Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Jordan Addison suspended, who's the Vikings next man up?

Episode Date: August 6, 2025

Matthew Coller talks about Jordan Addison's suspension and which wide receivers will get an opportunity with him out and answers Vikings fan questions. Plus around the league with Maggie Robinson.

Hey, everybody, welcome to another episode of Purple Insider. And yes, some of us did think that today was going to be an off day for Minnesota Vikings conversation. But I'll tell you, this podcast's record of having recordings or playing golf or something else and, you know, having news break, well, those things mess up the recording schedule. It's actually working out okay today. I did get around a golf in, little nine holes, and then just as the news was announced is when I was leaving the golf course. So, no jinx today for this breaking news of the Minnesota Vikings, but Jordan Addison has indeed been suspended for

the first three games of the 2025 season. And it feels. like we've been saying that Jordan Addison will be suspended for three games for about nine to ten months since he was first cited for DUI in Los Angeles. And then the trial went on for a very long time, but we still kind of assumed that there was a suspension looming. And then once he settled that took a plea deal there with the trial, then it was more or less a guarantee that there would be a suspension. I think that he hoped that some of the off-field work working with

mothers against drunk driving, the fact that there hasn't been any other issues, and that he's been a model citizen over the last year, I think that he hoped that it would result in the NFL reducing the suspension maybe to two games. And it is possible that Addison could still, you know, try to go back and make his plea for them to bring it down from three to two games. I guess we'll see if there's any argument for that, but it appears from past incidences that are similar to this one, that there really isn't any way around it. Like there is a three game suspension for this particular infraction and Roger Godell ain't changing that for Jordan Addison. That's how it feels anyway. We'll see if there's

any chance that an appeal could potentially bring it down. That may be, next step of this, but more or less, it's going to be Jordan Addison missing the beginning of the 2025 seasons. So what does that mean? I mean, we can go through what it means first for Jordan Addison. It means that, you know, of course, three games less. It means that he will finally sort of see the consequences of his actions here a year later. And as far as getting the message. This was a pretty strong message over an entire year of court cases and then the plea deal and it being brought up time and time and time again from Jordan Addison's incident right there alone should be some motivation for him to go forward in the way that he has handled

himself over the last year with no incidents whatsoever with the Minnesota Vikings. It also means when he comes back in week four, the expectations still are the same for Addison that he takes a step forward. I mean, if you're a fantasy player, maybe you're trying to stash Jordan Addison later on, but he still should be expected to be one of the most targeted wide receivers in the NFL per game, not, you know, Justin Jefferson level, not C.D. Lamb, but wide receiver two level. And what I've seen from him in camp, I don't think it's been an incredible camp from a highlight plays perspective or diving catches. But I think that Addison did improve in terms of his strength and also talked about going into this year working out at times with Justin Jefferson,

which I think is a really positive thing for him. So I see this as a pivot point for Jordan Addison in his career where we can go back and say that suspension there, that DUI citation, that was the moment that the light came on for Jordan Addison and he made the turnaround and became a 10 year, 12 year Minnesota Viking wide receiver next to Justin Jefferson because it's very clear from the Vikings appreciation for Addison that they would love to be talking about a contract extension for him next year. This is an enormous year and an enormous 14 games after he comes out of the suspension for Jordan Addison, because if they feel like they can't trust him or they feel like he dropped off this year, whatever else, then, you know, fifth year option

is still almost a guarantee if he plays anything like he has over the last two years. But I think we saw with the Jefferson negotiation and the Derasaw negotiation that the Vikings love to get these deals done early. It's kind of something that happens in baseball pretty often, where, a team will try to sign the guy a little bit earlier that, hey, he gets a lot of money in his pocket right away, and they get a favorable deal down the road. They might want to do that with Jordan Addison after next year,

but that's only if they believe that they can trust him with a contract extension, and he has another year to really prove that to the Vikings. I think that he's where he's gone so far has been in a very positive direction, considering what had happened with him behind the wheel, but he still has to prove that to them every day for another year before you could start having the discussion about an extension, there may still be some concerns based on his history. I also think that we do need to say, and I have not been soft on Jordan Edison. I think that the team probably should have been harder on him from the outset of the issue with driving 140 miles an hour. And I had expected

him to see some sort of punishment last year as far as playing time or reps or whatever to begin even training camp that never happened. And I don't know that that's the best way to get through to someone. But at the same time, we do have to consider that people grow. People can move on from their mistakes. He is very, very lucky that his mistakes didn't cost anyone their life, as so often is the case with driving 140 miles an hour or getting a DUI. so he is extremely lucky that that did not happen and that he was able to walk away with nothing but a suspension and a citation. But now I think that he can grow from this and he can become an adult.

He was drafted pretty early and go into the next part of his career and show that he can be more of a franchise type of wide receiver, not in the same way as Jefferson, but is in someone that you want to lock up for a very long time under contract to be a one and two combination going forward into the future with J.J. McCarthy. So there's the Jordan Addison angle of it. But, you know, the intriguing one coming out of training camp is all right, well, Jordan Addison is suspended now? Who is the next man up for the Minnesota Vikings? So we're going to start with three guys really are in the mix for this. Number one is lucky Jackson. So does Lucky Jackson have an actual chance to be wide receiver three? So far,

Jackson has been taking all the first team reps with Justin Jefferson sideline. And that is interesting because they went out and signed Rondale Moore. They drafted Ty Felton. They have a number of other guys who are undrafted free agents or who have been here for at least a year like Thayer Thomas. And Lucky has been the one who has gotten all of. of these reps. I mean, there's only a handful that you could point to that anyone else has taken so far since Jefferson got hurt. And I think that could be a window into what they're thinking when Jordan Addison is suspended because, well, Lucky Jackson has only made in two years six preseason catches. This is a guy who knows the offense inside and out. A smart player,

a guy who's fought his way to stay in the league over a number of years has been very good in training camp for two straight years to even be here. Like think about how many guys come and go from the XFL and he played in the spring league and they just, you know, bounce around a little bit. They get into camps. They get cut and then they go do something else. Lucky Jackson, the fact that he's still here says something about him and how the coaching staff feels about him.

And then for him to be the guy, we thought that there was. was going to be a rotation. I certainly thought that, that there was going to be a rotation of next man's ups in training camp. But instead, it's been all lucky when Justin Jefferson has been out here. But we're only talking about it being August 5th. There could absolutely be a change in that. And we've got the preseason coming up. So preseason may have some impact on who they decide to take on that wide receiver three role when Jordan Addison is out. But as of right now, Lucky Jackson has clearly shown a superior knowledge of the offense. And the reality is that, well, Lucky Jackson isn't a freakishly talented guy. Knowing the offense will get you a really

far away. I was just having a conversation with Keenan McArdle yesterday about Rondale Moore, which we'll talk about in a second. And he said the big. thing with Rondell Moore coming here from Arizona slash Atlanta where he didn't play got hurt, but just Arizona was learning all the formations.

There's so many more formations that you have to learn and then there's motions and all those things. The actual routes really aren't problematic but there's a lot to memorize. Well, that gives Lucky Jackson a pretty big edge over the other guys who were not here last year

and are just showing up and trying to learn. But it also says if they do learn it and they do catch on, then they might surpass Lucky Jackson for getting opportunities with Jordan Addison being out with his suspension. So Rondale Moore, though, is certainly in this mix. And from my conversation, it's going to be an article that comes out tomorrow. From my conversation with Keenan McArdle of Rondale Moore, I'll tell you one of the quotes that he had to me. And purple insider dot football, if you want to read the whole article tomorrow, McCartle said he came in as a bubble type wide receiver, meaning bubble screens, and everybody was calling him a gadget guy.

He's not a gadget guy. He can run routes. He can stop and start. He catches the ball really well. So I think that they have an idea for a role for Rondale Moore. And Keenan McArdle is arguing here that he's more than just a gadget guy. He can do a lot more. and he's been running the entire route tree.

He's not just out there running bubble screens. He has been a complete wide receiver in camp. Just part of the issue is that when Sam Howell is your quarterback, it's hard to get your hands on footballs because the accuracy has not been there. The knowledge of the offense for Sam Howell has not been there. And all the receivers, I think, are suffering a little bit because of that. But Rondale Moore is for a huge guy to watch when it comes to the preseason because he has a chance to step up and show them that he does know the offense now

and that he can be a playmaker for them. And they could end up using him as sort of the wide receiver three when Jordan Addison is out because he does have previous experience in the NFL. And he's also just different. It's good to have somebody who's a little bit different from Justin Jefferson and Jalen Naylor who are much more downfield wide receivers. thought that was really interesting from Keena McCartell to say that he is a route runner. He catches the football.

They don't see him as just the gadget guy. They see him as someone they want the ball in his hands. Clearly, you don't want Rondale Moore trying to catch jump balls. Like, that's obvious that at five foot seven, you're not treating him like Randy Moss. But at the same time, it doesn't sound like they're just going to have to baby him, which does open the door for him being wide receiver three with. Jordan Addison out for the first three games. Guys, if you watch the show all the time, you know that I'm a hat guy, but if you're wearing

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He is extremely fast. I think he makes some wow catches. He also makes some plays where you're like, oh, okay, you're going to need some more experience there. And that's not really the way you're supposed to turn to try to catch that ball or, you know, that's not the way that route's supposed to look. I don't think developing. He is a developing player with a lot of upside because of his speed, his explosiveness. I think you'll see him as a kick returner.

And, you know, I think he'll be somebody who gets in the game. but I would be very surprised if he is, excuse me, if he is a wide receiver that you're talking about seeing on every single play. Because, you know, with someone like Jalen Naylor, I know we could talk about him and maybe some of you aren't wowed by his skill. I get that, but Naylor can line up anywhere. He's been in the offense long enough where he knows it inside and out and they can trust him under any type of circumstance.

Well, you have to have that same type of trust for someone like Ty Fet, Melton before you can really put them out there other than in sort of a role as in like a 10 play per game, draw up a couple of plays specifically to get the football in his hands. And it feels like there might be some combination of all of that, some combination of Rondale Moore, Ty Felton, you know, kind of see who you can fit in there and then play a lot of two tight end where T.J. Hawkinson is in the slot. And maybe Lucky Jackson is out there running certain types of roles. I mean, it's very possible that we could see if Lucky makes the team. I think there's a great chance Ron Dale and Ty make the team because Ron Dale is their best

punt return option. If Lucky makes the team, I'm not sure who would make it over him at this point, except for something you guys want to talk about, which is other potential options, which I'll get to in just a minute. But, you know, somebody like Felton, he is bigger than most receivers. who run sub 4-4, long speed can also make plays with a football on his hands. Like, there's a lot to like there. And there's a lot to like with Rondale Moore because his burst has really come back. And then Lucky knows the offense deeper. It might, it may be all three of them.

So maybe you need a wide receiver three for 30 plays or 40 plays or something like that. And maybe it's 20, 10 and 10 between these three. But the option that I think a lot of Vikings fans like that I'm not sold that it's actually going to happen is to go out and get somebody else. And, you know, we all love acquisitions and signing players and trading for players and all those things. And we like to look at the remaining free agent list. But does that mean that that remaining free agent will actually be better than what they currently have on their roster? I mean, Rondale Moore has got a pretty good resume and Felton is a fairly high draft pick. And, you know, Jackson has been here for a couple of years.

So if you go out and you get, I saw you guys mentioned, you know, Tyler Boy, like when was the last time Tyler Boyd was good in the NFL? You're talking about a couple years now. And with Keenan Allen, I still can't see Keenan Allen coming here just because somebody got a three game suspension. I think what Keenan Allen wants to be is, I mean, think about Stefan Gilmore. last year where Gilmore, he came here to Minnesota to be a starting outside corner after someone tore their ACL. And I think that that's what Keenan Allen is probably thinking is, all right, let me see which team is down a receiver for a year or is low on the receivers for this year and I can get in there and catch 75 to 100 more passes. I don't know that Keenan Allen

is coming here to catch 40 passes and then just sort of hang out in the locker room the rest of the time. Like he's not at the point in his career. Now, maybe his championship chasing, I don't know, but I don't think he's at the point in his career where he just wants to slide into a role. So you'd have to look for somebody else who would be that type of person that could just, hey, I'm going to be for three games. I'm going to be important and then I'm going to slide into the background. I just don't see it. Like, Rondale Moore is probably the best version of that. In fact, if Rondale Moore was a free agent still and the Vikings signed him, it would probably be pretty exciting.

we'd probably talk about it a ton we would be talking about like oh they got this guy who's been you know explosive in the past and has played a lot of football and he's coming off this injury but instead you know he's already here so who else is out there who else is out there it is hard to find somebody with a better resume than rondale more who is also not a hundred years old uh or has had a bunch of injuries recently that would be available uh teams are not trading you wide receivers now. I guess you could try to trade for, you know, Terry McClureen or something, but that's probably not going to happen.

So there's not a lot of options. And I just, I just can't see, you know, Keenan Allen deciding to sign here just to play a couple of games. I think he wants to be a top guy in the mix. And yes, Adam Thielen's name comes up time and time again for this. It's always possible. If I'm the Carolina Panthers, though, I don't understand why you do that. Adam Thielen is a veteran wide receiver and they want Bryce Young to take their next step.

What motivation do they have unless Thielen has just completely fallen off in which case, you know, does he, I mean, can you bring him in here and have him remember the KOC offense and then get all the changes and then make an impact? It's hard to sign players late. How many times have we ever seen signing players late in the off season? in and then it works. I mean, Stefan Gilmore was, you know, an amazing case because you just don't see it all that often. So I understand like Adam Thielen's one of the most popular players in team history and he can certainly still play from what I saw last year, although he's had some injury issues. But I think if you're the Carolina Panthers, you just want to make sure you have the deepest wide receiver room you can for your young quarterback, Bryce Young. And that's, we've seen Adam

Thielen's impact on quarterbacks in the past, I would not be giving him back to Minnesota. I mean, not, you know, for any offer, okay, but how much do you really want to spend for a guy whose main thing is just to get three games in and then go into the background and be a rotational type of player? That's why it makes much more sense to rotate the three guys that have been playing with the ones and the twos, Jackson, Moore, and Ty Felton. to rotate them in based on situation and got a question about the 12 personnel. I mean, I think that, so T.J. Hawkinson is not supposed to be out for the beginning of the season, at least from what Kevin O'Connell said to us, Hawkinson, who's banged up, but it's August

5th banged up. It's, I mean, if there was a game tomorrow, I imagine he would try to, you know, suck it up and get out there. We don't know is the exact injury. And O'Connell kind of played coy a little bit with the exact injury, but said that it was not serious, so we don't expect to see Hawkinson missing serious time, called it bumps and bruises and day to day. That means to me that he is going to be on that football field in week one. And I think what happens here is T.J. Hawkinson turns into the slot receiver more than anything. So they probably won't use 40 plays. Maybe they use more like 20 plays where they have three wide receivers. And it's one of these three guys that's getting out there or two or three of the these guys that are getting out

there. And now the pressure is really on T.J. Hawkinson. So after last year, when you have a big contract, naturally, there are a lot of people who want to see more from T.J. Hawkinson. I still will go back to thinking he had a pretty good year, all things considered that he came back. He really helped them win the Chicago game. He was there. He was the one guy who made a play in the playoff game nobody else did other than t j hawkinson and early in camp i think he's been a very reliable weapon for j j mccarthy so if they're playing josh oliver and then you have t j hawkinson in the slot and jefferson or you know bunch formations whatever they want to do tight splits all that footbally stuff you can do that with t j hawkinson so i think that if they were doing that um then

it makes a lot of sense if they're preparing to have two tight ends as their main kind of base offense for the first couple of games and then go forward when you're working Jordan Addison back in. And then it's a little less in terms of Jalen Naylor. It's a little less in terms of Josh Oliver, probably. Son of Beavers, if K.J. Osborne gets cut. We always want to bring back the old guys. But yeah, no, I don't disagree with you on, you know, KJ. Osborne. That's somebody you could get for extremely cheap and would have knowledge. It's one of the smartest players that I've been around. So that's somebody that I think is more reasonable or more possible than Adam Thielen, but you know, you never know, like guys come back to Minnesota sometimes. Hey, if Gus Ferrat can

come back and Brad Johnson and Tom Johnson actually and Anderson Dejo like it, it does happen. It definitely does happen. As far as Naylor, uh, you know, I, I, I think that in training camp, Naylor has been in the right place a lot, and he hasn't always made the catch. And that's kind of who Jalen Naylor is sometimes. We saw that last year with a couple of drops. But, you know, when it comes to the future for Naylor, like this is a big opportunity for him.

Jalen Naylor has a chance right here to step up in these couple of games, have big games, and then get a big contract going forward. I do not think that Nailer is going to be somebody that they can afford to keep because wide receiver three is if you make 30 or 40 catches in the league, you're getting 10, 15 million dollars going forward. And I could see someone coming in. There's desperation for wide receivers. I could see someone coming in and saying, hey, remember those three games when, you know, Jordan Edison was out. And so, you know, that's why we're paying Jalen Naylor. $10 million. I could definitely see another team doing that. But this is a huge moment for him.

And, you know, the other guy that we need to bring up that this is really important for is, of course, you know, Justin Jefferson. Like how much does this impact Justin Jefferson? I think that we saw last year when Addison was out that Jefferson is his own type of beast where no matter what is going on around him, no matter who is in, who is out. out what type of defense, the other teams playing, et cetera. Like, there's no answer or there's no one thing, even, you know, we go back to it all the time, but like the quarterback changes. Kirk to Mullins, Josh Dobbs sent him to the hospital, but then, you know, Sam Darnold

and now early in camp, he was looking good with J.J. McCarthy. Like, there really isn't anything that can slow down Justin Jefferson, but if defenses were obsessed with trying to stop Jefferson before. I mean, now going into games, can you do that even more? Like, is there another level to that of trying to shut down just to Jefferson? There will be a lot on his shoulders in those first three weeks because you can't come out of those games and say,

well, hey, he was a decoy. It was fine because Addison had 150 yards. Without Addison, it's hard to see Naylor having dominating performance. is the way that Addison has. Hawkinson, maybe, but, you know, not down the field very much. There's going to be a lot of pressure because when you look at this schedule, they need to win these games at the beginning of the year. You've got two of them at home, the other ones against Chicago,

which, by the way, it just seems like it's sheer lunacy in Chicago. Apparently, they just tackled all practice long today, which is crazy because in Vikings camp, a single tackle of Aaron Jones sent them into a melee. Like, I just, I don't know what Chicago's doing. So Chicago is apparently going to hurt themselves before they even get to week one. But nonetheless, like, you need to win those games because the really hard stretch comes after the first five weeks. So you need to win the first three.

A lot is on Justin Jefferson. And here's our fan dual question of the day. If you want to answer in the chat, that would be great. Justin Jefferson is plus 1100 to win offensive player of the year. does Addison's suspension increase the chances of that happening. So Addison getting suspended, do you think that ups the chances of Justin Jefferson winning offensive player of the year? I mean, I think any season that Justin Jefferson goes into, any year you start with,

he's got a pretty good chance to win offensive player of the year. Will they lean into the run game more? that is something that I think is going to happen, yes. The way that the run game has looked has just been fantastic. And yeah, it's not crazy Ben Johnson and his wild tackling practices from 1993. But, I mean, I guess him and Dan Campbell must have been perfect for each other, except for he sounds like he's a little more of a bully as opposed to a rah-rah type of guy when it comes to his players.

but I don't know. That just screen, having tackling in the early part of August at that level just screams to me, you don't know what you're doing. You're just in over your head and, you know, I don't know. Because I think that Kevin O'Connell's got some pretty good answers for how to do things when it comes to keeping players healthy, fresh, ready to go, and it's the exact opposite. I don't think you want to be having guys beat up on August 5th when you need them January 5th. But good luck to him and all that sort of stuff.

So all the caveats that, hey, you know, it's not exactly like they can tackle Jordan Mason, but the run blocking, Donovan Jackson has really stood out to me as a run blocker. Will Fries has really stood out to me as a run blocker. And I mean, you might have one of the better interiors in terms of run blocking in the league. So I do think that. I think that this does change the game a little bit. And you say like, okay, let's see if the Chicago Bears have. three linebackers. Let's see if they can stop a two tight end, maybe throw C.J. Ham in there,

hand off to Jordan Mason, run through a person's face. Let's see if they can run through somebody's face. I mean, this is something, you know, last year, O'Connell talked about play style. That was his big thing. Play style, play style. Well, you know, play style from the defense, sure. And from the offense, the play style was hit big plays downfield. But you were never intimidated by the Minnesota of Vikings. It wasn't, hey, they're going to come in and they're going to smash your face in. There's a little more smash your face in here. And for going to Soldier Field, playing Atlanta, whose defense still to me is very suspect. And then Cincinnati, again, very suspect. I, yeah, I expect them to start off the season grounded and pounding actually quite a bit. I don't think

O'Connell's ever going to change its stripes, but I think they will run the football a lot more. is Felton in contention for wide receiver three. I think Felton is in contention for something. Like he's in contention for, hey, maybe you come in the game and run a jet sweep or, hey, maybe you come and run a bubble screen or maybe it's a deep shot. I don't want to make him sound like he can't go downfield. He can with his speed.

But I don't think you're calling any more than seven to 10 plays for Ty Felton right away. There's just so much to learn when it. it comes to this offense as a wide receiver. And McCartle just, you know, my sit down conversation with him yesterday, he was talking about how the receivers joke that they're rocket scientists in there. But truly, like, you have to really know a lot about football to be a wide receiver in Kevin O'Connell's offense. And I think Felton's coming along. The details are just not going to be there yet. But I think he'll be part of the mix. I mean, sometimes it doesn't fit in perfectly like a

Madden depth chart where it's wide receiver one, two, three, it might be clearly one and two or Jefferson and Naylor with Addison out. But then after that, it might be, well, Lucky Jackson works for this play and Ronnell Moore works for that play and Ty Felton works for that play. And then we'll see. Or, and this is where Saturday is just so interesting. I mean, everyone's going to be all eyes on JJ McCarthy. But, you know, last year, I think, someone like Trent Sherfield really helped his case. And Tristan Jackson made the team out of camp last year, really made his case by working well with J.J. McCarthy.

So does one of these guys get some momentum coming out of Saturday? We're only at August 5th. We don't know everything about the 2025 week one Minnesota Vikings. We sure don't. So does the preseason this year actually impact things? In past years, I mean, not very much other than, hey, you know, we maybe see some potential in this player or that player. But now there could be a real impact of what we see on Saturday. Deplorable Neanderthal, goodness.

Well, I hope your football takes are better than a deplorable Neanderthal would have. Says I drafted Addison in a bunch of bestball leagues as long as he was my fourth. wide receiver did this three game, uh, with this three game suspension in mind. Guarantee KOC and KC are less surprised than me and they have a plan. Oh, look. I mean, no one's surprised. Yeah. I mean, they've been thinking about this the way that we have for some time, but where it's really interesting is just that there isn't a clear cut. You are locked in all set to go wide receiver three. And if there was, then this would be, you know, it's a bumble. up into his spot or to bump up into Naylor's spot, really.

If there was, then this would be a lot less interesting to talk about. I mean, it would still be a live podcast, but I don't know that it would be quite as interesting to analyze and break down the possibilities. And I guess you never know when somebody else could could pop up or they could bring in somebody else after this. But that's the other point about trying to bring somebody in is I'm sure that they had a very good sense for this happening. and they knew when they approached the off season

that this was very likely to happen with a three-game suspension for Jordan Addison. And I will say again that he will very likely appeal this. And it's also possible that we're doing another one where we're talking about the NFL bringing it down to two games. And he's going to state his case there where, you know, hey, he's worked off the field with mothers, against drunk driving. He's been an ideal teammate. He's been an ideal person off of the field

and learned his lesson and et cetera, et cetera. We've seen the NFL bring this down. I don't know that they're going to feel charitable really here, but we'll see. I mean, he's going to try to make that case. But either way, I mean, he's missing games. I don't think that they would bring it down any more than one. He's missing games. And now what are the answers? But you're right that you planned for it, the Vikings planned for it. I think Rondale Moore is really a lot of the plan, but he's got to show them that he can

do that. Lucky fits in in a certain type of way with this team and has a chance to get out on the field because he knows where he's supposed to go and what he's supposed to do. But Rondale Moore and Ty Felton are the two guys who could be difference makers out there with the football in their

hands. And that's where I think they drafted Felton a little bit with this in mind. I think that they sign more. with a little bit of this in mind. So can those guys show starting on Saturday, but then the second preseason game as well, can they show that they deserve to be out there? So Cufu 21 Felton needs to work on receiving the football

too many drops so far? I don't know. Like, I mean, I've watched every single practice. I don't know how many there's been as far as his drops. I can think of one in warm-ups. There was one where he kind of turned the wrong way that I thought he could have caught the ball over his head. I mean, he's just not a finished project.

I don't think he's dropping the ball left and right. He had a really good catch on a throw that was kind of floated up over his shoulder and he dropped into the bucket and he made the play on it. That was probably his most memorable of so far of training camp. He has not set my world on fire as a third round draft pick who needs another year to be ready. That's for sure. so I don't want to sound like he has. But I also don't think that drops in camp have been such an issue that he wouldn't get on the field because of it.

I think it's really just the technical stuff, where to line up, how to run the different routes. Because in the NFL, if there's a route that is supposed to be nine yards, it's got to be nine yards. In college, it's a little bit more like, all right, run a slant. And it's a slant. but in the NFL it's run a slant three steps this way turn your right shoulder you know dive this way you know read the tight end read the safety like there's so much going on and I asked Adam Thielin one time about that I said how much like I said do you know exactly where you're running before the route and he said not usually like I have to see what's happening I have to see the

linebacker I have to see the safety and some plays of course are set in stone but a lot of times There's things that you have to do and you've just got to learn. There's no other way to do it. And I don't think Felton is quite there yet when it comes to all of those details. So we'll see. But I don't think that drops has been a huge problem. I think it's just getting up to speed. And everybody's drop, you know, drops a pass in practice.

Jordan Addison dropped one for an interception one day. I just don't suspect that he'll drop a million passes in the season. So it happens. will derisaw see any action the preseason can't imagine he'll play saturday maybe they've ruled them out for saturday well they yeah they uh don't have to rule anybody out right now but there's no way he's playing on saturday that's that's not happening he's only getting to the point just now where he can be out there for 11 on 11s and then he didn't practice in the night practice maybe we'll see him a little bit more wednesday and thursday that's definitely going to be

in the notes for Wednesday and Thursday, whether he's really back or if he's still kind of taken limited numbers of snaps as we, you know, start to get the clock going for can he be back by week one? But I would be shocked if he was in any preseason game. If they could get him back for a lot of action in the joint practices, that is something that they could, you know, really benefit from getting Darius Awesome action against another team. I think those joint practices would be really big for him. Deplorable Neanderthal. I'm just going to call you D.N.

D.N. Don't think that they plan for a Jefferson hammy tweak or Hawkinson groin pole. We'll see if that's what Hawkinson's injury is. I don't know. Kind of look that way, but, you know, I don't know. We don't have official confirmation on that. Things getting more complicated. Not yet. Not yet. If those injuries linger into the season, yes. But as of right now, I mean, they've got over a month to get back. And, you know, it seems like both guys are day to day. And I'm sure that NFL players have played through more challenging things in real games. But in August 5th, why would you want Hawkinson or Jefferson to be getting back out there right now? I think what it is, it's the opposite.

whatever the hell the bears are doing where they're just having everyone hit each other but you know i think the vikings are very cautious and careful and i they think a lot about how to keep the players most healthy so if you force jefferson out there too early with a little hammy tweak uh you are like putting your life in your hands there for losing your top wide receiver and look it's worked their injuries over these last couple years you know going back even when he was with the rams COC, their injuries, they just were better than most of the league. I think that they were very smart in the way they've handled things. So there's no concern for me for Jefferson or Hawkinson.

But to your point, if the first three weeks, this is where they need someone to really step up. Because those first three weeks, if there are injuries, then it could be a major concern. Like the next man up could be problematic. And the other night, without Jefferson in there, without Derisaw in there, without Ryan Kelly in there, like it didn't look good for J.J. McCarthy, as you would expect, it wouldn't. I would like to see, I mean, not to push the hammy or anything, but the same thing with Darisaw, you would like to see that maybe Jefferson gets back by those joint practices so you can really simulate the actual game action.

And I agree, Kendall, that the Vikings are prepared regardless of injuries, but there's only so many preparations at some point you get to that these players just aren't good enough to do what the starters can do. No one, there's, there's very few players who are better at wide receiver than Jordan Addison in the NFL. I mean, there's, you know, probably 20 or 15 or something like that better than Jordan Addison. There's no way to really emulate it.

There's only ways to work around it. And they have workarounds right now as long as everybody's healthy. Son of beavers. I did see that the NFL banned smelling salts. I don't know exactly why. Maybe someone finally looked at what that does or whatever and decided it's not a good idea. Like I don't really know. I haven't read the explanation.

But smelling salts, you know, first they took our neck rolls, then they came for our smelling salts what's next grass field oh wait you got the bills building an indoor stadium brutal someday they're going to put a roof on lambo everything old timey there was also probably dangerous about football is being eliminated i know nothing about smelling salts i wouldn't come anywhere near it though it looks uh it looks kind of scary how people look after they do smelling salts uh preston says some people talking about j j j struggling at practices but fail to mention he is without his number one wide receiver and unhealthy O line versus studs all over with Flo's defense.

I mean, if you're talking with someone who is saying that they're just not being very genuine about the opinion, right? I mean, yeah, like, it's very clear that that has been an issue without having, especially Christian Derosol, but especially Justin Jefferson. It's a huge deal to not have the best wide receiver in football in most of these practices. And at the same time, I don't think that there's really been, I don't think there's been like horrible practices. I really don't. I just thought the other day he just had a phenomenal practice.

And he tried to hurt a guy. Like he tried to get in a fight. I mean, we were just coming off Saturday. talking about how it was J.J. McCarthy's best practice and how, you know, he was on point with throwing the football in command of the offense, in the drills, and then was showing his competitive side. I mean, I'm not, you know, then he has a bad practice in the night practice. Okay. Well, you know, that's that is, well, first of all, that's Cam. I don't know of any quarterback that I've covered other than Sam Bradford, 2017, who is just great day after day after day after day after day after. day. Bradford was. But even then, I don't think Bradford was right off the outset. I think that he was as it went along. And probably my last memory of Bradford was him being amazing. I actually think that he turned the corner in the night practice for Bradford. It was one of those where to Vikings people who are there, if you bring up the night practice for San Bradford, like that's some of the best

quarterback play I've ever seen in my life at a practice because he was going so crazy throwing the football but even then like the first couple of weeks they're just getting into it and then now is where we turn the corner and you expect more consistency i've i expected a quarterback for the first time to be up and down and you know i i i get messages about what what colin cowherd is saying and maybe he is claiming to possibly uh you know have someone who's told them that mccarthy isn't doing that well or whatever i don't know i mean i I am there to practice. Anybody can talk to me about that anytime.

I've watched every J.J. McCarthy practice since the guy came into the league. I even showed up to see him throw four times at a team workout, and we took a little video of it. I mean, come on. Look, what's going on in the meeting rooms and everything else, only Kevin O'Connell knows. But from what I see, it looks very similar to even someone like Sam Darnold, where last year at the beginning of Sam Darnold in training camp, it was slow. And there were bad practices.

Go back and look at the reports. Like go back and look at any of the play-by-play reports from last year when it came to, you know, Sam Darnold's beginning of training camp. It wasn't until the middle of camp where it started, the light started to go on for Sam Darnold. And then he got better and better and eventually, you know, turned out to be really good last season. So I'm, I am approaching this patiently with J.J. McCarthy. I'm not trying to be someone who's calling it.

And I wasn't this in the draft when we were doing the whole, you know, is it Penix? Is it Knicks? Is it a trade up? Is it a whatever? I mean, my stance was always just make sure it's somebody and then we'll go from there. And I had questions about penics and his health. I had questions about Nix and the fact that he was 100 years old and that he, might not have the upside. I had questions about May being reckless. I had questions about Caleb Williams. I had questions about Jane Daniels holding onto the ball too long. Like there's always questions. But I think it's probably the easiest way to get attention in media is by like

planting flags. So people make fools of themselves all the time by planting flags on quarterbacks. And then if you're wrong, you just move on to some other quarterback. Like if you're the guy who decides Justin Herbert sucks and you're going to just say, Justin Herbert sucks every single day, so you get lots of attention, then great, good for you. And then if Justin Herbert wins the Super Bowl, you'll just move on to saying someone else sucks. And the same thing goes for the other way, where there are people who defend quarterbacks, you know, whatever J.J. McCarthy does, it's someone else's fault. Whatever, you know, whatever, you know, there's probably, I don't know how many of these

quarterbacks. Like the, Tua is the, you know, a great quarterback no matter what happens or something, you see the what they had like the what was it oh it's a kind of inappropriate name like the two and on with the two of people who were absolutely obsessed with like nothing can ever be his fault it's the easiest way to get cheap attention online is to be the complete lunatic about one quarterback and it's something that tv hosts have done for a long time especially with these debate shows that's not this show this show gets in the car drives the tCO performance center writes down every single throw, what happened, how it looked, and everything else, and then we look at the accumulation of things, and we take it day by day.

And that's just how I do the job. Other people can do it however the heck they want to do it. But for me, what I've seen is some marvelous stuff from J.J. McCarthy, some great throws, some great moments, some serious fire, obviously the other day, but also some good, some better touch on the football, some velocity for me. him some athleticism from him and then i've seen some big mistakes uh last night had a couple of them where he almost threw picks and you go well then the coach walks over to you and you talk it and you work on it and you be ready for september like that's how this works and uh a listener to the

show sent me an article from 2018 about mahomes having a terrible beginning to training camp so look i'm not saying mccarthy's going to be my homes that's for your tv network or whatever but But I am saying that if we're trying to judge the first few days of practice still, early parts of practice, first two weeks really, without even a preseason game and try to call it, I mean, that's an easy way to look pretty foolish. But looking foolish gets you ahead a lot of times in media. So some people don't have any pride and don't care and don't put in the work or the effort and they just, you know, say whatever and get attention.

That's their problem. That's just not this show. So anyway, sorry for the rant, but I see it like you guys do. You know, I see it as much as you do with all the craziness with is JJ, you know, looking like a bust and this and that and the other thing. And the answer is no, he's not looking like a bust and he's not looking like Joe Montana either. My mouse died. kind of have to do this by hand okay uh john says sorry if the the camera shakes a little

because i have to touch my computer to get it to show the comments um john says uh transitioning from wolves back to viking so i'm behind is there really concern about jj that the vikings are covering up a conspiracy i mean i don't think so not there hasn't been any evidence of that there's been good practices, there's been down practices, but hey, if I just talked about one way to get attention, here's another one, a conspiracy, that'll certainly get you a lot of the needle moving for sure. Look, I don't know where they think he's supposed to be versus where he is with running the offense. The only person who knows that is Kevin O'Connell, truly. Truly, Kevin O'Connell is the only person who knows for sure where he expected McCormick.

to be right now versus where he is because he's the only one who knows the plays that he's calling and the reads that he's making what i see from my perch on the sideline is a young quarterback who has shown really great flashes and really great moments and who has also had some practices that have been very hard on him and he's learning from those and improving and coming back the next day and that's what you wanted to see from j j mccarthy i don't know who expected the first seven eight nine practices to just look like dan marino arrived i mean i i didn't i thought this guy hasn't played football for a year i'm reserving judgment i've seen enough to think that he could be very good with this offense i've seen enough to go oh those are those are

some risky throws you're taking you better fix that so i don't think you know nobody really nobody really knows but i think any claim that he's like behind it cut there's just been a lot of those reports in the last you know number of years whatever right that were you know what's going on with quacy adafo mensa you're like i don't know he continues to be the gm after signing a big contract they're going to trade jefferson i don't know they didn't trade jefferson i don't even think they thought about it uh what's going on behind the scenes did they want to get leak neighbor remember like all this stuff there's there's always been that little murmur in the background with this franchise and i think it's sort of like welcome to relevancy a little bit

but there's been over like is coc going to be traded like there's always been even that the erin rogers thing so after j j j has a bad practice does whoever in the building who wanted erin rogers run to somebody outside the building and tell them that jj looks bad like is that what's going on. There's always been a little bit of weird kind of stuff underneath the surface with leaks to national media and different people that don't actually come to fruition that just sort of feel like maybe conjecture. I don't know more than anything. But the only person who really understands where McCarthy is is O'Connell. And I got to see at least a couple more weeks of practice and a couple preseason games before I decide. But I have not

move the 11 win needle um but i also expected this by the way i also expected this i expected that and i and i wrote about this actually i wrote about how you better get ready for it because when you have a situation that's as interesting as this everybody's going to want their piece of the pie the insiders the hot take artists the fantasy freaks like everybody's going to be wanting to be a little bit of part of this and that's football welcome welcome to the limelight my friends that's football there's a lot of weird stuff that goes on out there but talking about how a quarterback can't do it or something on august fifth to me is it's a little bit much uh hamsa says i think the vikings might be able to sign addison at a discount if they

sign him this off season i don't believe that they could do it until next off season uh yeah can't do it can't do it until next off season and probably at the wide receiver position i think you're seeing from Terry McClorin, there is, uh, there's no discount when it comes to the wide receiver position. No discount, unfortunately. So, um, let's see. Yeah, this, uh, this might be somewhat of a factor, uh, bitter Bruce. How does the difference between hash's, uh, effect it from college to the NFL wide receivers? I think to some extent it does, but like, if you're going to be a pro you got to be a pro like you got to figure it out you got to learn the playbook and you got to be in the right place at the right time and you know that's it's it's different

it's different it takes an adjustment i think the playbook and the detail is where it's really different and that's even you know i was talking to ryan kelly about donovan jackson and i asked him like about what jackson needs to do to improve you know and how he's coming along and he said the biggest thing is you really have to understand in the NFL what your center needs from you on this play, what your tackle needs from you on this play, and then get those details right every single time. In college, it's a little bit more like block this guy. Not that, you know, an Ohio state offense is super simplistic, but it's not the level of detail of the NFL. And that goes for everything. So with Ty Felton specifically, I think that

Felton is just somebody that needs more time and he can get into a game and he can get the football in his hands and try to make a play. But I'm really thinking about next year with Ty Felton. I'm thinking much more along the lines of Rondale Moore and of Lucky Jackson as kind of the guys who fill in and really a lot of Josh Oliver and maybe some CJ Ham. Preston says I remember people talking about Darnold struggling. Oh, I guarantee it. I mean, I guarantee go back. Now, we didn't, here's the thing. We didn't chart every single throw. We didn't chart every single throw from Sam Darnel because I was looking at other stuff too. I was looking at wide receivers. I was looking at linemen. I was, I mean, this is the first time I have

ever written down every single pass from a quarterback because there's so much interest. I want to make sure I got it right. With Darnold or even Kirk, it was more to me of just how did the practice feel. And if Kirk overthrew somebody, I'd be like, okay, whatever, on to the next one. He throws a deep ball. He overthrows it. Okay. Like, Kirk's a good deep ball thrower. It's fine.

You know, whatever. Move on. And the same thing with Darnold last year. I think there was a practice early in the pads where it was horrible. And we were just like, oh, boy. Now we see like what's going on here. You know, like now we see why Darnold has been on so many teams. And then he turned that corner.

And I think it was really right around. So last year's schedule was a little bit different because the night practice happened before the joint practice and there was still plenty of time in the, I think in the offseason to go after the joint practice because that was when McCarthy got hurt. But I felt like it was right before the first preseason game where Darnel was starting to get it. And then you saw it in the preseason game. So this will be a really good experience.

It'll be, it'll tell us a lot these next couple practices, which I think will be hard practices. and then they will get to the point where, you know, you're getting into a preseason game and coming out of that, what do you learn from that? What do you take away? Then we'll have a much better, much better feel. But even then, even then, just to tell you how hard it is in 2022, and this will always be my go-to example of just how hard it is to try to use preseason to figure out whether a quarterback is going to be good.

Kirk Cousins in the final open practice to the media in 2022. They had it in TCO Stadium, which was cool for us because we get to sit up top in the press box and look down and watch. He threw five picks, five in a single practice, insane, and then came out and destroyed the Green Bay Packers and had a great game. Like, it's hard to figure out, folks. It is very hard to figure out. Now, if someone looks terrible, then their chances are not good.

good. But as far as the, you know, a day to day where sometimes it's a little bit tricky and sometimes it's a little bit, you know, they're working on something specifically that they're trying to get down and maybe struggling with and things like that. Like, you just don't really know. I mean, the other night without Christian Derisaw or Jefferson in there, they put McCarthy at his own one yard line against Flores number one defense. And it was a three and out. Like big shock, right? But when we are writing down every single period of practice, it can look pretty tough sometimes. But I got to say, I really do think that there are, there, there are some people somewhere in the building. I don't know who I, maybe that's got to be a purple insider investigation

who have sort of been trying to stir the pot with this team for a while. And then nothing has ever come to fruition. So at some point, it's a little like wolf crying here. right that there there's been enough reports and rumor and stuff that just hasn't happened quacy's still the GM he signed a long term contract and yet for two years people kept coming up to me and saying like what's his deal with this quacy is he like out soon like is he going to get fired like they're winning 14 games what are we talking about here so i don't know uh an agent of chaos or just somebody that people keep listening to on the outside that may not be giving them the best information from the inside.

That doesn't mean I think McCarthy's been incredible. I just think it's August 5th. How are we making our judgment at this point? I don't know any young quarterback who's coming in and then just by August 5th being incredible. I mean, go look. I bet, you know, feel free. Now, I know he's not a rookie, but feel free to go look at, I mean, any of the young

quarterbacks in the league and how they're looking, you know, the first couple days into can i mean caleb williams is just getting body slammed by his own coach that they're so frustrated so you know jane daniel's a little bit of a different a different dude there but you know maybe quarterbacks who hadn't played before there's going to be a development curve that has to happen pretty quick and and look that's not to say that i just think that mccarthy's been unbelievable and it's all lies like i i see some of the accuracy i see some of the accuracy i see some of the decision making with the football that could make you go, okay, man, let's not do that in the real game.

Because if you do that in the real game, they will intercept it and run it for a touchdown. But it's early enough in camp that we can say, all right, you're going to have to learn from that mistake. You made it in practice. And now you don't make it again in practice. And that's going to be the true test of J.J. McCarthy. not the first three padded practices or whatever uh the mctacular uh will kOC commit to the run game he's been

saying for years well yeah and the part about saying for you so early in last season when they had uh dare saw they ran well and they were averaging around five yards per carry early in the season. And they were actually about 50-50. Now, the reason for that was that they were playing in a lot of games where they were winning. And still, I thought there could have been more running last year from KOC early in the season. But as far as, as I'm sorry, sometimes you guys get me with Jacobs here for the truck drivers to get fired up. Those who were here last night, that's, that's going to be a funny one. Like truck drivers of Purple Insider unite. Anyway, and now you threw me off and now I have to try to remember oh the run game yeah the run game

so early in the season I thought last year around Sam Darnold the run game tying it to the play action all those things I thought it really went well but as the season went along really that london injury to Aaron Jones I don't think he was quite the same after that and had some games where it was pretty big, but I think it was Andrew Kramer who mentioned to me the other day that there was a stat that Aaron Jones hit 20 miles an hour, like three or four times early in the season last year and then didn't again after Derisaw went out. It just wasn't the same. So now with the interior, because last year you're talking about when they made the switch,

you're talking about Reisner, who is one of the worst run blockers of the league, Cam Robinson, who's one of the worst run blockers in the league. like, that's tough. That's tough to really create an edge, whereas now, you know, they have guys who can legitimately create an edge. And, oh, you know, if some of this stuff is, as you guys are talking about, if some of this stuff is connected to those who maybe really wanted Aaron Rogers and there's maybe some motivation to try to be right there with wanting Rogers to come to the Vikings, then, yeah, I guess possibly that could shape the opinions of people who are putting them out there. I don't know.

But the run game's going to be important, man. The run game is going to be very important and it looks totally different. I mean, they, why would you commit to it the way that they've blocked? You know, part of this. And look, I don't think COC is ever going to fully commit to the run game. He's not going to be Kyle Shanahan. He's not going to be Gary Kubiak. but still, would you commit to running Alexander Madison?

Probably not. Would you commit to running, you know, an offensive line last year that couldn't really run block that well? And probably not. So this is kind of the chance where we're going to find out. Because what I'm saying is that I tend to lean a little bit in agreement with you where they could have run more, especially when they were leading or in tight games.

But I also am understanding of the fact that they didn't have, have the dudes to dominate on the run game. So this is going to be a real litmus test for Kevin O'Connell when it comes to the run game. Jacks Park, what do you think the chances are? The Vikings would trade for Thielen? How much would they have to give up? So I think the chances are very low.

I would go less than 10%. Probably have to give up like a fifth round pick. It wouldn't be a lot. I haven't seen any rumor or any report. And maybe you guys could tell me if I'm wrong that Adam Thielen is on the block. If he is on the trade block, then I guess it would be considered. But you're only really talking about three games here. I mean, maybe if they're very unhappy or concerned with where Rondale Moore is,

doesn't seem that way. It just seems like he's not ready to fully take over yet. Or if they think, you know, Felton's so far behind that they really want another veteran. One thing about Thielen that I'll give you, all of you who want. dealing back here is that this is the type of year where you do stuff like that. They have reached the point where you do go trade for one more receiver, a veteran. You do go, you do go trade for whoever, you know, gets hurt and you make the deal. Kind of like last year where you trade for Robertson, you trade for acres.

And at the end of the day, you're not super pumped or, you know, maybe you get lucky and get back a comp pick or something. But, you know, aside from that, you know you're making those moves for like trying to win right now with veteran players and someone of the feel and ilk like that's what you would be trying to do um i have to i have to brag to you guys that the person calling me right now is kurt warner supposed to do a story with kurt so i'm going to have to text him and call him back in a moment but actually that could be a good transition. That's a, that's a nice brag, right, that Kurt Warner is calling me

right now. I am going to actually have to call Kurt Warner back and have a conversation with him for a story that I'm working on. So that is a good transition to had a conversation with Maggie Robinson, intern Maggie. I didn't want to, I didn't want a marathon pod tonight anyway because it's just one story we have. We don't have a full practice. But Maggie Robinson, our intern did a collection of the biggest stories around the NFL. So I want to bring you guys that before we wrap up for tonight. So good chat and sorry for the ranting, but hopefully we kind of worked our way through what is next here for the Jordan

Edison situation. And I'm going to go call back a Hall of Famer. So, hey, look who is back. It is intern Maggie Robinson. And it's not a Monday night. So Mondays with Maggie is out. But I think we're going to call this the. round up with Robinson. Maggie has gathered five NFL headlines around the league and we're going to

chat about them here this evening. Welcome back to the show. Maggie, how are you? Thank you so much. It's good. I'm good. I'm happy to be back. It's been a minute, but I'm ready to talk football and finally football is here. Thank God. For those who haven't seen me on the show before, Maggie worked behind the scenes as a producer for the NFL and is now going for your masters at Syracuse as a broadcast and also started the internship in the middle of June where there were no headlines. So this is so much easier for you now than it was then. So where would you like to begin?

So the Hall of Fame, we just saw it happen. Jared Allen made it. Awesome. Great for him. Stellar guy. I want to think about what Viking is coming next. And ESPN wrote an article on this last year. And this argument is really solid.

Key to this argument is the number seven. Okay. I want you to keep that in mind. So the guy who I think from the Vikings is going into the Hall of Fame next is Adrian Peterson. Seventh overall draft pick in the 2007 NFL draft stayed with the Vikings for 10 seasons, seven Pro Bowl selections, four-time all-pro. In seven different seasons, he surpassed 1,000 yards. And, lest we forget, NFL MVP, one of the very few non-quarterbacks to get this award in 2012.

offensive player of the year, rookie of the year, led the league in just about rushing yards, rushing touchdowns, all pro pro-bo selections. This guy's done it all. The last thing he needs to do is just get into the Hall of Fame. Okay, I had no idea about all the seven connections with Adrian Peterson. There shouldn't be any discussion about Peterson in the Hall of Fame. The meeting should last about four seconds. They should say Adrian Peterson and everyone should say, yes.

one of the true greatest running backs of all time in Minnesota, there are different feelings about Adrian Peterson because there was the incident with the child abuse thing that I think a lot of people maybe turned on how they felt about Peterson, which totally understandable. And there was also a lot of nitpicking about the, you know, it doesn't really catch the ball out of the backfield like some other great running backs isn't maybe the most dialed in for past protection and that kind of thing, but the numbers speak for themselves. And really, the 2012 season is one of the great seasons in NFL history by any player ever. They made the playoffs with Christian Ponderic quarterback. And if you actually, the craziest stat for Adrian Peterson is if you

adjust yards per play for sacks, it was actually better to hand the ball to Adrian Peterson than to throw it that year for the Minnesota Vikings, which basically never happens in the modern era. Peterson should be an easy choice. I'll throw two others out there that I think should make the Hall of Fame, but I'm not sure they ever will. One is Jim Marshall, who recently passed away and is, I think, widely known as the best player in NFL history to not be in the Hall of Fame. The review from the Pro Football Reference Project where they went back and looked up Sacks

because Sacks was not an official stat until 1982. So they went back, yeah, they went. back through box scores and film and all that stuff to put together the sacks, which I think shine great light on Jim Marshall as key to the purple people leaders and the captain for his entire career. If leadership matters, if character matters to and also health, one of the great health records in sports history. If all of that matters, then Jim Marshall should be in the Hall of Fame. I think we all know. And the other one is Kevin Williams defensive tackle from the early 2000s era with the Vikings made six all pros. And,

is not in the Hall of Fame. And if you, you know, look it up, you can't find other players with six all pros that are not in the Hall of Fame. So those two deserve it, but I think Peterson's probably next man up. And then after that, Harrison Smith has a case. I don't know if they're going to love the case because they just don't love putting defensive backs in. It's actually kind of crazy when you look at up how few defensive backs are in corners or safeties. The next man after that, it might be either DeNeil Hunter, if he keeps going, or Justin Jefferson, depending on how, if any of these other guys make their way in. I agree. If he keeps up what he's doing, I mean, he's been incredible thus far.

You did mention in 2012, the Adrian Peterson thing. He came within nine yards of breaking the single season rushing record that has stood for years. I just, I just can't, how else do you, how else do it? It's just an athletic feat. And then, you know, really went on way beyond his, you know, the usual expectation for a running back's career. Like normally we expect a running back to start falling off at like 27 years old. And he continued to perform extremely well.

Also was the centerpiece of the offense in 2015 when they won the division. And I think he was 31. And then, you know, they missed a little field goal wide to the left and didn't advance in the postseason. But I think you are. Right. If you had to lay money on it, that Adrian Peterson would be the next guy in the Hall of Fame for the Minnesota Vikings. We'll check in next August. But something more topical, Mike Parsons in Dallas, beef, tea, whatever Gen Z slang you want to call this, it's going down in Texas. So Michael Parsons, for those unfamiliar if you're living under Rock,

announced on Twitter in a long written out notes post that he wants a trade. And there was a lot of confusion here because he was brought into the Jones's office, and they talked to them about potential negotiations, what his future looks like with the team. His agent was never contacted. His agent was never talked to about salary. There was never any formal negotiation that ever occurred. But from the Jones's perspective, that casual conversation was the deal. Like, they're fine. They agreed. Things were, things happened. For Mike Parsons, his agent was not involved. There was no pen to paper. Nothing was signed. It was more or less a handshake agreement that one side was in on and the other was not privy to. And now it's just blowing up into this

big issue. It's wild. It's wild. Like I think back of the day, 20, 30 years ago, a lot of franchises were just an absolute mess. And there's still a couple that are kind of carryovers from the ridiculous era of, you know, the days gone by of the NFL of just bizarre ownership, management decisions and things like that. Usually in these days, we only hear about one or two holdouts or hold ins now per year because most of the time, these teams just figure great players, you got to keep them if you're going to win. And also the salary cap just goes up and up and up every single year.

Netflix is buying more games, not less. Amazon's buying more games, not less. And so everyone's going to be fine if you sign the best players to big contracts. But here's Jerry Jones still fighting that same battle that he's always done. I mean, if you're very old, you'll remember him doing this to Emmett Smith, where Emmett Smith actually sat out some games one season or at least one game, and before Jerry finally bent. And the thing is that they usually end up overpaying massively.

And when you're talking about trying to negotiate a player without his agent involved, It just a total circus. It feels more like a hard. No, not hard not. What was the show with the rock? Now I'm blanking on the show with the rock where he played a football agent. Everyone in the comment section is screaming at me. Oh, they're getting mad at me too because I don't know it either.

But I can picture it. It feels like an HBO show from 10 years ago, not an actual NFL team. That is the point. And yet still, I think we all know where this road travels. Michael Parsons will not be traded. He will end up just being overpaid and becoming the highest paid player at his position in the NFL, which is what always happens to Jerry. And that is why Dallas continues to struggle.

I was going to say, my next question was, is there even a potential for a trade? Because in my mind, it's a fun hypothetical that a lot of journalists like to write about, but I don't think this is really happening. Jerry Jones is even like there's nothing to worry about. There's no issue. The only thing giving me pause here is that for a play. as big as Michael Parsons to come out that publicly and that strongly, that just gives me a little bit of like maybe he's really willing to leave this team and

he's that fed up. Like I want to get inside his brain and see how frustrated is he? How close to the edge is he? Because Jerry's probably like, all right, this is kind of laughable. We'll figure it out. My guys will get him figured out, whatever. Ballers was the show, by the way. Thank you for everyone who I know just hit the comment section reminding me.

of what that was, but maybe not even as absurd enough to be in ballers is the negotiations that have happened in the past few years. But to your point, I just, if they do it, it will be one of the most insane trades that's ever happened. Now, the bears did end up with Khalil Mack being traded from the Raiders a couple years ago. Tyree Kill was traded. So it's not like no elite players can ever be traded. If somebody came in with three first round picks or something, Once upon a time, the Vikings were involved in a very bad trade with the Dallas Cowboys, where they gave up a ton to get Herschel Walker, who was considered a top five running back at the time. But I don't think that teams are doing that now for Michael Parsons,

considering how much you'd have to give away and the amount of money that you'd have to pay him. I think this is only going one direction. And I also think that he wasted a lot of keystrokes because he really doesn't have any ground to stand on with demanding a trade. You are just yelling in the wind, my friend. You're still under contract. You deserve a big contract because you're one of the best players in the league. But as of right now, you're still under contract. And there's not a lot you can do about that no matter how many tweets you post.

Yeah, I would say what they extended him for his fifth year of this contract. So like he's kind of locked in. Maybe they franchise tag him next year. I've seen that been thrown around as an option. But I mean, they're going to have to cough up some amount of money just to keep him happy and on the team. So I guess that's be the next piece of news we'll see on Twitter is what's the price tag. Right, right. And if there is someone who is more likely to be traded, and I don't think it's going to happen,

but I think Terry McLaurin would be more likely to be moved. McClorin is a really great wide receiver. They no doubt about it. And they need him for Jaden Daniels. At the same time, I would not put him in the ballpark of a Justin Jefferson or maybe even a CD Lamb in Dallas or Jammer. Chase, I would put him in the second tier of really good wide receivers in the NFL. And it seems like he wants to be paid in the first tier of great wide receivers in the NFL.

And look, I mean, the Pittsburgh Steelers gave D.K. Metcalf $32 million. And I'm sure that McClorin's like, scary Terry is better than that guy. So why are we not, you know, going a little bit higher in terms of average annual salary? But if a team came in and offered them, a lot, you know, a couple of first round picks or something, considering where that franchise is going to go and also considering this quarterback's going to make people better. I mean, last year, they were getting a lot out of a little when it came to the receiving core. They might consider. I think that if you're comparing the two, that's the one that's a little more reasonable than Dallas trading Mike Parsons. I agree with you. Also with a new GM,

it feels like there's a fresh energy of like, I'm more willing to shake things up. And also, it's been so terrible here for the past few years that I'm willing to make things happen and take some risks. And I think we've seen that with the 76ers, which is the other team that I'm blanking on his name that the GM owns. He's made a lot of changes. Has it always worked out to be determined? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. But I think like you're saying, he's also not in that top upper crust. He's great. But he's really, I think, been a key player. And the reason people are hesitant to move him around is he's been here to all the bad ownership. He's been here through the stadium issues.

He's been here through a rotating cast of quarterbacks through name changes. Like he's held the team together in a way and maybe there's a risk of, oh, if we lose him, then we're losing the glue guy, not to be cliche and use that term. But maybe that's the argument. But I think at some point you got to say, if there's a better person out there, if there's fresh meat, if there's different trade options, we got to take that risk. Your observation about Josh Harris, their owner in being involved in basketball, though, I think is a good one.

the basketball mentality has often been to trade guys like this, that there are a lot of teams who are moving on from big superstars if they don't feel like it's quite worth the pay. And then, you know, there's teams around the league that are desperate for wide receivers. But if you're going into this season that where the rubber hits the road here is probably that they went to the NFC championship last year. If they had been an eight win team, then you're probably saying, well, trade them away and get a couple firsts and he's his age matters here as you said he's been through everything but

if you've been here for that previous name and the i don't know if he was here for the previous previous name but at least when they were football team uh then then you're probably getting a little long in the tooth and really the record of receivers past 30 something years old just like running backs eventually it starts to go downhill so uh i think that that's a relevant point and it's possible, but there's so much pressure on them now to get back to the NFC championship that it's better to have Terry McLaurin than to not. Yeah, I agree with you. That 30 number is definitely important.

So we shall see. Let's pivot to what I find to be one of the most hilarious storylines in the NFL, and it almost keeps getting funnier. It's the quarterback room for the Cleveland Browns. Now we have five, five, one for each finger, quarterbacks in Cleveland. They just signed Tyler Huntley, who was like the back. backup quarterback's quarterback. Previously with the Dolphins is too, his quarterback, with Lamar Jackson over at the Ravens. Incredibly average. He has a 67 PFF grade. He's nothing to

write home about, but he's just, you know, he's a backup. But what I want to hint at is Pickett, Kenny Pickett, Hamstring injury. Sanders, quote unquote, arm soreness. I don't really know what that means. Gabriel, also having some hamstring issues. So all of our backups kind of have some, like, some niggles, some problems. Joe Flacko is QB1. This man's 40 years old, never looked better, coming fresh out. This makes sense to have him start. I think this gives you the most sense of, if I'm playing, the most sense of calm, the most sense of this man actually knows what he's doing, and I trust him behind me. But I just don't know what they're going to do with the rest of this room. We have Shador starting in their first preseason game. That'll be a real

eye opener, I guess, to see what he looks like. I think he's even come out. some press conferences said he's glad his dad hasn't come to practices because he's not proud of the show he's putting on. I don't know if I would say that, even if I'm unhappy with my performance, but it just feels like there's a lack of cohesion and a lack of confidence in this room from the coaching side, from the player side. Like, what is happening? This is what it is like in life when you have no answer whatsoever at quarterback. You just, are you just pointing at things and making it your quarterback? I mean, that's how the drafts felt even where you take Dylan Gabriel in the third and then, oh, I guess we're going to be the team that takes

Shradur Sanders, possibly ownership stepping into that one, but that's not been confirmed. It just never made any sense, though, to draft two quarterbacks, one in the third, one in the fifth. And maybe they feel like Sanders has enough upside. And certainly they're going to get TV ratings for starting him in the preseason, but it doesn't sound like from the reports that I've read that he is anywhere close to being their QB1, which does. lead you back to Joe Flacco. And I think if you're, if you're Kevin Stefansky, here's your one leg to stand on. They did make the playoffs with Joe Flacco two years ago. And he did just enough. They ran the ball. They played defense. And maybe, you know, you grind out some wins with Flacco.

I think you have to start out at least pretending that you're serious about this NFL season and then kind of go from there. But where there is a Vikings tie in here is if Joe Flacco were to get cut because they decide they're going to stick with Kenny Pickett or he probably would get traded rather than cut. The Vikings in their backup quarterback situation is a little spotty at the moment with Sam Howell. Joe Flackle could be someone that Kevin O'Connell looked to to say, all right, well, if you guys are going to go with Kenny Pickett, Dylan Gabriel and Shudor Sanders, and I mean, maybe even Tyler Huntley. Okay. Well, then we'll take Joe Flackle. And even, I mean, Kenny Pickett was the backup quarterback for the Eagles last year on the Super Bowl team. Even if,

If it's Kenny Pickett, I don't know that they'll cut the guy who doesn't make it, but why wouldn't they at this point? Like, what would be the purpose of keeping Joe Flacco around as a backup when you have young backups that are going to play when the season goes sideways, ultimately? So that could open up a potential door, but this is, this is as bad of a quarterback room as you will ever see in your life. There is no real upside, no promise. And I know the Shadur Sanders people, they love him.

I get it. I enjoyed watching him in college too, but he's a fifth round pick. for a reason. The odds are not great for success. So they're really aiming for next year to draft a quarterback high. I don't see any other route for that franchise. I agree with you. I was talking to one of my friends. He says, if you have five quarterbacks, you have no quarterbacks, which I think is quite fitting for this. They're just out of luck. Like, they just got to figure it out. But if the Vikings get flacko, I am not complaining. That would be the biggest snap up. I mean, they'd be so sad. That would be They would. They would feel way better. And then you'd have a veteran to work with J.J. McCarthy.

Yeah. I do think, though, that the Vikings would love. Kevin O'Connell loves to work with quarterbacks so much. They would love to have five, six, seven quarterbacks that are all working together at once and trying to develop. That's kind of how it was when they brought in Daniel Jones last year. But I mean, right now when the Vikings play the Browns in London in week five, I have no idea who is starting. Any of the people that you named, all of those fingers? Any of them, yep, any one of them could be starting for the Cleveland Browns in week five. That'll be hilarious. And I will be watching for sure. 9 a.m. Eastern time. I'll be there. Let's look over to the West Coast, though. Kyron Williams just signed a

large extension to stay with the Rams, a three-year extension worth 33 million with 23 million, with 23 of that guaranteed keeps him with the Rams through the 2028 season and obviously we know he's a great player that's why you're signing these extensions that's where you're keeping a guy on the team but Sean McVeigh has come out publicly and said he just has great energy that the locker room really thrives off of and when you have someone who has both those qualities you're going to keep them around you're going to pay them what they need to it's interesting because Kyron Williams puts up good numbers and the fantasy people like him uh I I didn't win a league last year but I placed by in part because Kyron Williams was my guy and they don't ever use backups. So it's just the same

Kyron Williams over and over again. The analytics don't really love him as far as the yards over expectation, as far as the PFF grade and things like that. I think with McVeigh and he's similar to Kevin O'Connell in this way. We'll see if O'Connell changes this year. I think they want a running back who they can trust. Yep. And that's it. As long as you have a running back that you can believe in that you can trust, hey, can you pass block in the right spots. Can you get four and a yards to carry 4.2 yards per carry and just kind of do that job and run where you're supposed to, then you are on the team and we love you. But I was a little bit surprised that they decided to do this because the position still remains a little more replaceable than we acted like last year

because Derek Henry and Saquan Barkley showed up. I still think that the fundamental principle team building wise of not overspending on running backs is probably smart that you should be going out and drafting them in the third through fifth rounds, trying to find guys that are cheap and that can fill in because you don't want to have that position too expensive. I think it also probably speaks a little bit to their future with Stafford. Stafford's hurt. He's not in camp. I mean, this has got to be it for Matthew Stafford, right?

So maybe they're thinking that they're going to have a young quarterback starting for them next year. Yeah, and then you want to have some veteran talent up there and someone who's just consistent. Is he making magic every play? No, like you're saying. He's not. but he's going to get the job done. And if you do have someone new who's stepping in, you just want a guy who's non-flash,

he's going to keep his head down and do that work. And sure, if you bring in some new guys that you can teach and, like, coach up, that's awesome. But I think that's what his whole role is here is kind of just a foundational player that's not going to make waves, but that's kind of all you need.

And that's all they're looking for. And I will be very curious to see how that run game comes together for the Rams. I've looked at them as a serious contender, but their offensive line is still pretty spotty. And it may be a lot on the shoulders of Matthew Stafford. That is the roundup with Robinson, because with your schedule, we're not 100% sure which day we're going to be able to do it. So, but definitely want to continue to have you on the show here. So Maggie Robinson, thank you so much for your time. And we'll do this again very soon.

It was great to be here. Football, baby.