Sources: Vikings' Cook to get 5-year, $63M deal

EAGAN, Minn. – The Minnesota Vikings and running back Dalvin Cook have agreed to the terms of a 5-year contract extension worth $62.5 million, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

The deal, which includes a $15.5 signing bonus and $28.2 million in guaranteed money, ties Cook with Tennessee’s Derrick Henry for the fifth highest-paid running back in the NFL with an average salary of $12.5 million per year.

The 25-year-old became the latest running back to sign an extension prior to the start of the 2020 season, joining Cincinnati’s Joe Mixon, who inked a 4-year, $48 million ($10 million guaranteed) extension last week and Kareem Hunt, who signed a 2-year, $13.25 million extension with Cleveland. Moments after Cook’s deal was announced, the Saints locked up running back Alvin Kamara to a 5-year extension worth $77.13 million.

Cook’s deal came just hours before the Vikings host the Green Bay Packers in their season opener at U.S. Bank Stadium. The running back, who was drafted by Minnesota in the second round in 2017, was set to play out the final year of his rookie deal where he would have earned $1.3 million.

At the start of training camp, Cook said he hoped to earn a “reasonable” deal that would highlight his value to the franchise on and off the field and dispelled the notion that he was planning to hold out. Even without an extension, the running back suited up for all of the Vikings’ padded practices throughout camp. Negotiations between Cook’s representation and the Vikings were tabled on Aug. 19 after the two sides failed to strike a deal. Eleven days later, the Vikings engaged in a trade with Jacksonville for Yannick Ngakoue, who the team negotiated a one-year, $12 million deal with after the defensive end was franchised earlier this year.

Talks between Cook’s agent and the Vikings picked back up days ahead of the season opener and resulted in the running back signing a last-minute deal to keep him in Minnesota through the 2025 season.

Cook was one of the league’s most productive running backs last season, recording the second-most yards from scrimmage per game and led the NFL with 11.3 yards after the catch per reception while recording a first down on 40.6 percent of his targets, which was the third-highest mark of any running back with at least 30 targets, according to ESPN Stats and Information.

Cook now becomes a long-term fixture in Minnesota’s offense where he took 38.1 percent of his team’s touches from scrimmage in 2019, which is the ninth-most by any player in the NFL.

“This is where I want to be at,” Cook said at the start of camp. “This is what I love to do. I was going to be here regardless of whatever the speculations (that) came up or (questions of) if I wasn’t coming. I was going to be here ready to work. I’ve been grinding all offseason hitting the weights, hitting the field, getting better at my craft and my position to get ready to play this year.”