Chicago Bears: How a Dalvin Cook trade could happen
By Ryan Heckman
2. Additional cap room must be created
With step one complete, it is clear that Cook could be on his way out of Minnesota. If that becomes clear, then the Bears need to look at their cap situation. Assuming Cook is dealt, it will be a foregone conclusion that his new team would give the back some confidence that he would get a long-term deal.
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Currently, OverTheCap has the Bears sitting at roughly $10.8 million in cap space. It has been widely assumed that Allen Robinson would get an extension this offseason, but there aren’t any real whispers at the moment. It doesn’t seem to be a rushed process. But, if Cook came to the Bears, that would have to happen.
If Chicago took on Cook, they would need to pay him somewhere close to the top running back dollar. Now, I don’t think they would pay him $16 million per year like Christian McCaffrey just got, especially because of his injury history.
If Chicago could negotiate a deal around $12 million per year for Cook, with a potential out after two years, I think that would be fair. Cook has to know his injuries are a concern. If Ryan Pace offered a deal around four years, for a total of $50 million with $25 guaranteed in the first two seasons, that would make the most sense.
You never want to wrap yourselves up with a running back like Cook for too long, but the possibility of adding someone this talented is worth a little risk.