NFC Notes: Bears, Cowboys, Vikings

Bears

• Aaron Wilson reports that the Bears hosted Buffalo DE Chuck Harris for a top-30 visit on Wednesday.

Cowboys

• While the recent trend for new quarterback contracts has been to push the annual salary higher and higher, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk writes that Dak Prescott becoming the highest-paid player is “not likely to happen any time soon, if ever.”
• Florio mentions that the Cowboys could pay Prescott $2 million in 2019 and then tag him in back-to-back years at $25 million in 2020 and $30 million in 2021.
• With this in mind, Florio says the target for Prescott and the Cowboys should be in the range of $25 million to $30 million, which would leave him in the neighborhood of Derek Carr, Matthew Stafford, Jimmy Garoppolo, and Kirk Cousins.
• However, if Prescott is set on ending up in the $30 million per year range, he could play out the coming years under franchise tags, which would leave Dallas in a situation where a third franchise tag would cost them $43 million. 

Vikings

Vikings RB Dalvin Cook said he is “getting back” into form following last year’s knee injury and has had a “great offseason.”

“I’m getting back to how I used to feel,” Cook said, via Dane Mizutani of the Pioneer Press. “My confidence (is) out the roof. I feel great. I’ve had a great offseason.”

Cook added that he still feels that he has a high ceiling and has not yet “scratched the surface” of his potential. 

“I feel like the ceiling is real high for me. Everything I want is still in front of me. Everything I can do is still in front of me. I’m capable of doing a lot of things. I still haven’t scratched the surface yet.”

Regarding Vikings’ new assistant HC Gary Kubiak, Cook said he has the ability to “take a running back to the next level,” while the team is buying in “100 percent” to his coaching. 

“You watch him and watch the things he does, his track record speaks for itself,” Cook said. “Let’s just say he can take a running back to the next level. … Everything he’s got planned for the running back, and everything he’s got planned for everybody on the offense, we’re going to buy into that 100 percent.”