Out with the old and in Older.
It’s a message Bleacher Report: this week regarding the Minnesota Vikings and the rest of the league’s top free agents. BR’s Christopher Knox has nominated eight players who strangely haven’t signed anywhere at the end of May, and Ezekiel Elliott made the cut.
Bleacher Report has a weird FA offer for the Vikings
And when Knox settled into the three-time Pro Bowler’s “logical landing spots,” the Vikings and Tampa Bay Buccaneers stood off the page.
The Vikings have five quarterbacks as of May 26: Dalvin Cook, Alexander Mathison, Ty Chandler, Ken Nwangwu and rookie Dewayne McBride. Running back on paper is where the Vikings could use it at least Help:
But it didn’t stop Bleacher Report: from big dreams. Knox wrote of Eliot and Viking theory; Elliott could make sense for the Minnesota Vikings, who appear to be on the verge of parting ways with star running back Dalvin Cook. According to Albert Breer, the Vikings “came close” to trading Cook Sports Illustrated. The social media team also recently replaced Cook with Alexander Mathison on its Twitter banner (h/t Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk).
Elliott joined the Dallas Cowboys in 2016 and since then ranks second in the NFL behind Tennessee Titans phenom RB Derrick Henry in rushing yards and touchdowns.
“Naturally, Minnesota cleared Cook’s salary off the books before signing Elliott back to pair with Mattison,” Knox concluded.
The Vikings adding Elliott should be considered an extreme stretch for two reasons. Above all, Cook remains on the Vikings’ roster despite every NFL pundit suggesting he’ll be gone for about 2.5 months. Minnesota currently has about $9.5 million in cap space and could just keep Cook through 2023. Most of the trade or release theories surrounding Cook were concocted when the Vikings needed cap space in free agency.
Second, Elliott’s production has seen a decline every year since becoming a Cowboy, as evidenced by his yards per carry. Here’s YPC’s resume over the last eight of a season.
- 2016=: 5.1:
- 2017=: 4.1:
- 2018 =: 4.7:
- 2019 =: 4.5:
- 2020 =: 4.0:
- 2021 =: 4.2:
- 2022 =: 3.8:
Perhaps the Vikings-Elliott idea would fit if this was the 25-year-old version of Elliott, or if the Vikings hadn’t drafted Ty Chandler and Dewayne McBride in the last two years. Minnesota just has a full house at the linebacker position, and if the club explores big-name free agents, a cornerback, inside linebacker, outside linebacker or offensive guard may be a more pressing need.
Elliott and the aforementioned Cook were born 19 days apart.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube channel, VikesNow:. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday Raun Sauh and: Sal Spice:. His Viking obsession dates back to 1996. Mentioned guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, The Sopranos, Basset Hounds and The Doors (band).
All statistics are provided Pro Football Reference / Stathead:; All contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.