Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Breaking down Kwesi Adofo-Mensah's comments on Aaron Rodgers, contract

Episode Date: March 27, 2025

Matthew Coller reacts to Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah's press conference regarding the team's interest in Rodgers and his own contract. Did we learn anything new? Why didn't they shut the door on Rodgers? Does a contract sound imminent?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey, everybody, welcome to another episode of Purple Insider. Matthew Coller here, and we have some new information and quotes to work with for our conversation about the Minnesota Vikings off season today. Kwesi Adafo-Mentza, General Manager of the Minnesota Vikings, spoke at TCO performance center. I was out there with the rest of the assembled media to blitz Mr. Da Fomenta with Aaron Rogers and contract

questions. So we will run through what Quasi a da Fomenta had to say on mostly those two subjects. But you know, I think when it comes to those two subjects, the reason why they stand out so much is, well, of course, Aaron Rodgers is one of the most controversial people in sports, one of the biggest names in sports, one of the biggest names in football over the last 20 years. And if the Vikings would sign him, it would be pretty unusual to not turn the ball over to the 10th overall draft pick and instead go with Aaron Rogers and so forth.

And, uh, you know, Ian says no disrespect, but wish there were more questions about free agents. Right. I know. I mean, that's the thing about a press conference like this and the off season is that Aaron Rogers has become the whole off season, even though the Minnesota Vikings have done so much to improve their roster and should be at the top of every list for the most intriguing teams going into the draft and coming out of the off season because they are turning the ball over to their

first round pick. They've spent so much money. They've brought in all this talent to work around a 14 win team from last year. But when Aaron Rogers is involved, and this is just a preview of what it would be like if Aaron Rogers were here is you could forget about anything else being talked about regarding the Minnesota Vikings because he is such a big name. I mean, this is, there was an Elvis reference, but I mean, this is like an Elvis is in the building type of thing.

If Aaron Rodgers were to come here and I've said it before, but if you bring Aaron Rodgers here, you become the Minnesota Aaron Rodgers is you are no longer the Vikings. Your entire franchise is just about one player and the entire national media will cover every single breath that that guy takes along with us here as well. And today was kind of a look at that. It was like, yeah, if Aaron Rogers is involved,

you're going to get endless questions about it because of the magnitude of this man and also what it might say about your first round draft pick. And to give quasi-daful men's accredited, he did not run away from any of the questions about Aaron Rogers. He answered every single one and was transparent about the process. So I've pulled a bunch of quotes from him on Rogers, JJ McCarthy, as well as on his own contract situation. And we can have a look at that.

But I think you nailed the point right off the bat was we've been trying here on this show to talk about the off season, what they still need to do, what they've done, how much better they are. And yet Aaron Rogers discussion keeps pulling us back in. And that's what it was like today. And if you thought that quasi a da Fomento was going to come out with a fire hose and just spray cold water all over the Aaron Rodgers discussion.

I would not say that that is what happened. So let's take a look at the quotes and here's what you can do. While I'm going through these, throw your questions and comments and thoughts in the comment section. Anything is on the table because after I go through this, I'll have plenty of time to answer any and all Minnesota Vikings and NFL questions. So toss them in and we'll go through them after we've taken a look at

quasi Daphne Mendes quotes. So he confirmed, I mean, this is the biggest thing. He confirmed that the Vikings were talking with Aaron Rogers. He He said quote Kevin O'Connell has a relationship with Aaron They've had a lot of conversations and then he went into more or less detail about How that conversation went with Aaron Rodgers and he said? Quote I think we got to a place where we just said right now We feel good about where we're going and that's how it ended. So it needs to be said that for all of the folks who wanted it to be a deep fake, who wanted this story to be a plant of

Aaron Rodgers side planting something with the athletic so they would run out to the media and try to get Aaron Rogers to Minnesota well it doesn't seem that that was the case it seems that the Vikings very seriously had conversations with Aaron Rogers and with each other about Aaron Rogers and took into full consideration the pluses and minuses of potentially signing him I think we all know that Aaron Rodgers wants to be a Minnesota Viking. Why would he not? Justin Jefferson plays here. So of course he would want to.

And it's also not shocking that O'Connell would have a relationship with Aaron Rogers. He probably has a relationship with 80% of the quarterbacks in the league for one reason or another, whether it's just through playing against each other or having conversations or through the draft or whatever other process. So Quacey did not run away from the reporting that they had been speaking to Aaron Rodgers. Now one thing that of course is very hard to pinpoint exactly is how likely it was. And that might be the difference in where people stand in the information wars

between NFL network, the local reporting, the athletic and where I've stood on this the whole time is probably in the same place as a lot of you just trying to parse through what really is the chance that Aaron Rodgers comes here I've never thought that it was super high But the athletic at one point said it's 50-50 and that may have been true That they were that close to considering it. It may not be true That's something that we did not find out today

Just how close that was but more or less what quasi ad quasi at awful Mensa said in his press conference was, look, we are going to look at options. We're going to have that conversation. We discussed it and then got to a place where they felt good about JJ McCarthy. And they told Aaron Rodgers that, but the thing is that quasi at awful Meza had every opportunity to shut down any further discussion of Aaron Rogers becoming a Minnesota Viking. He could have said, look, this is never happening folks.

I mean, I know he's not going to say that, right? He doesn't want to disrespect Aaron Rogers, but he could have said, we're, we're pretty well locked in here and been a little more definitive about the fact that they are set with J.J. McCarthy. He could have done that and instead he did not do that. And he said, quote, for me to sit here and say that anything is 100% forever, that's not the job, right? We're responding to scenarios and different information as it comes, so obviously things can change,

but right now we're really happy with our room. So that quote right there is the, the door is still open for Aaron Rodgers. Now what we're left to figure out after that is, well, what would it actually take for Aaron Rogers to become a Minnesota Viking? Now he hasn't signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers and they have met with him So there is the question of is Rogers waiting around to see what happens with JJ McCarthy in the spring? And if the Vikings like where they stand even into early training camp remember

Rogers doesn't have to do this anytime soon. I mean, the Pittsburgh Steelers will still have a terrible quarterback situation whenever he wants to join them. So he could wait it out and wait to see if something pops up with the Vikings or if another team has an injury at quarterback. So the way that I read this is they didn't want to tell Aaron Rogers no forever because information can change.

Imagine a scenario where JJ McCarthy shows up for OTAs and he's doing a drill and something pops in the old knee and he is out for another season. Like it happens. I don't have to tell you guys about Dante Culpepper, Teddy Bridgewater, and the myriad of other knee problems that Minnesota quarterbacks, sometimes running backs and other positions have endured over the years. So they would not want to say in a season

where they are expected to win, they're expected to compete for the NFfc north no way never rogers. We would never go back to m its mccarthy all the way go to go to heck rogers don't ever speak to us again that's not the way that they're going to do business because you don't know what's going to happen. My question is what is the bar then for McCarthy when it comes to the spring and into the first part of training camp? Like what does he need to show them? Is it just that he needs to be healthy? Does he need to look great? Does he need to look like he is a hundred percent ready to go? QB one, he's the leader, he's in command. Does he need to be accurate?

Does he need to be successful? Or is it just get through the spring with no injuries and then get into training camp and go from there? That would be my question. How long will Rogers wait? I think he can wait as long as he wants to, but maybe the Pittsburgh Steelers are saying, all right, we need a decision by X

or you're just not playing in the NFL this year. That could also happen. So there's some dynamics there. But my read on that quote was that they're moving forward with JJ McCarthy with the little asterisk that, but if something happens and Rogers is still available, we'll do it.

And as far as the backup quarterback situation, a lot of you have figured out and you're right that they're not going to sign somebody until after May 1st, uh, after the end of the, uh, the, uh, the compensation pick. Where after, if you sign someone after May 1st, I think it's May 1st, you sign someone after May 1st, then you don't have to give up a comp pick and right now, at least according to the formula people who try to figure out the comp picks, the Vikings would be on the plus side of that. So why run out right now and pay X number of dollars for Ryan Tanhill or somebody else, Carson Wentz, and then bring them in and then waste a comp pick when you could just do it in May and it's unlikely that any other team is going to sign them in between

so that makes a lot of sense too, but the only remaining question I think is just what do they need to see from JJ McCarthy in order to Completely put this to bed and it may just be to completely put this to bed and it may just be health. They need to see health because my expectation for McCarthy in the spring is that there's going to be rust. I don't expect to go to the first OTA practice and get out my notebook and track every pass and go, oh man, he only went five for nine today

and he overthrew three, like I just, that would be ludicrous I know that because it's football and it's 365 and we love to do it that way that maybe some people will want to look at it that way but there's going to be rust there's going to be progress that needs to be made but are they judging it harshly through the lens of hey if this doesn't look good, then we'll go to Rogers. Is this a little bit too JJ McCarthy? A little bit of a motivating factor. Hey buddy, Rogers is still out there. Nothing promised in this league.

And you know, Kwesi Adolfo-Mensa made a quip about like, how often do teams tell a quarterback that they're QB1? Well, the answer is that they mostly don't have to, but they mostly don't flirt with Aaron Rodgers, right? I mean, that adds a new dynamic to maybe needing to tell him he's QB1, but it also could just be, kid, there's always gonna be competition in this league, so you haven't made it till you made it,

and maybe that's just a driving factor for a young quarterback. Now, as it pertains to JJ McCarthy, here is what quasi Adapha Mensa said, quote, at every checkpoint, whether it's been the draft process or practice until the injury or really the off season now until now, he's made he's met the bar he's exceeded our expectations at every point so this is something that i've talked about myself throughout about last year and what he showed them in training camp and the behind the scenes stuff now we don't know everything behind the scenes and there has to be at least some reason that they would

go from saying he's our franchise quarterback to hey aaron rogers why don to be at least some reason that they would go from saying he's our franchise quarterback to, Hey, Aaron Rodgers, why don't we at least stay in contact? Like not losing Aaron Rodgers number or not saying don't call me or whatever, right? But actually having that legitimate conversation, there is a reason for that, I'm sure. But as far as everything that we know, every amount of information that I've gotten has said that JJ McCarthy impressed the heck out of this team last year with what he did last summer. And we also know that he did lose the weight in the off season or I'm sorry, during the season while he was dealing with the injury that appears

to be back on and you saw him on TV with K Adams and Looks pretty beef now. So that alright that was a hurdle that we needed to find out Like where is he gonna be physically? He said something like almost 100% or basically 100% with the knee But they've got to see that and how that goes But as far as you draft a player, you go through that process, you have certain expectations of that player and then what is he going to be like when he's in the building? I know from my experience over many years,

many draft picks, you really don't know what someone is going to be like until they're in an NFL environment. But they got a year to see that from JJ McCarthy. And what quasi is saying matches up with what I would have expected, which is that he has met there or exceeded their expectations. He certainly exceeded my expectations from last year for a kid that was very young coming into the NFL and what we saw from him last summer.

And just if you're betting on the work ethic that he had last year and carrying that over now feeling like it's his team, there shouldn't be any real reason to have concern about JJ McCarthy other than it's football and a knee can always be an issue. And so that's why you don't entirely slam the door. But where we are right now, just as the roster goes as Rogers goes, it is not impossible as of this moment that Aaron Rogers could become a Minnesota Viking.

It's not impossible until he signs a contract with another team or until they're starting week one and JJ McCarthy's hands are under center, right? Then it becomes basically impossible. But until then it will linger and it will be out there, but it appears that everything is going to go forward as expected for right now. And when we pull back away from all the drama and the fights about who's reporting what and how it's being framed and what is the team saying to this

reporter? What are the agents saying to this reporter? Who on the inside? Who's the mole? You know, all that stuff, how I feel about it. But once we like pull all this back, where are we really with the Minnesota Vikings? We are exactly where we thought we would be. How was that? Is that good enough? They are who we thought they would be.

We are who we are where we thought we'd be. Which is with JJ McCarthy is QB one in the year 2025 with an absolute bleep ton of money that has been thrown into this roster that shored up every weakness that they have except for maybe a little more cornerback depth and the left guard position I think is up in the air a bit, but everything else was according to the plan that they laid out for us in the competitive rebuild. And now you for us in the competitive rebuild. And now you are here in the mode of truly competing.

You've gone through competitive rebuild. There were more wins during competitive rebuild than I think a lot of us expected, including me. I could not have predicted to 13 or more win seasons for this team while they were competitively rebuilding. So they did more winning than expected, but they have arrived here now at the spot that everybody dreamed about for all those years with humongous Kirk Cousins contracts and that feeling of can they ever get over the hump?

Are they always just going to live in this space where it's a it's pretty good, but it's not enough and people get fired or expectations rise beyond what your team is able to accomplish. That happened so often in the Kirk Cousins era. So a lot of the light at the end of the tunnel for Vikings fans and I mean myself since I talked about it for so long is JJ McCarthy and we didn't know it was him but we knew there was a him and that this was what they'd be able to do and here they've done it. That's where we stand right now.

That's a great place to stand and I highly suggest the Vikings continue to stand there because that is a good place to be in and I just wrote an article today Where I looked at every team that made the playoffs with a first or second year quarterback since 2021 and their supporting casts and Let me tell you the Vikings current supporting cast would match up across the board I looked at pass blocking, run blocking, running and defense. The Vikings supporting cast for JJ McCarthy is a second year quarterback stacks up with the Brock Purdy closely or has the potential to for next year.

People need to stay healthy. Things need to go right, but it has the potential to stack up with the Brock Purdy of San Francisco, or even funny, funny enough, Mack Jones, the team that got Mack Jones to the playoffs as a rookie in 2021 in New England was a great team across the board. Teams like that, that elevated young quarterbacks. There's always a lot of fear of like, well, what if he's not ready? And there have been quarterbacks who are not ready, but I compared them to the

quarterbacks that did not make the playoffs and the gap of supporting cast was enormous. I think it's so clear that quarterbacks are often a product of what's around them and the Vikings are giving JJ McCarthy everything he needs to succeed. Now go do it because you've got all the tools there in place, get another left guard if you need to, and go forward, because you can win with a young quarterback. That's the point, is that teams have done a lot of winning

with young quarterbacks if the circumstances around them are right, and they most certainly are for JJ McCarthy. So that's where we stand with Rogers. And as far as this show pertains, they most certainly are for JJ McCarthy. So that's where we stand with Rogers. And as far as this show pertains, this is the end of the road for that discussion until we are forced to again. And trust me, I'll go kicking and screaming,

but if we have to, then we will. But as of right now, we don't have to at this moment. JJ McCarthy is the quarterback. That's how I'm gonna talk about it until Aaron Rodgers is wearing number 12 in purple, okay? Now, the other part of this press conference, which was really dominated by two subjects, and again, I'll say it, fair enough, fair enough.

I'm also interested in a lot of the other stuff that happened, but These two subjects are pretty big and that's what tends to happen When you have someone of Aaron Rodgers magnitude and an unusual situation such as the head coach of the team having a contract and The general manager not having a contract so So quasi Adolfo Menta confirmed to us that he is not signed a contract extension as of yet. And this one, because of the gap between them is unusual to me. Normally with Mike Zimmer and Rick Spielman, they were in lockstep with their contracts.

So when one had a deal, then the other had a deal as well. They would often announce them together. I remember one year at the combine, they announced them together, their contracts. And I think the Wilfs always wanted them to be tied together going forward. So the fact that. KOC would have his done so quickly and quasi at Al Al Fomento, we're still, we're past free agency now. We're almost at the draft.

The other part is too, I don't know how often around the league, I mean, I guess someone would have to tell me, but around the league, I don't hear of many instances where teams general managers are doing the drafting when they don't have contracts going forward. I know it's happening in New York where they're doing their thing and they're on the hot seat and they're desperately flailing at Russell Wilson, but this is not a hot seat situation. This is a team that's in great shape that has executed their plan. That's come off a 14 win season that has been directed by a general manager who

has appeared to be at the head of one of the class organizations in football. When you listen to the players who signed here, when you look at the names of the guys, the NFL PA survey, the salary cap management, I mean, the, the overall bigger picture plan that we talk about all the time, like it seems very healthy to me. It seems about as healthy as it gets in the league How many teams would you say are in this kind of spot salary cap wise young quarterback drafted?

roster from top to bottom what I mean the Eagles The Lions you might throw the Packers in there the Rams are in pretty good spot, but I mean, there's just not that many. So you're in as good of a spot and yet the general manager is not locked in for the future. Now there was a lot of, I would call it, I don't know if, I don't know, is this a Midwest term or not? Hemming and hawing. Do they say that here? There was a lot of Hemming and hawing, a lot of talk and not a ton of answers. So I'll give you what Quasiadapho Mensa said

when he was asked about his contract situation. He said, quote, I'll make sure I call my agent and ask him how it's going and all that stuff. But just what we said with player contracts, the process, these things take time. I mean, he did call it the busiest time of year. This is something I've brought up. I mean, he has been negotiating a lot of contracts and apparently dealing with an Aaron Rodgers discussion as well. So that is a lot to do. Uh, and maybe he has not, at least the way he made it sound, been pressing his agent for answers.

That to me is a tad unusual, because if it were me and I didn't have a contract, I would be pressing my agent for answers, but maybe Quacey's a different kind of dude and has been solely focused on what has been going on. Now there is a gap though between here and the draft and if it's not done by the draft then we get into a strange territory of. The guy doesn't have a contract but he's running the draft this is odd and it has happened before where general managers have been fired. After drafts and that's always weird but it does happen i remember i think dog waley in buffalo got fired after drafts and that's always weird but it does happen. I remember I think Doug Whaley in Buffalo got fired after their draft and everyone asked the same question like wait how did that happen but you know if you're making that decision I don't expect that to happen looking at where the the franchise is my goodness again it's like one of the premier franchises in the conference I get

that shouldn't happen, but it has. There have been surprising moves with general managers. There have, I would assume there have been general managers who let their contracts play out if they can't agree to something. Having a lame duck GM would not be preferable though. And I believe Quasiadah Fomento when he said today that of course, no matter what my contract status, I'm gonna do the best for the franchise and all that.

Hey, I believe you, but don't you want as a franchise to have continuity from something that has worked so well? I would think so. I would think that you'd wanna have continuity. Now I don't know every moving part. I don't, I'm not the director of play or anything inside the building. So I don't know what it's like to work there every day

with the person in charge. And if there's questions, I also brought this up last year with the contract situations. But when you win 14 games and your coach wins coach of the year and he gets an enormous contract, sometimes there's questions of, well, who's got the power here? Who's making the decisions?

And that has to go in writing. Who's making the decisions? Who's got the power? How is it distributed? Is it changing from where it was before? All this stuff can factor in to a complicated contract extension. So that might be part of it, but that's only a speculation. Otherwise, if they were all on the same page, bam, it would be done, but there has to be something holding

it up. Now he compared it to, and this is where it's hard to figure out how close is this like, is it real close? Is it far away? Can you use your hands to show us do this? This is close. This is far away. I mean, it was the way that we're kind of poking at him was for some sort of indication. Is it close or not? Is there a chance that you go into the season without a contract or not? And I don't think we got super close to that answer, but he did say that it's like building a house and he said 90% of it you get done in the hardest part is the last 10%. So was that an insinuation that they're 10% away with his agent and himself and the Wilfs ownership.

Hard to say, but that was the metaphor that he used. So he said, quote, I plan to be the person that's here when we ultimately accomplish our goals. And that's what I'm working toward. I wish I could give you a simple, clean answer. There's positive dialogue happening with my representatives and theirs. And this gets to my final comment about the quasi Adolfo Mensa press conference and his conversation about his contract, which is as much of a scene as this was at the press conference and getting him

to answer questions on Rogers and his contract was like Rocky chasing around the chicken is what it felt like. But as we've gone through all of these things over the last couple of years that I can think of the Justin Jefferson contract, the KOC contract, along the way, there's always been some bumps or along the way. And this goes for J.J. McCarthy starting as well. There's always been some speculation, some reports, some questioning, some eyebrow raising. You remember I can do that with my eyebrows, some eyebrow raising.

And at the end of the road, it goes just how we would have expected it to go. McCarthy's the quarterback. Justin Jefferson's under contract. KO sees under contract and here we are. So my expectation remains that quasi at offal mental will get something worked out with the Vikings and he'll go forward and this team will take its real big shot at trying to win with JJ McCarthy. That was the dream of Kwesi Adafelmenza when he got here. Now he's, I would assume, going to be here to let it play out that he's not going to let details of a contract get in the way of him being the GM of the team that he built.

This is his team. The minute that even Sam Darnold really went under center, it became da Fomenta and Kevin O'Connell's team, but now it's their draft pick their quarterback their roster I mean there's holdovers and there's some stars that Rick Spielman drafted But most of the roster is now belonging to them I would think that he would want to see that play out and i still expected to within the coming weeks so that's where we stand it remains a little bit mysterious this off season and a little bit eyebrow raising and. Strange that this stuff has. Lingered out there but the bigger picture is this team is built a heck of a roster around the quarterback that they dreamed of building a heck of a roster around and That's still the bottom line

And he also said that Jordan Mason was a physical runner and they liked him So I that was the only the other thing I remember there were some other questions asked but I don't I Don't know of a notable answer on anything else because there was so much focus on this and we're still we're gonna hear at some point from, uh, Harrison Smith and Byron Murphy, and then, uh, we've got the owner's meetings coming up. I will be there in, uh, West Palm beach, Florida. And on let me think Monday, I believe we're speaking with the owner.

I think it's usually how it goes. Uh, Mark Wilf, and then on Tuesday, we have a breakfast that starts at 645 central time, but 745 Eastern time. So we've got a breakfast with Kevin O'Connell. The way that works is everybody sort of gathers around a table. It'll be myself, Ben Gessling, Alec Lewis, Kevin Seifert, you know, the kind of the usual crew, uh, will be Dane Mizutani will be kind of gathered around and we'll ask him questions, but also other people kind of come up and ask questions. I imagine there will be a few Aaron Rodgers questions for Kevin O'Connell and it usually lasts like 45 minutes.

So a lot gets accomplished in that and we'll have more answers from Kevin O'Connell of a podcast with Dane. Ben's already agreed to come on. So we'll get all the information we can and go forward with that. I will be very happy when it's all put to bed. JJ McCarthy's the quarterback and we could talk about just the draft without having this hovering over us, but for all intents and purposes, for me, that is out of the discussion for now until it has to be. So there you go. There's where

everything stands. So let me get to your questions and comments that you've thrown in here and we will go from there. So Ron says, Quacey had a chance to put this nonsense to bed and didn't. It's not nonsense, Ron. I mean, that's the thing. It's not nonsense. It wasn't made up. It wasn't a deep fake. It wasn't a Rogers plant.

Kevin O'Connell and Aaron Rogers talked about Rogers becoming the Vikings quarterback. That's what he told us today. And he also didn't say Aaron Rogers will never quarterback this team. So it isn't put to bed. It isn't. Yeah. The team didn't put it to bed. There's a scenario where McCarthy either disappoints or gets hurt. And they call Rogers as long as he's a free agent. That's a scenario.

I still don't think it's going to happen. I still think it'll be fine. And he'll be the quarterback McCarthy and it'll be Ryan Tannehill as his backup or who the heck ever Joe Flacco somebody you heard of and that's how this season will go. But is it put to bed? It's not. It's not. Red Star says I hear Cousins won't agree to a trade until after the draft as he actually think a team will still want him as a starter. Kirk Cousins is someone else's problem, so I don't know what's going to happen there. Unless he comes back to the Vikings as the backup, which I don't think is going to happen, but

yeah, I don't know. I don't know what's going to happen there. I don't think they're going to be able to trade him. I think they'll have to release him, but I don't know. Someone will have to because the situations at quarterback are so poor, there's really one quarterback that's going at the top and it's cam ward. And then who knows they're trying to make Jackson Dard a thing. Cheddar Sanders might be a thing, but I think Kirk Cousins wants to see how the draft plays out. So he doesn't get screwed again. That would be my guess is thatins wants to see how the draft plays out so he doesn't get screwed

again. That would be my guess is that Kirk wants to make sure that whatever team he's going to in a trade didn't just draft a quarterback and then he could get benched for them. That would be my guess. Jonathan says, I understand exploring all options for the sake of making the team better, but isn't it fair to bring his potential impact on the team culture into question? Absolutely. Absolutely.

It is. I wouldn't have liked that element at all. And if it happens, I won't like that element at all. I don't think that Aaron Rogers is a bad teammate. I think what Aaron Rogers is, is a personal circus that he is walking drama. I mean, when you're talking about somebody who is connected politically to huge political names and that's not taking some sort of stance, that's a fact.

And you're also talking about someone who has taken huge political stances on enormous platforms and goes on one of the biggest shows on ESPN every week and just airs whatever dirty laundry he wants and says whatever he wants about his team and all that sort of stuff and gives whatever opinions and brings all the national attention. I mean just that alone for a team that has lived in a drama list place inside the locker room and has gotten along so well This person has a chance to split the locker room Especially if some people want JJ McCarthy if that was on the table now if he's hurt there's no choice But I definitely think when you bring in somebody like that

I mean you better win every game because otherwise every single loss becomes such a huge discussion point. Every single statement he makes becomes national news every single day. I mean, it's something the Vikings have not dealt with in a long time. That would be very, very different. So yeah, I think you have to consider that. And look today, today was an example. Oh, why didn't they ask more questions about Jonathan Allen?

Why was it all about Rogers? Because that's what happens. It's all about Rogers. Look at New York. It's all about Rogers. When somebody is that big of a name that transcends the sport. I mean, I have family members that are football fans

who know all about Aaron Rogers and all about his opinions and all about his things that he says and whatever else and his Netflix special and I mean everything you just sign up for the circus. If they were wondering what that's like I present you the press conference today which was almost every question about that so that's what it would be like for the entire season. It would be all about Rogers and for a team that wants to be all about the whole team and the locker room and the culture and all that pretty hard when everything is about one person. You can't tell me that the New York Jets were not dealing

with an enormous distraction last year. Jason says, question what player with our first pick would make the biggest impact on 2025 that is a realistic possibility for the Vikings. I mean, there's a few different answers there. A corner back if they drafted somebody and he was good right away. I've thrown out a few names, but you know, Jada Baron or yeah yeah, I think it's Jaday Baron from Texas.

If he was there, I mean, he's somebody who could step in right away and maybe be a slot guy right away with Blackman and Byron Murphy on the outsides. I could see Gray Zabel or Tyler Booker or whatever offensive lineman they like playing left guard as a starter and winning that competition. Uh, you could see rotational players even if they drafted Derek Harmon or, uh, Walter Nolan, those guys could rotate and be impact players right away. But I think a corner is probably the right answer unless it's a left guard who obviously would play every single snap and that would most likely have the most

impact right away. They don't need to do that for me though. They don't need to draft for this year because just historically, I mean if you're if you're drafting for this year, then you know, I mean, I think that's always risky when you try to fill a spot right away. And instead you should just take the best player because the most talent you can just figure it out. And that's why someone like Melchi Starks is fine with me. If that's the most talent, then take the most talent. Now, the reason I don't love that with a safety

and I didn't love it when they took Lewis Seen is the positional value. This is why I talk about wide receiver and I don't think it's crazy. I saw a tweet today, somebody was talking about, hey, if you want a wide receiver too, and free agency, I mean, look what Stefan Diggs just got. I know that the contract was fake phoning funny money, but still even 26 million

guaranteed over a couple of years for Stefan Diggs coming off of an ACL, not being the same receiver as he was before shows you the desperation for wide receivers. Corners are kind of the same way. Edge rushers, they have a lot of them, but defensive tackles, I think, are extremely scarce. So if you go after somebody who's at a scarce position, not aiming for right away, then I think that they're in great shape in doing that. Matt says, sure. Seems like they told him that JJ would start if he seemed ready and are open to

signing Rogers. If JJ is not ready for whatever reason, that's kind of what it looks like. Yeah. That's what it looks like is they probably told Aaron and this is how quasi-adapthalmensa kind of laid it out was like, if you're going to go sign with another team, that's cool. If you want to wait for us to see, then we might circle back to you. That's what it sounds like. Ben's likes to tie in three, the off and we are in trouble not saying it is a big priority but worth our

concern. What did I say something about tight end three maybe I did at some point it's never been a concern for me because there's just no good tight end threes. Yeah I guess you need one but I mean, if Johnny Mont was the best tight end three in the league, there's probably 30 guys who can be your tight end three that are fine. And yeah, when you're talking, if two guys get injured, I mean, I know what you're saying. Like if one guy gets injured and then you need a tight end three, like, yes, you need someone who knows how to play football.

But if you're thinking that that's like a valuable position That needs a lot of priority. I'm not with you. They just pick up a guy you like it's fine. There's not going to be There's just not gonna be a lot of emphasis on that Why don't reporters ask more direct questions? I, I don't know how much more direct it could have been today. I don't know what you're looking for. I don't know how much more direct it could have been than what's going on with Aaron Rodgers and what's going on with, I think the question about the contract

was what's going on with your contract. So I don't know. I don't know. Everybody always thinks they could do the press conference better. It's sort of like playing quarterback, right? Uh, let's see. Sue says they don't want him, but need to leave the option open in case they need to use that door. Also, Vikings don't want to be mean and say no out. Yeah, maybe that's true. It's the Midwest. They don't want to be mean and tell Aaron. No no I think the first part of your comment is right. What.

The fact that they want to leave the door open just in case is really what it's about. I'm but I also think that their consideration was serious. And that's been the reporting of Kevin Seifert and Ben Gessling and multiple other people is that they were. and multiple other people is that they were having that discussion behind closed doors. Only the people who were having it know to what degree or how close or what percentage when people are throwing out percentages, it's like, I don't know. How do we know that? I mean, how do we know for sure what the percentage actually is that they were, how close that do they do it that way? Do they say, you know what? We're at 62% right now, but let me tell you, it could go back the other way. Let's see how JJ looks downstairs.

Oh, it looks good today. We're at 58%. Like, I don't know that that works that way. I think that they got very serious about discussions internally with Aaron Rogers about that possibility. And after those discussions, they landed on, let's not completely throw this out, but let's also go the right direction with JJ McCarthy. Let's not tell Aaron Rodgers. There's no way no world because there is a way and there is a world.

And I remember I remember the quote from Kyle Shanahan. This got brought up. I think maybe by Sam Monson on the show the other day is is you know where Kyle Shanahan said something to the effect of like, well, we could all be dead next week or whatever. I don't know what's going to happen. Well, that's kind of how they're approaching this. They don't know what's going to happen.

Uh, Sue says kind of wish reporters asked about left guard position instead of the Rogers and quasi contract. There's no world where you can not ask about those two things, man. You just tight end three. Oh my God. Like what if you went to a press conference as a reporter and you, like everyone is there to ask about the biggest storyline around this team of the entire off season. And you ask about tight end three,

we're picking you up by the shirt and throwing you out of the room. I mean, you'd you would get your journalism card pulled for that. I mean, that's just, there is no journalism card, but how could you not? Like, anyway, the left guard position. Yeah, sure. I mean, look, I don't set the time limits for how long the guy talks. I mean, if there was more time, then there would have been more questions about other stuff, but it's not this isn't really about who asked what question or how or whatever.

It's we got some answers today on the most important subjects. I also wish there were more answers about some other things that are of interest, and those questions will have to be answered at another time. But you know what? One thing I can always promise is there will be more conversations that happen in football. My gosh, we play 17 games and we spend the rest of the time talking about it. So I promise you there will be other conversations that happen with the GM. But man, I mean, this is exactly it. Like I guess, I guess we got a bunch of reporters here, but like why so many angles about Rogers and no questions about the

draft? Because he's, I would have looked, there's only so much time that we're given. So there would have been more questions if there was more time. But if you're saying there were too many questions about Aaron Rogers, I don't know what to tell you. I mean, it's just, it's, it's just, you know, we're talking about Aaron Rodgers here, man. We're talking about one of the. You know, why did we not ask about this? Why do we not ask about that? We're talking about Elvis in the building.

We're talking about one of the biggest names in sports over the last 20 years, potentially coming to play quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings. And then they acknowledge that they were talking to him. There's going to be more questions. The other thing is too, that it could have been shut down after maybe two questions. If quasi a da Fomenta had said, I'm not answering anything more on Aaron Rogers. You can ask me about other stuff, but he continued to give more details. So what are you supposed to do? And like I said, there's owners meetings coming up in a few days.

We'll ask more questions. I promise. I mean, you know, I don't know. It's just, it's just, uh, it's just, it's not a little bit of an odd criticism to me, but you know, anyway, you know, I get it. I get it. I think that you guys and me both want to not talk about Aaron Rodgers ever again, and I completely agree with you.

So that's probably the frustration there, I would say. Bronfricotsolo says, has Wentz signed anywhere? I think he would be perfect. It's been a nice backup for a couple seasons. Andy Reid speaks highly of him. He has not signed anywhere, and I agree with you. I mean, I think if Kevin O'Connell is fine with Carson Wentz, then I'm fine with Carson Wentz. You guys know how I feel about QB too

I just don't have the strongest opinions on it that person. I want them not to play I Want them to support JJ McCarthy and to be available if you need them and that is it Be a camp thrower of footballs to the second team wide receivers play in the preseason Do your job. I don't want to talk about you. Like that, if that's, that's where I've always stood on backup quarterback. I know that during training camps of years past, Oh, there's a backup quarterback competition and I've always said, I don't really care. And then, uh, you know, how it's played out is that the Vikings

quarterback got hurt. He either had the Minneapolis miracle or was very bad. So, you know, Carson Wentz is fine, sure. But if you if someone else came in and said, well, I really want Joe Flacco, I'd be like, OK, you can have that's fine. I have Joe Flacco. King Dickens says, wouldn't this be as simple as KOC being a priority since

He is a hot commodity, but quasi is not. Oh, you're talking about the contract situation The longer you keep KOC unsigned the more likely he would start to look for a new place to coach Yeah, I mean my point is I get what you're saying But my point is that normally what has been done within this organization is tying the GM and the head coach together. I have a pretty big sample size of that with Rick Spielman and Mike Zimmer. So anything that goes in a different direction from the way things have been done in the past with this ownership is notable.

And I mean, yes, of course, Kevin O'Connell has more value. He will make more money than Quasidafel Mensa. And it's more of a desperation, I'm sure, to get the deal done and get them locked up and be good to go. But at the same time, if they're in lockstep, then you want them to continue to be in lockstep and not getting it done within

a certain period of time, especially since Adam Schefter had reported on the day the KOC signed that they were working on or close to a deal with Quasidafel Mensa. The fact that it hasn't been done yet is like, okay, what's happening here? And there wasn't really much light shed on what's happening here and whether it will be done soon. I mean, maybe the 90%, 10% is right. Most likely it gets done and they move forward together and they continue to do this thing.

But if there's something else happening, that's where you start to ask that question. Is there a reason for this or is it just that he was busy? Or is it that they can't agree on it? And that's why you asked the question is to try to parse through that. I didn't think we got an answer on it, but you wonder like why is it that this isn't done yet? More likely than not, it will get done and they will go forward together. But if they don't, that's a pretty serious thing. Like if you go through the

draft and there's no contract, that's a pretty serious thing. Now you're talking about a lame duck GM and a head coach who has a huge long contract. That is quite a juxtaposition for two guys to be working together. So I mean, that's, that's interesting. If nothing else, Matt says not extending him can even affect free agency. I would not go as far to saying that he signed a bunch of old vets because he wants to win to secure a deal, but it probably had some impact on his thinking that I don't know. Now he said that it didn't. He said that that's not like what was on his mind at all when he was making these moves. And I also think too that, you know, he did sign older veteran players.

That's true, but they also signed Jordan Mason traded slash signed him. They signed Byron Murphy. I mean, not every will fries. Like not everybody was old. It was a couple of players who were in a couple of players who weren't. And I think what he explained about the older players made some sense to me that he was looking for deals basically. And if you're getting someone who's 30 years old, who's coming off an injury, you could get them cheaper than if you had gone out and tried to sign that player when they were healthy and looking for

value is something that, you know, quasi-daful Mensa is always going to do. I don't think they went into this off season and said, I'm going to sign a bunch of old players to win now. They're in win now mode. They are in the mode to go get old veteran players and try to win right now. Like that's where we're at. And I get asked about this all the time about like, well, in two years, what are they going to do? And it's like, well, they'll probably do the same thing again.

They'll have Darasaw and Jefferson will still be in their prime and under contract, probably Gennard. And you're looking at if Dallas Turner takes his step and so forth, you've got to hit on some draft picks and then they'll restock around JJ McCarthy's contract until they can't anymore. Right. I mean, I don't think that, um, signing older players is some sort of like sign of quasi a dafou Mensa risking it all to win this year. I mean, some of these signings are definitely risky, but they would do this anyway.

Like it's time to do this. It's time to. Go all in on players like Javon Hargrave and Jonathan Allen, Aaron Jones, guys who could still play and are older, but they're not dust yet. So it's not like you signed players who can't play anymore. Um, let's see. Drew says, what is quasi at Huffman says GM ranking?

Well, I think I would look at it more as how have they been, and this is why you do it with the guys in lockstep, right? It's like, how have they been as an organization since quasi-daful Mensa took over and hired Kevin O'Connell? I mean, to me that extremely high on the list of all franchises. They went from utter disaster in 2021 to turning around the culture in a single year and then having another season like last year where they outperformed expectations and signed all these free agents who wanted to come here because of the NFLPA survey

and what they'd heard about the training staff and Kevin O'Connell and all that stuff. I mean, that's not where they were at before. They couldn't get people to sign here. They couldn't get coaches to stay. Assistants would coach for a year and then leave. And I mean, if you're Grant Udinski, you got to take that job in Jacksonville. But the other assistants, the Kenan McCardell's, the West Phillips and so forth, the Brian

Flores, like they're all still here. I mean, they've created this really, really excellent situation to give them a good chance to win since Quasi-Odafel-Mentza got here. I would want that to keep going. If I were the ownership, I would want this, all the accolades that they get, the decisions, the salary cap, the roster strength, the wins that they've gotten.

If I were them, I'd want it to continue. I mean, think about what's KOC's record without backup quarterbacks? Like not talking about the Josh Dobbs, the Nick Mullins in that run. They were four and four, 13 and four, so that's 17 and eight, and then 14 and three, that 31 and 11 with starting quarterback.

I mean, that doesn't sound like you want to change your GM. That's, I'm just saying. That's why it's such a discussion, because if this was going poorly, then you'd be like, yeah, I get it, but it's not. It's going really well. I've seen it go poorly. It's not good.

It's way different than this. Uh, Doug says, speaking of Jordan Mason, I've seen him compared to Marshawn Lynch. Do you think that's realistic? Any comps to previous Vikings running backs? Um, I mean, Marshawn Lynch is unfair because that's a hall of fame caliber running back. Um, I mean, I don't know if he's going to make the hall of fame, but it's like that level of at his best.

He's the best in the whole league. Marshawn Lynch. I don't think so. I think it's really the the violence that he plays with that he wants to run over people and he has a mentality to do it. He breaks a lot of tackles. So there's that. I mean, I think from what I've heard about Marshawn Lynch,

this would shock people, but I know guys who have played with Marshawn Lynch and they will tell you that Marshawn is brilliant, that his understanding of football is super high level and that he's a shockingly bright guy considering the persona, but it's a persona. Like he loves that persona. He loves that character, but that's not really who he is. And I think his brilliance, and wasn't he a first round pick, second round pick?

His brilliance as a football player, I think would put him very high. I'm not saying Mason is not a smart football player, but Lynch was exceptional. Lynch could also catch the ball. So it's it's not that level, but it's that style. It's that like, hey, I'm 220 pounds. I'm going to run through people.

I'm going to impose my will. Like, I think he does that as far as Vikings running backs. You know, gosh, I think about like. You might have to go. You might have to go way back a little bit on that because he's not like a Robert Smith, like a Leroy Horde maybe. I mean, he's like a quicker Leroy Horde.

I don't think that Leroy Horde was quite like, I think he's much bigger than Mason, but that physical style, Leroy Horde, one of my favorite players of all time. Alex says, I'm a Packer fan, AR12 steals all the oxygen. I hope they sign Rogers. Well, I appreciate you listening to the show, Alex, being a Packer fan, but yeah, that's what I think.

I mean, I think your team becomes everything about one player. And that is Aaron Rodgers. If you sign him. Oh, a faster Mo Williams. I like that. Is he faster than Mo Williams? I don't know.

I don't know if I have a 40 time on him. Kim free agency questions sort of Vikings related. Are the jets with Spielman grabbing Justin Fields fulfilling his dreams from the Vikings time Yeah, they did try to trade up to get Justin Fields if I recall they didn't try that hard or it wasn't a great offer I think that they kind of did it because the ownership wanted them to draft a quarterback to develop behind Kirk But you never know how it might have been different. I mean, I did this article. It's very eyeopening.

If you want to check it out, purple insider dot football. I did this article about the supporting casts and young quarterbacks made the playoffs. Justin Fields was as bad as it gets for supporting cast bad receiving, bad running, bad blocking, bad defense, even when he was there. And I'm not saying it's gonna be better with the New York Jets. It was probably a little better with Pittsburgh

and he was a little better, but you just never know. Sam Darnold should tell you, you never know what somebody would have done with Justin Jefferson. You really don't. Jefferson is a total game changer. Justin Jefferson almost won games with Nick Mullins at quarterback throwing four interceptions because he's that special and then you add Addison to the mix you add this, you know, I mean it wouldn't have been KOC

well, actually it would have been Thielen to the mix but still you know Thielen good wide receiver and Yeah, maybe it would have been what Clint Kubiak at or get would Gary have still been there. No, it would have been what Clint Kubiak or would Gary have still been there? No, it would have been Clint. You never know. Maybe it would have been KOC taking over Justin Fields at quarterback. And then also, you never know. Maybe he would have developed him slower. Maybe I don't know.

I'm always like half in half out on Justin Fields being anything more than he is because he took those sacks himself. He struggled himself, but what a joke the Chicago Bears were. And after, after Sam Darnold, man, I mean, it just should totally make you think about quarterbacks and who goes bust and why. Like Zach Wilson, Zach Wilson supporting cast were so hysterically bad. I mean, I'm not surprised that he in Denver was getting some discussion is like, Hey, you know, maybe this guy could actually be pretty good after, uh,

you know, after his training camp. Uh, Aaron says Vikings fans have been level headed throughout this whole off season until one press conference. Have they been? I mean, I don't know. I think that anytime someone like Aaron Rodgers is involved, level headedness does go out the window. Where they were not level headed is the attacks on Diana Rossini, Mike Silver, Alec Lewis, the athletic.

And look, again, I'm not, I'm not playing that game where we break down who knows what and why and who's agent or who the team that's, that's a game I don't play. I know these people, they're friends of mine. Sometimes I know where their information came from and I don't like to get into that, that battle is that is just not somewhere I want to go. What I know is what was reported was that the Vikings and Aaron Rogers were having discussions and quasi-adaphal MENSA confirm that. And so all the people who were not being level headed and who were attacking the

reporters and claiming they were making it up. That was not fair. Uh, and as far as the reaction to it, I do think Vikings fans were in the right spot. I would estimate that about 92% of Vikings fans were against the idea of Aaron Rodgers and it was for very good and logical reasons. You've seen him blow up franchises. You've seen him play recently. It doesn't look like something that's going to work and not

only that the circus you don't really want that if it's not going to give you a Super Bowl, right? So. Yeah, I think that Vikings fans were level-headed as far as that goes, but the fact that they did not today really truly put it to bed. I can see why people would be antsy still about this. Jackie says, we have a championship caliber roster

on paper. I don't see the problem kicking the tires on Rogers. JJ is still our future either way at some point. Well, the problem is that Aaron Rogers has not played anything like a championship caliber quarterback and not since 2021. And if you're going to take on all that other pressure and all that other noise that you're going to have to deal with, he better be the MVP version. And the fact that he wasn't in 2022 with Matt LaFleur you could say

well our coach is different well Malafor is a pretty darn good coach and even in New York Devontae Adams and Garrett Wilson are pretty darn good wide receivers they had a pretty darn good defense and they stay won five games I mean the numbers are not in his favor at all. And then all the other stuff that goes along with it. Nathan says, wasn't Wentz not liked in the locker room or was that fake news? Well, things change with guys. Wasn't he out of the league for a year? I mean, things change where when it comes to someone like Carson Wentz, when he was a starter,

think about what happened to Carson Wentz. He was the guy for the Eagles franchise, the young quarterback for them to build around for many years. And then he gets hurt and they win the Super Bowl, which is very, I think, probably mentally taxing on somebody who thinks like I'm the guy and everything else. And now someone else gets to play hero cause I got hurt. And then they really let the roster corrode around him and then traded him. And it sounds like he was uncoachable at times, but the fact that he's remained in the league on two winning franchises as a backup might tell you that that mindset has changed for Carson Wentz. And he understands exactly, uh, like where he is in the league right now, which is as a backup quarterback.

So people change, people get older. I'm not the same as I was a few years ago, probably. So I'm, I'm mostly the same, but, um, at that, at his age, maybe going from twenties to thirties, people change, grow up, and understand it's better to make a $10 million paycheck and be a good backup guy than it is to not play football at all. So maybe that's a thing.

Rob says the Vikings have yet to replace QB2, tight end three, safety three, edge four and five, defensive tackle four, an interior line backup. I bet they wait until they see how the draft shakes out to act as necessary. Safety three is the most vulnerable. Well, I think the point there, Rob, and a lot of those positions do have players that are developing like Jay Ward is a developing player who they like and was good for them on special teams last year, which has been a nice pipeline for Theo Jackson, Anthony Harris, uh, Andrews and day ho. So Jay ward is,

is probably in line there. You know, you're talking about DT for a neck roll for you, Rob neck roll for you breaking down the deep depth. I think what it says is that the roster is mostly set. The roster is in really good shape at this moment. DT4 is probably Jalen Redmond or Levi Drake Rodriguez. Like they've been developing those guys. So. You know. Let's see. The need George Blanda.

Okay. I mean, you could, you're never going to go wrong in this comment section by throwing out completely random backup quarterbacks that the Vikings should get. Son of Beaver says we're forgetting CJ Beathard through a 74 yard touchdown to Tim Jones four years ago. There you go. CJ Beathard kind of knows that. He does know that type of system playing for San Francisco. He is a guy that's a level down for me. I think of the Tannahill, the Wentz, the Flacco as the guys. But I mean, I would I wouldn't be surprised if if it's Carson Wentz. I wouldn't want it necessarily to be C.J.

Beathard, because I think if you have to play him, it's very much like Nick Mullins. And I think his stats are really close to Nick Mullins. Aaron says thoughts on Quacey saying today they accomplished their A plan. I think they're doing an excellent job. Yeah, the way that he phrased that was that they have plan a type of players and then audibles make sense. OK, this is our main guy. Maybe they wanted Milton Williams and then they said, no, he's making too much.

So let's go get these other guys. This is why it's all so funky, is because their plan has been accomplished. It's been executed this off season and it's gone great. That's why we all had so much fun during those couple of days of free agency because it was like, whoa, they're doing all the stuff, all the stuff that you asked them to do all the stuff that you know, you guys came in here, you, you

very knowledgeable fans and said, Hey, you know, you guys came in here, you, you very knowledgeable fans and said, Hey, you know, they need a, another running back. Where are they going to get one? And Jordan Mason wasn't on my radar, but like, good job. You got one. And you guys said, you know, they need defensive tackles and you're like, they, yes they do. And I, and I'm saying, I agree with, with you, we all said this.

And then they wouldn't got them. Uh, they need to improve interior O-line for the first time in forever. They went and did it They need to be better at pass pro. I looked this up yesterday Ryan kelly allows a quarterback pressure over the last three years once every 35 snaps in pass protection, so that's like once a game and A garrett bradbury was once every 21 snaps, which is more like once a game and. A Garrett Bradbury was once every 21 snaps, which is more like twice a game, but there there's a difference, right? And those came in bunches a lot of times with Garrett Bradbury.

Like that's a big difference. Once every 35 versus once every 21 snaps. It's a big difference. Like they've done the things that we asked them to do in terms of improving the roster. They get an A for the off season. And yet it still feels like we're having like a tense conversation about Aaron Rodgers and Quacey's extension and all that because these two things just sort of lingering in the air. And once they're resolved, I mean, we'll see about Rodgers if that's ever really resolved, but if he signs with Pittsburgh, I guess it is. And once the the Quacey contract is resolved, it'll be like, all right, it's football time.

It'll feel like it's time to move on and move forward. Once we have gotten. You know, passed a lot of this more dramatic or unsettled, I guess I would call it unsettled conversation. Let's see, AngryNative says, Quacey mentioned the compensatory formula, they are not signing quarterback until it doesn't mess with the formula. Signing any QB pre-draft could cost them a fourth round.

Yeah, I mean, I think that's clear. If it's someone like Carson Wentz yes, Ryan Tannehill. No, I don't think they have to pay a comp pick for him. But yeah, that's clear That's clear with the backup quarterback situation. They want to keep some comp picks to make you guys happy Dinesh says would you consider the competitive rebuild to be complete? Yes, I would. The minute JJ McCarthy steps under center and drops back to throw a pass in a real game, it's complete.

Now, they've been competitive and they've been rebuilding to some extent, but not really. I mean, it's really been like a lot of just building. It's they tore it down and then they just built to try to win with all those free agents last year. Like those weren't Jonathan Granada, Andrew Van Ginkle, Blake Cashman. Those are not like rebuild type signings. Those are top players who played huge snap numbers to build a successful team.

We know that there really is no rebuilding when it comes to the Wilf mentality. Like the Wilf mentality is making the playoffs every year and always being in the mix, even if your team isn't quite as strong or is having a year where you've got to move on from players like they did in 2023. But I mean, I think it was more than successful to be in the mix as much as they were. I mean, there are even a couple of plays away from making the playoffs with

Dobbs and Mullins and all that. So it's been a big success, but no playoff wins is never a true success. So now begins, I think the real pressure packed point in this whole quasi-daafu meant to Kevin O'Connell era is there are real expectations. Now last year we talked a lot about, well, if it's a fun season and McCarthy gets in, this is the off season, of course,

like McCarthy gets in and looks good. Then it's a successful season. Who cares if they win eight games or something, right? It's no longer like that at any point going forward. It is you got to win. You are building on this around, uh, JJ McCarthy, but I think really the off season was chips all in, which they should be once that guy arrives and he's ready to play chips to the middle of the table, use all the cap space,

get all the veterans that you can do as much as you possibly can to win games. That's what you do. Pull every lever with the salary cap. Anything you got to do is to win games right now. And that's what they're doing. And that's what this off season was. And that's why I like it so much because I think that's what they're doing and that's what this offseason was and that's why I like it so much because I think that's what you do I think it

nails perfectly the the whole arc the take it down build it back up with a lot of money and free agency and hand the keys over to McCarthy Rob says the Vikings are at 21 million dollars in cap space with Rondale Moore and from Bradbury's add-on. Well, that's kind of what we were talking about the other day where you guys were asking about the salary cap space. And it's like, well, once these other contracts come on and then you sign a backup quarterback, it might

be more like 20 million and now actually less than that. And then you carry over some cap space to next year. So there might not be a next big move that's on the way. Randall enjoyed the article. Thank you very much. Appreciate that. Thanks for reading it. Purpleinsider.football, the daily newsletter.

I'll have my have my take in written form over there tomorrow on Quacey's press conference along with some more quotes. So, oh yeah, I mean, look, Jay Weezy, who doesn't think we should ever ask about Aaron Rodgers, I don't know what to tell you, man. I just don't know what to tell you I Don't want to talk about Aaron Rodgers either. Have you noticed? This has not been my favorite subject over the last like three weeks I mean you have to ask about it I don't know how anyone could argue otherwise you have to ask about anyone could argue otherwise. You have to ask about someone of that caliber, especially when the direction was so clear. You have to get answers. The

direction is so clear that they were going to go to JJ McCarthy and then all of a sudden one of the most successful quarterbacks, one of the most controversial quarterbacks, biggest name, biggest resume. And there's the Brett Favre history element to it is all of a sudden on their radar. And you're supposed to just like ask about tight end three. I mean, that just can't, you just can't do that. Like you need to understand. I think you need to understand where they stand with it.

And you know what? We walked out knowing. So that's the other thing too. We know. Now it's no more guessing whose sources were right, whose sources are wrong. We got it from the horse's mouth. And for my purposes, it is now over as a discussion.

We got it from the horse's mouth. JJ McCarthy is the guy. They talked with Rogers. They're not closing the door because you never know what can happen end of story and now we can move on and talk about tight end three probably not that though not as much I can't get into the tight end three thing. Let's see Josh says do you think that the backup quarterback situation will be figured out before or after the draft?

When is the draft? Is it August? No, April. April 20 something-eth, it'll be after that. If it's not Ryan Tannehill, then if it's a current free agent like Carson Wentz, it will be right after that because of the compensation thing. And that makes the most sense.

So they'll probably do a handful of things right after that. Jason says ESPN bet release their season win totals has the Vikings at 8. Jason says. ESPN bet release their season win totals has the Vikings at eight point five wins. OK. I mean, once again, with Vegas, think about last year. Vegas, what were they supposed to do? Like I asked I was out at Circa last year last summer, and I asked Derek Stevens, who built Circa, I said,, Hey man, what's up with this Viking 6.5 wins?

And his answer was basically, what are you supposed to do with Sam Darnold at quarterback? If you're them, what are you supposed to do when you're setting lines? What are you supposed to do when Sam Darnold's history is so poor? Now, I think all of us felt like, well, we've seen this before. We've seen them elevate quarterbacks before. This franchise has done it many, many times from Case Keenum to Jim McMahon,

to whatever other number of quarterbacks, Jeff George. So they've done it so many times, Gus Farrott, that we know they can do it with their wide receivers. But if you're them, I mean, you're not really banking on that. But if you're them, I mean, you're not really banking on that. And as far as 8.5, it's the same issue where it's J.J. McCarthy. So no matter how good your team is roster wise, you're not going to expect a first time quarterback to win 1012 games.

I think that they should expect that they should expect to go over that. I would pick the over today. Hands down. I wouldn't hesitate on it, but with a completely unproven quarterback, how is anybody supposed to know? So they kind of strike in the middle of well, even if he's I mean, he could even be a pretty good and they could win eight games like that's an outcome. If people get hurt, the schedule is super hard. He has a lot of ups and downs. they could win eight games like that's an outcome. If people get hurt, the schedule is super hard.

He has a lot of ups and downs. You could win eight games. I would be much less confident in this than I was last year, about six and a half. I thought there's no way Kevin Hocanel and Brian Flores are winning six games, not when they had won seven the year before. Kerpluppy, is there anything about JJ McCarthy that makes you nervous for him to start? Anything from your time watching him pre-injury, however limited? Um, I think that the biggest thing is just the inexperience.

Like, think about it this way. It's a common metaphor, but... It's a common metaphor, but. If you are a boxer and you are hitting the body bag or whatever, and you're doing the thing, I don't know what it's called boxer. People will know where you spin your arms around like Dante Culpepper, Bing, Bing, Bing, Bing, Bing. You're hitting the box thing. You're sparring.

You got the face gear on. You're sparring. You can look like a pretty good boxer, but until you get hit by a real other boxer who's trying to kill you, you don't know what that's like. And the inexperience of never having gone through that, never having seen a defense prepare for him, never having taken hits from real, I mean, from Aiden Hutchinson hitting you.

Like that's not like anybody hitting you in college, not having to go out there and throw 30 or 40 passes to win college games. One of the things we've seen in the NFL recently, and this is kind of an old thing, but it's a recent phenomenon too, is 24 year old quarterbacks coming out in the draft who have 4,000 passes or something. I don't know if it's that many, several thousand, 2000 passes in college. They've played a lot more football. So him making that adjustment in training camp, it can be great.

And in pre-season, it can be great, but it's different when you're not sparring and when it actually counts. But from what I actually saw, he was accurate more than I thought he was going to be in training camp. He continued to get better. My biggest thing with him was he was in command. He looked like he was in command of the offense when they would do two minute drills, some would go horribly and some would go really well.

It was up and down at times, but command leadership, improving accuracy, seeming to understand the offense, all those things, making gains. I think that all of that like was pointing in the right direction, but until we see it in a real field, then of course you can't really tell for sure So it's really just an experience and the guy got hurt in his first game. I mean that's that's worrisome a little bit, too Jackie says Keenan Allen would be a great wide receiver three pickup

I'm for it. It might take some time But I'm for it it it might take some time but I'm for it if they want another possession type of receiver maybe Rondale Moore was already this guy Keenan Allen might cost a little more money it might be one of those things after May 1st we could see after May 1st after the draft then bring in several guys just to avoid like they're ahead of the game in the comp pick situation so they want to stay out of the game so that might be another, so they want to stay ahead of the game. So that might be another other fun burst for us.

John says, did anyone watch the JJ clip with K Adams over the weekend at the NFL PA golf tournament was a great interview, really impressed with how he handles himself with the media seems very comfortable. I said last year to somebody with the Vikings that like JJ McCarthy is the most 27 year old, 21 year old that I've ever met at the podium. I think he's very, very personable. I saw Dan Orlovsky tweet about it. One time West Phillips said about Sam Darnold, it was about, he said he's a guy's guy kind of guy was the exact quote. And that's probably how I would describe uh, jj mccarthy as well Very very personable. I think he generally likes people

Loves his teammates you could tell you could see it at michigan. You could see it last year We could see it in rookie camp, you know him talking trash with the linebackers and things like that He's somebody that Everybody gravitates to right away. It's one of the reasons that they drafted him is the leadership element, how he represents the franchise. I mean, you saw it when he was answering all those questions at the combine the previous year.

You know, the way he answered those questions about not throwing a lot of passes and things like that, his interview with rich eyes. I mean, he's always, he's always going to be a guy who understands how to represent being QB one. Like this is somebody who has cared about being QB one in the NFL for a really, really long time. And he shows that his professionalism in those situations every time.

I mean, when we talked to him after his injury, he was very mature about it. I thought. And that's that's who he is that. And that's why like all these things are why I've been very bought into this idea. Like go with it. Don't mess around with Aaron Rodgers. If you think that he's ready to go, then go. And my thought was if you don't think he's ready to go, then bring back Sam Darnold because he's 27 and he just won

you 14 games, not a 41 year old who just won five games. So if you think he's ready, then go with it. But from a maturity perspective, from a like how he's going to be in these interviews, is he going to be likable and all that? Of course. Yeah, of course. I mean, you saw that right away. I thought last year. Aaron is my wife doing play by play for the women's tournament. Thank you for saying that. She's good at her job. She is. So she did the the Big Ten tournament.

She works for Big Ten Network ESPN. Different network handles the NCAA tournament. So she's doing softball. Actually, she was in Oklahoma. That's where I was last weekend when I did that podcast where I couldn't get my camera to work. So it looked pretty funky, but I still did it. Uh, that was in Oklahoma. I went with her there to do a softball tournament. So she's doing that this weekend doing softball, but thank you for saying that.

I appreciate that. Rob says Harrison Smith's deal is a little more expensive than I thought. Twelve million dead cap last year. One million bonus for every year served. Yeah, they're really banking on next year's salary cap going up and not having to do a whole lot and the restructures. Um, but you know, Harrison Smith is still a good player and he was still going to get paid, so I'm not shocked by that, but you don't love it.

It's one of the reasons that this is the thing about the McCarthy deal and why it's so important because you can have a little dead cap space here or there and go, that's fine. That's okay. That's not going to restrict you from doing anything you need to do. And that's how I look at all of those big cap hits is because they've set other ones up to be restructured and create cap space that I don't think they're going to be too restricted in what they need to do.

But you can kind of see how this is going to be the group for the next two years. There may be a big addition next year. There may be the smaller parts the next two years. There may be a big addition next year, there may be the smaller parts that come and go, but I think they want this to be the group for the next two years. So well anyway, a great great conversation guys. Appreciate all the questions and the comments and I think just to put a bow on the entire thing, I am finished with Aaron Rogers until something happens that makes me not finished with Aaron Rogers. I see no reason to talk about him in the Minnesota Vikings, a what if this happens and that happens

scenario, then maybe it could be possibly, there's no reason for me to go there anymore with that discussion. The Quasi-Dafu Mensa contract, my expectation is still that he will eventually work this out with the Vikings and this leadership will go forward. It's the best leadership that they've had from this organization in a long time, probably since the early Zimmer Spielmann first iteration of the team, but the culture still better than it was in the Zimmer years. And the operation is working. And even if it's not perfect, what workplace ever is it's working. They should stay the course with it. This is their vision come to life.

And now we are on the precipice here of going into the most exciting season. Last year turned out to be very exciting. We didn't expect it, but now going into the season, the most exciting preseason build up in a very, very long time. When would be the next? I mean, before Teddy got hurt in 2016, probably would have been the last time there was a build up to a season with this much hype. The building is functional.

The roster is good. The coaching is good. The cap situation is good. They've made a lot of the right moves in my opinion. This is the way you want to continue to go with this group. So they should work that out. And if it doesn't get worked out, then there's a lot of questions about what happened there, why what was the issue that made this successful leadership not continue but we're far from that still we haven't reached April yet so I'm willing to be patient with it it's been something that's

paid dividends for me on a lot of opinions right just be patient with Jefferson's contract. Just be patient with KOCs and it will work out. So that's the same tack that I'm taking now. And I think that we will eventually get there, but things can always change in Viking land. That's for sure. So anyway, well, great stuff. And I appreciate all you guys will be back tomorrow night. Yeah. Tomorrow night with a Clay's corner, intern Clay putting together some stuff. He's working on an article too about the NFC North. So we'll talk to him about that. And of course, more of your questions

and we'll always see what comes up along the way. So thanks again, everybody for a great conversation. And we will talk to you all very soon. Football.