Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - 3 Vikings beat reporters react to Mike Zimmer's contract extension

Episode Date: July 23, 2020

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with Drizzly or Instacart, Coors Brewing Company, Golden, Colorado, and as always, celebrate. Hey everybody, Matthew Collar here. Golden, Colorado, and great podcast for everyone. The final two episodes are live right now, or you can binge the entire season to learn about your favorite soccer stars. Check out Blue Wire's Golden Goal, available anywhere you listen to podcasts. Hello, welcome to a special episode of Purple Insider, in which I catch up with three Minnesota Vikings beat reporters and get their reactions to Mike Zimmer's three-year contract extension that

will take him through 2023. And to kick us off, leading off is Courtney, our draft scout. Courtney Cronin, what's going on, Courtney? You know, just getting one day closer to training camp. We got extensions coming. Maybe there's one for a running back that might break soon. Who knows? I mean, we are. Are you finding some UDFA tape to find out who they're going to cut down to 80? Yeah, got to get the seven out.

I mean, how much does that suck that you don't even get a chance to come to camp? And it's weird because it's like the NFL hasn't announced, like, do those guys just go into, like, just go on waivers, I guess? Like it kind of stinks because at least per the CBA, teams thought they'd be entering with 90. So it's like you have 10 extra spots. Can those guys just be on some reserve list? I don't know.

But, you know, I've not been grinding the UDFA tape. It's still a little too early for me to be doing that. And since we probably won't be out on the field until the middle of August anyways, I think I got some time. I'll watch all the Neville Clark tape though, and I'll get back to you. I do think he's got a shot to make the 53, but let's get your reaction to Mike Zimmer's contract extension. We talked about it just the other day and why it had not happened and why it took this long to get to right before training camp now we know that Zimmer is going to be the coach going forward reaction well um it alleviates a massive black cloud over the team going into camp of distraction um because he'd

be asked about it and he'd probably get snippy about it. And it's just something that did not need to be looming over this team when there's already so much uncertainty. So the fact that it came in, you know, the news breaks the day before rookies are set to report makes a ton of sense. And I anticipate, as I'm sure everyone does, Rick Spielman's, I mean, there will probably not be a public announcement from what I'm told with that one, unlike with Zimmer, but he will be extended too. The timing is a little weird because you think Rick killed it in the draft.

Like I thought he would have gotten the extension first, just to be honest with you. I thought that one would have come within the weeks of the draft or maybe even in June. But Zimmer, you know, there was a lot of back and forth about this and the length of the deal to me from what I understand was kind of what the holdup was. He didn't want to take a short-term thing because he doesn't feel like –

he feels like he's better than that, and rightfully so. I mean, you have, you know, third highest win percentage of any coach in this franchise. You've, you know, won almost 60 games in your career as a head coach like you feel like you should be able to call the shots and I get that um so I think that that's kind of where we're at right now um but they no longer have to worry about like it's not getting done because it's done and or at least it's being it's in the process of being finalized from everything I've been told it's not signed sealed delivered yet because it hasn't been

announced yet but it's being finalized. We should hear something about this shortly. What I think it does is it guarantees that his 2020 expectations are sort of tempered in a way that you're not demanding that in 2020, a pandemic season with a lessened U.S. Bank Stadium advantage. I don't think there's any question about that. And then along with having to teach a lot of new players with a very bizarre offseason, it would have been harsh to say, hey, if you don't win this year under these circumstances, then you're out of here, Mike Zimmer, or you're going to be evaluated and judged on these circumstances. That would have been very difficult. And now it allows him to not like pass on this season, of course, but treat this season as if you're trying to win.

But the major goal is to set yourself up for the future by developing players and having them ready to go for 2021 where you're going to have those high expectations. Again, I think it's fair to look at this season and say, yes, you should make the playoffs. Yes, you should be in the mix. And if you go any farther, then that's great. But just with the way that the defense was almost entirely torn apart, you're going to have all new corners. It's pretty tough to say, hey, Zimmer, if your defense ranks 12th instead of fifth in points against, you're fired. I think this kind of takes the pressure off. Yeah, I agree with you. I mean, we've been saying that, though, just even before Rick and Zim became, you know, the topic of the week with contract extensions, that from a team perspective, if you win in 2020,

it's gravy. It's not expected, to be quite honest, because you knew that there were, there were win now moves, all in type moves with Kirk Cousins contract extension, etc. But you also knew that you were going through this major roster revamp that was inevitable that had to happen. So if you win this year, it's kind of like a bonus, like it wasn't necessarily expected. I mean, you should you have a good enough roster to make the playoffs but you don't have to win the whole thing this year what he has is a luxury of time now so blowing up your secondary with corners that just weren't working for you anymore outside of Mackenzie Alexander I thought that he you know if he would have stayed around with Zimmer he probably would have been still a very good player but the other two like you had the you are now afforded the decision to go

ahead and blow these, blow the whole thing up, knowing that you're going to be here more than just a one year extension, something like that. I mean, he has job security, which that's allows you then to be able to tinker, to tweak, to work through new ideas, to experience the regression and take it in stride and not worry about, okay, this is make or break for my job. Another key part of this, in my mind, Courtney, is that Gary Kubiak stays around. And they have found an offense that works perfectly for Kirk Cousins. He puts up a career quarterback rating last year. He was very efficient. And if you look at all the pro football focus numbers, they were the best of his career. You could still have criticisms of Kirk Cousins and also say, hey, this really works for them on offense. And that's not even to mention the fact that they were one of the better running offenses in the league last year as well. And that Zimmer

actually gets along with Gary Kubiak and those guys are on the same page, which hasn't always been the case in the past with offensive coordinators. I think that that's a big part of it because it seems like as long as Zimmer is here, Kubiak will be his offensive coordinator. It's stability in that sense too. But let's just like, you know, I got to go back to January and all the rumors that were not just, you know, where there's smoke, there's fire. And that, you know, there were people within the organization who would have been okay had they lost that Saints game and been able to move forward either with Stavansky or with Kubiak, whatever.

Like, they've also got themselves in a good situation here. Like, obviously they believe in Zimmer. They believe in the leadership. They believe in the vision, whether you agree with it or you don't. That is what this move says from ownership. But they also know that they have somebody who can create and manage an offense the way that they think they can win games, that maybe if the Zimmer thing weren't to work out, they could turn it over to Gary Kubiak.

I think it's honestly, you know, it's not just that Mike Zimmer and Gary Kubiak are perfect complements for each other. I think that keeping Kubiak in the system and around too is beneficial to the Vikings because they could potentially say, hey, well, we made a mistake or, you know, and I obviously, I don't think that they believe that, but it could work out that way too, because Kubiak's name and just kind of like what this whole thing was going to become in January of this past year was certainly being talked about and thrown around too. But I do think that, you know, by, you know, by and large, the relationship wise,

those two mesh better than any other offensive coordinator he's worked with. Mike respects Gary. Mike loves talking about offense with Gary. And it's also, he likes the fact that Gary can take the offense and he can take his defense and they can, he doesn't have to worry about it. He doesn't have to sit in on meetings and ask somebody to run the ball more because he knows that Gary and him align from a philosophical standpoint with football in ways that he just hasn't been able to see eye to eye with other people so I mean it might have taken longer than most people would have liked

but he found like a perfect marriage for how a football team works. And I mean this with no jokes, that everyone loves Gary Kubiak, that Gary Kubiak seems to have this ability. The whole building. It's amazing that he has this ability to get along with people, and I think that he's helped Mike Zimmer become a better head coach even over the last year. Last thing for you, I want everybody on this podcast to look into the Mike Zimmer crystal ball. If everyone

remembers from 2017, when he said he didn't have a crystal ball and then a local mind reader or something sent him one. Yeah. Yeah. So look into the crystal ball. Tell me the best season that Zimmer has under this extension. Like what is the peak of this next era of Mike Zimmer football in Minnesota? I bet it'll be 11-5 next year. 11-5 and then a repeat to the NFC Championship game. Oh, okay. Going all the way to the NFC Championship game with Kirk, huh? That's been the way that they've wanted to go.

That's been like the goal. Like that's been – it hasn't really been Super Bowl or bust. I know that we think the money of Kirk Cousins it's always been let's get back to the NFC championship let's see if we can do this let's run it back running it back wasn't getting a Super Bowl you didn't get to Super Bowl in 17 so and I also say it to say that I just I will be a lot more willing to buy into that narrative once I see how this season can pan out with these circumstances. Zimmer's worked through a lot of bad stuff before, and it's like, is a pandemic really gonna, is Mike Zimmer not too tough to handle a pandemic? He's had eight eye surgeries,

and, you know, lost his offensive coordinator in the middle of November of 2016, and lost his offensive coordinator in the middle of November 2016 and lost his quarterback I mean all that type of stuff um I don't know if this is a Super Bowl team and I hate when we get asked that question but it's like they're capable will it happen during this length of Mike Zimmer's contract certainly ownership feels that way otherwise they would not have given the length that they did and um you know if they can if they can get by this year and if they can win this year, that gives you hope that 2021 is actually going to be a season where they can truly meet expectations. Courtney, usually we talk for like a half an hour more,

so it feels weird to cut it off here. But we'll get together again very, very soon. A lot is about to happen with the Minnesota Vikings in the NFL. So I appreciate you jumping on. No problem. Thanks for having me. Before we get back to the conversation, I want to remind you to go to sodastick.com to get your original Minnesota sports-inspired goods.

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All right, now we welcome in from the Associated Press, Dave Campbell. What is up, Dave? Not too much, just another late July day and more Vikings news. It's sort of like you can set your clock by it. You talk about corn out in the farm country growing knee-high by the 4th of July. Well, you know, a few weeks later we'll have some Vikings news. That's definitely one way to look at it. You're right.

Before training camp begins, every single year there is something. It's a contract extension or, unfortunately, Tony Sperano. We're coming up to the time where every year as we get to this time I'm going to have that hit me of what happened two years ago with Tony Sperano and so Mike Zimmer he gets his contract extension that's our big news I guess we'll see on what happens with Delvin Cook if he's going to have some news as well but give me your overarching reaction to a contract extension, which I have been told takes him through 2023. 2023, yeah.

Yeah, I would say mild surprise, but that's only because we've been Zooming in so much. Like we always do these days, you know, sort of everything in this 24-hour, you know, news cycle and the way even society, like, just digests news and thinks about what's next. And, you know, it seems like, well, he doesn't have a new contract yet. They're going to, you know, let him go into his final year without a deal. But if you zoom out, there's never – obviously those rumblings started to come up a little bit last year as they, you know, struggled and sort of wasn't obvious if they were going to play up to expectations. And then there's the whole possibility of the trade to Dallas, which, you know, you could read into any number of ways.

But if you zoom out, there's the Wilfs, very patient owners, and there's really hardly ever been any whiff of, like, dissatisfaction in Zimmer, I think they extremely value the stability, keeping, you know, key leaders in spots for many years, and that includes Rex Buellen, too, other more behind-the-scenes guys like Rob Brzezinski and things being other good examples. But, yeah, I guess, you know, mild surprise only because when you started to see the months go on here this year with no action, you start to wonder,

well, maybe they've decided in this kind of crazy 2020 season with the pandemic that there's no reason to to over commit you know so to speak and they can you know let him prove his worth uh in a critical kind of crossroad season but then again um the pandemic just prevented a lot of these types of discussions from happening in the last several months so um we kind of, you know, take a step back again and, and, you know, do sort of look at the basic stats of, of his one last record and, and sort of, I think more importantly, the kind of stability that the roster has had under him,

offensive coordinators being the one glaring exception to that. But I think, I think he's, there's still a lot of reason to think that he fits with what the organization wants. And, you know, obviously we can pick out some of the flaws or some of the questions about how high this team can go under him. But like anything in the NFL, there's also this be careful what you wish for because if you decide you could do better, it could really blow up in your face.

And I don't think this organization, you know, once said, I think they really do value being one of the most competitive teams in the league over sort of a consistent arc. And obviously they haven't taken those final couple steps yet, but there is a value in kind of maintaining that, I don't call it status quo, but, you know, kind of a stability and kind of baked-in competitiveness that they have proven that they will have under Zimmer and his staff.

And there have been many coaches in the NFL, including the one that just won the Super Bowl, who had their jobs for a long time, got pegged as guys who could only get you so far, and then something breaks right for them, and they do end up in the Super Bowl. Whether that's you get Patrick Mahomes, which is a big benefit, or even just, you know, teams that have reached the Super Bowl with a great defense, or you know, with a great kind of entire roster or even with just some things that break their way, like the Vikings in 2017 were that close with Case Keenum

because a lot of things fell their way, including Aaron Rodgers getting hurt. That year was kind of strange. The schedule wasn't exactly the toughest that season, and they had their roster peak and so forth and you end up there you get a miracle play in the divisional game and there you are one step away from the Super Bowl that is possible to happen again I think with this roster over the next couple of years during his time of getting the extension because of what they've built as a foundation of young players to kind of do the same thing again go back to 2014 he inherits a roster that's not that great by 2015 they're starting to take those steps by 2017

they're in the NFC championship what do you see I guess as a realistic expectation over the next couple of years I mean especially this year with 2020 being as weird as it is. Yeah. Well, I think, you know, realistic expectation is they better make the playoffs every year that he's still under this contract, I guess, right? Otherwise, you know, they might start to question, especially with the prospect of additional playoff spot. You know, beyond that, as you just alluded to, you know, kind of, you know, once you get there, you do sometimes need those breaks, and the best teams, you know, don't always take those final couple of steps through no obvious fault of the head coach. And there's some pieces to building the roster that he will be coaching that, you know,

while he, of course, has a major influence on that and, you know, significant voice in who they're building around, you know, significant voice and who they're building around, you know, the quarterback situation is sort of not all been under his purveyance. And so, you know, they're almost on this parallel track, too, with Cousins. They are sort of banking on the same kind of not just consistency but an expectation with their investment that they're going to be taking more steps forward, meaning that would obviously mean another trip to the NFC championship game and perhaps the Super Bowl.

So, yeah, I would say the baseline expectation would be continue to win at the same regular season clip. And, you know, also I think the point B to that would be that his defensive acumen is such that he can sort of rebuild, you know, this current group that he'll be moving forward with after losing, you know, basically five starters from last year and from that core group that built up the first half of his tenure, that he can sort of make the defense version Vikings, Zimmer Vikings defense 2.0, and that, you know, they can continue to, you know, be one of the top units in the league that they can, you know, the can continue to, you know, be one of the top units in the league that they can,

you know, the team success can really, really ride on. I want you to, before I let you go, Dave, look into your crystal ball, Zimmer's crystal ball, and tell me how this plays out. I mean, that's the expectation. I totally agree with you, that if you're in the playoffs every year, it's pretty hard as an ownership to say, oh, sorry, it was your fault. I mean, think about like Sean Payton, not that I have any sympathy for Sean Payton in this world, but if you're Sean Payton, if you're the ownership of the Saints, do you go like, well, Sean, you really screwed up when they had that miracle play and your safety decided to jump into the stands rather than tackling Stephon Diggs or, hey, Sean Payton, it's your fault that Nickel Robey Coleman clearly interfered with your guy at the goal line and they didn't call it.

Or even last year that Kyle Rudolph pushed off a little. You know, all those things. Like, are you going to sit? That's the playoffs for you. That's kind of how it ends up working. And Andy Reid certainly went through that a number of times himself where you were right there. So that's the expectation.

Does it play out that way, though, Dave, over these next couple of years in your crystal ball? I guess I would lean toward yes because I think they have, not only with Zimmer but with Cousins, they at least, I think they have enough of a foundation and a building block that, you know, can get you to that sort of, that certain point of competitiveness of, you know, let's just call it like that sort of nine and seven point. And there's enough, you know, stability or smart coaches, enough like, you know, elite talent at certain positions that they're going to be able to avoid the disastrous, like, 6-10 season like the 2010 Vikings had, for example, or even the 2016 Vikings to be more recent under Zimmer, like when they went 8-8 after a strong start.

You know, that said, something tells me that they're just, whether it's Zimmer's fatal flaws with, call it stubbornness or his personality or what have you, or whether it's Cousins and some of his limitations against strong pass rushes. And even let's now look at the secondary with how thin they look at cornerback and how much progress they'll have to make there. It almost – it seems like they still may be missing those key pieces that may prevent them from taking those next couple of steps. It's almost like it just matches Vikings history.

They've been remarkably competitive in the top third of the league, let's say, for a huge majority of their time in Minnesota, but obviously, as anyone who follows them knows, they have still not got that Super Bowl ring and have had a few sort of colossal collapses when they got close. So I guess that's kind of where you feel like it's going. And I guess I would almost take one more step back and say, like, is that so bad? I guess you'd get Vikings fans and be like, oh, we're never going to win the big one.

And, you know, plenty of criticism from the punditry about, oh, you know, they painted themselves in a corner with Zimmer or with Cousins, and they're not thinking creatively enough or innovatively enough or not boldly enough to maybe take a step back and then find their Mahomes or find their Kyle Shanahan or whatever. However, you know, gosh, just like you alluded to a few minutes ago, like how so much of winning the big one, it still is a couple of breaks here and there that are out of really anyone's control, good or bad. you know, I think there is something to be said for being able to put together a product that can still be in that mix more consistently than others

and just sort of hope that at some point the lottery ticket will come up. Yeah. With Zimmer, you know that you're going to have a dice rolls chance of going deep in the playoffs. If you hire someone else, now there is a chance that that person is your John Gruden and Zimmer is your Tony Dungy, but there's also a chance that that person is really bad at their job. And the example that I think of right off the top is just them hiring John DiFilippo, and we were convinced that he was going to be the next great head coach in the league

and the offensive genius and all those things, and then it just that that wasn't the case and it wasn't a fit at all and if you decide that you're going to move on from Zimmer you better be really darn sure that you got your John Gruden because otherwise you are putting yourself at risk of setting your organization way back as opposed to being right there and continuing to try kind of different combinations of things different uh you know weapons around the quarterback different i don't know bringing don kate dom capers in things like that um so those are the two ways to go about it they're going to choose stability and it does in my mind make a lot of sense i always think if you're walking away from a coach who guarantees you to be a top 10 defense, you better be really, really sure that you got somebody who's going to give you something special. So Dave Campbell of the Associated Press, always great to catch up

with you, Dave. I hope we can do it again soon, man. It's a pleasure. Anytime. Hey, before we get back to the conversation, I want to remind you that sports are coming back and so are your chances to bet on your favorite teams and events. There's no better place to start than our exclusive partners, BetOnline. Get in on the action for this week's big UFC fight or check out odds on NASCAR, Formula 1, and

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BetOnline, your online wagering experts. All right, and now we welcome in to continue the reaction to Mike Zimmer's contract extension from Zone Coverage, Sam Ekstrom. What's up, Sam? So am I the second reporter in the series, the third reporter on your show? Like, what order is this going in? You are the closer, actually. You're the Joe Nathan of this podcast. Man, I didn't have my coffee this morning, and I don't know if I can be a closer, but we'll try. We'll do my best. Well, it's not a playoff situation, so it should be fine,

unlike Joe Nathan, who is always... I'm not going to serve one up to A-Rod in the bottom of the ninth. Yeah, he was always tremendous in the regular season. His numbers in the regular season match up with Mariano Rivera's. Playoffs is where it gets a little different. But anyway, so why don't you give me your sort of big picture first reaction. You see it on Twitter. Zimmer is signing a multi-year deal, which I'm told is three years. So what did you think? I wasn't totally surprised by it. I never really thought this was in jeopardy of not getting done, especially after

the statement that ownership crafted before the playoff game last year. And then the fact that he won that playoff game only reinforced that I think this was going to get done. I don't think this was the year to sort of have the ultimatum on Zimmer, like you're on the hot seat just because of not only all that's happening in the world, but everything that happened with the roster. Like this is clearly kind of a pivot year. So I don't think this is a great season to judge him on. I feel like he's done a pretty solid job, all things considered through six seasons that this, he deserved this.

I look at what he did defensively for five years to basically have a 100% intact staff and basically a 100% intact defensive unit. That's pretty impressive. What he built, he built things that were sustainable on this team that aren't typically sustainable in the league, like third down defense. It usually fluctuates more. You know, points allowed was fantastic all five of those years. And really,

the only year that he's had a non-competitive team, meaning below 500, was his first year. And he inherited one of the worst teams in the NFL. They still went seven and nine. In 2016, you know, he's a couple games away from the playoffs that year. They started five and oh, injuries happen, they collapse. And then he's one win from the playoffs in 2018. We could be talking about a five-year playoff streak with Zimmer. And I don't think he's totally without flaw. I think there are clock management issues. I think he's improved his bedside manner a little bit and kind of how to handle the locker room. He's less publicly critical of players than he used to be. He still picks his spots, which I appreciate. But all in all, I think it'd be hard to find a better alternative. If you were trying to go out and find another coach, everyone's trying

to go, you know, young, offensive minded. But Zimmer continues to put the Vikings in positions to win. So I endorse the deal. So I agree with you on all of that, but let me just try to retell the story that's a little bit different. Like another way to look at this is you lose in the playoffs in 2015. I know it's not his fault, but you still lost in the playoffs in your first chance of getting there. Then you go 2016, you're 5-0, and you fall apart and lose eight of your last 11 games you go to 2017 where

you have a tremendous team with all these great talents that have been built up Zimmer is a great defensive mind but also lots of first round picks lots of very gifted players on that defense that went number one and some good breaks too you get to the NFC Championship game after blowing a massive lead to the New Orleans Saints, and then you end up getting blown out 38-7. The next year, you're forced to fire your offensive coordinator because you hired the wrong guy. You missed the playoffs on the final day, and then this last season, you get about the easiest schedule anyone could ever get. You win 10, losing twice to Green Bay, and the second one was a really bad loss at home. You win a playoff game. It's great. Zimmer was very good in that game, but then go to San Francisco and same old story. So there's kind of a second way to tell this where you could

better understand why there was so much pressure and so much conversation about would they trade him to Dallas? Would they decide to move on? Would they let him go into the final year of his deal? Because if you just look at the win-loss record, you would certainly say, well, okay, I mean, this must be a very good coach, and they should continue going with him. But there's kind of this other element of it that I think it was reasonable to wonder if they would go forward with it, and it appears that the Wilfs have decided the stability is more important, and we will keep getting shots at it

if we have him as the head coach. Yeah, the frame game is really fun because you can spin it both ways. You're absolutely right, and the offensive coordinator decisions he's made, he'll have to live with. The Norv thing, I think from what we've heard, that was really kind of doomed from the start. And then not going with Stefanski when he should have gone with Stefanski and instead choosing DiFilippo. Those are two moves that, you know, arguably kind of blew up the 2016 and 2018 seasons. But then you have to also give him credit for, you know, bringing in Schirmer and having sort of that coordinator in waiting.

And then, you know, making the move to elevate Stefans of that coordinator and waiting, and then, you know, making the move to elevate Stefanski to give them a chance at the end of 2018. He had two coordinators. They got promoted to head coaching jobs. I mean, that's kind of a feather in his cap in some way. But, you know, you look at, you mentioned continuity. Look at the coaches that are longer tenured than Zimmer. John Harbaugh, Super Bowl winner. Sean Payton, Super Bowl winner. Bill Belichick, Super Bowl winner. Mike Tomlin, Super Bowl winner. Andy Reed, Super Bowl winner. Pete Carroll, Super Bowl winner. So the six coaches that, you know, have coached longer in their current teams than Mike Zimmer, they've all won Super Bowls. And since those Super Bowl wins, most of those teams have remained competitive. I mean, there is value to continuity. And Zimmer, you know, he's had continuity on the defensive

side, but he hasn't had the advantage of continuity as much on the offensive side. Part of that because of offensive coordinator, but part of that because of unpredictable quarterback drama, quarterback injuries like Bridgewater, Bradford. And now he finally gets sort of a long stretch here with Kirk Cousins. So Zimmer and Cousins now get to be, you know, sort of together for three or more years. Rick Spielman is probably going to remain in the mix. So they have a chance to build something on offense now that they haven't had before.

And ironically, this is when the defense kind of falls apart and he has to repatch that together. But I think that is a valid excuse to some extent why they haven't been able to be completely consistent is the offense has never really been able to put it together for multiple years in a row with the same personnel. So I've had everybody else look into their crystal ball and tell me what peak Zimmer is over this next extension. I want you to look into the crystal ball and tell me something else. Who is here longer, Mike Zimmer or Kirk Cousins? It's a great question.

I think Cousins probably is guaranteed for the next two years, and then he doesn't have that no trade clause, but they did set it up where they could kind of restructure him in a couple of years. I think Zimmer's got a little more staying power. I do. I think that if Cousins struggles, because that's not really Zimmer's area of expertise,

he's the defensive guy, I don't think Zimmer would necessarily be the fall guy in that situation. So I'd give Zimmer an edge to be around longer. I think his contract also goes longer. And I know that contracts can be ripped up pretty easily, especially with head coaches. But I'm going to go with Zimmer on this. Someone in the know speculated,

so I'm not saying that this is like rock-solid reporting, but more speculation by someone in the biz is the best I can do, suggested that Zimmer would want a contract that went longer than Kirk Cousins' contract in the case that they plateaued and they go nine and seven two years in a row or eight and eight, nine and seven, and they have a chance to draft another quarterback. And then Zimmer can say, hey, my defense once again in 2021 was fourth in the league and I'm continuing to do my job and make us competitive but what we really need is my Patrick Mahomes so we have to go out and trade up and draft my Mahomes and take one more crack at it and that

actually does make a lot of sense if you're looking forward and you're kind of confident that you're going to be a competitive team in these next couple years which I am with the Vikings then you would say yeah the one thing that you have with Cousins is somebody who has not shown to be able to elevate a team and that's where you question what is the ceiling of this Vikings team so would Zimmer want to say all right well I'm going to go find my you might even call it his Teddy Bridgewater that he had once upon a time. Last thing for you, Sam, is what do you think Zimmer has to change about his coaching over his next contract to make him successful in round two? I think he has been an adaptive coach overall in some areas. I mean, on defense, for sure. We've seen offenses change a lot in the last couple of years with a lot more motions and a lot more misdirections and things like that.

And Zimmer has been on top of it and they've continued to succeed even with the defense deteriorating and its roster talent last year, still fifth in points against. What does he have to do overall as a coach to be better next time around? It's an interesting dichotomy because I feel like Zimmer does have sort of his own ego, but he many times puts it to the side and is willing to bring in other coaches that have different ideas, and he's willing to evolve and adapt. And you see them running some of these new concepts to keep up with the league. But then there are things that are very outdated about Zimmer, like the fourth down decisions.

The clock management isn't very good. I don't think he's super into analytics and, in fact, kind of scoffs at it sometimes, even though it does seem to inform some of the team's decisions regarding personnel. And I think he's got a staff around him that does appreciate that. I'd like to see him get a little more adaptive to that. I think the run-pass balance that he pushes for is maybe a little outdated. I think Yuri Kubiak is actually a little more pass-happy than people give him credit for.

I think we might see more passing this year because Stefanski was kind of bending to Zimmer's will. I don't think Kubiak's going to bend to Zimmer's will a little bit. I'd like to see probably a more aggressive offensive approach. I like the way Zimmer has handled the media for the most part and sort of the way he's addressed his players in the media of late. I think he knows when to push buttons. He knows whose buttons are able to be pushed. And I got to give him credit for, you know, keeping that defense together for so many years, even though the cornerbacks went rogue in 2016, clearly he's doing something right to make that an environment that people want to be a part of.

The one thing that does concern me is that, you know, all these cornerbacks that he allegedly worked so closely with and is so good at developing, none of them seem to really want to stay this past offseason. So I don't really know how to address that. I know that there was money available for them, and the Vikings didn't really have money to give. But, yeah, I mean, just becoming a little more modern of a coach and still keeping, I think, that sort of honesty would be good.

But, you know, embracing analytics, making sure that he's staying ahead of the curve on that. I think he made a very wise move as well after George Floyd was killed, telling his team, look, guys, I don't understand a lot of the things that you go through because of being an older white man. Like, I just, I can't relate to you on a lot of things, but I've got your back and I want to help you with these measures that you guys are going to because it's clear that Vikings players want to be at the forefront of this social justice movement, and they have a social justice committee. And before, I think that Zimmer was a bit of the elephant in the room. Like, he didn't want that stuff talked about. He was looking at it as a distraction.

And if he changes his stance on that, I think that that really helps in terms of winning his locker room over. And it was moving to listen to Eric Hendricks talk about that. And like it meant a lot to them to hear him say, I've got your back when it comes to this stuff. So that sort of speaks to what you're talking about of, you know, trying to be Parcells, trying to be this old school hard-nosed coach. It's great, but it is also 2020 and you have to

approach things differently than you would have in 1999. So great stuff, Sam Ekstrom, Zone Coverage, follow him on Twitter and zonecoverage.com. And we will catch up again very soon as it looks like, Sam, we're going to have some football. Looks like. Hopefully. I'm knocking on wood. Hopefully we see you out at a practice field sometime soon. All right.

Sounds good. And thank you all for listening to this three-beat reporter edition. Well, I guess four, including myself. Reporter edition of Purple Insider. We'll catch you next time.