Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - From the owner's meetings: Vikings brass talks Kyler Murray, GM search Addison fifth-year option

Episode Date: March 31, 2026

Matthew Coller talks with Dane Mizutani of the Pioneer Press about sit down interviews in Arizona at the NFL Owner's Meetings about Kyler Murray's fit in the offense, the Vikings GM search and Jordan Addison having his fifth-year option picked up. Plus will Harrison Smith play again? The Purple Insider podcast is brought to you by FanDuel. Also, check out our sponsor HIMS at https://hims.com/purpleinsider Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hey, everybody, welcome to another episode of Purple Insider presented by Fanduil, Matthew Collar, here along with Dane Mizatani, the Pioneer Press. We are at the NFL owners meetings in Phoenix, Arizona. And if you hear behind us, if it sounds like a pool, that's because it is. We are sitting right next to the pool in a cabana to do this podcast, which I have to say is one of the better setups that we've had ever for podcasting. So hopefully you enjoy a little bit of the background ambiance here. And there's a very nice bush behind us. We got some shade. It's, I think about 82 degrees.

So we are not struggling at this owner's meetings, but we do, Dane, have a lot to discuss. So why don't we just begin with what Kevin O'Connell had to say about Kyler Murray, the quarterback competition and so forth? I think you know what I'm going to say that, well, shockingly, O'Connell did not collapse on the breakfast table and say, I don't know how I'll ever adjust my offense. How will I ever do it to Kyler Murray? But he did note that he feels like maybe people focus on the scrambling and the playmaking more than they focus on some of the routine stuff that he does well. Yeah, it's been what we've been saying all along is that if you just go back and really watch what he's done, like even in the last year or two, like you don't even have to zoom back to the early stages of his career when he had more success than last year.

but in that time he was also throwing over the middle, throwing with accuracy. Look back to last, like last year and the year before that, he's playing under center. Like the point being is we've said this since even before they signed, he signed here, and certainly after he signed with the Vikings, that he does a lot of the things at a high level

that the Vikings already like to do. I think there was this misconception, certainly this misconception that if the Vikings signed Kyla Murray, They're going to have to completely change their offense to this freelancing thing that just lets him run around and make plays without reading the football field. That's false. So, like, we knew that. But to hear Kevin O'Connell talk about, you know, he does a lot of the things that we do, that we like to do already at a high level. You can just kind of tell and read between the lines.

Like, he's really excited about how Kyler Murray fits into this offense. But there was also some introspection, I guess, you can. call from Kevin O'Connell about, yeah, he also does other things at a really high level that could maybe push this offense forward. So I think it's kind of twofold. Yes, Kyler Murray can succeed at doing what the Vikings do best or have done best in the Kevin O'Connell era. But there are going to be elements to his game that when you're watching him on Sunday

and he's running around there and the criticism of he freelances too much was brought up in March and you see him freelance for pretty spectacular play in September, I think people are going to be okay with. So there was this almost campaign against Kyler Murray. It felt like going into the process of the Viking signing him. But I think this marriage is going to work out pretty well. I think that what it just confirmed is that my eyes and your eyes watching 2024 and briefly 2025 tape did not deceive us with what we saw.

about Murray playing a lot in rhythm. The word rhythm was used when you're talking about it. And I think also with Kyler Murray, one thing we don't really discuss a lot is the connection with the run game and how much that might change. And I want to tie these two subjects together because O'Connell did spend some time talking about Frank Smith, who he brought in from Miami as an assistant coach. And I got the sense he kind of stopped himself like he was about to go full football man and explained to us all the different things that he was going to do run scheme.

I was like, wait a minute, they're videotaping this and maybe I shouldn't. But I did get the sense from him that there's going to be ideas there. And he mentioned the pistol formation, which I don't think we've ever seen Kevin O'Connell used, but they certainly did with Tuatugavila in Miami. And they had a great run game. No matter who was in that run game, it seemed like they were able to succeed. We also shouldn't underrate, too, that they changed offensive line coaches. to someone who has a lot of experience in a wide zone type of running game.

And I think with Kyler Murray, there's an opportunity to look at yourself and look at what Frank Smith can bring to this and say, how can you put that in situations where Murray is going to succeed, but also add his running element to it. I know he doesn't have a ton of designed runs, but he is more than capable of having designed run plays. So I thought that him just kind of going out of his way to bring that up and bring up the hire of Frank Smith is telling about the commitment that people have asked for from Kevin O'Connell to the run game. I really, and I'm now bringing in different things, but he talked about last year

trying to win those games, knowing that sometimes you can't put up the number of passing yards you'd like to put up and having to understand some days you need to just play field position and run the football. I think that this is a big thing for them. I think they wanted to sign a running back that could bring some of that. And I think it's going to be a big priority in the draft to get someone who could be a home run hitter for everything that Frank Smith and Kyler Murray are going to bring to this offense. Yeah, I think the threat of Kyler Murray's legs, whether you look back at his past tape or the

analytics and it shows a copious amount of design QB runs or not, like just the threat of him being able to do it, just put stress on the opposing defense. And then when you add in the different layers of what a wide zone could look like with him as the guy under center or in the shotgun or in the offset gun or in the pistol, like there are going to be, I think, opportunities for the Vikings throughout this season to run the ball with more regularity, with more consistency. And I think that shows growth. And look, it's March. It's March. It'll be April and again a couple of days, May, June, July, August. a lot of months have to pass before September rolls around.

And then the real-time application of, are you going to commit to running the ball, that falls squarely on the shoulders of the play caller and his willingness to do that in the tough moments. But I think there is a commitment there. And some introspection from Kevin O'Connell of, this is an area of the game where I need to improve, where the offense will get better if I focus on areas I can improve.

And what did he do this off-season? He went out and got Frank Smith. He went on and got a quarterback that's going to put more stress on the opposing defenses from the run game perspective. And I think before the end of the draft or this offseason, we'll see probably the infusion of an explosive running back in that room, even if it's a young guy. I know they brought back Aaron Jones, obviously, Jordan Mason in there. I wouldn't discount the opportunity that the Vikings are going to have to add somebody with some explosiveness in the draft. You put that all together, and it does sound good. It sounds like you have made a commitment to running the ball more,

which is something everybody has latched on to the course of Kevin O'Connell's tenure here, and something that he's definitely had to improve. But he's doing all the things, all the things necessary, I think, to check the boxes to put the Vikings in the best situation in September, October, November, and then so on to run the football at a much higher rate than they had before. or something that stood out to me, though, listening to Kevin O'Connell talk, it almost felt like at times he was so excited about the new additions

that he forgot that he has told us, like, we haven't decided on a quarterback yet. Like, we don't have to decide who the quarterback is. Like, obviously it'd be a pretty big upset at this point if Kyler Murray was not the quarterback week one. But the Vikings are not going to stand on the table and say that publicly until they absolutely have to. But if you just pay attention,

you read between the lines, you read it into what the Vikings have said on the record that they're going to do with the run game and with the offense. It sounds a lot like Kyler Murray. It sounds very singular to the skill set that Kyler Murray brings. He's going to be the quarterback week one. And I think that's going to give the Vikings an opportunity to be even more explosive than they have in the past. I think there's zero benefit to naming Kyler Murray the starting quarterback. But I also think that the minute he said the word pistol formation, I was like, oh, interesting.

that you would just decide right now to add that to your offense. But he also talked at length about Carson Wentz and a little bit about J.J. McCarthy. I actually think it may have been when you look at pure number of words, the shortest answer he has ever given about J.J. McCarthy. I would not be shocked if that's actually true. But I wonder what you think of what he talked about, the structure of how things are going to play out

in terms of the quarterback competition. and what he said about McCarthy and his offseason, because I felt like it was a very muted answer. There have been many other times where he's been defensive of J.J. McCarthy or where he has kind of gone into great detail about, well, he went through this and he went through that and all these other things. And today it was more or less that he's back in the building. They're happy with how he's worked.

And that's the end of the story. Yeah. I mean, I think the only newsworthy nugget to come out of, of the J.J. McCarthy question in the breakfast this morning was that he did a lot of work in California and now he's back in Minnesota. It really wasn't much more than that. And I don't want to read too deep between the lines and say, well, like he didn't talk for an hour about J.J. McCarthy so he's moved on from him as a viable option. But it was noticeable that the answer itself was kind of just more pragmatic on what J.J. McCarthy has done, what is off.

season has looked like so far and the confidence in what the off season could look like for him moving forward. I do think when you look at what the Vikings have done bringing in Kyler Murray, signing Carson Wentz, like Kevin O'Connell talked about competition at the end of the season for JJ McCarthy. He talked about the need for competition at the combine. And I think when you see what the Vikings have now done in the off season, like they are putting pressure on J.J. McCarthy. they're trying to catalyze his development, his growth,

not through feeling comfortable, like through the competition lens of like what the rest of the room looks like for you now. So I think that's a shift from before when it was, we're going to make sure that like we are positioning the team and building around you. Now it's, hey, sink or swim. Like you're competing against Kyler Murray and we also have Carson Wentz here too. But the comments on JJ McCarthy just at least in the breakfast were not extensive and expansive.

They weren't off, like, he wasn't just, like, off put and, like, moving on to the next question. But it was not as much detail as we've gotten in the past from a guy who last year there was just so much excitement about. And I think that just speaks to kind of where we're at with the franchise. Like, it's a competition, but it's really not. Like, it's Kyler Murray's job. And then Sanjayi McCarthy to improve and show that he can be an option at quarterback, maybe down the road, depending how Kyla Murray performs. Folks, you may have noticed by all of my old football references that I have reached the age where my friends and I are complaining about hairlines as much as we talk about football these days. But here's the thing.

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verify for safety effectiveness or quality. Prescription required. See website for details, restrictions, and important safety information. I think we've just moved past the phase of talking about J.J. McCarthy as if it's a development project. I mean,

even if that's the way that they are going to see it, when you get to year three in the NFL, that's just not really how it's ever talked about with a quarterback like him, even though he is on the younger side, even though it's not his fault that he only got to play 10 of a potential 34 games. But boy, that number is always on Kevin O'Connell's tongue. Like, he could tell he's thinking about it all the time, like that lack of experience. But now you've moved into, hey, like if you want to win a quarterback competition, you got to go beat somebody else out. Like you are not getting benefit of the doubt anymore. And the guy you have to potentially beat out is more likely than not Carson Wentz.

But I think that what O'Connell wanted to emphasize at this breakfast was just that, like, there's no mystery signing with Carson Wentz. He likes it here. He's a veteran. They could trust him with the offense. That's why he's here. Yeah. Like there isn't some like, oh, no, he's like secretly the starter or I don't know what other thing he would be here for. But he is someone that O'Connell built a.

relationship with. He's good with Josh McCown, very good friends and close with Josh McCown. And he quickly picked up the offense. But when you say someone, we know this from Nick Mullins, can get in the game without necessarily having a lot of reps. That means that is a backup quarterback, which is one of the biggest things for a backup is they have to be able to play competently without a lot of reps. It should help Carson Wentz in terms of having an OTAs and mini-camp. But there's just not a lot of reason to discuss him as part of the future or competition or anything else like that. So that means I'm going to move on to other stuff from the quarterback position to the center position. I think it was confirmed to us today what we could already pretty much

figure out with the lack of movement and free agency that Blake Brandel is going to be the center of this team. He spent a lot of time talking about how Brandl for the first time in his career is going to actually be able to focus on this one position. He's played, I know he played a season at guard, but start his off season by design of you are going to be the center, lock it in there, not, oh, hey, you know, come off the bench, play left tackle, play right tackle. Hey, now we've never had you really practice at center, but can you just center? That would be great. And when we look at the other options, Dane, now he did mention Michael Juergens is someone that they like. I think he said something about like above the shoulders, which is tough because I agree, Jurgens, when you talk to him,

you could tell, very intelligent player, but there's like size, speed, strength requirements to this thing. And he also mentioned, we could also bring in somebody else at some point, which I think that the plan there is pretty clear. I mean, it's Brandl potentially draft someone. And Michael Juergens is a backup who can get in the game if you need him to. Do you think that by placing Brandl as the starting center and having him focus on that through the entire offseason,

they have made the right decision at center? Yeah, because I think like if you look at the options available in the open market, now they're not vast so like is there maybe a higher end option across the league than blake brando yeah but is there a higher end option right now at your disposal like no i don't think so so like the way that blake brandle has performed over the course of his career kind of being that good soldier where he can play left tackle like you say you can play left guard he's played every position on the offensive line and you see his willingness to do that i could see all the coaching staff front office would project out, well, if we just give this guy an opportunity to focus on one

position singularly, maybe he has a little bit of extra that we didn't know he had in him to kind of raise that ceiling a little bit. He performed well last year in pockets of time. He had never played center before, at least in the NFL, and he wasn't just getting bulldozed at all time. So I think when you listen to what Kevin O'Connell said, like, it does kind of indicate they're moving forward with him as the starter. Maybe they'll draft somebody in the middle rounds. Maybe whoever they take in the middle rounds will then outperform Blake Brandel in training camp and earn that right to be the guy week one. But right now, it seems like Blake Brandel is the guy and there isn't just going to be a surprise signing here in the middle of April

where, oh, yeah, that guy's the starting center now. I think it's interesting, though, when you hear Kevin O'Connell talk about the profile of Blake Brandel in that he has some kind of sneaky athleticism in his lower half that allows him to get to the second level. You talk about what the Vikings want to do in the wide zone game, with the running game. There are things that they have seen from Blake Brando

in the middle of that offensive line that project out to him being a good run blocker. And he's pass-blocked in every single single single, situation on the offensive line, well, that gives him the ability or like at least the experience in there in the trenches to be a pretty good guy in past pro as well or to be a guy with more acute focus in one area to maybe develop in past protection.

So I mean, I know we're deep in the weeds when we're talking about Blake Brando, but I mean, that has been an area of need or an area of question since Ryan Kelly's expected retirement. I mean, I think today was the first time we have a clear answer. I think people have wonder, why have they not signed a center? It's because I think they think they have their starting center in the building.

I also think it's a big deal for a new quarterback coming in to have a center that knows every single thing from a lot of different positions, what this offense requires for the quarterback for past protections and so forth. So Kyler Murray could come in and work with everybody who knows what they're talking about, not somebody who's learning it new. And if it was Ryan Kelly learning it new, you'd be totally fine with it. But if it's, I don't know. Sorry, Lloyd Cushingberry, but if it's Lloyd Cushenberry, I just don't see that much of an upgrade as an actual blocker versus what the intellectual element brings to it.

So let's move on to, well, you know, I'm going to go fast here. I got a whole page of notes here. Whole page. Jordan Addison. So Rob Brzezinski told us here at the owner's meetings that they will pick up the fifth year option for Jordan Addison. And if you saw his face, he sort of went like, eh? Like, what did you guys think we wouldn't?

Like, why would there ever? be any question about that called him an impact player and you know dana i think that all of us on the outside who are looking at things that have happened with jordan addison and sort of gesturing at everything and going are do they really want to keep this guy can you really keep this guy the off-field issues should be a huge huge thing right i think that the team has just not looked at it the same exact way as a lot of us have i don't get i've never gotten the sense that they want rid of Jordan Addison. I think, you know, before Quasi was let go, he did sort of spill a little bit of the beans that it goes into decisions. And he said 99% of the time he's great. And then

one percent of the time, you know, et cetera, which probably was a regrettable thing to say in a press conference. But the way that Brzezinski framed it was more or less no-brainer to pick up the fifth-year option of Jordan Addison. And I mean, I tend to agree that that's an obvious type of move. I think that the fifth-year option, we need to make sure we don't conflate that with a contract extension. Because normally fifth-year options are a very reasonable dollar figure that's sort of a placeholder just in case you can't. Like when you're stuck a little bit in the middle, okay, well, you've always got that fifth-year option in your pocket. I don't think that it necessarily means that they're going to, you know, run to give him a $30 million extension this off-season. This allows them to sort of split the difference.

Yeah, you kick the can down the road and then you decide. I think if you were to rewind the tape of our podcast appearances and when we have talked about Jordan Addison and some of his off-the-field issues, there have been times where I've questioned whether they should pick up the fifth year option. But I think that's a good point you're making. I don't know the Vikings have ever questioned

whether they're going to pick up the fifth year option because he's such a special player and he's such a spectacular talent to pair alongside Justin Jefferson. And if you got better quarterback play last year, Jordan Addison's numbers would look a heck of a lot better. And at a certain point, like when Justin is getting those double coverages and you have Addison singled up on it. It makes sense why they spent the first round pick on him a while ago.

And he's produced at a high level. Like, I don't know that they are totally comfortable with some of the decisions he's made off the field. But it didn't seem like in the way that Rob reacted to it like, yeah, well, of course we're picking it up. like it seems like it's always been kind of part of the plan to just keep going forward with Jordan Addison as a member of the offense. And to the point of just his production on the field, that makes all the sense in the world. Why would you move on from a guy that you don't have to move on from the way the contracts, the rookie scale is set up? Like, you have the option to pick up a fifth year option, nobody gets them. And I think the idea of picking up the fifth year option or exercising it,

however want to phrase it. Like when when people don't pick it up is when it becomes like really, really especially newsworthy. A lot of times it's just a formality because yeah, do you want the good player on your team for another year? Yes, you do. And I think that's how the Vikings see it. But it's certainly newsworthy because I think there have been times throughout his three years to this point that like are they going to do it? Is it worth doing it? Can you move forward?

Can you trust him? Those are all things that Jordan Addison still has to prove to the Vikings. But he'll now have the fifth year option and then that move forward to kind of show over the next two years that he's worth either extending long term or not extending long term. But he's such an important part of what the Vikings need to want to do on offense. I mean, look at the receiver room now. It's Justin Jefferson. And if you didn't bring back Jordan Addison, I understand like the fifth year option is pushed out a year. those two are so important to what they do just throwing the football, whether it's

Kyler Murray, whether it's JJ McCarthy, whether it's Carson Wentz, you're better when you have Jordan Addison on the field. I would also just sort of call it a procedural thing that was obvious and I don't know what else they would do. I mean, if they didn't, it would be the biggest red flags. And I guess I was curious from that perspective. I shouldn't make it sound like it was that obvious. But if they didn't, it would be, wow, they are mega done with this guy.

And this just means they're not mega done with this guy. It doesn't mean that this is set for the future. It does mean that certain people on certain podcasts can still argue for a wide receiver and not be wrong because it's way different than signing someone to a four-year, $150 million contract or whatever it would have to be. By the time we get to that point. But I think we do know at least through 2027, Jordan Addison, Justin Jefferson are going to be on this team, which may push, you know, that wide receiver decision into the second round, the third round. think actually in the third round, this is a good draft with wide receivers. So that will be worth kind of thinking about as well. If they didn't, though, because that decision actually technically doesn't have to be made

until after the draft. So we would have gotten the sense for it. If they picked a first round wide receiver, then didn't pick up the fifth year option. Okay, they're really, really worried about this guy's future. But I guess it does not say that. We spent about 20 minutes with Mark Wilf, the owner of the Minnesota Vikings. And the main subject, of course, was. the referees. No, I'm just kidding.

But the owners were told you're not supposed to talk about it, so we didn't ask. When it comes to, and also not going to waste a question on that, but when it comes to what Mark had to say about the general manager searches, maybe a little more what people would be interested in. I asked Mark specifically about the structure. Do you want to have, and I laid it out this way. I mean, I said to Mark, would you like to have a president of football and then a GM answers to them along with the coach,

or do you like the current structure that you have had in the past? Mark said very, very clearly that he wants the same structure that they've had with Spielman and the same structure that they had with Quasi and Kevin O'Connell, where both coach and general manager are answering to ownership. There is not a buffer person. I have kind of liked the idea of a buffer because I've thought maybe boots on the ground, this helps you, but it's not going to be different. And so I think what then becomes very important.

And there was no like Kevin O'Connell's our coach for life, but there was no wavering with Mark Wilf when he was asked about O'Connell and his status and so forth. I don't think that there should be. So find someone who is very much on the same page, not like, hey, we're working together because we both got hired for our first jobs. Like really sees football the same way, really sees team building the same way and are locked in on the same page, whether that's Robert, Brzezinski, which it very well might be, or if it's someone else, because the last two times, eventually they've gotten to point with a lot of infighting between the general manager and the head coach. And you do not want a repeat of that. Yes. If you're not going to go the route of having a buffer between ownership and the other decision makers, then they're not. Like, that was what

Mark Wolf made that very clear. And if that happens to transpire over the next month and a half, two months or he didn't give a timeline, it would be a departure from what he told us today. Like there is not going to be a football operations guy. They're just going to hire a GM when it's time to find the permanent guy. But you have to get it right in terms of the marriage between the head coach. Like the head coach is in place. We know it's Kevin O'Connell. So whoever they have to, whoever they bring in has to align with the way he sees the game,

with the way he builds relationships, with the way he runs a culture. naturally it does to me make sense to just move forward with Rob Brzezinski because all of those things you know pretty good and well that they're going to align. I mean, Rob Brzeinski's been the guy to kind of lead them through this interim. One, because of his experience, because he's been here since 1999, but two, because I think he is on the same page with Kevin O'Connell and he sees football the same way as Kevin O'Connell. And I think Rob would be a good candidate because of all those reasons. some with his knowledge of the game, his knowledge of the cap, the long list of experiences he's had in his 34 years in the NFL. But if you decide that you want to go in another direction, then as ownership, you better

make sure that they see the game in the same way as Kevin O'Connell, whoever that guy ends up being. But I did think it was interesting. Like, I've always kind of just operated as Rob Rosinski as a candidate. I'm sure he sees himself as a candidate. I'm sure they see him as a candidate. But both parties, and maybe this shouldn't be that surprising. Maybe it's naive to me to feel like it's surprising,

aren't tipping their hands in terms of looking into the future. I asked Mark Wilf, is Rob a candidate? And he said, we're focused on the time between now and the draft. I asked Rob Rizinski, do you want the job? He said, I'm focused on the time between now and the draft. So as I kind of work through that thought in real time, like, yeah, maybe it's just naive. They're not going to probably show their hand one way or the other. But I think naturally Rob Brzynski should be considered for this GM job,

but it does sound like the whelps are willing to kind of cast a wide net here. And they should because this is a big decision that needs to be made. You have to get it right. And casting a wide net allows you to talk to a lot of different candidates and find somebody who I can't stress this enough, sees the game the same way as Kevin O'Connell. I think that's the most important thing. I think Mark Wilf was even asked,

like, what do you look for in a candidate? And he said, like, basically we'll know when we see it. I think all of those things go play into, they must see the game and they must see eye to eye with the head coach who was already going to be here in place. And what Mark said about that, too, was leadership is their number one thing, which maybe was the number one.

an issue why Quasi Adafo Menza is not the general manager of the Vikings, along with drafting and other things that you could bring up, oh, the quarterback, they let go winning the Super Bowl, stuff like that. But leadership truly, when we all wrote our, why did Quasi Adafo Mensa lose his job? I mean, that was really at the center of it. It was, it's not even like getting along is a weird way to put it, because Zimmer and Spielman stopped talking to each other. And I think would have come to blows, like two old guys throwing punches that they could at the end. But that was not Quasi Adafo Menza and Kevin O'Connell. It was really, did they believe in him going forward as they're going to enter some tumultuous times with the salary cap and with roster building?

Do they believe that this is the person who can galvanize an entire front office and find their way through it? And the answer was no. Rob Brzezinski, I think we already know, is a person who can do that. But why would you not take other ideas? Like, I mean, I think he should absolutely be considered if he wants to be considered. But they should also be looking everywhere high in. low at who has the best ideas, but also who can lead an entire front office. And I suspect that it's a person who is going to have to win over a front office that's not going to make a lot of changes. Now, I could be totally, totally wrong about that. They might look in the mirror and say, yeah, making Quasi pretty much, you know, not be able to bring any of his own people in,

except for a couple of guys, maybe that was a mistake. Maybe we need to let the new GM clean house and wash out all the old, to bring in all the new. There is some risk. in that with the fact that this team did win 14 games just like a year ago. So, you know, like, don't go too crazy. And they actually had a winning record. Like, they've built strong enough teams to be able to do that. So it's not like everyone in house is a disaster and should be let go. But that actually could dictate who you get.

Because if you bring in someone with experience or someone who wants to make a lot of changes and it's going to be highly sought after, well, that might not be something the Wilf's are comfortable with and they might prefer Rob Brzezinski and the other people inside that front office that they are comfortable with his leaders. And I don't know the answer to how they really feel about that. But that is kind of where your GM search. Oh, and the timeline. I think that was the first thing I asked Mark was about the timeline after the draft. And he did mention having like maybe a third party helped find candidates, not third party doing it for them, but just give them ideas on who they might want to interview. We talked to Rob Brzezinski for

about 20 minutes and I don't know if he realized when he was telling us that they were going to pick up the fifth year option of Jordan Addison that we were going to tell everyone, but we did. So I'm just kidding with how it went down. Like Rob's, this is, he's doing media for the first time in front of us after knowing all of us for a long time. So it's kind of different. But, you know, Rob used the word because one of the biggest questions that I think we all had going into this opportunity to talk to Rob is, so why didn't you assign you?

anybody. And the answer more or less seemed to be that they wanted to have restraint and they wanted to set prices and only make moves if they thought they were at the right price. And he said, like, I don't want to use the word proud, but I'm kind of proud of like not saying, okay, let's just push up, push up, push up. And this is where Rob being the numbers guy is maybe useful. And then also a little bit, they could hold you back from adding that extra $1 to get. a free agent that you could possibly need. But I thought that the answer was very plausible with what their salary cap situation and team building long term, which was they weren't willing to go nuts at any position

to try to win right now. And it was what he told us what happened at the combine and more or less sucked his word. Yeah. And I think at the combine, he said something to the effect of like, I'm not going to let his position now. I think it was asked about, like, do you see this as a trial period, a tryout? And he made it clear, I'm not going to let my hopes and dreams of the future impact the present of the Vikings. He's a guy who's worked for this organization for a really, really long time, cares deeply about it,

and doesn't want to screw up the future in the name of just the present. And I think that's the right approach. I think there are times where you look at the movement or lack of movement in free agency, and you say, like, could they have gone a little harder at certain options out there? But then if you also zoom out and look at some of the price tags that were throwing around with some of these guys this past month, it does start to make a little bit of sense. But I thought it was interesting listening to him kind of talk about the thought process and just kind of working through probably some real-time acts of having to be patient

and exercise patience and exercise discipline. And this is kind of our line in the sand. This is the line we don't want to push up to. We want to keep our powder dry for the future. He did say, like, we want to keep our powder dry for potentially June 1st, kind of that next wave of free agents that you see, like, after the post-June 1st, like line in the sand that gets drawn, you see guys that are open or, you know, release to the open market and available.

So the Vikings might have a big plate just felt. Sorry for the noise. But the Vikings might have opportunity to swing again, like in the next wave of free agency. Or they might have opportunity to make a trade. If that's option and opportunity presents itself because of the restraint, because of the discipline,

because of the patience, safe practice in the short term. Now, it's not exciting that the only player that they signed is James Pierre. Like, I know they signed Kyler Murray, but that was $1.3 million. $1.3 million for Kyler Murray. So anybody who's upset about that, $1.3 million. But, like, when you look at some of the money, some of the contracts that were thrown around, some of the teams that added talent, and you say, like, the big person we brought in or, like, our marquee free agent that isn't Kyler Murray is James Pierre and Johnny Hecker. I understand why fans would say, like, why aren't we being more aggressive?

Why aren't we swinging? And the answer is because discipline, patience, and kind of keeping that powder dry for the future, which is important because look at what the Vikings did last year. They signed a bunch of players. They spent more money than anybody, and a lot of those players flop. So it's not always better the other way. I've never heard this keep the powder dry phrase. He said that.

You said it a couple times. Is that like a common thing? Yeah. What does it mean? I don't know. I think it just means like, don't like ruin your books for the future. Oh,

yeah. Okay. When you look at the list of players who is available still in free agency, and usually what ends up happening is that everyone sort of shuts it down and goes into draft mode, so players stop signing. Yeah. And it ends up being really, we've seen this happen before.

Mini Camp is where we start to see some guys come in around that June. And there are a lot of those players who have, made impacts in the past. Now, most of them are older, you know, guys like DJ Reader, guys like DeAndre Hopkins, they are not necessarily current franchise players, but we do see teams that make the playoffs that often have this guy or that guy who's on their third team or something, but they spent how many other years with one team, you know, I'm thinking of Reader in this way, like spent forever with Cincinnati and then goes to Detroit, doesn't really work out there. Maybe there's an opportunity for the Vikings, but that's going to have to happen a

little bit later and it does in free agency and there have been times in the past where there have been impact signings there have been ones where we you know ultimately go remember when they sign that guy but there have been ones that have been impact signings or fillers of roles that maybe right now we look at and go well you know they need this this this this this and this but they may have their eyes on someone that they're interested in bringing in that they did not want to spend to the point where they wouldn't have that option at all and they also don't know how the draft is going to work out and what positions they might feel like they are able to kind of close off or create depth at certain positions as opposed to going out into the free agent market.

So it might get interesting later on, even if it is not particularly interesting right now. Was there anything else that Rob Brzezinski said that stuck out to you draft stuff or anything else? I mean, we were prodding them. I'll give you one for the analytics nerds, which is that he mentioned that they kind of have different adjustments for trades with different teams because of now analytics have gotten involved in some teams view draft capital in different ways, which is interesting to me because for the longest time that Jimmy Johnson draft chart was the one that everyone used. And he mentioned

that it stood the test of time. So as we look at, and here's why this is relevant, as we look at, well, what could the Vikings do for a trade down, which I think it sounds like a really, really good idea, the way that this is being discussed. What I have heard about this draft is that, blue chip players are just not here. Jeremiah Love is, and then I don't know, but there's a lot of players who are B plus. And I think if there's a lot of players who are B plus,

trading down is a really solid strategy for the Vikings. And when we talk to Rob, he mentioned 2027 and beyond. Rob Brzezinski will work here. I promise you he will work here, whether he's the GM or whatever else, just back to the cap guy. He is going to work here and he is really guiding this team to a position where they feel like they can build into the future.

So I thought that him talking about that. I mean, I was just intrigued because I was curious about when I'm making fake trade. This is what it's really about. When I'm making fake trades, yes. This is a, it's selfish because I drafts him and I mock draft. And I want to know if my trades are realistic. So if they match up with the Jimmy Johnson chart, I'm going to say that they're at least plausible trades to make. But when he mentions 2027 multiple times, I kind of go back to trading down and it explains what happened this year where they, I don't think that they did everything for 2027, but I think one of Rob's main objectives from the ownership was do not sell out our team for this year.

Yeah, don't spend all the money like we did last year. Get our books clean. Keep our powder dry for 2027. And it doesn't mean they're not trying to win the Super Bowl in 2026. It also doesn't mean they can't because it's a super talented roster. And if they get better quarterback play, like you could see a jump. It happens. Like it happened with the Seahawks last year.

They got a talented roster. Nobody thought anything of it. They got the right quarterback. And boom. Like, do I think Kyler Murray is Sam Darnold and the Vikings are going on the Super Bowl? Like, no. But nobody thought Sam Darnold was Sam Darnold. The Seahawks were going to the Super Bowl until it did.

But yeah, it's clear Rob Brzeanski's not. all in on 26. He's making sure that they're set up now and in the future. The only other thing and it kind of just closes

a loop that was intriguing to me listening to Rob Talk is that like he kind of talked about this the day they signed Kyler and we talked about to him virtually. But I think he's like as a guy who's been around the league for 34 years, a little stunned that they have this guy

on the roster for $1.3 million. And I guess. the sense of how excited they are. I think Mark Will feels the same way. Like, you just listen to these guys talk about their excitement level for Kyler Murray. And, like, it definitely perks my ears up a little bit. It definitely makes me kind of look at it and say, like, it's not really a competition at all. Like, they are so excited to have this guy on the team.

Doesn't mean they're not excited about JJ McCarthy. Doesn't mean they're not, they don't still have a belief in him and what he could become. But there is a market excitement. And I think that was kind of, you know, expressed today from, from Robert Zinsky, Mark Wilf, and then obviously from Kevin O'Connell this morning. Okay. Last thing for you. Harrison Smith came up. Mm-hmm.

And I get the sense that, well, one, Kevin O'Connell and Harrison Smith have become very close. Yeah. That's clear that Harrison Smith is not in any hurry to make this decision. And I was thinking about it because we're all sort of waiting. Like, we're going to get a press release, right? That Harrison's retired. They're going to have a big event. And then I realized that T.Y. Hilton just retired the other day.

And that Eric Weddle came back in the middle, no, in the playoffs at the beginning of the playoffs. Charles Haley did this once upon a time just came out of retirement in the playoffs. And you don't have to announce to the world that you've decided to stop playing. You can sort of just wait around. And O'Connell said no pressure on him. And it's been made clear to us that the team is very willing to bring him back if he wants to. but if I'm taking a guess, just a guess, based on what O'Connell said today, it feels to me like Harrison Smith is not in any rush to get to OTAs in minicamp and learn the defense,

that it may be something where we either find out in training camp, Harry's coming back one day and like, there's Harry's music, or he may just let it kind of play out and see what happens. And then if he doesn't come back, he doesn't come back. That's just a guess. Yeah, I mean, Kevin O'Connell did say he's in no rush to make a decision, which can read as he's in no rush to get back to Minnesota and go to OTAs and mandatory minicamp and training camp. And again, that's us talking, not Kevin O'Connell telling us what what Harrison Smith said. But yeah, I don't expect a decision to be made by Harrison Smith anytime soon.

But I also don't know that that means he's retired. then that's kind of, I think, where you can leave it. I mean, look at what Eric Hendricks did last year. Right. He just sat there, found the right spot. And I do think we can say with pretty full certainty that, like, Harrison Smith is not going to, like, sit there and look, pick his spot and then go join a team in ring chase. But I think there is similarities to what Eric Kendricks did where he waited. He waited.

He didn't retire. I mean, I was operating with the assumption that Eric Kendrick. was retired from the NFL last year, and then he signs with the San Francisco 49ers practice squad, and then he makes a huge play for the San Francisco year with 49ers in the playoffs. I could see something similar with Harrison Smith, not in him saying, oh, this team needs a safety,

let me go play there. In him saying, like, middle of the season, if the Vikings need a body, like Harrison Smith is probably going to keep himself in pretty good shape. You don't play till the age of 37 in the NFL if you're just going to go, sit on the couch and eat chips like I do when I get home. Like Harrison Smith is going to keep himself in shape.

Does that equate the football shape? Probably not. But if I think if he sees it down the road, like there's an option, there's an opportunity here. He might jump at that opportunity. But I don't think right now we're getting any sort of indication or any sort of news or decision from Harrison Smith. And certainly the Vikings aren't pressuring him to make a decision.

I think it probably does mean that they're going to figure out a way to add a safety at some point here before the start of the season. But I wouldn't say that decision to add a body necessarily then dismisses the opportunity that Harrison Smith could come back down the road. I think right now it's just very much up in the air. Both sides are content to just keep kicking the can down the road. There's a mutual respect there. I think if Harrison Smith plays in the NFL again, it will be for the Vikings. but I think also what I've operated with Harrison Smith all along is that he doesn't love the limelight, the attention.

I didn't think we were going to get a big Adam Thielen C.J. Ham press conference for Harrison Smith. I always kind of saw him as somebody that would just fade to the background and retire that way. So maybe that'll happen, and we just won't know until it's pretty obvious that he retired. So I like to ask at the end of these podcasts, whether it's a football game, a preseason game, a training camp practice, a mini camp practice, and why not the owner's meetings as well? The Vikings are plus 550 to win the NFC North.

They've moved only a tiny bit since Kyler Murray got here on those fan dual lines. Now, I think part of that is because everyone just thought they were getting Kyla Murray anyway. So that might have been some of it, but it's moved a shade. There's still fourth out of four teams in terms of how those rank out with Detroit being at the top, Green Bay, and then Chicago. What do you think about that?

I mean, as of right now, after free agency, going into the draft, knowing they have Kyle or Murray, I have not asked you plus 550 to win the division, fourth in the division, would you have it better than that for them to win the NFC North? No, I think it's a fair number. I think the way it's set up makes the most sense to me. I think Detroit should be the odds on favor to win the NFC North, largely because they get to play last play schedule this year. And I think they're going to come back.

They probably have better injury luck this year. And it would not surprise me to see them go from worse to first. Like we see a lot of teams do because they get aided by getting to play the worst teams in their respective divisions when the schedule gets laid out. I think Detroit deserves to be number one. I think the Packers and the Bears after that. And so, yeah, I think the Vikings are fairly placed at plus 550 to win the NFC North. but I said this before they signed Kyler Murray.

I think I said this at the end of the season availability when we talked to each other at TCO Performance Center, I said if they signed Kyler Murray, I think it's worth throwing some money on it. Because like if you gamble, you know that sometimes it's just fun to cheer for not a long shot, but like some plus money. And right now plus money at $5.50 for the vice. Vikings, $10 would win you $55, $100 would win you $550.

And that's a pretty good swing to take with Kyler Murray and the rest of the offense and the rest of the defensive talent. They have, like, it's not a talentless football team. It's a flawed football team in a lot of areas. But it's a team that last year, we thought, was gearing up for a Super Bowl run if they got average to above average quarterback play from their supposed. opposed franchise quarterback at the time, J.J. McCarthy, what I'm saying is

if Kyler Murray comes up and looks awesome, I wouldn't be super surprised. And if Kyler Murray comes up and looks awesome, I think the Vikings are going to have an opportunity to win the NFC North. So I think they're appropriately placed at plus 550 by the books by Fandul. But I think it's worth a swing because of, I would be betting on their ceiling with better

quarterback play in place. I think it's one of the best odds plays in football. And I also think that people, because the last thing we ever saw was the truth, it's easy to forget that Justin Jefferson had 1,800 yards just a couple years ago. And he has not changed as a wide receiver. I think that it's going to be a reminder of how good Kevin O'Connell is at designing

a pass game when he has an accurate quarterback who could play on time. I don't think that that means he's playing. perfect, but I think it's reasonable to expect, even with some of the questions that this team is right in the mix with those other teams. And I would not have the gap being that far between last and the Detroit Lions because I see holes in their roster. I see holes in Green Bay. And I see flaws in each one of these quarterbacks, including Kyler Murray. But there are a lot more questions to be answered here. So I'm not saying that they're wrong for their odds. I just think it's a good play. Dane Mizzati here from Phoenix, Arizona.

And, you know, not a bad little setup for us. Not too bad. Okay, well, football, I guess. You want to jump in the pool? Football. Yeah, well, you can jump in the pool. Football. Yeah.