Chris Cook contract worth veteran minimum

Late last week, the San Francisco 49ers announced they had signed cornerback Chris Cook to a one year contract. We now have word that the contract is worth the league minimum for a 4-6 year veteran. Cook will earn $730,000, and according to Matt Maiocco, the deal includes no guaranteed money. Because Cook is a 4-year veteran earning the minimum with less than $65,000 in bonuses, the team can apply the veteran minimum salary benefit. That means that while Cook will earn $730,000, the deal would count for only $570,000 against the salary cap if he spent the entire year with the team.

There were a mix of reactions when news dropped that the 49ers were signing Cook. While Cook has drastically under-performed in his NFL career, this is a good contract. He gets a chance to work with Ed Donatell, who has done some very solid work developing the 49ers secondary. Cook will play behind a front seven that can do some damage, which should benefit him. He told 49ers.com that Fangio and Donatell talked to him about his work in press man coverage, and will look to work with him on that. And if Cook doesn't work out, the 49ers have not shot themselves in the foot. Yes, they could have considered some other options, but with a deep draft class, I can live with rolling the dice on Cook.

According to Matt Maiocco, this move puts the 49ers at $3.726 million in cap space. The team will add another $6.6 million in cap space in June once Carlos Rogers clears. The 49ers might do another small deal before then, but at this point, there is not much that needs to be added at minimum pricing. They have space for their draft class, and to start getting some extensions done for the current roster.