Will the Vikings trade Dalvin Cook this draft weekend?

We are officially less than 24 hours away from the start of the 2023 NFL Draft, and our Minnesota Vikings have one of the lowest stashes of draft capital in the league. They come into this draft with just five picks and only two of the top 87, though they did make pretty solid use of their second-round pick to acquire tight end T.J. Hockenson from Detroit during the season.

With the Vikings short on picks and salary cap space, it seems like a trade of veteran running back Dalvin Cook could be moving closer to reality. Behind the great E$PN paywall, some of their draft analysts are emptying the “notebooks” on this draft even, including Dan Graziano, who gives us this tidbit:

A few veteran names to watch for potential in-draft trades, now that the Aaron Rodgers deal is done, include Bengals offensive tackle Jonah Williams (who has asked the team to trade him), Arizona safety Budda Baker (same) and Minnesota running back Dalvin Cook (some people think Miami could get aggressive there if he becomes available because the Vikings have drafted another running back).

Earlier this offseason when the word got out that at least one team had expressed interest in trading for Cook, much of the speculation centered around Miami. Part of the problem with this would appear to be that the Dolphins are one of the few teams that have less draft capital to draw from than the Vikings.

The Dolphins are already without their first-round pick in this year’s draft, having been stripped of it by the league for a couple of different incidents. Beyond that, they have just four selections in this year’s Draft: a second-rounder (51 overall), a third-rounder (84), a sixth-rounder (197), and a seventh-rounder (238).

That leaves Miami in a bit of a quandary when it comes to how much Cook should be able to fetch in a trade. While the Dolphins would likely be hesitant to spend their third-round pick on Cook, it wouldn’t seem like a sixth or seventh-rounder. . .or a sixth and seventh-rounder. . .is good value for the Vikings for a player of Cook’s caliber.

With the Vikings potentially positioning themselves to do a bit of a rebuild in 2023 before coming back strong in 2024, would Kwesi Adofo-Mensah be willing to accept a mid-round pick in 2024 for Cook instead of a pick that could be used to draft a contributor for this season? That’s a question that might have to be answered if the team is going to move on from their top running back.

What do you think, folks?