Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Breaking down The Athletic's list of veteran QBs for the Vikings

Episode Date: March 8, 2024

The Athletic posted a list of potential quarterbacks the Vikings could chase in the free agent or trade market and.... what the heck is going on here? We go through the likes of Russell Wilson and more potential QBs and whether they would make sense for the Vikings. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of Purple Insider. Matthew Collar here and you're never going to believe this. We've got quarterback rumors to talk about and it's going to start with one from Pro Football Talk and then my friend Alec Lewis from The Athletic put out a whole list of quarterbacks that could be connected to the Minnesota Vikings. So here's what I've done. I've laid them all out and I'm going to grade each one of them on the scale of just, you know, A to F and how much I like or don't like the idea. And so if you're watching live, I'd love you to play along and give your feedback. A to F, do you like these ideas? Do you not like these ideas? So I'm just going to go one by one, but I'm going to start out

with Baker Mayfield and pro football talk. Now, PFT has been all over this thing so far, sort of calling his shot first that Kirk Cousins is going to leave the Minnesota Vikings for the Atlanta Falcons. I guess, you know, we'll see. We're going to have our answer pretty soon. And today on Twitter, Mike Florio, Pro Football Talk, mentioned Baker Mayfield to the Minnesota Vikings. And a couple of weeks ago, I talked about this idea, and I think at the time I liked it because I was looking at Baker Mayfield as a

potential option to be brought in for a year and fill that gap and then draft a quarterback for the Vikings. But I think that as the off season has gone along, and of course, as Baker Mayfield won a playoff game and so forth, that he is going to be looking at more than just a one-year contract, more than just a bridge quarterback. He would be looking much more as a multiple year commitment. If I'm Baker Mayfield, then look, I mean, that's the status of quarterback play in the NFL, right? If you have one or two good years in the league, then you're going to get a halfway decent amount of money and you're going to get a good amount of attention because there are so many teams that are desperate for improved quarterback play. So with Baker Mayfield, I mean, what are we estimating? Maybe 35 to $40 million,

something in the Derek Carr range over three seasons. And if that is going to be the case, then I agree with the first couple of graders in the comment section. Horn fan two gives it an F saying it would be too expensive. And Craig gives it a C minus. And I'm somewhere in that same ballpark that I think that Baker Mayfield, if he were the Vikings quarterback, that they could win nine games, they could be competitive. And over multiple seasons, maybe one of those years, they could have a legitimate chance to win something,

maybe a legitimate chance to win the division. But I don't see this as an improvement so much over Kirk Cousins that I would say, yeah, go pay Baker, get him here, make sure he can run Kevin O'Connell's offense. And this also falls under that same category of if the Vikings were right on the cusp, if we viewed them as a quarterback away, all you need is just somebody to case Keenum this thing, jump on in here, throw the ball around number one defense in the league type of thing. Then Baker Mayfield would be a great choice and I would be totally okay with them overpaying for Mayfield, but where they sit right now, it would have to be a plan over a couple of years to build around Mayfield because

this year you'd be talking about maybe if you can make a wild card spot with him and very unlikely to go deep into the playoffs with Mayfield as your quarterback with so much to redo on the roster and you could make it so he has his first year inexpensive and then push the money down the road, kind of like Geno Smith's deal. But even if they went into free agency and got some top-notch free agents, have you looked at the list now after the franchise tags have been done? There's not that many great free agents to go out and get that could potentially change the fate of your franchise. So I think Mayfield would be kind of stuck in the same spot in the, all right, you're going to be good. And I think Mayfield would be kind of stuck in the same spot in the, all right, you're going to be good. And I think he would work out great with Justin Jefferson. He pushes

the ball down the field. He had a very high average depth of target last year, throwing to Mike Evans. And I think he's matured to the point where he acted last year, like a franchise quarterback. I don't know that we've ever seen that from him before, but he did in Tampa Bay, had a really good season. But at the end of the day, he's PFF's 16th best quarterback, which is probably where he is, 16th to 18th best quarterback. And even if Kevin O'Connell is working with him and he's operating the offense,

what is the best possible outcome in version of Baker Mayfield as a Viking? It's probably just okay. And I think it would be entertaining and exciting, and they'd probably play a lot of close games just like they always have. And sometimes Mayfield would be a disaster and sometimes he'd be amazing, but I don't think it's quite enough. And I do respect him. And, and, you know, Carl says his success is pretty much his rookie season. Not quite. I mean, he's had multiple years where he's been good. He won 11 games one year with the Cleveland Browns.

And I think at that point, they thought maybe they did have their franchise quarterback. And then last year, he played legitimately good football. When you add in his playoff stats, the fact that he got him to the post season, how he played in the playoffs was really good. I mean, they're a drive away against a really good Detroit lions team, but that's not,

it's just probably not enough with Baker Mayfield. You're probably putting yourself back in the same type of position as when Kirk Cousins first got here. And I think Cousins was 30, maybe 31 when he first got here. And, you know, that's sort of the same age as Mayfield. He's like 28. So you'd be getting him in his prime at his best, but what is the ceiling on him? I think we saw it last year. That last year was about as well as Baker Mayfield can play. Tampa Bay won nine games and it was good for them. Like where they were, they felt very good. That's not really your goal though.

So if Baker was paired with a rookie quarterback on a two-year deal and you could get out from under it after one, then I'm down. But I just don't know that that's what he's going to be looking for or accept. So I'm on a sliding scale here with Baker. If Baker Mayfield signed a two-year contract that was much more like a one-year contract and the Vikings still had plans to draft a quarterback in the first round, then I would give this like a B plus. Then they could do their competitive rebuild,

have their cake and eat it too. If he wants a three-year deal for a hundred million dollars and at least two years are guaranteed, then I'm out on that. Then it's much more in the C minus, C plus. So let me know more about what you guys think about that. But, um, bland toast says, I feel like Baker plus a rookie quarterback would split the locker room when they're inevitably five and five that could happen. Yeah, that could happen. I mean, if the plan from the outset is to play Baker the entire year and then develop somebody else, if it's JJ McCarthy, then your plan is going to be to develop him right from the very beginning and you could get on board with this plan. And yeah, I agree with a horn fan who

says the devil's in the details. That's what it is for the Baker Mayfield idea. A two-year contract paired with JJ McCarthy or Bo Nix or Michael Penix, or even Drake may is something I'd be totally into. You can compete this year. Justin Jefferson doesn't have to worry about having a quarterback who can throw the ball, the wide receiver one, and it would give them an opportunity to evaluate that other player. So Mayfield can win games, but if you draft Michael Penix and then you're like, Oh, he's not good, which happens sometimes, then you could just stick with Baker Mayfield as opposed to putting all of your eggs in the one basket. If that is the plan, then go ahead and do that. If it's not the plan and it's just draft, it's

just draft the defensive lineman, draft a corner. Baker's our quarterback for the next three years, then I can't say that I'm really into that deal. And does Baker Mayfield sign somewhere if he's not that guy would be another question as well. I don't know if he does because I think Tampa Bay would be comfortable making him that guy. So he would have to get a better offer for not only just money wise, but also for the situation. He would have to get buy in in the same way that, you know, in the same way that Kirk wants buy in. And, you know, I don't disagree with this, Sir Pablo, when you say that Baker could be a good mentor on handling the pressure of being a rookie first rounder. I agree with that. But my question is, is he going to be okay with that? Is Baker Mayfield going to be okay with having his role

not only be the starting quarterback, but also be the Alex Smith to the Mahomes type of thing here? Alex Smith was great with Patrick Mahomes. I think that that's kind of a rare situation though, where that quarterback is going to take the guy under his wing and say, Hey, I know you're the future because Mayfield isn't in the middle of his career. And he was a number one overall pick. And his biggest goal has to be to prove to everybody. I'm still that number one overall pick. I am a franchise quarterback. I don't know if he would be interested in a situation where it's possible that they would draft the quarterback in the first round. So still, still,

if they were to do that, if that's the plan, I give it a B plus. I like it. But if it's not the plan, then I give it a C minus. All right. Onto Alec Lewis of the athletic, his list of quarterbacks that could be looked at by the Minnesota Vikings. And the way that he teased the article on Twitter, he said that he called around basically and asked around who might be the names that the Vikings could look at. So we'll call it a rumor ish from our buddy, Alec. And he starts with Sam Darnold. Now we have brought up Sam Darnold on the show before. And again, give your grades for how you feel about these A to F. Do you love it? Do you hate it? And I think that when it comes

to Sam Darnold, he makes the most sense to me for quarterbacks to pair with a rookie because he was paired with a young quarterback last year in Brock Purdy and must have done enough to show Kyle Shanahan that he would trust him more than Trey Lance, who they moved on from. And when you think about Sam Darnold's career and all that he went through, you talk about a guy that has experiences and has been through a lot of stuff in the NFL. And when he's played, it's not like Sam Darnold was just truly so putrid during his entire career that he couldn't be on the field. I mean, in Carolina, he had his moments. He had a handful of good games. We even saw in that one game against the Vikings in the second half where he brought them back and he made some great throws in that game.

I think he has a lot of talent and seems to be a former top draft pick who didn't fail necessarily because of his character or his work ethic. He just didn't seem to get it and ran into a lot of bad situations. But I do like Darnold as a guy who has kind of been through it a bit in the league that has a relationship with Josh McCown and could have potential upside here. Could he, if you put Sam Darnold along with JJ McCarthy in a battle in training camp and Darnold wins it, I mean, are you not really interested to see how his arm pairs with Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison? I would be, I would be very interested to see that because this is a guy who really does have a special arm that got him drafted at the top and, and some really, really great talent. It's just always been,

you know, can he put it together? Does he see ghosts? That kind of thing. Uh, L says B minus for Sam Darnold. Arm talent is there, and he's never been a starter under a smart coach. Gase is a big-eyed idiot, and Carolina's a dumpster fire. I mean, he couldn't have had worse coaching. He just could not have had worse coaching until last year. And the other part of this might be that there could be some intel there. I mean, Kyle Shanahan and Kevin O'Connell, when they had joint practices, coached against each other in

those joint practices in O'Connell's first year. And so they would know each other. There would be some connection there to where I think O'Connell could reach out and ask about Sam Darnold and what he was like as the backup. So I like this idea. I mean, Horn fans given a B minus or C plus, probably the best balance of talent for the money. And that's true. You're not going to talk about a super expensive quarterback, which I think is important when we talk about this. And Carl, you're right. His sub 60% completion percentage is scary. And I don't think that Sam Darnold is ever going to just shock us and be like incredibly good and live up to the talent. But could he be a Gino Smith ish?

I think it's possible. And if he's not, he's a fine backup. And that, and that's the thing is the best case scenario is you have him and you draft somebody and then you discover, wow, okay, actually Sam Darnold's awesome. Uh, or which is like a 10% outcome or 5% outcome, or he's just a decent backup for you. And I, he proved that in San Francisco that works for me. I like this idea quite a bit. I like this as, as like a,

maybe an a idea, maybe the, the idea that I liked the most that we're going to go through all of the other ones, but because it has upside and because the downside is he's a veteran backup, that all works for me. It checks all the boxes,

not expensive. I like this a lot. Richard says Mayfield can go off and have a Trent Green career, theoretically. That is true. That is true. I mean, with the supporting cast that the Vikings have, I don't want to go Kevin Garnett and say anything is possible, but we have to factor this in that if you brought in Baker Mayfield, does he have, think about what Trent green did with those Kansas city chiefs teams.

I think it's a fun comparison. Think of what Kirk cousins has done with this group and the numbers that he's put up. And if O'Connell is looking for somebody to operate his offense, well, I think Baker Mayfield can. It's just that I don't want that to be the whole decision. I don't want it to be, all right, we've got Baker. We're all set. Everybody's good here. Let's go fight it out with the NFC North. Because in that case, if Caleb Williams turns out to be good, you could have the worst quarterback in the NFC North. And you're looking for better than that in the draft. You're also looking for the money element too. And if it's 40 million a year, we still could be in that same cycle

that we always end up in. Because if you sign Mayfield and Kirk's $28 million dead cap hit is there and Daniil Hunter's dead cap hit is there, then you have to make out the contract. So it's a smaller cap hit in the year that you can't really win, which is next season. It just doesn't really work out in my brain to how you make that money work along with Baker Mayfield as an actual quarterback. I think he'd be a pretty good fit, but is it good enough to really take you somewhere? Um, Ty D skull says, I hope we just go with someone cheap this year. Build the defense in this draft with all the hype around four possible first round quarterbacks in this year's draft. Wait till next year, maybe. I think waiting till next year risks running into the same thing

that you always kind of run into, which is, well, if you get a veteran who wins you just enough games, if you win seven and you draft 11th again, but maybe next year is not the type of year that this year is with all these quarterbacks because there's five or six who could go in the first round. There's a lot to like with this group and of quarterbacks. We don't know if next year there's going to be four quarterbacks that are up at the top of the draft. It could be one. Sometimes it's only one. Sometimes it's none. And I wouldn't want to risk that.

I would much prefer them to take a quarterback right now, regardless of what they do at the veteran position. Todd is giving it a B. I agree with you, Preston, that Baker Mayfield would be fun. I agree with that. That I'm not going to deny. Making it work with all the economics and everything else, the price tag and doing it without drafting a quarterback, that's what makes me nervous about that. Would he be fun? Absolutely, he would be fun. But there would be downs, but there would also probably be some amazing games from him as well. Didn't he have a game with a perfect quarterback rating this year or something? Dustin says, can Sam Darnold run? Not really. He is a good athlete, but he's not a runner.

I don't think he's more of a, more of a on the move type, snap the hips and make some ridiculous throw and then have the worst interception you've ever seen in your entire life. That's kind of, that's kind of Sam Darnold. Blowfish says Mayfield is a good enough quarterback, even if he ends up being the worst quarterback in the NFC North. Totally agree that the Vikings cannot afford him this off season. Yeah, he is a good quarterback. I like it. I like him overall. And I like the fit. It's just the other parts of it that I think are pretty tough. All right, let's move on to the next one. So that's Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold. Some of these other ones are going to be a lot quicker of a discussion for me, including Ryan Tannehill. I don't think you guys are going to grade this one very high, and I would not grade this one

very high. Ryan Tannehill 2020, Ryan Tannehill 2021, but he is no longer in his prime. I think you're actually shocked when you find out he's like the same age as Kirk. He's an older quarterback who has been injured, who has not been good in quite some time. And you can blame the Tennessee Titans for sure, but you can only blame them to some extent because the injuries have taken their toll. Time has taken its toll. And also when Ryan Tannehill was at his best, and here's the difference between him and someone like Baker Mayfield, Ryan Tannehill is throwing 22 times a game and they're running. So unless you're planning not to throw the ball to Justin Jefferson, if you have to play

Ryan Tannehill, I can't really get behind that. And I agree with you guys. F's, D's, hard pass. Yeah, totally. I'm 100% with you because even if you had to play him, you can't be sure that he's even going to be healthy for a handful of games. I think he's a great story that he got a raw deal in Miami, had some injuries, and then made a career for himself

and proved he could really play in the NFL, that he was a first-round talent and could win the conference and could put up big numbers. But that was several years ago. That's not Ryan Tannehill right now. Ryan Tannehill is a pure backup for somebody, not a quarterback that you might actually need to use. Because if you went to training camp with J.J. McCarthy, say,

and he just wasn't ready to play week one, he wasn't fully knowledgeable enough about Kevin O'Connell's offense, just say, and you had to start Ryan Tannehill, that's not likely to go in a great direction. I don't think, I think he's just older three years ago. Yep. That's totally fine. But, um, I would not do that. That's a quick and easy pass. Now here's another one that I would give an a to Jacoby Brissett. Now, none of you are going to be excited about Jacoby Brissett, nor should you, but if you are getting Jacoby Brissett, that means you're definitely drafting a quarterback

and Brissett has been all over the place. Lots of different offenses. His reputation is absolutely stellar as a guy who could work with a younger quarterback and he would have no delusions that he was supposed to be anything else other than that backup quarterback. But when he plays, he's not bad. He's had some good times in the NFL. I think he's like 18 and 30 as a starter when he's had to start over a long period of time. It's not that great, but could he go 500 over six games if you needed him to? Absolutely, he could. Now, if your quarterback wasn't ready to go off the start of the season and you needed him to play an extended period, you're probably not super happy with that, but I think that he's good enough to throw it to the right places to understand and execute an offense if If you need them to, I like, I like Jacoby Brissett

a lot as 100%, just the guy who is the mentor to your young quarterback. I'm a, I'm a really big fan of that. Nothing else. Not like when Cleveland ended stardom for, I think 11 games when Winston, uh, not Winston, uh, Watson was out. Um, I wouldn't want that for Jacoby Brissett. Although he, you know, he graded okay by PFF that year when he actually had to play. So I think he's a decent enough quarterback to play, but I would not, I would not want to start him for a long period of time, but I'll give this one. I will give this one an A, A minus as a mentor. Jordan gives it a B plus. So yeah. All right. I think we're on board with that as 100% if you draft a quarterback and that's yeah, that's Carl's given it an a, if you draft

a quarterback, absolutely. If you don't, then you have Jacoby Brissett. It's an F it is a total and complete failure, but I don't see any way that that would end up happening. All right. Now here's one that might be controversial with you folks who are watching live. And I appreciate all of you, Justin Fields. Does anybody in the comment section want to sell me on this being a good idea to get Justin Fields from the bears? Now, I don't know why the bears would send him to the Vikings. Why, if someone had upside, would you give him to the Vikings? The only reason you would do it is if you thought he wasn't good at all.

And you said, sure, Vikings, you can have them. But if you, if you got an argument, then make the argument because I just don't understand how this is really a rumor.

I don't think he fits with Kevin O'Connell's offense, which is rhythm and timing. We heard that over and over. What are the worst parts of Justin Fields' game? Rhythm and timing. They're bad. That's his biggest problem, is he really didn't execute the offense.

It was either throwing deep and making really nice throws. He's very talented. Or it was just scramble. It was just running. I think that Justin Fields has the potential to go to another team and have some success. But what is the actual upside of Justin Fields after he's played 38 games in the NFL and has won 10 of them? And I know that the Chicago bears were very bad. I get that, but he also has not cleared 2,600 yards passing. He's played a lot of football to not have cleared 2,600 yards passing for a, and he's going to go play for a team that has

their quarterback throw for 5,000 yards. I, I just don't really get it. How much are you going to give up for Justin Fields? Would you give up what a fourth round pick at absolute best? I mean, I really do think that he could go somewhere and he could potentially be okay as a starter and maybe get a team to the playoffs, but is he any more than that? And then if he is pretty good for you, you're going to have to pay him. And how much are you paying him? Then are you making him a 45 or $50 million quarterback? It just doesn't really, it just doesn't really add up. I think so. A horn fan says, if you can pay him the right price, he will be cheap salary-wise. If he plays slightly better, maybe you can extend the fifth-year option and then trade him for what you've paid. I just don't

really want to do that. I just don't want to put time into Justin Fields with the kind of hope that you could eventually trade him. That's not really what I'm looking for. And Austin says RPO would be scary with Fields, but wouldn't be a true fit for our team. I mean, he, the high end of Justin Fields is pretty exciting because he's a great athlete and he's got a great arm. And I think that if you had like, I mean, the first guy that comes to mind is Shane Steichen in Indianapolis. They've got their guy, but you know, if it was a similar coach that had this background with running quarterbacks and was really going to lean all into that, then maybe, but even then we've just

Justin Fields. And this is a little bit of a throwback, but I think all of you probably remember this enough. Justin Fields gets sacked at a higher rate than David Carr, not Derek Carr, David Carr, David Carr, who was famously sacked a jillion times. Justin Fields actually gets sacked per drop back more often. That scares me a lot because he gets hurt. He not only just runs, but he also just takes a lot of hits that are unnecessary. And if you thought that Josh Dobbs didn't get rid of the ball on time, Justin Fields really doesn't. So I guess if they were really left out in the cold entirely in this quarterback discussion, if they went to the combine and they realized they're never going to get their hands on a quarterback, then I guess, but with this quarterback class, I don't know.

I don't know how that would happen, that there wouldn't be someone to draft that would be a better idea. Blowfishes says, KOC with a full offseason could fit any quarterback into his system. All right, so it's not KOC that I think can't use Justin Fields, although I don't think rhythm and timing is ever going to change with his offense. I think Justin Fields can't really execute an offense. I don't think that he can execute an offense that is dropping back, reading the field and throwing the ball to Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison and TJ Hawkinson effectively on time and consistently. I've never seen it. And he's played a lot of football games and I've seen

a lot of football games of him up close in us bank stadium at soldier field. And I've never seen him play on time. So that just doesn't seem to be a fit. Uh, and there's a lot of offensive coordinators who have been blamed for that, but I don't know. I just have a tough time thinking it's everybody else. All right. Here's another one that may be controversial in the comment section, Russell Wilson. I have had quite a few people try to sell me on the Russell Wilson idea based on the idea that he is going to be cheap and that you don't necessarily have to pay him a whole lot of money because of the offsetting language. This is my least favorite idea of all of them. I might go Ryan Tannehill because I know he would be a backup and he was willing to do that with Tennessee last year for the young quarterbacks. Russell Wilson is a circus in himself. There's a show that comes

along with Russell Wilson that clearly did not make people too happy in Denver. He is going to demand to be the franchise quarterback, the complete center of everything with your organization, everything built around him. I don't think he comes in like a Jacoby Brissett and says, sure, draft a quarterback. Yeah, I'll work with him. He's much more of a win now type of quarterback. And yet the winning now is not going to happen. He is never going to get that burst back. He's never going to get all the injuries back that he's battled over the many years. And this is just how the quarterback position works. Sometimes is you get to a certain age and it's over. You no longer have the skill that you used to have. Not only that, but if Kevin O'Connell is

asking his quarterback to throw over the middle of the field a lot, to go through multiple reads and stay in the pocket, that's just never been Russell Wilson's game. I think that he might fit with a team that is atrocious at quarterback and looking to win now and just needs to make the playoffs. But for Russell Wilson on this team, why not just bring back Kirk? Like Kirk is going to be better, more likely than not. And okay, the price, but are you all of a sudden go to free agency and then just like signing everyone and trying to win a super bowl? I just don't really get it. Blowfish says, I think Wilson has more left in the tank in Denver than Denver allowed him to show.

He is a very showy and that can be a distraction. However, he can be a leader if he wants to. I really do not think there's much left in the tank. I really don't because last year we saw him trying to make some of those plays. We saw him scrambling around a bit and it's just not the same. He does not have the same velocity on the ball. He doesn't have the same ability to make plays with his legs. It was such a big part of who he was. So, I mean, he played okay, but what's okay. Do you want a mid thirties, 17th best quarterback in the league? I really don't know. And, uh, you know, Matt says, um, I'm sure last year humbled him a bit. Did it? I mean, I don't know because the previous season didn't. If he comes to terms with where he's at and is on the same page

with what the Vikings need, do it. That's a really hard thing to get from Russell Wilson, I think. It's a really hard thing to get a franchise quarterback who is a borderline Hall of Famer to suddenly be like, oh yeah, it's cool. Like I'll just mentor your, your young quarterback. Like that's not him. I think that there's a lot of attention that would come along with Russell Wilson, but the production has not come close to backing it up. We are now years separated from him being a good quarterback and you can give him weapons. That's true, but you can't give him a roster that's going to actually compete for a

Superbowl. So what are we doing here? Right? I guess that you're just trying to scrape by and be okay. And in the worst case scenario, he's totally dusted and it's Donovan McNabb again. This would be thematic with Vikings history where they grab somebody who's washed, they bring them in, they give them a great receiver and they overachieve. But unless it's a Randall Cunningham situation, usually overachieving means, okay, make the playoffs or something, but nothing more. I'd be much more into just drafting a quarterback and having that guy play than going the Russell Wilson route. Matt Katie says, I'd be curious on your thoughts on Zach Wilson, obviously a failure with the jets, but he's young and they have been a dumpster fire franchise. That's true. But I think some guys are just

busts and maybe I'll be wrong about that someday, but I think Zach Wilson is just not good enough to play in the NFL that we got a little bit fooled by his pure arm talent. And we got a little bit fooled by the fact that he played for BYU in the COVID year with no fans and they had an easy schedule and he threw the ball all over the place, but he has not shown any ability to be fit for the NFL. And if he was going to, it would have been last year. And if he did last year, I'd be into it. If he had showed anything last year that made me go, Hey, I see it. Kinda like even Sam Darnold had some moments along the way, some moments, even in Carolina, even though that was really bad, Zach Wilson has no moments, none at all where you could say, Oh yeah, Zach Wilson. I I've seen it. I've seen

a three to five game stretch or something like that. Like, uh, I just haven't seen that at all. So the other guys on the list, so Russell Wilson's an F for me. I just completely pass on that. If they did it, I'd be like, okay, I guess so. It'll be exciting to follow, but I don't really understand it. The other potential quarterbacks mentioned by Alec Lewis of the athletic Gardner Minshew, Trey Lance, Jameis Winston, and drew lock. I really love Gardner Minshew as a mentor. The Trey Lance idea is sort of like, I guess, so fine. If it's a fourth round pick, I don't need it. I would not be against it if they got

him. Uh, Jameis Winston is an absolute no, no, no, no, no, no, absolutely not. And Drew Locke, there's no point to that either, except for just being a backup quarterback. So I look, I agree that New York is a bad place for quarterbacks to try to play. That's been proven. But as far as Zach Wilson, you got to show something, something for me to think that there would be a reason for that. But I really like the idea of them going after Gardner Minshew to just come in and be that veteran guy. And yeah, look, I mean, his arm talent, a horn fan, you know, maybe doesn't fit. His arm talent is not, I think, good enough really to play for Kevin O'Connell. but we're talking about,

there's just differences here. If Russell Wilson is your quarterback, then he's your quarterback. He is your starter. He's your guy. You're trying to win right away. If Jacoby Brissett or Gardner Minshew is your quarterback, they are your Ryan Fitzpatrick. They are your guys who would be coming in to work with that young quarterback. They can play if you need them to, and you feel totally fine with that. And they can win some

games and they can throw for some big yards. And like Minshew's had a lot of good games in the NFL and he can learn the offense and he's smart enough. He's a good leader. Like that's what I'd be looking for in that type of guy, but not as with any type of upside. It would just be purely as a mentor. Jordan says, uh, Tyrod Taylor, a plus just because of the strays he catches on the purple insider podcast. But here's the thing about, uh, Tyrod Taylor. He ends up being an example that I use a lot for why the Vikings should move on and draft

quarterback because of what happened in Buffalo. being an example that I use a lot for why the Vikings should move on and draft quarterback because of what happened in Buffalo. He was the quarterback when I got the job to come to Minnesota and cover the Vikings. And it was constant debates, just like it is here with Kirk Cousins, constant debates. Is Tyrod Taylor good enough? Half the fan base loved him half the fan base said he wasn't good enough constant fighting oh it was the guards fault it was the coach's fault it was the defense's fault all the time and if you go back and look at where he ranked by PFF by QBR he was a top 10-ish quarterback for like three years with some very good Bills teams. But what the Bills ultimately said is he can't get us over the top.

We have to draft somebody else. And that's the comparison I've used many times. As far as a person and a player, if Tyron Taylor was a backup quarterback here, he'd be a great, great, great mentor and is super mentally tough, really professional guy, have the utmost respect for him as a journeyman quarterback who's made it in the league for a long time. And you saw last year, came off the bench, ready to play, won some games for the Giants, but it's more of just an example of how you can get into, oh, well, we have a quarterback that's sort of good enough.

So why don't we just stick with him and build this, that, and the other thing. But if you have to make that argument, it's probably time to move on. And then the bills draft Josh Allen, they hit the lottery, which is what the Vikings would be looking to do this year. And then they end up with four straight division titles. And if not for the Kansas City Chiefs, they might have a Super Bowl finally. But instead, their kicker went wide to the right, as so often happens. That's what happens at Buffalo. Here it goes wide left. There it goes wide right.

Maybe it's the wind coming over Lake Ontario or something that causes that. But I just look at Taylor as another guy that falls under that category as like, he'd be a fine backup if that were the case, would definitely take them. And if they get a running quarterback, then that's a good guy to pair them with. So what else is on your guys' mind? That's all the quarterbacks that I had written down. I don't think that we need to include Mac Jones in the conversation. There are some people who are arguing who played for the Patriots that, you know, maybe Mac Jones is better than people think. It's just that he got a raw

deal. That's probably true. But if you're trading for him to just take the shot, I really don't like that idea of just trading for guys to just take the shot, I really don't like that idea of just trading for guys to just take a shot at them and make them your starting quarterback. Again, if he was paired with a rookie, I guess so, but wouldn't really be into that idea. Where would Teddy Bridgewater have landed on your rankings if he hadn't retired? I don't think at this point, Teddy Bridgewater would have enough in the tank to be a starter, but as being similar to Gardner Minshew and Jacoby Brissett, I mean, who's better than Teddy Bridgewater to work with a young quarterback? He would have been great.

I would have been all into that. So my favorites, Sam Darnold was at the top of my list. Sam Darnold was my favorite sort of split the difference quarterback. And then after that, Jacoby Brissett and Gardner Minshew were the guys that I liked the most, which is not hot at all. I understand that's not a hot take, but those would be my favorite options. And I'm totally fine if they bring in Trey Lance. That, that one is a, I don't even really care enough to grade. It's, it's fine. It won't cost anything, but yeah, give me your, uh, give me your favorites guys. Tyrod Taylor, Brissette and

Darnold. Uh, Brissette is my favorite bridge option. Yeah. Um, let's discuss the free agent kickers. We'll get to that someday. That day's not today. Um, let's see. Kieran says JJ McCarthy over Bo Nix for me. Can't get over Nix at Auburn. Well, JJ McCarthy early in his career didn't play great either. And last year, uh, didn't play a lot, didn't throw a lot of passes even, but yeah, I mean, with, I don't know what relevance it has of what Bo Nix did four years ago, because I've heard people make the argument that you want to see somebody get better and better over the time that they're playing.

And by the time Bo Nix comes into the NFL, he's much more ready to play than, you know, so even maybe even somebody like JJ McCarthy, because he has had so much experience. So I wouldn't worry at all about years ago. I mean, Joe Burrow's first year at LSU was not good at all. And then he turns out to be one of the best quarterbacks in the league. I would only really look at what he's done recently because that's who he is right now. Ben says, Lance for me has the potential to boom. He does. He does. Yeah. What is the chances of that? Very low, but it is absolutely crazy for Trey Lance. How little football this man has had the privilege of actually playing, isn't it? I mean, I've never seen how many quarterbacks ever, maybe like Paxton Lynch, how many first

round quarterbacks ever have played as little football as Trey Lance, much less guys who were drafted that high. Akili Smith didn't play many games, Ryan Leaf, but Ryan Leaf was out of the league so fast because of his personality at the time that it's not like Trey Lance has just been cut because of his personality. It seems that he is so far behind of understanding how NFL offenses work, how to play within the timing because he just didn't have experience in college. If Trey Lance had played as much football as Bo Nix, who knows where he would be. If you are getting Trey Lance with the plan to stash him and see what happens, I guess that's

fine. But does that have a really high chance to succeed? I don't really know. So this is funny. JJ McCarthy has thrown almost as many passes as Trey Lance. I mean, that's true. And that's, what's so hard on, uh, the evaluation standpoint with JJ McCarthy, because he just hasn't played all that much football. Uh, Ty D skull says, guessing Jaron Hall is out of the question after that green Bay game is he just done? He doesn't have to be done as in done in

the NFL. I really liked the way that Jaron Hall handles himself. He carries himself in a very mature way. Uh, but as far as actually playing in games, he is a guy that you keep through his rookie contract as QB three, and you see what happens if he kind of gets it at some point, then maybe he's a backup. But when you look at his size and you look at his arm, he can throw hard and accurate when he's got a chance to set himself and everything, but it's not like he's got a rocket arm. It's not like he's very big. It's not like he's super fast. He kind of has quality backup written over him. And right now he's not even a quality backup. He's a really poor backup. So, you know, I think the game was too fast for Jaron Hall and he probably will just not

be anything in the NFL, but at best case scenario, we're talking backup after what we just saw last year. Taylor says, imagine JJ and Lance combo might have less than a thousand combined throws. Yeah. JJ McCarthy. And yeah, right. I mean, that's why when we talk about somebody to pair a quarterback with, I wouldn't want the backup to just be Trey Lance. I would need it to be an experienced player. I really do think that it's valuable to have that guy in the room. If you have Kevin O'Connell, Josh McCown, Jacoby Bursette, then your quarterback better be a real screw up to fail and the weapons that they have,

because you are getting the most quarterbacky quarterback foundation to drop yourself into. And I really think that this team has a good coaching staff for a quarterback already. I thought they did, but now with Josh McCown, I definitely think that they do. Bill says we could get Russell Wilson for 2.6 million. I just don't want Russell Wilson for any million. And I get where you're coming from because you could envision this world where with a coach who likes him, we've been through that. Sean Payton clearly did not like Russell Wilson and you give them the weapons and you design the offense a little bit more to him.

And then all of a sudden, you know, maybe your offense is in the top 15 or something, but is that what we're looking for here? As we just like, let's pull back and let's look at the bigger picture of where the Minnesota Vikings stand right now and what their aim is supposed to be for this off season at the quarterback position. If Kirk cousins leaves, their aim is to find a franchise quarterback. And if it's not a franchise quarterback, then it's somebody during their rookie contract that you could build around and give yourself a shot, give yourself a Brock Purdy

shot, give yourself a Jalen hurts shot where for one one or two years while your team is stacked, you compete for the Super Bowl. That's what you're really looking for here, right? Looking for over a number of years to have a window to compete for a Super Bowl. If you get Russell Wilson, you're going to have what? Maybe this year and potentially next year. And even if you're not paying him that much money, is there going to be enough left in the tank for him? What are the odds that he improves at this age, even with a better circumstance? They're very low, right? And when he doesn't have that same velocity, when he doesn't have that same scrambling ability, I just don't see it. And I also don't see him as any type of mentor for a younger player. If he was, I would like it. If I thought, well, Wilson is a great guy to pair

with a veteran that I might be like, okay, let's do it. Or I'm sorry with a rookie. I might be like, okay, let's do it. But since, since he's not that guy, since he's much more of a, I don't know, I don't want to say like an ego guy, but like a, like a brand guy, like the whole Broncos country, let's ride stuff. Like, I don't know. I just, I just think that, um, you're talking about somebody who wants to be the franchise quarterback, not somebody who's going to take on that role. Devin says, Sam Darnold, peak 19 touchdowns five seasons ago. Yeah, I totally understand that. I understand that Sam Darnold's history is not very good, but it's not really about finding him as your franchise quarterback. It's that Sam Darnold's situations leading up to right now were atrocious. Like you just cannot overstate this, how bad the receivers were in New York, how bad the

coaching was. He had Matt rule. Matt rule is one of the biggest jokes in the league over the last 10 years. And Adam Gase was worse than Matt rule. That's how bad Sam Darnold's coaching was. And his recent performance in Carolina wasn't too bad. Also, you know, he goes to San Francisco, he holds down a backup role. That's what I like about it is he's got the maturity to be San Francisco's backup and work with Brock Purdy. And he also could have a Gino Smith type of situation.

I think there's enough there to say that with him because it was so bad and you can give him so much better. Um, so, you know, I, I'm okay with Sam Darnold and I understand that he hasn't been good, but he's not like the only option you're going in on. No one you know says need more of Hall to pass judgment. Yes and no. I get where you're coming from, but there was really nothing there ever. He's going to be 26 years old because he played in college for so long. There was nothing really there in training camp. There was nothing really there in preseason. There was nothing really there when he played in the actual games. So do we need to see a lot more to know he can't be the starter? No, I mean, I'm convinced he can't be the starter, but could he potentially work his way into a number two role? Yeah. Yeah, he could. I definitely

think he could. McCown has worked worked with darnold mccown's probably worked with everyone he's a mccown it's been everywhere but yes yeah he worked with sam darnold so he would be able to uh really know what sam darnold's character is like and if josh mccown thinks that darnold's character is worthy of being that backup to pair with a rookie. And that maybe there's more potential there. I would believe Josh McCown if he told me that. Jason says Dallas Turner at 11 trade back in for Pennix. Like it, like it a lot. Uh, so Chris Trapasso and I recorded an episode earlier. That's going to be posted fairly soon. Both of us agree.

That's a great idea, Jason. We both liked that a lot because they need a superstar pass rusher. They could be in position to do it. And I also think this quarterback class is deep enough to get the guy who drops. See this miles. I don't understand the reaction to this that people are having with Darnold. It says, please no on Darnold. You're not talking about Sam Darnold as like the guy.

He was just the backup quarterback on the team that went to the Super Bowl. When he played, he looked pretty good. I mean, I don't know why this is. He wasn't, even during the earlier part of his career, he wasn't below a backup level quarterback. And there is, I think, the possibility that if he were to play, if your quarterback wasn't ready, he might actually be better than he's ever been before.

Do I think he's going to be great? No, I don't think he's going to be great. I don't think he's going to be suddenly that guy who just, you know, after so many years then explodes into a star starting quarterback, but he's already been a backup on a Superbowl team. So if that character is there that he wants to work with a younger quarterback and there's potential upside, I'm into it.

I like it. I like going for someone younger with upside than I do somebody like Russell Wilson, who we already have the answer on that. It's not enough there to actually compete. Miles says, what about Jordan Travis? Why is no one talking about him? I don't know that. I mean, look, I'm not a draft analyst to the level of being able to tell you Jordan Travis takes. I think he was really good when I saw him play at Florida state he's injured. So we're kind of in a bit of a Hendon hooker type of situation there looks to me like a late pick though. He looks to me like a day three, seventh round,

sixth round pick who might have some talent. And I don't look at him as much more than that. Uh, Jason says, hate to say, hate to say it, but I love the Darnold idea. I kind of do too. I just, I really don't see any downside. I don't see any downside. Uh, I see a downside to other veterans who wouldn't want to be backups and wouldn't want to work with the young quarterback, but I would assume that Darnold would since he was just doing it last year in San Francisco. Javier says, Matt, timing wise, it's not very likely we'd see any chatter about a Kirk extension because at this point his camp would know what the offers might look like compared to what we're offering. So timing wise on Kirk, here's how it kind of is going to legally work. Now, tampering wise, yeah, in Indianapolis, I promise you his agent had conversations to get the feeling of where the offers were going to stand.

But that's just the feeling. That's just having a discussion in a meeting and saying, Hey, what are we thinking about Kirk? But they can officially come in on, I think it's noon on Monday, or maybe that's 11 o'clock central time, but it's next Monday is the legal tampering period, which starts the 11th. So very soon into the legal tampering period, we could have already things coming out about how much teams are offering him. If he's signing with the Falcons, if he's signing with somebody else, that's when teams can officially make their offers to the players.

And then they can make them official official when free agency starts, but they can call, they can hash out details and they could tell Adam Schefter is really, is really the process there. So next Monday, we could be having the emergency podcast of all emergency podcasts by next Monday. I guess we'll see that's, that's how it should work timing wise. And my understanding is that, uh, if it, it has to be done by the 13th, if the Vikings are going to extend them. So after that, then it's over or it's happened. One of those two things, uh, go get them says, uh, it's going to

be nice to have a ton of cap space soon. We also draft a young quarterback, lock up JJ, let Hunter go and grab a younger guy, possibly in free agency. Yeah. I made a whole list of free agents. If you guys want to talk about those, I made my 12 favorite free agents. So you can check that out at purpleinsider.com, but it's almost like, and I saw one of you asked, like, are you tired of talking about the quarterback? First of all, no, I'm not like, this is very exciting. Honestly, I could, I look, even when I'm not talking to you guys, I talked to everybody else about it. I'm talking to Kevin Seifert about it, texting him about it. I'm talking to my wife about it. Like this is the

most interesting thing we've had happen in a long time. I'm not tired of it, but also knowing when we're going to have an answer makes it really exciting and interesting too. But there is a free agency period to start and they do have a lot of work to do. Your plan sounds like the most rational to me. I don't think Hunter's coming back. So they're going to have to look for a handful of guys who can make a difference, especially on the defensive side in free agency, but they've got to get this resolved first before they can start playing in free agency. Uh, I'm a twerk says, I feel like we got to trade up to get McCarthy. May is about to start dropping per Chris Sims. Well, let's not say per Chris Sims, anything, because he's not like a draft insider. Also draft insiders are terrible. They're terrible at knowing who's going to go where look at any of their records, any of the draft insiders who say, you know, the,

this is what's happening on the draft board. Like go back and look at what they've said in the past. 90, 99% of them in their scoops have had them wrong about Malik Willis, Will Levis, Daniel Jones, Patrick Mahomes, all of them. So you just can't really trust what you see from any draft insider, much less just the guy who is a former quarterback who's making his own list. And he clearly doesn't like Drake May. That's okay. He doesn't have to, but I don't think he's like reporting that Drake may is going to be sixth. Could he drop? Sure. Will Levis did.

Sure. The draft analysts have been wrong on these quarterbacks before. I would not be totally shocked. I would not be totally shocked by anything that happens as far as the quarterbacks go. But I mean, even, even when we're, my whole point is just that when we're talking about even people who think they know and act like they know and are paid to know, they usually don't. And much less somebody who's just making their own list like Chris Sims. I, I don't see what Chris Sims sees as far as the problems with Drake May. I think that he really looks like a franchise quarterback to me as far as

his skillset goes. And, you know, Chris Sims loved Kellen Mond. Like we all get them wrong. We all get our order wrong. I, I still am sitting here saying,

you know, I'll die on this Michael Penix Hill, I guess I'll die on this Bo Nix Hill. Although it's very easy to convince me on a lot of these guys, but you know, I'll die on this Michael Penix Hill, I guess I'll die on this Bo Nix Hill. Although it's very easy to convince me on a lot of these guys, but you know, all of us, all of this have, I'm not picking on Chris Sims. All of us have quarterback opinions when we watch them in college that, you know, don't turn out to be right. And then some of us have, they do turn out to be right. So, you know, that's part of the fun of it. The fun of it, I think is trying to figure out all of us, which guy's going to be right.

You know, which of us are going to be right, which are going to be wrong. I mean, somebody like CJ Stroud, if you weren't a CJ Stroud person, you immediately got dunked on, or if you love CJ Stroud, you get to tell everybody that you loved him. It's part of the entertainment value, but I don't think we should look at Chris Sims opinion and say, oh, well, this means Drake May is going to draft. It hasn't really been predictive. Let's see. Samuel says, I want Pennix, and if that means we could get a top-end edge, that's great. Give me Sam Darnold and Michael Pennix, the rest of our draft capital to defense. Man, that sounds like a good plan. I like that plan.

That works for me. I give your plan an A. I like it. If they did that, we'd be happy, right? You get a quarterback with some upside in Sam Darnold, veteran players been around. You get a potential starting quarterback with a huge arm. Some always going to be questions, no matter who you draft. Every single one of these guys, there'll be questions if you draft them, but you can't tell me watching

Michael Penick's throat, the combine that you weren't like, Oh, that ball going downfield to Justin Jefferson might look pretty good. So I like him. I like his character. I like that. He's been through a lot in college. He's a mature guy. I think he can handle the rigors of the NFL because he's been through so much. You got to build up the scar tissue with that. I mean, this is one reason for JJ McCarthy not to play right away is when has this guy had adversity? There hasn't been much, so he's going to have to learn to deal with that. So every guy has his questions, but I like that plan a lot um javier says there's no way quesadilla flamenco and co would be willing to sign up for another go around with these types of questions regarding

kirk status for another 300 days right the amount of pressure that's coming i'm not sure exactly what you mean um do you mean like if they were to bring back Kirk? Is that what you mean? Yeah. I mean, right. If they were to bring back Kirk or even if they signed Russell Wilson on a one year deal or something, then you are just continuing to spin your wheels and ask these same questions. And that's why I think everybody has gotten around to Kirk's probably going to leave. Now he might shock us all and boy, that'll be some kind of podcast if he does, but this is why, because do you want as a front office to bring cousins back and then still be trying to answer this question, just kicking that can down the road, kicking the can down the road because they're not going to sign them to some huge multi-year five-year type of deal um they would be signing them to like a two-year deal and then you're again going into next year saying all right are they going to draft quarterback how long is kirk going to be here it's time to rip off the band-aid and move along uh ken says pennix is the real deal uh is the faithful pennix huge arm doesn't take sacks there's a lot of reasons to like a man blowfishes has made then pennix followed by daniels and

mccarthy there's a lot of reasons to like a lot of these guys and uh i was texting with a former nfl scout i probably mentioned on the show that I did that article, uh, with a couple of ex scouts about why it's so hard to scout quarterbacks, uh, who really, really likes Bo Nix. So I've talked to multiple people who really like Bo Nix and what they've seen. So I think like what we have seen happen here early in this process. And well, I guess we're getting in the middle of the process with the quarterbacks. you go from their season to senior bowl to combine. And then now we just are in the rumors time. And then we finally get to the drafts. But what we've really seen is that with all of them, you can make this case for any of them to be the guy. You can look at Nick's

production and the way he operated that offense and go, you know what? Like that's, that'll work. Or you can look at Penix and go, that is an arm. That's what really is to me, the thing I keep looking at. And there's some people who can't stand Penix. I don't know why, but like, I look at that arm and go, that'll work for me, man. I can do that. I look at Nick's with a little bit of playmaking and McCarthy is the hardest one for me to get around. Cause I just didn't see it on the field. That's the hardest one to get, to get around to. Um, and Jason says, uh, I'm out on Nick's Teddy two gloves all over Teddy won the division. I mean, if he, if he's Teddy Bridgewater,

is that good enough to compete? It is. I think it is for Teddy for like pre injury, Teddy, what Teddy was becoming injury or before the injury. I mean, so you can, you can win with that.

You can win with that. Giuseppe says house Pennix is scrambling, throwing on the runs off schedule compared to the other top guys. So I didn't see, yes, Jason, I know the touchdown total. You realize they ran for touchdowns, right? Because Adrian Peterson played for them

in 2015, led the league in rushing. We all watched the season, man. Come on. Teddy Bridgewater was on a great trajectory. We it's one, it's one of the tragedies of the Vikings organization. So if he became that, then sure. Uh, I don't know if you can match Teddy Bridgewater's character for anybody, but you know, if, if he was what Teddy was becoming, then that'd be a very good quarterback that you could build around for sure. As far as Pennix is scrambling, that's what's hard for me because when I watched Pennix against Texas, he actually made a lot of plays. He scrambled a few times and he's going to

run at his pro day, I think, which I'm very curious about what that is, like what he runs as a 40. He's not that guy though. He's not this run all over the place and throw off balance type of player. You saw at the pro or at the combine, what Michael Penix is best at. Michael Penix is dropping back with that football and the shotgun and letting that thing loose. And here's the thing about Michael Penix. If he ends up being like Kirk cousins, like imagine that he's like Kirk cousins, that he's a pocket quarterback. Only, of course his arm is stronger. Maybe he's a little more erratic, but maybe he's like that range,

right? Of a quarterback. He's not number one, but he's certainly like good enough in the pocket to get the ball to Jefferson Addison and so forth. Can you win with a quarterback like that? If he's on a rookie contract? And I think the answer is yes. Now I would prefer somebody who is like, obviously like Drake may as the top draft pick, because he is more of a playmaker, more of an athlete. I'd prefer Caleb Williams more, but we got to be realistic with what they can get and how many, I think that here's the real question is, can you do something? Do you have an answer when pressure comes and Pennix does in college, which was, he threw the ball away. He checked the ball down.

Really? So blowfishes says guy that, uh, eyes in interviewed said he heard Pennix could be a four or five guy. That seems a little aggressive. Uh, he was a good athlete. I watched him early in his career at Indiana and he was a good athlete i watched him early in his career at indiana and he was a good athlete there he he has shown that he can make some plays with his legs but he's not going to be a difference maker all you need from him is an answer so pressure comes does he find where the ball is supposed to go does he throw the ball away when there's nothing there and not turn the ball over that was where he was very good didn't have a lot of turnover worthy plays in sacks. So if he could give you the 12th best

quarterback in the league who can make some special throws deep down the field, then you can win with that on a rookie contract. I really think you can. I really think you can, but you know, it's, it's so interesting with all these guys that I think that they just have, have a good case for being first round quarterbacks. And this is why Kweisi Adafo-Mensa said that they've been targeting this draft class because every guy, if you ask me, Hey, make that case. It's not that hard. The only one that's been harder for me to get around to, because you have to believe in something you just didn't really see much of is McCarthy is I have to believe in

his upside. I have to believe in his character and his ability to learn the KOC offense. I have to believe in his ability to go into an off season and correct things about his throwing that were off as far as ball placement and accuracy. I have to believe that that athleticism will make a difference, but after seeing him, you know, throwing at the combine and running three cone and so forth, you can understand why they would really like JJ McCarthy. So, uh, miles says I've come to the conclusion that I want us to go get may. If look, if they do that, that'd be great. That'd be great. I know there's going to be

questions about how much they gave up, but when it's a quarterback, it's always worth it. Make that trade, go get your guy and then figure out the rest around it. But it's a lot easier when you already have the pieces in place like Justin Jefferson. Uh, Will says, I think Pennix is a worthy gamble, but those knees are tricky. How far away is Pennix from being prematurely sidelined like Sam Bradford? Well, I mean, Sam Bradford did play like 10 years in the NFL or something. Uh, or Brandon Roy, we do have an issue with knees. Oh, Bruce Feldman said that he was going to run a four or five. Huh? Wow. We do have an issue in Minnesota with knees. I can understand that would be scary, but let's think of it this way. I always think of the quarterbacks in the

draft as broken up into two things. First is a rookie contract. and then there is the second contract so if you draft josh allen then you sign that man to the biggest second contract you can and you just figure it out and the bills cut a bunch of players today i bet they'll still be competitive because of josh allen but if you were to draft michael pennix and from ages 24 through 29, he's on his first contract with you and the knees are fine. And he gives you a chance to go win. If you build a good enough team, then you can figure out the rest in four or five years. Does, are the knees going to hold up? Is he good enough to sign and actually give a contract? But if we're talking about a window that the NFL gives you of the rookie contract, I get less concerned about, well, is he going to be, you know,

fine when he's 33? Well, I don't know if he's going to be fine while he's 33. Is he probably going to be fine in his first contract? I mean, at least from what the reports were from the combine, people think yes, that his medicals should be okay. So we'll see. I might be making a case here for a third rounder. I don't know. But I've been sold on him throughout the college season and then from what I saw at the combine. Caleb asks, how bad does the 2022 draft hurt?

Really bad. Really bad, really bad. I mean, if they hit on three of those players, they would feel so much better on the defensive side than they do right now. But then again, you know, I say that, but yet at the same time, it's not like they drafted defensive linemen. I mean, they drafted a safety corner.

So I don't know, like everybody's going to have a bad draft sometimes, but it came at kind of a tough time when they were revamping the whole thing. I think that Cam Bynum becoming good makes up for missing on Lewis scene that I'm not totally out on Andrew Booth jr. And you know, getting like ed ingram has played a lot of snaps but he hasn't been very good so it it hurts for sure but even if they had hit on those picks they would still have to rebuild the defensive line and get a linebacker well brian awesome i was supposed to be the guy so they'd still have to rebuild the defensive line i still don't know how close they would be as a team to a real contender they'd probably be a slight bit closer if they had hit on two of those picks,

but it's probably not my, I mean, my instant reaction was, yeah, it was really bad. But now that you go through it, it's like, you know, so Kyle Hamilton of course comes up, but they got Josh Metellus who plays the same role and has done the same thing. So, I mean, yeah, like they've, they kind of developed a couple of guys that made up for Louis seen failing and they were able to get Byron Murphy as a corner. They really need another corner. 2022 was Ty Chandler. So he might end up as your starting running back. I don't think that that draft has to ruin the franchise.

I think it's not great. And you ideally would have wanted, um, you would have wanted, you know, Louis scene to work out. Uh, yes, Jordan Davis was available. Go look at Jordan Davis's snap count. He's just not really an impact player because he can't play a lot of snaps. He plays like 400 snaps. That's what, that's the thing about these drafts. It's like, you know, Kyle Hamilton. Okay. But they have that player. Like, I mean, Josh Metellus was in the same, I mean, is he as good as Hamilton? Like, I don't know, but he's good. I just, the way I look at that draft always in forever is going to be that I didn't like it initially. Couldn't stand it on draft night because I didn't like the trade down. And then at the same time, I want to defend it only by saying this happens. It just happens sometimes. Sometimes you just have a bad draft. It's, you know, 2016 for the Vikings

following one of their best drafts ever was terrible. It just happens sometimes. And there's no real rhyme or reason. Lewis seen was a good prospect that didn't work out. And, and Andrew Booth was dropped into a defense that was more fit for his skills. And then they changed defenses. So if they get a starting guard and a running back out of it, then, you know, I don't know, I guess it's not a total disaster. Javier says, last question for me. I'd be curious to know what your pod numbers look like if Kirk ends up walking. I feel like they'd skyrocket through the roof. Even talking about Kirk walking has sent the numbers skyrocketing through the roof, guys. I mean, you can just feel it. You can just feel the fervor for change and how much Vikings fans want something new and want to take a swing at

something big and something great rather than continuing to paddle upstream with the same quarterback who wasn't good enough to get you there. I really have a sense for it. These streams would go 45 minutes before they go an hour and a half now, because there's so many more of you who have questions and comments and opinions. It's great. It's been some of my favorite talk with all of you in a really long time because of probably since the middle of 2022, just because the energy is there. So am I doing a dry, a live draft show? You betcha. You betcha. I've used to use the, I've learned to use that phrase since I got here. Yes. A hundred percent. I will be doing live on draft night on this channel and boy, that has

the potential to be really, really fun. So yeah, I mean, I just, I just get this sense from Vikings fans that they're very much ready for change and there's an excitement about this next coming week or a couple months if cousins goes. And I also don't think that that's personal. I don't think it's really about cousins so much as about this franchise and its history and what everyone's gone through the last six years since they went to the NFC championship game there just hasn't been many moments where you have this energy about the team this real excitement and this like what's gonna happen I mean think about how many times in the last six years that has happened where you've had this burst of excitement about the Vikings. I would say when Kirk signed, there was a real like, wow, this is going to be a Superbowl potential, all that. And then that I think got cold water

poured on it in like week three against Buffalo. So unfortunately it felt like the fans never really recovered after that loss when it came to Kirk and then things kind of came apart in the 2018 season winning the game against uh New Orleans that was a high moment for sure Kirk with a great throw to Kyle Rudolph and then after that we've got the Buffalo game where they went to eight and one, but they immediately got stomped by Dallas the next week and then never really got, uh, you know, back on track. We're never that same team that started eight and one. And now today, I mean, and maybe against green Bay and the game that Kirk gets hurt, you feel like, oh, well, this team is really going somewhere.

That's about five times where there's been true excitement. Most of the rest has kind of been waiting around for another shoe to drop or a team starting one in five or just struggling the entire time. So, uh, you know, I think this is a real seminal moment, a real fork in the road for this entire franchise. And the potential there is, is to have something be really special, uh, streaming schedule for the weekend. I have not decided yet. I'm sorry that I always drop these on you guys. It's kind of day to day, like depends on what's going on. Um, and, and also what I have in the bank, like a lot of times I'll do interviews with people and I'll want to run those

for you guys. So I won't jump on live and do chats, but Sunday night is a, is probably a lock. Let's say Sunday night is probably a lock one last stream before we get the potential for a decision. And then anytime something happens, this will be where we're at. So if the Vikings say on the 11th and the legal tampering period, if they sign, I don't know, Josh Uche, then we'll be on here and I'm going to break it down. And if there's Kirk news,

the second that that happens, I'm going to be here. I'm not going anywhere. I'm not even going to Taco Bell. That's a lie. I'll probably go to Taco Bell, but I will come right back and I will be ready to talk with you guys when that happens. So yes. Yeah. I was thinking Sunday night is probably a good time before all hell breaks loose and then who knows what happens after that. So anyway, thank you guys

all for participating, looking through these different quarterbacks and we'll definitely do it again. Got a few more interviews coming your way. Chad graph to talk about the Patriots and if the Vikings have a chance to trade up for them, um, scheduled to hook up with Derek class and to talk quarterbacks. So lots to come on the show. Thanks everybody for watching as always. And, uh, what's my favorite taco bell food. Yes. Yes. That's what it is. Thanks so much, everybody. And we'll talk to y'all soon. Football.