The Vikings told Dalvin Cook they are releasing him

[tredadda]

Originally Posted by Chris Meck

Look, the current game is like this - if you need to ride a running back bell-cow style because your QB sucks then, ok. But you know it's a time bomb. He ain't gonna last long. Smart teams split carries to lessen the load and extend their careers. Dumb teams run their guy into the ground. Either way, it's not a wise use of big cap dollars. They're either part time players, or unlikely to last through a second contract. A guy like Henry is a rare exception.

Now, are they underpaid? I don't really think so. It's either a huge risk, or you're paying for a part time player. Are other positions overpaid? Absolutely. WR's are way overpaid, as teams seem to think they can carry second rate QB's to the SB. I don't think that's been proven. Your QB is either one of the five or so elite guys or he isn't. Are corners overpaid? Under the current rules, absolutely. There's no such thing as a shutdown corner in this NFL. I wouldn't pay a boundary corner a second contract either. I might for a chess piece type of player, like Sneed.

Concur on this. I will say that despite it being a passing league teams still need to be able to run the ball. Without it you get perma 3 man fronts while getting yards on the ground from QB scrambles and/or designed runs. What hurts star RBs is that you can get yards with lesser (and cheaper) RBs.

As you mentioned the days of the bell cow RB are over and as such salaries reflect as much. Look at KCs two SBs. Their “star” RBs were journeyman Damien Williams, journeyman Jerrick McKinnon, and 7th rounder Pacheco. Ironically their 1st round RB didn’t even sniff the field in SB 57. Teams realize that pouring less resources into the RB position frees up more for other positions.