely close to the age where RBs are entering
the decline. 30’s a pretty common number. Look at how many people shit on Thielen and
Kendricks for having lost a step. I think
a lot of it comes down to keeping a guy a year late vs letting him go a year
too soon. If you give him another contract, you are going to be committing to paying him while he's in his decline.

Oh hell no, I wouldn't give him another contract. And I'm perfectly fine ending our relationship with him to be free of his money. I'm excited about the three young backs we have. All of that makes sense to me. I even agree with the idea that it's generally better to let a guy go a year early than a year late.

It's this "lost a step" narrative that is nonsense to me. There are a dozen possible reasons he and our running attack wasn't as effective last season, but one of them is not that our just-turned 27-year-old back was in some kind of age-related decline.