Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - EMERGENCY POD: Vikings sign Jonathan Allen AND Will Fries

Episode Date: March 11, 2025

Matthew Coller reacts live to the Vikings going crazy in free agency, signing two of the biggest names on the market in Jonathan Allen and guard Will Fries.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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Matthew collar here. And what a morning for everybody in Viking land. The Minnesota Vikings have signed Will fries, the guard from the Indianapolis Colts, Jonathan Allen, past rushing defensive tackle from the Washington commanders and Javon Hargrave from the San Francisco 49ers. There was a time in the middle of the day in the first day of free agency, where I think some folks said, what's quasi doing? I saw the words asleep at the wheel. Uh, apparently not.

Apparently a quasi at Apple MENSA and the Minnesota Vikings front office was not indeed asleep at the wheel because they have now made five major signings, including Ryan Kelly yesterday, Byron Murphy Jr. Late last evening, and now three of the biggest free agents that are out there. So I'll give you the numbers and I'll give you the takes and we'll get the breakdowns and how how they fit, but let me just say first that this is why you move on from Kirk cousins. This is why you draft JJ McCarthy, and this is why you don't extend Sam Darnold and give him a big contract. This is also why you give Kevin O'Connell all the money this off season because that NFL PA survey where the Vikings ranked number two and we reference it all the time and we

go, yeah, the Vikings have this amazing reputation and they've got this great building and this great ownership and this coach that everybody wants to play for. And sometimes you go, okay, well, why don't you win something? Right. Right. Okay. And I get it. I get it.

But today is the day why you pay Kevin O'Connell to make sure he's your coach for a very long time, because the culture that they've created in Minnesota is one where will fries Jonathan Allen, Javon Hargrave, where they want to be and the building they want to be in. And also what it tells you is the Wilfs are not playing a cheap this offseason. After 14 wins last year, they understood that there were a lot of players leaving. They also understood that they could do better as far as a roster goes, but that was going to take some recruiting and it was going to take some spending and it was going to take having sam donald not take up forty one million dollars in cap space.

And so now they can go crazy and free agency and this money here before we get into it i'm just gonna warn you. It's crazy the money is crazy. They can afford it. They can do it, but all of these contracts are in the similar vein to other teams on the first day of free agency that put a lot of money on the table. Okay. And I think the will fries deal is pretty good. So why don't we start there?

We'll start with will fries because he is the guard that was promised for so long, we kept saying, you know, if Kirk cousins leaves and creates this massive cap space, they can actually go out and they can get the best guard on the market as opposed to having, Oh, I don't know. You know, Dakota Dozier there, no offense to Dakota Dozier or whatever for a million bucks, just signing somebody to throw them in there as opposed to, Hey, only Udo. Why don't you just move from tackle the guard? And why do they always have to do that? tackle the guard and why do they always have to do that?

Because they didn't have a lot of cap space because they had spent on cousins because they had spent on older players. And for so long, you just had to deal with the fact that one position, two positions and so forth were just big and empty. And that defensive tackles were going to blast through your offensive line. And you just had to work around it for so long because there was no other choice other than to do that because you couldn't go out and spend to get the best guard on the market. Well, the Vikings now because JJ McCarthy is taking over as their quarterback

and he is making this year $5 million. Well, some quarterbacks in the NFL are making $60 million, $50 million. And what you do with that money is you overspend to get the best guard on the market and you apologize to nobody. And I do think there were some players on day one that got way more than I would have expected. And now the Vikings have given out way more than I would have expected for at least two of these players. I don't have a price yet on Javon Hargrave, but we're going to go one by one. What it means, what the plan is.

And I want to start with Will fries. It is five years, $88 million for Will fries, which is a lot. However, it is under $18 million. And yesterday a guard who I think is not as good, Aaron banks got actually more than that. I, he ended up getting, uh, was it 18, almost $19 million. I mean, that was to me, that was the worst signing of the day to give an extremely average guard, uh, almost $20 million a year. And for Will fries, he comes in underneath $18 million, which is a good deal.

And I think part of that in comparison, it's a good deal in comparison. And also, even if you look at last year with a guy like Robert hunt, who was just a pretty good, pretty good guard and he made about $20 million a year. So there were big overpays in, in starting even last year with the guards and fries being the top one on the market for under 18 is in comparison, not a bad deal at all. Now, how good is Will Fry? So when somebody gets $88 million over five years, there will be really high

expectations for him to come in and completely overhaul the offensive line. he gets $88 million over five years, there will be really high expectations for him to come in and completely overhaul the offensive line. But I think that what we have to keep in mind as we go forward and they build out the rest of it's they've got the center, Ryan Kelly, they've got fries. They've got the two tackles and now something will have to happen. I think it left guard. I mean, if Blake Brando still is there, I think he was okay last year. Uh, and when Darasaw was in, he was okay, but I think you're swinging even higher. You might be

swinging for somebody like Graze Abel. You might be swinging for Tyler Booker. You might be drafting somebody in the first round or even still adding a Kevin Zeitler. It's heaven Jenkins Like the Vikings see what Chicago is doing. They see Chicago has got this arms race going for defensive line and offensive line. And today, this morning they match them in that arms race. But Will Fries has been so far a rising player in his career and a quality player.

But if we're setting the expectation that he's Steve Hutchinson, that to me would be too high. I don't think he's Randall McDanieler, Steve Hutchinson. We can't set the bar at that level, but he is the type of free agent that I've described as somebody who is 27 years old, can be here for a long time and $17 million, especially if he elevates, like think about what happened last year with Blake Cashman, think about what happened with Jonathan Granard. Those were two players who are around the same age and they were

coming into their prime. And so only being 27 years old, I don't believe he's even turned 27 yet. Uh, will fries has a chance to build with this office of line and improve even and solidify the line. I think what he's not right now is a weak link in any way. Of course they just paid almost $18 million. He shouldn't be a weak link, but I don't think you're going to be talking about someone who just steamrolls every player in front of him and runs over everybody and the Vikings run for six yards to carry or something like that.

You're more of talking about someone who is not a big, huge mistake waiting to happen and his brings some size physicality and a more solid game. So I'll give you the numbers. Uh, last year he did not play much. So I know that some people have cited as PFF grade as being a very, very high from last year, but he got hurt early in the year. So we can't really look at that. I mean, it's a factor that he played extremely well before he got hurt. And that's what I mean about him improving and him elevating.

But we also can't say, yeah, he was like a top three guard last year. Again, we got to make sure that we're setting the bar in the right spot for this deal. Uh, so in 2023, when he did play a full season, fries was the 29th best guard in the league and 25th in pass blocking and both of those numbers just to give you some comparisons to some other players like Philadelphia's cam jurgens was was 25th and fries was 29th so it kind of tells you like good good enough like Elton jankton's this is in 23 we know him from green Bay's pretty good.

He was 22nd. So you have this first tier of guards and then will fries was in the second tier of guards, the Vikings have so often in recent years lived in the bottom tier of carts and last year Blake Brando was more overall in the middle ish, but still was one of the top players in terms of pressures allowed last year. Brandle allowed the third most pressures in the entire NFL and Brandle was 46th in terms of past protection. So we're going, we're going up a tier from someone like Blake, Blake Brandle. Now in terms of past protection, fries numbers in 2023 and Dalton Reisner are kind of similar. Reisner last year was a little bit better, smaller sample size, but a little bit,

a little bit better. I think what fries does is he just makes it not a weak link, which is worth a lot because what teams have been able to do, and he brings a lot because what teams have been able to do, and he brings a lot of experience, he's played a lot of football and he's played it at a pretty high level. What he does is he allows there not to be an obvious area where the opposing team comes in and says, right guard, baby, we're going after that guy. We're sending all of our stunts, all of our twists.

And the fact that he is also worked with Ryan Kelly for so long. Those two know each other. These are experienced players and I can't emphasize enough how important it is to have experience now on the offensive line. And the Vikings have now four players who have played a ton of football. And so if they do add a first round guard to the mix, or if they bring in, they Vikings have now four players who have played a ton of football. And so if they do add a first round guard to the mix, or if they bring in, they could still do somebody like Kevin Zeitler or Brandon.

Sure. If they could still bring in a Tevin Jenkins, if they want to the way that they're spending their money. So with fries, it is a lot versus his numbers. The expectation is that playing next to Kelly playing next to Brian O'Neill should improve. And I think it also looks like just from his PFF stats that he is more of an overall type of guy.

Like he's not, Oh, well, he can only pass protect, but he can't run block or something like that. Or he can only run block, but he can't pass for the Vikings. I've just been dealing with this extreme weakness. This guy has this major shortcoming and things like that for such a long time. And last year's sample size was not like totally throw it out. I mean, it was 268 snaps where he was playing at a very high level last year. So we're talking about a guy who over the last two years has elevated his play

and looks like he's on the rise. He's also six, six over 300 pounds. As in turn 27 yet. And they are one guard away from us finally being able to say they did it. us finally being able to say they did it. They built the offensive line that you wanted for so, so long. And to do it at this price, which in comparison to an Aaron Banks, to a comparison to some of the other big contracts, I think is reasonable. It's not the steel of the century.

And if they go out and sign another guard, it's going to cost a lot and other guards in the future are still going to cost a lot. But doing it now, the salary cap is not going down. It's going to continue to go up. So as Will fries over a five year contract, which I think is important over a five year contract, you're getting the entire rest of his prime and Guards are usually good into the early 30s as we have seen from a number of them it's not a position that just like corner or running back to just falls off the edge and

It is an experienced position So when we're talking about him continuing to grow with this team, he gets to be one of the pillars of this roster which we're gonna look at for which which players do they have to build with over a long period of time so that's will fries twenty seven years old in two thousand twenty three he solid early two thousand twenty four he's nothing short about standing and he seems to be getting better you could put him now with really

good players at right tackle and center in between them. And now that entire side of the line from the center over is not only at very least quality, at least in the second tier of what they do. So I think Ryan Kelly is a second tier center. It's not the best center in the league, but he's a second tier center at this point in his career. Will fries is a second tier guard, which means good things. Like this is not the best guard in the league. And if you set that bar, then that's going to be unfair to Will fries, but he's not third

tier fourth tier. He's not at the bottom. You're not constantly wondering, are they going to bench him? Are they going to bench him? Are they going to replace him? And now there's an opportunity to sign one more player or draft one more player and look at that front and go, yeah, that's a difference maker, not a liability, not something you're working around, not, well, you got to deal with this guy and you got to help that guy and this guy is getting attacked each week. No, no, no.

They're one player away from now your offensive line walks into the building in week one and the other team goes Man, we're gonna have a tough time getting to JJ McCarthy and that's the key, right? it's the key to everything and This is why we treated it like the light at the end of the tunnel for so long why we treated drafting the quarterback and bringing him into this situation. Because now if they sign a left guard, you're talking about having at very worst in the backfield and Aaron Jones, who's going to have better blocking. And who had a good season last year. And then the best receiver in the world.

And then the best receiver in the world, another quality receiver who's proven himself TJ Hockett's and back to full strength after last year being short a little bit, I think with the ACL or, uh, being held back a little bit by the ACL recovery and then getting Christian Darasaw back, this is a very strong offensive setup now that will fries is in the mix. So let's get to Jonathan Allen and we'll get your questions, comments, thoughts, and, uh, more reactions as we go forward. So I'm just going to start with fries, but I'll circle back to the line and we'll look at the whole depth chart now, uh, after all these signings, as we

get through these couple that have been made, Jonathan Allen. Defensive tackle for the Washington commanders. This is one where three years, $20 million. I'm going to admit to you that if Jonathan Allen and the guaranteed money is going to be important here, because we went through this last night with Byron Murphy Jr. When Byron Murphy Jr. Signed and we were like $22 million a year. What?

And then it came out a 35 guaranteed. Oh, well that's actually pretty good. That's not more than Carlton Davis. That's not more, not by a lot than the other corners. So we do need to make sure that we find out where Jonathan Allen's guaranteed money ranks. He is 30 years old. He is still over the last two years been a very effective pass rusher. He has not been over the last two years, the same level of complete game record that he used to be When he was at his absolute best and he was destroying the Vikings at 20-22 in that game

He was unbelievable and he was amazing that entire season It has not gone the same way as it did in 20-22 for Jonathan Allen over the last two years And he was hurt last season This is one that I will admit to you that if another team signed Jonathan Allen for three years and 60 million, I would have said, okay, they went crazy. That's too much. Maybe the Vikings shouldn't have done that.

That's not a shrewd move, but the reason why you have the salary cap set up the way that it is. The reason that they moved on from all those players in 2023 coming off of the 13 win season was to look two years down the road and go, that's when our cap will be fixed. And that's when we can make moves that are not shrewd, but get the player we want. And that's what Jonathan Allen is now at 30 years old and I've mentioned him Brandon Thorne trench warfare. I read his stuff a lot. I look at the PFF stuff I read Brandon Thorne get a lot of different takes on offensive a defensive line Brandon Thorne's take on

Jonathan Allen was that he can still be a difference-making pass rusher and I think that's all they're looking for here. And he still was last year and he still was in 2023. It's just that as he was asked to play his full bevy of snaps that he did in his prime, uh, that he was not as effective as he used to be. I don't think now with the fact that they're bringing in Allen and Javon Hargrave that they are going to ask Jonathan Allen to play a thousand snaps. But if you look at the D line now with Jonathan Allen, there's somebody who can get into the backfield who still has first round caliber talent, who has been around, who has had great seasons in the NFL.

This is another thing that's been missing for so long. See the Vikings won 14 games last year by taping a lot of things together. We were talking about like, Hey, Jaylen Redmond looks pretty good. And Hey, Blake Brandle is better than some of the guards of the past because they were taking on still dead cap money from the Kirk cousins era and from a lot of other players that they had signed to try to compete and to try to hold on while they were sliding down the slippery wall. Do enough with that roster. Here's Stefan Gilmore. Here's Shaq Griffin He's sort of just like hey get the best we can to try to tape it together And then coach it up and they were able to coach it up to the point where they were playing for the number one seed But I think they went into this offseason and we have talked about that schedule that is on the way and said Let's not tape up these things anymore

And it also justifies you guys and myself for how long saying they need interior pressure. They need interior pressure and they need to be able to do it with four. Brian Flores is known as a blitzing mad man, mad scientist, this lunatic Brian Flores, he's throwing all sorts of crazy stuff at him and he's not going to stop doing that, but he is no longer going to have to do it all the time. Every single third down, you all watch the super bowl. You all saw that the Philadelphia Eagles just dropped back in coverage all day long and sent four rushers.

Well, the Viking signing Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave is a huge part of that. These are not, I'm going to tell you, these are not the best bets in the world. I will fries is a good bet. Will fries is 27. He two years from now could be a great deal at $17 million, $17.8. He could be a great deal because you'll see 20 other guards get overpaid. At that point. We've already seen another one in Aaron banks get way too much money.

Will fries is the type of deal that I look at and go, okay, that's exactly how you do free agency, right? You sign a player who's on the younger side, who's on the upswing. And those are hard to get. So you pay for that. Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave are very much more of the ilk of you're a team that's ready to win and you're competing for the Superbowl and you know how good your division is and you have to take some risks to try to get.

Players who are going to be a lot better than if you didn't do anything. And when you have so much money. So last night I made a comparison of going to the mall and someone gives you a gift card of 200 bucks, but you don't go blow it all on a pair of gloves. Well, they kind of did. They kind of did, but you know what? Your hands are warm and that's what they're doing here. They're going and getting a player in Jonathan Allen who last year

was banged up and only played 400 snaps. Now he still had a good number of pressures. Think about this. This is a crazy stat. So let me pull this up just to show you how far off the Vikings have been in terms of interior pressure. If we look at last year, who got the pressures for the Vikings? Jonathan Grenard had 80.

Andrew Van Ginkle had 49. Okay. And the next best had 31 and that was Jahad Ward. Jonathan Allen, who only played 400 something snaps would have been the next best after that. And Jahad Ward played every game. So like we're talking about somebody who, I mean, Jerry Tillery had 17 Harrison Phillips had 15.

They were not getting anything from the interior pressure. And now in a half a season, Jonathan Allen did more than that. Uh, now Javon Hargrave is a bet that I, that I like. I'm interested to find out what Hargrave got because I have not seen that yet. And if you guys see a number or I guess it's pending his release. So we probably won't get a number today with John, uh, Javon Hargrave. He's a guy that has been good against the Vikings in the past. Now last year he got her early in the season and he had, I think it was

a torn pack, so he missed almost the whole season, Javon Hargrave. And that is a red flag when someone is 32 years old. And so I think with both Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave, if you tell me, is it the most shrewd thing in the world? Is it the smartest, most analytical thing in the world to sign a 30 year old player coming off an injury to 20 million a year to sign a 32 year old player? Those are not under that category. Those are not, hey, you're just going to analytics everything. These are the type of moves that are, we are in win now mode and this is what we need and these guys, even at their age, coming off injuries are better than anything else you're going to get outside of the draft.

But now I think, and we'll talk about it. Now the draft shifts a little bit. They could still draft a defensive tackle, but after spending this much on Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave, then. You know, probably not. You're probably not going for a defensive tackle in the first round. You're probably looking at one maybe a little later or trying to develop someone like Levi Drake Rodriguez over a couple of years behind it. So these are not the most. over a couple of years behind him. So these are not the most perfect bets because there is risk involved with older players, but also if you look at just around the NFL teams that are going to the Superbowl teams that are making it deep in the playoffs, you

look at their rosters, they have these types of players, they make these types of bets and I'll give you a good example. The Washington commanders with Bobby Wagner, Bobby Wagner was said to be done after he was with the Seattle Seahawks and he signs there in Washington and is a major contributor for them. And Adam Thielen is a good example. We talked about why Adam Thielen's kind of cooked and even in Carolina is not a competitive team, but Thielen is still better than the next best thing that

you were going to get an interior pressure is so hard to come by and costs so much money that you have to make a bet that comes along with a little risk. And that's what they have here with Jonathan Allen, John Hargrave. But when I look at Hargrave's career, I mean, this guy is not just okay at getting after the passer. This guy is one of the elites of the elite at getting after the passer on the interior. I'll call up where he ranked over the last, when he was healthy,

the last couple of years and, and the position of defensive tackle, I'm sure that they've looked at this defensive tackle is a position that I think is so technical and is a lot based on strength that it might not be one where you just need to blow by the guy and it might age a little better. I think we have probably seen historically guys that are really, really good, is that they age better than maybe some other positions. So if you just go back to 2023, just one year ago, Javon Hargrave in total quarterback pressures was 12th on a team that went to the Superbowl and hey, that's another team, right? That's the San Francisco 49ers. Another team that has made similar bets to this one where they have gone

out and gotten older players. And the key part of having JJ McCarthy for the next three years on his rookie contract is if one of these bets blows up in their face, it doesn't ruin everything. And that was the delicate dance that they were always doing in the past with Kirk cousins when he was here and he's taken up so much percentage. And I always put it on him, but it's more of the era of him where they had all those guys that were taken up dead cap. They're extending Kyle Rudolph, like all those things that were taking up so much

percentage that they couldn't work around the margins almost at all. They're extending Kyle Rudolph, like all those things that were taking up so much percentage that they couldn't work around the margins almost at all. And so they would sign a Michael Pierce and then Michael Pierce sits out for the COVID year. You just go like, well, what do you do now? What else do you do? What do you do now? That was your only signing or you bring in even just what they were still dealing with when they brought in Marcus Davenport.

Will you bring in Marcus Davenport? That's rolling the dice taking a risk. But when it fails, you kind of got nothing. And so if Hargrave or Jonathan Allen is good, then it's going to be a big hit on defensive tackle here. But just to go back to his numbers. So he was 12th in the league in twenty twenty three with fifty two quarterback pressures that's in the same ballpark is someone like. Jalen carter in twenty twenty three deforestation but even more impressively. If you look at just where he graded in terms of pass rush because he played six hundred thirty two snaps he was the fourth highest graded pass rushing defensive tackle. This is drawn Hargrave in 2023. The guys that were ahead of Javon Hargrave in 2023.

Oh, we got some Daniel Jones news. Okay. All right. Hang on. Let me finish my sentence. Then we'll get to Daniel Jones news. Hold on. Okay.

My set. Finish my sentence. 2023, Javon Hargrave was the fourth highest graded by PFF pass rusher. The guys who were ahead of him, Chris Jones, Aaron Donald and Dexter Lawrence. Those were the only guys who were better than Javon Hargrave in 2023. I mean, wow. Right? So if he brings that and then Jonathan Allen even brings the middle Jonathan

Allen performance of the last couple of years, you are talking about a defensive line that now has Van Ginkle Dallas Turner developing two interior rushers who have consistently got after the quarterback at an elite level in their careers that probably we could bring it down a notch from that. And it's still at a well above average level, which is where Jonathan Allen was last year. And then Jonathan Grenard at the outside linebacker who had 80 pressures last year. I mean, that is a nasty defensive line. Uh, the news on Daniel Jones, $14 million to sign with the Indianapolis Colts, $14 million says that he is not just a challenger to Anthony Richardson.

That he is probably starting a challenger to Anthony Richardson that he is probably starting for the Indianapolis Colts. Uh, the Daniel Jones exit does not bother me at all. Uh, Daniel Jones, I didn't really love signing him in the first place, but it meant it ended up being nothing that they signed him. He wasn't even active for any games. So I guess I thought they were going to throw them in as a backup. And I thought, what's the difference?

But I looked at a Daniel Jones as somebody who is not the next Sam Darnold, not the next great reclamation project, but a quarterback that's already on the broken side and that. Yeah. If you've got to play them, you're probably in a lot of trouble. You're probably missing the playoffs. You're not going to compete with the lions. You're not going to compete with the Packers.

Uh, no hard feelings, but I just looked at him like this guy's never been good. And yes, yes, we do have the comp pick. So very clever from the Minnesota Vikings. They'll probably, this was, I think this'll equate to a sixth round pick, maybe a sixth round or maybe a fifth round comp pick, but don't quote me on that. Uh, because we won't know for a very, very long time what that's going to be. But it's to me, it was never a concern as soon as Sam Darnold signed with the Seattle Seahawks he's the starting quarterback.

He's the guy. We don't talk about the backup anymore. The backup is a guy who's there to help JJ McCarthy. He's not there to compete with McCarthy. He's not of any concern aside from, yeah, I guess if he gets hurt, maybe that guy will keep you on the tracks, but to tell you the truth, if you only want that for like four games and there's a bunch of guys because anything more than four games, you're screwed. So if it's Gardner Minshew, totally fine.

Four games of Gardner Minshew, four games of Mack Jones, four games of whoever the heck else, whatever. It doesn't matter. The backup quarterbacks, just not something I care about. What I care about is comp picks Superbowl. Hey, they're they're gonna need them, right? They're gonna need them So alright, there's your Daniel Jones news and now we can talk about backup quarterback But I don't really care whoever they get for a backup quarterback is fine I'm sure Kevin O'Connell knows every quarterback and we'll call one up and get one to come here and it'll be alright

It doesn't matter. I know you love quarterbacks. It does not matter. This is JJ freaking McCarthy's show and JJ McCarthy show only and Daniel Jones going to the Colts means very little. In fact, $14 million. No way, no way would I have wanted the Vikings to spend $14 million on a backup quarterback who I don't think is actually any good and really has never been any good except for when he played against that Donatelle. So there you go.

Is he on paper? Is he better than Mack Jones? Maybe a little by skill set. He could run, but is he actually better statistically in any way? No. Uh, or Gard in any way? No. Uh, or Gardner Minshew? No. So that's fine. Let's go back to defensive tackles, right?

I mean, let's go back to the bigger picture. So we've broken down. Will fries and what he means to the offensive line. This is my favorite signing. Will fries. He's on the upswing 27 years old. He gets less than Aaron banks and he gets a five year contract. So now you have O'Neill, Darasaw fries.

These guys are your long-term pillars. Ryan Kelly is probably a two year answer while they can develop another center or they'll have to find an answer down the road and then left guard. If it's Blake Brandle, it's not the worst thing in the world. If he's playing next to Darasaw, but I still don't think it's going to be Blake Brandle. I think they're going to still go out and either draft one at 24 or trade down in draft one, or if they are going to, uh, you know, sign somebody else, they could still sign Brandon Sheriff or Kevin Zeitler or Tevin Jenkins. They have the money and they're, they know what JJ McCarthy's contract is

going to mean to them for their salary cap going into the next few years. And they are also very aware that every year we're going to have shock of how much the cap goes up. This year, there were so many people who went, oh my gosh, I can't believe how much the salary cap went up. Like, oh, it went all the way. It's like, did you not notice that you have to pay for Amazon now to watch the NFL?

And did you not notice that Netflix has got football games? Like this, this is the trade-off. Your team can now get great players, but you have to get a subscription to watch some NFL games, but this is going to keep happening. So the will fries deal in two years will probably look really, really good in the same way that the Jonathan Grenard deal looks really, really good today. As long as he stays healthy and as long as he continues on the upswing trajectory that he was on.

But even if will fries ends up as the 25th best guard in the league, each team plays two of them that puts you in the top third of the league as far as your guard situation at right guard. And that's, that's worth it. That's worth this money. And because offensive lines are about your weak points, being able to plug a hole and say, that's not going to be our weak point is also worth a lot of money. On the defensive side, let's take a look at just the defense

overall and what they have now. So along the defensive line. So I saw some of you saying, Oh, does this mean they get rid of Harrison Phillips? It doesn't work that way anymore. Isn't that nice? It doesn't work that way anymore. The Vikings no longer have to say, well, we're trading for, this is a throwback. We're trading for Yannick and Gokwe.

Um, Riley reef, can you take a huge pay cut or we're going to get rid of you? I mean, it doesn't work that way anymore. Not when JJ McCarthy is making $5 million. The way it works is Harrison Phillips stays on the team and is a good football player and now the interior is Harrison Phillips, Jonathan Allen, Javon Hargrave as they will rotate, presumably. And you've got some developing players who are behind them. And on the outside, you have two tremendous edge rushers. One of them was a pro bowler.

One of them was all pro. And then you have a first round draft pick who flashed last year, but is likely to get even more opportunity this year with, uh, the fact that Patrick Jones left in free agency at the linebacker position. They have one of the best linebackers in the NFL in Blake Cashman and then Ivan pace Jr. They can use depth there. They definitely need depth.

When we go to the cornerback position, they got Isaiah Rogers yesterday, underrated move. That's the one we're gonna forget. I mean of course we're gonna forget what kind of day is this we're gonna forget is a rogers but he's gonna play i think he's gonna play the same kind of role as shack griffin and his history is pretty good in terms of his numbers not some. Unbelievable shut down guy but again it's about the weaknesses, right? So he gives them depth. He gives them not a huge weakness. They signed Byron Murphy last night to a deal where 35 million guaranteed 22 per year, which is a lot, but along the lines in terms of guarantees, very reasonable.

So they've got a more solidified secondary. The next question to answer is at the safety position is Harrison Phillips. I'm sorry, Harrison Smith coming back, but I do wonder if now, I mean, Harrison Smith loves football. You all love football. Think about how much you love football. Harrison Smith loves football more than you. He loves football more than anybody on earth

If he wakes up this morning and he starts looking at his phone he goes Who do we get? Wait, wait, we got We got those guys. That's what our defense. Oh murphy's coming back That's what our defense is going to look like I mean He's got to start jogging again, right? Like a, like Rocky, you know, just get out there, start jogging, start getting ready again, play the music.

I mean, I don't know Harrison Smith if he's going to retire or not, but I just wouldn't be surprised if Harrison is like, all right, let's go and decides to come back. And they pair him with Theo Jackson as opposed to, uh, you know, can't bind them leaving for 15 million a year. This is also why, uh, okay. I'm seeing that the giant sign, Javon Holland. So that, that dream is gone. That was my favorite idea for the safety position. But even if they sign Harrison Smith back and then they have, uh, Theo

Jackson, who they gave the extension to, even if that's how it ends up going. And you have those two as your safeties josh mattelis is still here you add one more corner to the mix and then draft whatever the hell you want i mean that is a thing here that will see what happens at left guard. at left guard, they might end up going into the draft without another left guard. Although we are very early when it comes to free agency, we are just what, how many hours into this of free agency. But if Harrison Smith comes back, I mean, you're looking at a very solidified roster now and, and the signings that they need to make will be all in turn in terms of depth. It will be depth corners, depth linebackers depth, maybe to replace Patrick Jones.

But this roster has taken a big step forward in retaining the things that made it excellent last year that made it a 14 win team, but also fixing the problems. And I know that I've but also fixing the problems. And I know that I've said this in the past and yesterday was a good example of this where it's like, I think this team just in general knows what they're doing and that's quite an adjustment from the past and it's not that the first version of Zimmer and Spielman, the 2014 through 2017 version wasn't good because they were, they made a lot of good moves. They brought in your Lindvold Josephs and so forth and created an excellent team that first time.

But when they were dealing with desperation, and this is why it's important that your head coach has a longterm contract. And we'll see about the general manager, but full man, if he's, uh, if he's not, if he's not signing an extension, what a way to go out. This has been one heck of a free agency. So I guess we could talk about the bigger picture there, which is. That last year when the Vikings signed, uh, or did not sign Kirk Cousins, but drafted JJ McCarthy, to me, that was the completion of the competitive rebuild.

And now it was just the competitive part. It's just the go for it. Take the big swing. You're playing for the super bowl from here on out. That was what I thought when JJ McCarthy was drafted and Kurt Cousins left. I'm sure I would love to go back and look at my video, my emergency podcast that I made right after that. Cause I probably said that.

Like this is it. This is the completion of the story. This is quasi Adolfo Mendes vision come to life is drafting JJ McCarthy. And now everything is about going for it. Everything is about every off season from here on out is trying to add as much talent, fill as much holes, recruit as many players and chase the Superbowl for real. And last year surprised us because nobody, including myself, I had them at 10 wins.

And people were like, that's a lot, but it turned out to be, you know, much more than that, right? It turned out to be 14. Nobody really had the Vikings as a team that could win 14 games because when you looked at the roster and Sam Darnold was the quarterback, that was part of it. But when you looked at the roster, you still found way too many holes. The guy that, you know, they're just patchworking brandil's moving to guard. They didn't really get anybody else. And you know, Ingram was still struggling there. They're patchworking. Well, you got to bring in at the last minute, Stefan Gilmore at the last minute,

it's patchworking. It's just kind of hoping that it stays together enough to compete for a playoff spot. And they did more than even they expected to win 14 games last year. But now we've reached the point where no longer are you the cute story that surprises everybody in 2022. That was the case that, Oh, look at the Vikings are winning all these last minute games we didn't think they were gonna be this good. And then last year look at the vikings are outperforming what they were supposed to do they're over under was only six and a half isn't this a great story well.

Now you are done being the nice story and now you are on to go compete for the super bowl for real. And I had a conversation the other night with Brian Murphy and Manny Hill. Where we were talking about like, what, what will the over under be if the Vikings turned to JJ McCarthy? And I think we settled on maybe eight and a half at that moment, not knowing anything that was going to happen. But after this and consider we are at 10 o'clock in the morning on the second day of free agency, like there's more that can happen.

There's, there's more that can happen. And I doubt that they spent all of their money, uh, so far. So, yeah, I mean, the way that they're going to structure these contracts, they worked around $70 million of dead cap just last year. So they're likely structuring these contracts to push them into the future when that cap goes up. That's why all these moving parts, uh, matter to the plan, but making moves like this, this is the signal that it's time to go.

And that the idea when quasi a daful meant to got here was that at 2025, you'd be competing for a super bowl. They will go into the season competing for a super bowl. That's the goal. That's what you were aiming for. And signing players like Alan and Hargrave, those are, we're going for it type of moves. And sometimes those moves don't work out, but making even multiples of those moves, Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave, I think helps them a little bit. Just to avoid, you know, if one doesn't work out, then maybe the other one does. But the point is just that this has taken a long time to get here. And there's been so many years that there's just been this constant, how do you

escape the middle? How do you escape purgatory? And the one answer we kept going back to was the way to do it is to have the cap space to spend. And then we went into this free agency going, I don't know. I mean, there's some players, but can they really find the guys in a free agency that's being talked about is not that special to be able to be difference makers? Well, they went to their positions of weakness and they added the best players they could in fries, Alan and Hargrave. And this is why bringing back Byron Murphy, we can't nitpick on that price because they're

in a mode of going for it and you don't nitpick the prices when you're in that mode. I'll try to come up with some sort of metaphor for that. But when you are in the mode in pro sports of trying to take a shot at it, thinking, how do we get past that game against the Rams? What's going to be the difference? And what the difference is going to be is a solid offensive line that doesn't have any weaknesses as opposed to, Oh, we played a good D line game over. I mean, that's what it's been. How long has it been that way? How long has it been that way? with every time they go face a D line and I'm doing the preview show for that week and I go I

Don't know guys That other team's got a pretty good defensive tackle and then you get into the game and that defensive tackle game racks Or the other team is in the backfield all day. And then we go, Oh, the quarterback screwed up like, well, and in some ways it was that way with Darnold. In some ways it was that way with Kirk, but what they're doing now is giving the best chance for JJ McCarthy to succeed. And I don't believe that they are done after this. That is an are done after this, that is an incredible job by the Minnesota Vikings franchise overall. And sometimes we like to give it to, Hey, you know, it's quasi or it's KOC or whatever. You know, it's really just the leadership group of this team. And as far as quasi at Apple mentioned his contract, maybe we'll see. We'll see. But with his contract situation, it's, isn't it possible that he hasn't signed

it yet because of gestures at all of this? We'll see. We'll see. I don't, I don't have like special insight on that other than just hearing, like don't panic about it, but we'll see. I mean, if they are changing general managers after this kind of off season and this type of build, that would be insane. There's been a lot of people over the last couple of years who have kind of

whispered or said, Hey, is what's quasi do over there and that kind of thing. And I think that the fact that he has been a different type of hire from day one and taken a different type of approach to his job and that KOC is so much more the guy in the limelight. It brings up those questions, but no matter what happens going here forward. This job that was done from day one when they were in screwed town in 2022, they were in purgatory stuck in the middle. How do you escape in 2022? And I thought this is

hard because you have to get rid of all that in order to even start your rebuild. And instead of tearing it all down, the ownership group does not accept that, which in some ways I always give them credit for, Hey, you don't accept losing. Well, that's, that's good. But I thought there's no way out unless they just tear it all down and they didn't have to. And now they've reached this point where they're going to go into this year with the over under, what's it going to be 10 and a half.

I mean, I think with the unproven quarterback, it still has to be, have some limitations, but the roster strength that they have, and this is the model that quasi a da Fomenta studied and looked at for years when he was a researcher and an assistant GM. And he saw team after team, after team go into free agency with cheap quarterback contracts and bring in players like fries and Allen and Hargrave and keep players like Byron Murphy three years ago, Byron Murphy's gone, right?

There's no way. And then we're all saying, we're all saying if Byron Murphy went somewhere else, we'd be going off to $22 million a year. Don't eat them. Don't eat them for that. Right. And that is a lot, but now they can do it because of the way they handled years ago, two years ago, especially. And the moment I'm going to go back to over and over and over and over again, and I have on this show and I will continue to bring it up. How many teams win 13 games and then tear down all the older players off their roster? Very few, but they did that from 2022 to 2023.

They let a lot of talent go out the door rather than trying to run it back after 13 wins and they did not extend Kirk cousins. And in that moment, they took the shot. And I remember saying they had, it must have been a bad preseason game or something. I don't remember what it was. And you know, the comment section saying, is quasi have any talent on this team and so forth. And I remember saying in 2023 at one point, this is the closest you've been to a Super Bowl since you walked off the field in 2019 nineteen against the san francisco forty niners because you could see the vision into the future but just because you could see it doesn't mean that you can execute it.

And these last two days along with last year of drafting jj mccarthy. JJ McCarthy, that's been the execution of the vision. An idea means nothing if you can't execute it. I think it's a great idea for me to dunk like LeBron, but you know what? I can't get up there. The idea was to find that quarterback in 2024 because it was a great draft class for quarterbacks. The idea was to go into this year and say, where were we the weakest? Throw money at it. And if the Vikings were trying to build a roster, this is important when it comes to Allen and fries and Hargrave. If the Vikings were trying to build a roster by just signing free agents. And they thought, okay, uh, let's see.

Um, let's try to go get an elite edge rusher out of free agency. Let's go try to get an elite corner. Let's go try to get, that would be a very hard thing to do if they were trying to build up the whole roster. But they have put this together methodically over the years of one good signing here, one good signing there. Yes, Rick Spielman drafted Darasaw and Jefferson. You don't have to give them back.

If you didn't draft them, they've got the pillars in place to do something like this. That's my point. Last year they grab Jonathan Granard and they get their elite pass rusher. And so they've got a pillar over there. They've got Jefferson as a pillar. They've got Darasaw as a pillar. They've got these players that are ones that elevate you and could play in the, in the games against the best teams.

And the other team is saying, that's the guy that we've got to focus on. That's the guy we're terrified top five players at your position. You need as many as those as you can get, but you also need other players who are above average at their position across the roster. My joke for how long has been the model to win the Super Bowl is to have everything. And the Vikings are not quite there yet after today, but they are close to there. I want to talk about the draft because we don't know still what they're going to do in free agency. Again, day two morning. Uh, I am told sources tell me that Jonathan Allen, it's just Vikings PR, uh, that Jonathan Allen is going to have his press

conference today in the afternoon. So I will be there and maybe record a podcast out there with somebody. Do a little reaction, but, um, let's talk about the draft for a second now that the Vikings have done this. And if you're just joining, welcome in everybody to NFL free agency. You are the darlings again. Last year they were at the front of the line in signing Granada and Van Ginkle and Cashman.

And those signings worked out great. And then here they are at the front of the line again, bringing back Byron Murphy, the most expensive corner. Adding Will fries to what I think is a good contract over five years. And then two defensive tackles to get after the passer. This is the first time before I get to the draft, let's just, let's just take a second. This is the first time that they have had since I've covered the team. A guard of like this.

So Alex Boone, they signed in 2016. It was okay as a signing. Uh, then he got cut the next year, but a guard who is going to be solidified in that position for a long time. And then a center who's a top-notch pass blocker. I mean, they've had Bradbury for so long. Pat Elfline wasn't really a pass blocker either. So now to have that like us, like, wow, good players on the interior

offensive line is it has been, it's been never for me, for you guys who have followed this team forever. You can talk about random McDaniel. You could talk about Steve Hutchinson and I don't want to set that bar for fries, but it's been a long time. What Oh nine there a difference making offensive line. Oh nine. Is that the last time that you would say that happened?

I mean, I think their, their line was pretty good in the year that they were bad, which was a 13 I think, but it's been a very, very long time since they had a good offensive line and now you have a chance and Alex Boone is a friend of mine by the way but i think we all understand that was a one year signing that long term didn't work out i think alex knows that. What the point just being that they haven't done this josh klein was brought in that was a pretty good signing for about a half a year but that was kind of a short term thing and didn't really work out. They haven't brought in somebody who is proven and also is in their prime and can be here for a long time. Yeah. No nine, I think is the last line where you went, okay, wow.

Uh, last year, midway through the season, I thought it was doing well, but, uh, I, uh, you know, I, I think it was doing well, but, uh, I, uh, you know, I think it fell off without Darasaw longterm. Oh, I can tell some people are new to the show when they're, uh, critiquing the, the diet Dr. P let's open one. Let's open another one this morning. I've already had one. Let's get another one. And then we'll talk about the draft Diet Dr. Pepper is always part of the purple insider show though. I have not gotten it sponsored yet In the draft now, I think what they can do is whatever they want Because you're not panicking at defensive tackle when you have these two guys. I would say it's probably off the list though. Defensive tackle is likely off the list, but even if they did it, even if they did it,

even if they drafted Derek Harmon with the 24th overall pick, who's mad? Look at how the Superbowl was won. Look at what Tampa Bay did to Kansas City a couple of years ago. You're now in a position where you can overload the positions that are winning in the NFL and defensive tackle is one of them. And it's always an answer because I think the Vikings went into this off season and said, how are we competing for the super bowl for real? Not how are we overachieving? Not how are we just making the playoffs.

What is going to work in the playoffs, not just get to the playoffs and go, wow, we made it. Look at us. I didn't think we'd get here. No. And if overloading defensive tackle and think about Alan Hargrave, our older players. So if you draft John, if you draft Derek Harmon, that would mean you're developing him for a year, which the Vikings have shown a willingness to do with Dallas Turner. They've that's, that's an overload. They drafted a Dallas Turner, despite having Andrew van Ginkle and Jonathan Grinard.

They overloaded that position because pass rushers important or that dynamic position is important. So adding too much to a position like defensive tackle that there's very few teams who can handle them and there's very few teams that have them. I'm good with that. I would like that a lot. But let's even say that. They decide that defensive tackle, they want somebody who can help, uh, right away and defensive tackle isn't really on the list. Guard is certainly in the focus now because they have a left guard who can

play, but is not an above average player in Blake Brando. And I should give Brando that credit that he proved that he can play in the NFL as a starter, if you need him to, it's just not an above average starter. So they're looking for that. And if they drafted gray's able there, Kelvin banks is willing to play guard. He's the Texas tackle that did really well. Uh, Donovan Jackson. Yes, Donovan Jackson from Ohio State. And I'm going to talk about this with Chris Trapasso of CBS Sports.

If you haven't seen our episodes together, he's their draft analyst. He's great. So we're going to talk about this now. We got so much more to talk about with the draft, but the guard position comes into focus now if they want to do that. But here's something I thought of and corner is still majorly in the limelight here for this position as well, because all right, uh, they have Mackay Blackman on the way, Isaiah Rogers is in his prime and buyer Murphy is in his prime. Is that enough to feel like your defensive secondary is amazing? I would not say it is.

So if they're drafting Trey Amos, I don't think they're gonna get Jihadi Barron. I think Barron's gonna go high, but we never know. Sometimes those guys drop. If they were to get even just Trey Amos, and then you have a first round young corner to go with Byron Murphy, to go with McKay Blackman, and then you add some depth here and then have to white mcgloath developing like that looks pretty good. All of these positions doesn't feel like that like that it's like you know that one more guy and it looks pretty good.

What is the intriguing one after today. Would you do running back at twenty four. Because. one after today, would you do running back at 24? Because this is a great running back draft and Aaron Jones is back for at least one year, it's a two year contract, but at least one year, maybe two. They have filled out so many of these positions in free agency and they still can fill out more of them and i'm sure the way that the structure of the contracts is gonna work out that. You know they're gonna have they're gonna move out more space and everything else to still sign more players this is a huge day for them but they still could. What think about it this way if you wanted a running back in the third, you can get one. You're likely to be able to get a good one.

I think a lot of them are going to go in the second though. That's a concern. But if O'Mary and Hampton, just for example, is in this running back class, a first round talent, is that worth it? Because if they had so many other needs, if they were dying at defensive tackle, if they were dying at cornerback and they were struggling and they had nothing at these positions. They could still use the guard, but if that, but now they've they've got four offensive linemen that are settled and they can get another one. If they were struggling so much at these positions, then I would not even really consider it. I would say, okay, well, you're going to have to, right? You just got to go get one of those spots and you just can't waste a luxury pick on 24. But if O'Marian Hampton in this crop of running back stands so

far ahead and I'm using his name, it might be somebody else. They might love Travion Henderson. And when Daniel Jeremiah mocked Travion Henderson to the Vikings, I was like, DJ, what, what are we talking? Huh? Really? They have all these other needs, but you're going running back here. Uh, Travion Henderson averaged like seven yards of carry by the way.

I think that if you get a running back that has absurd, stupid talent and you give him the line and you give him light boxes with Justin Jefferson existing, I think of it as Marshall Falk theory. Like Marshall Falk was a great running back with the Indianapolis Colts was really, really good. He goes to the Rams and he is one of the goats. And now if you're updating your way of thinking about this, how about instead Saquon Barkley or even Derek Henry in 2023, Saquon Barkley and Derek Henry got what 10 or $12 million contracts

because neither one of them played that great the previous season with bad teams. And then they went to good teams and they were enormous, enormous weapons. The Vikings want to look at this the same way I would think. And if they drafted and I don't know if I don't know how much better Evan, I don't know how much better Hampton is than Quinjot Judkins or Trevion Henderson. I don't know that like I have not scouted them, nor do I know how to scout them and figure out that difference, but I'm saying if the Vikings felt that way, if the Vikings felt that O'Marian Hampton was this much bigger, better, more

explosive, higher ceiling than those other guys or less flawed or whatever, then 24 running back doesn't seem crazy. If you pair a rookie running back with Aaron Jones and you have the split be something like 150, 150 for next year. And then going forward, you have a running back on his rookie contract, who can be a difference maker and your offense is Jefferson, Addison, Hawkinson, Darasaw, O'Neal, solid interior line and freak in the backfield. Well, that sounds pretty good. saw O'Neill solid interior line and freak in the backfield.

That sounds pretty good. I like Travion Henderson a lot. Shadow Wolf mentions his ability to catch the ball. I like that a lot. Yep. Uh, Tom Pellicero, we got a update here. Let me read you from Tom Pellicero on Daniel Jones. So if you miss that Daniel Jones is a cult, uh, Tom Palisaro reports that the Vikings tried to retain Daniel Jones, but when it became apparent that he was not

convinced about returning Minnesota told him they were moving on Jones accepted the one year offer. So it sounds like money, I would guess is what that means that, you know, Daniel Jones. Probably looked at his market and said, Hey, if Justin Fields can get that would guess is what that means that, you know, Daniel Jones. Probably looked at his market and said, Hey, if Justin Fields can get that much, I'm going to go elsewhere. So there's your update that the Vikings were interested in Daniel Jones. The way that that's phrased to me says that Daniel Jones, it says he wasn't

convinced, I think it wasn't convinced money wise or wasn't convinced that he would have any chance to compete. So I don't blame wasn't convinced that he would have any chance to compete So I don't blame Daniel Jones for that He has no chance to compete JJ McCarthy is your guy going forward and any backup who shows up here is Going to be the backup quarter back actually a guy that I really like for this is Marcus Mariota I've always liked Mariota, but I think what he did with last year with jaden daniels, there was a really cool clip and this was important. The character in the person is really important for this job.

So I don't know that might keep mac jones for being that guy. He was the backup in Jacksonville last year, but what I really liked about Marcus mariotta. So there was a play at the end of the year and I forget which game it was So there was a play at the end of the year and I forget which game it was. Washington played all those crazy games where they had to win on the last moment and all that sort of stuff. And so there was a moment where Jayden Daniels had been running all over the place, making crazy plays.

The guy was completely gassed and he's sort of down on one knee trying to just catch his breath. And Marcus Mariotta walks over to him and kind of picks him up and says, Hey, and he's sort of down on one knee trying to just catch his breath and Marcus Mariotta walks over to him and kind of picks him up it says hey you know you got to breathe stand up get that air in you kind of thing I guess runners will tell you this I don't know if it's a myth or not that like it's better to stand up and try to get all your air in that kind of thing so and I know Mariotta's not good it's not the point not the point that he's not good it's

the point about what kind of backup are you gonna be? I don't know one's good No backup is good. Of course not if they were good, they would be starters Daniel Jones just got a job to compete. Are you serious? Of course, he's not good But even when Marcus mariotta was with the Raiders, they had a couple games where I think it was Derek Carr got hurt and mariotta came in and he played well and That's what you're really looking for is that if JJ McCarthy were to get hurt then You know you could have somebody else come in and play for four games and win two of them

That's what you're always looking for is a backup But for the most part you're looking's what you're always looking for is a backup. But for the most part, you're looking for character. You're looking. This is why I always implore you guys to respect someone like Nick Mullins, who's now a Jaguar. I just think there's a reason why coaches love this guy, even though he's not going to win you a lot of games if he gets in, because the character matters. Those those quarterbacks spend every day together.

So think about it as a-worker for your quarterback. For your guy for the most important person in this entire organization going forward is jj mccarthy and jj mccarthy only the vikings will win or not based on his success right. I want a good co-worker for that guy and that's why they like Daniel Jones, high intelligence, high character, that's what they want. So the backup situation, who they bring in, you know, I saw Jamis Winston's, no, no, hard pass. Jamis Winston, here's another thing too. I don't want anything to do with anybody

who's gonna be a story. And I don't even mean in a positive way. Oh, Jamis Winston did this interview. James Winston was doing this video or where he's talking to whatever. Oh, James is so fun. No, I don't want, I don't want the backup quarterback to ever be talked about. Ever. You want that quarterback to be in the background behind the scenes,

helping JJ McCarthy be the best version of himself. Period. I don't want any, there is, there is no, Hey, well, he he's better than I don't care if he's better than whoever else I would rather take Nick Mullins a thousand times out of a thousand as opposed to having someone who wants to have some limelight Joe Flacco I guess yeah I mean it kind of depends on if Joe Flacco is that guy I don't know if he is I don't know if Joe Flacco is that type of guy who is going to be like in the room helpful.

I know that Marriotta has been that guy and Minshew, uh, but Joe Flacco strikes means more of someone who wants to play. Um, yeah, Brett Rippon, but the fact that they wanted Daniel Jones back probably tells you about that. So. Anyhow, here's what we have for today. About that so anyhow here's what we have for today. We have the Vikings taking all this cap space that they created by moving on from Darnold.

And from not extending Kirk cousins last year the most important decision that they could have made as a franchise in the Kevin O'Connell, Kwesi Adafo, Mensa era was moving on from Kirk Cousins and they've taken the cap space and they've made good on it, but they've also taken the culture and made good on it. And this is why I have said in the past that I'll bring up. Hey, this culture is important. This culture is different. And a lot of times I'll get the like, ah, you know, culture who cares.

Yeah. Well, why don't you show me your culture ring? Huh? Like, yeah, that's what I, you know, but today it shows up because Jonathan Allen, we heard this at the combine. Remember we heard this at the combine. Go back to my podcast with Andrew Kramer that Jonathan Allen wanted to be a Minnesota Viking.

And we've heard that how many times. Jonathan and Granada last year wanted to be a Minnesota Viking. JJ McCarthy, when he was drafted, he was not blowing smoke. He wanted to be drafted by the Vikings. That's Kevin O'Connell. That's quasi-ad Mensa. That's the leadership that they have built this high functioning franchise that is where every player wants to be and today here you are will fries is not Steve

Hutchinson and Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave are not in their primes, but these players can take weaknesses and turn them into solid to very good. And with the strengths that they have on the rest of the roster, if JJ McCarthy can play football, he's going to have the best situation in the world to go compete with the lions roster and the Eagles roster. And you're not going to go into games this year and there's a lot to do still, but you're not going to go into games this year and there's a lot to do still, but you're not going to go into games this year saying, well, they're going to

need a lot to go right because they got a better this and they got a better that if this roster is healthy and if some of these risks come through and that's important that these are risks with Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave. They are risks. And if they come through, then the Vikings will have one of the best D lines in the league. They will have one of the better offensive lines in the league.

They will have one of the best wide receiving situations. And I agree with some of you that have mentioned Cooper Cup. Why not? Where you're at right now, yes, why not? If Cooper Cup wants to, he might want to chase a championship instead of going to New England. Yeah, Yes. Yes. Tyler Lockett. Yes. All these

guys. Remember the 17 Eagles. Remember that 17 Eagles team? I know you don't want to, but they had Torrey Smith and they had El Sean Jeffrey and they had Patrick Robinson, the corner who I think got the interception against case Keen. Those were all veteran guys who they brought in and just like, we're going to fill out this roster around Carson Wentz, his contract with guys that maybe aren't still in their prime, but man, they can still play football in the NFL. That's what the Vikings are looking to do now. So they're not going to go into these games with rosters where you go, ah,

you know, they're, they, they better have, they better recover a fumble. They better get an interception. They better something like that because they're not going to outplay that team with their roster. Uh, now I think they have a chance to match up roster for roster with some of the best teams in the league. So that is your, that's your live reaction.

Of course you guys know I could just keep talking about this forever because it's so interesting the way that they've built this roster, but I'm going to have a press conference to cover this afternoon with Jonathan Allen. So I will be talking about that and I am hoping to record a podcast maybe out there with someone Dana Mazzatani is always my first round pick from the pioneer press. He was on yesterday. If you missed some of the reaction there. So big picture is that the Vikings organization as a whole under the leadership

of quasi-Dalfa, Mensa and Kevin O'Connell have done what you asked them to do when they got hired, which was stay relevant as they rebuilt and then get to a point where we can say going into a season the expectation is competing in the playoffs with the best teams in the NFL and with these moves today. Here you are. Here you are this is a huge moment for them to have reached a new plateau and there's more that is probably on the way so keep an eye out for that christia pass Chris Chappasso draft show. He's going to break down what this all means to the draft in depth. Any other breaking news? There will be more emergency podcasts. No reason not to go live later on tonight. Probably. I mean, it's free agency. So there'll be more moves, more changes, more things going on around the NFL for

us to talk about. So I am, uh, was thrilled to run down here to the studio and jump right in and start talking about this because so many years it was, well, look, I mean, they can't spend on day one and they don't have the cap space. Well, I guess they'll resign this older player who isn't doing that. My, you know, it just now. Off we go into the future. So thank you guys so much for joining. And again, if you're new, uh, I cover the Vikings.

I'll be out there TCO performance center today at Jonathan Allen's press conference. And, uh, purple insider dot football is the place to sign up for my written work. Daily newsletter, their breakdown of all of yesterday over at purpleinsider.football and make sure you turn on the notifications because when news happens, I don't have other hobbies. So I'm right here to talk about it with you guys. Thanks so much again for everybody jumping in this morning. Really appreciate you all and I will talk to you all again. Absolutely very soon.

What ball?