Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Kellen Mond, Christian Darrisaw and Wyatt Davis begin down on the depth chart at Vikings OTAs

Episode Date: May 27, 2021

Will Ragatz of Sports Illustrated joins Matthew Coller and Sam Ekstrom to discuss what they saw on the first day that was open to media at Vikings OTAs. Kellen Mond is working as QB4 behind Jake Browning and Nate Stanley and both rookie offensive linemen are working with the second team. Sam strongly thinks they should be starting. Will also talks about a comment GM Rick Spielman made about Kirk Cousins being a Viking for the next two years. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Get Coors Light in the new look delivered straight to your door with Drizzly or Instacart, Coors Brewing Company, Golden, Colorado, and as always, celebrate. Hello, welcome to another episode of Purple Insider presented by Scout Logistics. Matthew Collar along with Sam Ekstrom and Will Regetz. All of us have a little bit of red in the face. Well, natural for Will as a redhead, but a little more because we were standing outside for several hours watching an OTA practice. Fellas, great to be out there watching some 11 on 11, some real looking football. We didn't get a whole lot of that in rookie camp guys it felt great you're talking about my face though specifically because

i can see all three of our faces and i clearly am the one who did not wear sunscreen today yeah i did not want to point that out completely but i did put on uh quite a bit i slathered and i and i'm sure that will as a red head you have it like on hand at all times with the sunscreen yeah i kind of have to i mean it's like if i'm out there for like 45 minutes without it i'm starting to get some red so but it was fun to be out there and see the whole 85 guys or however many players were out there and uh it's not quite as exciting as training camp because they they don't really get to do much physically um but a little a little a step up from rookie mini camp for sure all right i think the place we have to start because there's a lot

to get to here actually and we heard from clint kubiak delvin cook uh anthony bar which is worth discussing so we'll get to all that but on the field stuff i think the most notable thing today is denille hunter not being there that is by far number one sam you and i talked about that quite a bit on the last episode so let me just get will's kind of takeaway on this and anthony barr had sort of a cryptic comment a little bit of like we support him and that kind of thing so it's uh i know that zimmer and spielman have pretended this is not happening but now this is happening with daniel hunter with him not being here for multiple days of otas so how do you think will that this ultimately ends up

playing out with hunter it's a good question i mean i don't think we're at the point yet where it's like an all caps situation. It's notable for sure that he's not there because he's kind of the only big name player that isn't there with his legal situation, but Daniel Hunter not being there. Well, the contract thing popped up back last October with the initial NFL network report. And then again, in March, the athletic had something and it's just kind of been, it pops up and then we,

we stopped thinking about it for a while, but it's, it's a thing. It's a situation. I mean, he clearly wants to be paid like he should be based on his production in 2018 and 2019 he's like the 25th highest paid edge rusher or something when performing as a top five guy at his position so it makes sense but but then again it's such a

fascinating discussion of the leverage because he's coming off of the the the neck surgery and missing a whole year and do the vikings want to extend him without knowing for leverage because he's coming off of the the neck surgery and missing a whole year and do the Vikings want to extend him without knowing for sure that he's going to be the same guy so I I don't know we'll see if he's still not there at the mandatory mini camp in June that's when that's when it starts to become a real thing and then any holdout into training camp becomes very notable because there's the fines that come with that based on the CBA. So I don't know how this is going to play out. I would still expect him to be back at some point and to get something worked out,

whether that's an extension or whether he just kind of figures, OK, maybe I got to prove it for a year before I get that extension. But yeah, we'll see. It could be something that lasts a while longer. I think this is like step one of three or four different thresholds kind of during this process. Number one, you're not showing up to voluntary OTAs. Number two is the June 1st, where the extra money kind of goes in the Vikings pocket. Maybe something can be negotiated. Step three would be mandatory, you know, which takes it a little bit further. And then step four would be the start of training

camp. So right now we've cleared step one of the alleged holdout. And I don't even know if it's a holdout yet. This is just sort of an intentional absence. I don't think we're in holdout territory. I think we reach holdout territory after step three. If he misses mandatory minicamp, then holdout watch is officially on. Yeah, I agree, Sam, that right now they have plenty of time to get something figured out. And at this phase previously, Anthony Barr didn't come up with a contract extension. Ultimately, that one went all the way to the very end with him nearly signing with the New York Jets, but ends up staying as a Viking. Delvin Cook, later than this, his agent was telling Adam Schefter, oh, we're not going to participate in Zoom calls or something, which was kind of the weirdest holdout that there's ever been. And even remember Kyle Rudolph in an OTA press conference said a lot of teams

would be interested in trading for me or something like that in classic Kyle Rudolph fashion. So we are not really down this road yet. It's just notable that like you said, Sam, this is the first step toward, okay, like it's little letters situation. Then no mandatory camp is big letters situation. Then if it's training camp, then we need emojis to start like describing that this thing is really happening.

But I think you make a good point. Will with the June 1st thing. And then something else too came out today that the salary cap in the NFL is going to go way up next year by a lot. One of its biggest jumps that it's made in the last 10 years that it's going to go up to, I think 208 million from 182 right now. So there's almost no reason for this not to happen unless they just want to play hardball with Daniil Hunter. And let me just give you a statistic that

I discovered poking around last night, that over the next three years, Joey Bosa is going to make $77 million in cash and Daniil Hunter is going to make $77 million in cash and Daniel Hunter's going to make less than 40. So you've got to figure out a way to kind of close that gap. And I think that they can will. And that's where I'm still sitting right now is until we get to capital letters and emojis, I'm just going to say, this is not a meaningful thing. And it's not like Daniel Hunter's really missing anything.

He knows the defense. Yeah, no, he's not, he's not like daniel hunter's really missing anything he knows the defense yeah no he's not he's not missing anything if i mean he needs to eventually get some reps to kind of get back into the swing of things after missing a year but yeah if he doesn't report uh for for any of otas he's not going to miss anything and i i still do think that they will get something figured out and like you said they have the money to do it if the cap goes. I think that was the cap ceiling was $208 million. But regardless, it's going to make a big jump this year. It's going to make an even bigger jump probably next year with the TV deals and all that stuff. But, yeah, I mean, I guess we're just going to have to see.

I would just advise people not to panic right now because it's, it's still may, it's still just OTAs. There's contract stuff here. There's just certain stuff that has to be worked out, but it's not something to stress about yet. It's something to keep in the back of your mind as we go forward. But yeah,

we'll see what happens. Yeah. Oh, I'm sorry. I said one 82, one 82 is the floor now. And then the cap is one 90, I think. Right. So that's, that's kind of where we're at or in that ballpark. So either way though, it's going to take a big jump forward.

And I think that that could make it even easier for the Vikings to rework this thing. Now, Sam getting to on the field stuff. I know that you wanted to see Wyatt Davis and Christian Derrissaw on the field with the ones, but as you had predicted, we saw Rashad Hill and also Dakota Dozier. So say your piece and then we'll, you react to it. I have my rant. Um, exactly. A, a change would have been refreshing like that. I expected this to be the case where the Vikings go with the veterans, sort of for veterans' sake, as the number one guy. We saw this with Pat Alfline.

He had to earn his way into the starting lineup. Brian O'Neill needed six games. Ezra Cleveland might not have seen the field last year, if not for injury, because they had Dakota Dozier, and even Avion Collins was above him on the depth chart in training camp. So again, this isn't surprising, maybe a tad more surprising at left tackle when you have a first round pick in a guy. And my whole philosophy on this is start getting everyone comfortable with each other, because this is inevitable. Like the red carpet has been rolled out for Derrissaw and Davis. You cut Riley Reif so you could draft Derrissaw.

You stood Pat in free agency so you could draft Davis. Like they parted the Red Sea for these two prospects. So you may as well start expressing some faith in them. Let Garrett Bradbury get comfortable. Let Ezra Cleveland and Christian Derrissaw start working together. Let Davis learn from Brian O'Neill to his right. And just stop the charade. legitimate starting caliber veterans I would get it but you're holding the fort down with Dakota Dozier who had the sixth worst guard season in the last 15 years per pro football focus and Rashad Hill who when given a chance to you know sort of precede Brian O'Neill was arguably a bottom five tackle in that sample size in the league so I don't think you're you're holding the fort down with Joe Thomas here um I I would just make the move now kind of go out of character it's not like you're

you're if they if they started week one and struggled so be it they're still closer to maturing as players if they do that than if they're on the sideline working with the twos in practice yeah and I I completely agree with that I think it's a little a little ridiculous I mean I get it but like you said I mean Dalvin Cook said that OTAs are about getting that timing down and getting building chemistry and just little steps like that why not let those rookies start to take those progressions and and start to learn what the offensive line I think is going to be like and what it what it should be like it just seems like the Vikings

overdo it a little bit with this I don't know if there's a Mike Zimmer old school mentality or in your place thing but like they didn't play the best rookie wide receiver we've ever seen until week three last year like if that doesn't tell you something, I don't know what will. Like, I think you just kind of, at some point you have to go with talent. I don't, I don't care if they're a rookie.

I don't care where, where they came from. Play your best guys. Don't play BC Johnson over Justin Jefferson for their first two weeks. Don't, don't even think about playing Dakota Dozier or maybe Rashad Hill, but, but Derrissaw is a first round pick.

Like I, I think they, I think they have to get them in there I I completely agree with that it's it's a little weird we'll see how long it takes for those guys to potentially work up into the first team I'm much more comfortable with Rashad Hill even though Dakota Dozier is the first round pick than I am or I'm sorry Freudian slip we all wish that right right yeah right uh even though Christian Derrissaw is the first round pick, then I am, or I'm sorry. Freudian slip. We all wish that. Right, right, right. Yeah, right.

Even though Christian Derrissaw is the first round pick, I'm more comfortable with Rashad Hill because I've seen him play well. And so if the, you know, I know that you're mentioning 2018. I think that even if you look at his body, it's changed the way he's played in relief duties in recent years. Plus that situation was weird with wanting to be in the shotgun all the time with john d filippo so it was a little bit messy i think in this system that if they started rashad hill it would be fine and rashad hill sets a good baseline like if you can't beat rashad hill out then it's not then you're not

ready right like so he can start for a little while. That's okay. And you should be forced to beat out Rashad Hill. Dozier is the one where I have the problem with because there's no way that Wyatt Davis can be worse because we're talking about the worst player in the NFL. So this is the problem. Even if it was Mason Cole, I'd feel better about it because I'd be like, I don't know, he played for another team and I guess he was still bad, but not as bad as Dakota Dozier. The Wyatt Davis one to me is, look, you drafted the guy to be your starter, put him in and

let him be your starter. I get wanting to try to earn it. But with Dozier, I think it's really about him specifically that even when they brought him back, we all went went what is your obsession with Dakota Dozier that I don't know I mean he seems like he's a fine rotational player he's conscientious as Mike Zimmer said but I yeah I think I think I'm generally with you on this one Sam the only thing I would say is that this was the first week of OTAs. So it's not like a national emergency. If we get into training camp and Dakota Dozier is still starting,

like when they put pads on, it might be an emergency. It honestly might, because there's just no way that Wyatt Davis could be worse. We're going to tweet that Dakota Dozier is with the ones in training camp and there's going to be fans showing up with pitchforks and torches i've already got that on my twitter mentions today but like i i look at the way this team handled the left guard spot last year and they didn't even give ezra cleveland a sniff they didn't even let him in the door at and give him a seat at the table and say hey ezra like i i know you're you're changing positions and you're a rookie and we didn't have the off season, but let's at least see if you can beat out Avi on Collins

and, and take a shot at Dakota Dozier here and just see if you can hang. They didn't even do that. Um, and, and I'm sure we'll get into this caller, but I mean, the way they're handling Kellen Mond as well, that's kind of another example of, I mean, they're, they are slow playing these rookies along here. Well, let's go, let's get into that then. I am. I, cause I have, I do have an issue with not just playing wide Davis there because, you know, Dakota's track record should say you're like in the XFL, but I have no problem whatsoever with Jake Browning being the number two quarterback at this moment. And having to say like, look, you have a long way to go. Kellen Mond, before you

learn this offense, Jake Browning knows the offense. You have to figure out which guys in your second team can play. So you can't really have a quarterback there sort of fumbling his way through it. You have to have someone operating these things to teach the younger players on the second team, how it needs to be done. As he would know, Jake Browning was good last year, I think in training camp and another guy that sets a bar, he knows the offense. He's clearly not as talented as Mond. So if you can't get over that bar by the time we're into training camp, then're gonna go oh okay you may have just drafted someone who's not all that good um but if he clears that bar pretty quickly then like okay this is your hurdle and i'm fine with there being a hurdle do you agree with that will

yeah i agree with that and i think it's interesting that they they are going really slow with kellen mon like we saw a period today where they had Stanley and Browning and Cousins throw into the receivers running routes, and then Mond was overworking with the running backs just doing the little checkdowns and then getting them their reps in. And, yeah, I don't think that that should be news to anybody really. I mean, he has a long way to go just learning the basics of playing in the NFL. And Jake Browning, people forget, he's been around for two years.

I mean, he was at rookie minicamp, but he's entering his third year now. So it'll be interesting to see kind of how that dynamic plays out with those three backup quarterbacks fighting for that backup job. But, yeah, the fact that there's a bar there for Kellen Mond to get over, I think, is a good thing. I wouldn't say jake browning is like on a rashad hill level in terms of talent at his position but kellen mon's got a lot longer way to go than than christian barisaw does so uh it makes sense to have guys

there that you need to kind of incrementally judge the the progress of your rookies against I'm just curious at what point does Kellen Mond like how high would he have had to be drafted to have a little higher status on this team like second round would he be able to get third team reps or I mean second team reps you know first round pick you know if he was trying to coexist with cousins would he get second team reps then like is it is it because they think browning and stanley are better at this point like i because if you did draft a first round pick um and they were going to be your quarterback like if it was trevor lawrence would jacksonville be giving their veteran backup the first reps right now no i mean they'd be trevor lawrence

obviously so i mean clearly rookie quarterbacks take first team reps all the time, or second team reps all the time. It's not like he can't do it at this stage. I'm just surprised, again, that they don't kind of let him into the mix and say, all right, like, Kellen, you're going to get this set of second team reps. Nate, you get some. Jake, you get some. Because I also don't think Nate Stanley and Jake Browning

have any league credibility to be, like, blocking his path because I also don't think Nate Stanley and Jake Browning have any league credibility to be like blocking his path I I just don't I think you need to invest in your third round pick and trust that he can move along like sometimes people rise to expectations and if you're expected to be like ready to be a backup this year you should be given that responsibility I think pretty early on in the process so we'll see what happens next week still this is just day three of practice for the team day one that we've gotten to see but i again i'm gonna push the vikings on this one to like let these guys actually kind of pull their weight based on where they were picked. Kellen Mond was their, what, was he their second overall draft pick this year?

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care if he's faster or has a stronger arm. Well, Mannion had a pretty strong arm, but we, we don't care if he's a better athlete or playmaker, if he can't even get the offense right. And from the reps that we have seen in the throws that we have seen from Kellen Mond, it hasn't looked very good. I'm not like judging Kellen Mond at this moment, but it's not like we walked out there and went, oh my gosh, Dan Marino. Oh no, it's Kellen Mond. Like he just, I mean, his one rep

that he got with the third team, he got sacked. We saw him running some basic like check downs to running backs that he threw in accurately. I don't know. I'm totally fine with a third round pick having to earn it from a UDFA who has been around for a couple of years. I agree that this isn't like case Keenum or something that would have credibility. But, you know, I think that Browning is somebody that has performed pretty well, especially in last year's camp to show that,

hey, you're at least going to have to beat him. And Jordan Love didn't play over, you know, Tim Boyle last year as the backup. So they're going to go with whichever guy is better. Now, on the defensive side, Will, we didn't see Jeff Gladney or Cam Dantzler, which kind of throws everything up in the air. And we saw a bunch of different people rotating in in this practice. We don't know why Cam Dantzler wasn't there. They don't have to tell us

during otas like they do during the regular season but i i think my takeaway a little bit was if one of those guys isn't there if gladney's suspended for the season or if dancer's hurt or something they do have some backup in mckenzie alexander and patrick peterson but it still doesn't look great like i still think they need somebody else. Real quick interruption. Cam Dantzler just tweeted ready to get back to work next week with my brothers. Oh, okay.

Well, that's fine. I didn't think it was anything serious. I think he, I think it was something to do with like his kid having a birthday or something. Well, happy birthday to Cam. His son's second birthday. I saw on instagram or something

skinny little child i'm sure yeah i i think i think they need to continue looking at that cornerback position and ways to add depth that isn't just like perry nickerson like that's why the the report that they offered bashad breland uh was encouraging to me because I think if you can get a guy of that caliber to come in and be that number four guy or even to push a Mackenzie Alexander or one of the outside guys for a starting job. I just think we saw last year how ugly it can get when corners have to miss time and you end up with playing like street free agents. And it's just such a difficult position to play in the NFL, especially the modern game. Like you're going to get picked on if you, if other teams know that you aren't ready.

So, yeah, I mean, they had Chris Boyd working in there with the first team who just doesn't inspire a lot of confidence. And Harrison Hand, I think has a little bit upside. We saw him get an interception today, but yeah, I think that's a position where with Gladney's situation, with, I don't know, Dantzler, just based on his frame, I think there's always going to be a little bit of concern about injury there.

I think if they can add another body there, that could be really good for the depth going forward. If I'm reading if I'm reading, you know, pretty far into this, seeing Chris Boyd with the ones on the outside and seven on sevens, that tells me that they definitely don't see McKenzie as an outside option because, you know, they had the option to put anybody there opposite Patrick Peterson and they put Boyd and then they had McKenzie in the slot after that so I think the team wants Boyd in hand to take a step like it seems like they're kind of operating

sort of under the premise that all right you know we're going to trade Hughes because we have faith that like these guys are going to get better and maybe they are pursuing someone else as well Will like you mentioned even if the Bashad Breland thing doesn't work out, because it seems like Breland wants to be paid a little more, a lot of guys that are available for a million or $2 million out there. So I wouldn't be surprised at all to see them add one more body, but that still doesn't mean they don't expect Boyd and Hand to take a step. Last year, I counted the Vikings played 10 cornerbacks last year,

like some amount of snaps. They need more than like four, and they're probably going to need to use Boyd and or Hand at some point. And Hand had a really impressive play today, a diving, probably interception. I don't think it touched the ground. Maybe it did, but it was an impressive play nonetheless. That's going to be an important second-year guy because a round pick you know that can go either way you get fifth round busts a lot but fifth round is kind of on that that borderline where you might still be able to expect them to have a

nice little trajectory so i think that's someone to watch this year yeah when he got in there i mean he played like 100 snaps or something last year but he he played against like julio jones a little in the falcons game he looked like he knew what he was doing and could could hold his own at that level and to your point about them playing a ton of cornerback i remember looking at the um like the injury reports last year they they didn't play the same trio of cornerbacks in back-to-back weeks until like the middle of the season. Like they had a different trio for at least the first like six or seven weeks, which was just absurd. Yeah, and I'm so happy to not watch Chris Jones play football again this year.

So you don't want to get down that path. And that's a great reason to get someone who has played before and who has proven that they could be in the NFL. Breland, I thought, would have been a good idea. It looks like that ship has kind of sailed based on him tweeting that he's looking for a real offer or something like that. So I want to ask you guys what you think about Anthony Barr returning and some of his comments today, because it sounds to me and I don't know why this is but i respect it as a lover of minnesota um and uh not being anywhere near from here just like anthony bar opposite coast but i enjoy

minnesota and don't want to leave either but it's always interesting to me that anthony bar turned down an offer from the jets to come here and then this year the way he made it sound as if he could have said okay okay, cut me. That's the way that it sounded. And he said, I wanted to stay here. I didn't want to go out on a sour note. Why, why do you guys think this is maybe Sam, you start with this one and we'll, or you react, but like, why, why is it? Do you think that Anthony Barr has this like want to succeed with the Minnesota Vikings. And again, I respect it and I appreciate it.

I just feel like it's really unique compared to how most things operate, where it's like, what do I care? Different laundry, give me the best contract or, or was this the best contract situation? And so it's, he's sort of spinning it the right way. Yeah, that's a good question. I think to your last point, he probably was going to make more money here than elsewhere in a depressed market, or at least he may not have wanted to take that risk. You also raise a good point in that. level because first round picks constantly sort of you know get embraced by um this new place and you you assume as a fan that they're going to be there forever and then the first free agency comes around and they're gone and it turns out there maybe wasn't quite the loyalty that you

perceive there to be but with bar it seems real so i i guess a of factors might enhance it here for him. Number one, he's always had the same head coach. You know, there's every bit of continuity here to help him. And Mike Zimmer has an attachment to Barr as well. So there's mutual loyalty, I think. And Barr has been here since the beginning. Like he saw the foundation get laid and he clearly wants to see kind of everything come to fruition with this regime. Number two, he gets to play with Kendricks. I mean, that's pretty cool, right? You get to hang out with your college buddy and play at the same position and play next to each other.

That's probably a pretty significant draw as well. And I think those are two factors that are unique to Barr's situation here in Minnesota. So, you know, a lot of guys don't go that path. Barr, I think, kind of sees how good he has it here. Like he's instead of chasing immediate dollars, he might think that his earning potential is better in Minnesota, where he is valued so much and has sort of a unique situation with Kendricks that also probably like brings the best out of him. That that's kind of the way I see it. Hey everyone. I want to tell you about our friends. It's Scout Logistics. And I really do mean it when I say friends,

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time prior to last year, obviously, but they've kind of had that same core and parts of it have shifted, but Barr, Kendrick, Smith, Hunter, they're all still around. They're all still part of this defensive core. And I think there's part of him that probably wants to just see it through and get back to that level that they played at in 2017 even 2019 and all those seasons so yeah it was interesting to hear him say that he didn't want the last memory he had in a Minnesota Vikings uniform to be tearing his pack last week too against the Colts and then missing the season

having to watch as like Blake Lynch and Hardy Nickerson played linebacker against the Saints and all that kind of stuff so yeah I mean and he with with his relationship with Mike Zimmer and how Zimmer can use him in different ways as a chess piece and with the way he plays off of Kendricks he probably thinks that if he can come back out here and look like the old Anthony Barr, then he's going to be able to parlay that into some team next year, saying, okay, we can use that guy as a foundational piece on our defense. Right. I think it's probably like 60-40 or 50-50 to, he didn't want to go out like that,

and he has been here and he's comfortable here and is very close with Kendrickson Smith. But there's also how much money was he really going to make coming off an injury versus if he has a pro bowl season, how much money could he potentially make as a free agent? So it kind of worked out for everybody, even if it's a short-term pay cut, it could end up being, you know, kind of longer term, but sometimes these things get

a little ugly with the money situations and you end up with someone like riley reef saying no i'm good guys i'll just i'll actually go take less money to not be near you because you sort of screwed me over last year uh last question for you guys so will you tweeted out an interview with rick spielman where he said on the rich Eisen show that Kirk Cousins will be our quarterback for the next two years, of which always pops into my head. Josh Rosen is our quarterback. But what do we what would you put percentage chance? Kirk Cousins plays the full next two seasons of National Football League football for the minnesota vikings give me give me percentage chance that he starts 34 more regular season games or more for the vikings well i'll

start by saying it'll be interesting to see how this rick spielman quote ages because he the part that stood out to me is he said for sure he said kirk cousins i know for sure will be our quarterback the next two years and as soon as you say something as definitive as that in a league where so many things can change and such so many things are unpredictable even just a year ahead of time that stood out to me like i wonder if we're gonna look back at that sometime in 2022 whether this time next year or sometime during the 2022 season and think about that quote and be like I don't I don't know like the way we look at the him saying I have no intent on trading Stefan Diggs or whatever

about you said about Percy Harvin back in the day and things like that but as for percentages I think it's probably a 75 percent chance that might be low. 80% chance, I think, that Kirk Cousins plays the next two seasons as a starting quarterback with no drama or issues or whatever. But within that 20% is the chance that he doesn't have a great year this year and then maybe Mond impresses and maybe they get him in there next year and they trade Cousins or something along those lines, or they draft a quarterback next year if they stink. So even 80 might be low, but I'll go with that right now.

It's going to be interesting to see if this team has the tolerance for a lame duck quarterback because with the cap going up 10%, like we talked about about it's becoming more and more possible that they can just pay the 45 next year and be done with it so will they have the tolerance for that type of season which can be a distraction like you don't like having a lame duck coach when your coach is in the last year of his deal and I think the same would apply to a quarterback especially when you have a fairly high draft pick sort of nipping at his heels.

So if they reach that point before 2022, will they just embrace it going to 2022 with the big salary expiring contract? Will they feel the need to get rid of him before then to avoid the distraction or offer the extension sort of three doors to go down and door two which is Stan Pat might actually be a pretty uncomfortable option if you know you you haven't committed further to him and you know it's his final year in Minnesota barring like a Super Bowl that's the path that I think raises probably the potential for drama.

I'm going to go 50, 50. Did you give a percentage, Sam? No. Okay. Then give a percentage. What do you think? 58%. I knew you were going to do that. I'll go. Okay. So I say we're a little farther away here than you will because i think it's 50 50 but i don't know if kellen mond has anything to do with this or not i just felt like the draft pick of kellen mond was so far diverting from how they've handled the backup quarterback situation that it waved a flag of like we're going to think about the future here, but we're not totally ready to go all in on trading everything for Justin Fields or drafting Mac Jones, but we're at least thinking about this.

And I do think if they were to go eight, nine or something like that, that they're looking for another option that they would trade them away, that they would draft someone else. The one thing that I think they'll have to consider is Justin Jefferson is going to make other people good at football. I mean, if you, if you put in another quarterback who you think is sort of close to Kirk, but is way cheaper, just the Jefferson is going to make that person good. And so is probably Delvin cook, probably Adam Thielen at that point. And this offensive line is being built up. So they're going to have to consider that. And I think there's a good chance if they don't go better than 10 and seven,

better than a single playoff win that they say, all right, what, what team wants to trade for Kirk cousins? Let's figure this out. So, but you know, if he plays well, if they go 11 and six, if they go 12 and five and they win a couple of playoff games, then I think you stay, but it really, I think there's a certain bar for the whole team that if it doesn't get reached, that they'll do the Matt Stafford thing and just say, okay, well we've given this long enough and it hasn't worked. Well, that's why this is such a pivotal year for cousins. Cause I feel like in each of the

three years he's been here, you can kind of make some excuse. In 2018, oh, they didn't have the right offensive system for his abilities with John DeFilippo. And then in 2019, the offensive line was bad. And then last year, the defense was terrible. Like, I don't know if there's going to be an excuse this year. So you need to see from him that, A, he can get you to the playoffs for the second time in four years and maybe win a game or two. But you just need to see a lot more consistency

than what he's brought the past few years and just not having those stretches of a game or two games or three games where he just looks like a replacement-level quarterback and is making all these boneheaded decisions. So, yeah, it'll be interesting to reevaluate next year what we think the chances are of Cousins being around in 2022. The big thing is I don't know who's going to trade for him if he's coming off of a disappointing year with a $35 million guaranteed base salary for 2022. Like, would the Vikings have to attach a high pick to that?

Like it's the NBA or something. So I don't, I don't know, but yeah, I mean, Kellen Mond may or may not factor into the plans in 2022. They might go look at a different option, but if Cousins doesn't play well this year with all, with the offensive line being improved, with the defense being loaded, with the weapons that he has, then I think you just gotta, you gotta figure out another option. I think that with a quarterback, if someone will trade for Carson Wentz who played about his war and Sam Darnold, like these guys have less of a track record. Um, Wentz has one good year. Darnold has no good years and people were giving away draft capital for them

that somebody would with Kirk. And think about this. Kirk was not great in 2017. The Vikings gave him the biggest contract ever. So that's, that's quarterback that's football for you. So I, I guess we'll see, we'll see. And it will entirely depend on that bar and whether they reach it or not. Will Raggetts, this has been very fun to have you on. Glad that we could do it.

And Sam, sunscreen, man. What are you, a rookie? I'll wear sunscreen next time. Will, please wear another sweater. Well, we'll see what the weather is. It was a little windy today. It was sneaky. It was like 57.

I don't need sunscreen when it's 57. Turns out you do. Oh, I've made that mistake before. The temperature does not really matter. Well, it does a little bit. I don't really wear it in the winter. But, you know, if the sun's out, it can get you even if it's in the 50s, 60s. And as far as the sweater goes, it's a fine choice for the wind. Like it was a good choice. You got to stay warm. Some of our colleagues were out there in shorts and regular t-shirts as if it was training camp, as if it was going to be like 94 degrees. So I respect that. It was only about, you know,

sort of like what it gives off. It gives off like a lawn, a lawn mowing type of vibe is kind of what you were given off. So that's all I'm saying. I will, I will step up my my drip you you and the pioneer press be writer chris thomas and need to wear matching northwestern sweaters yes we do i need like a 1964 outback bowl sweatshirt i'm just gonna leave that there and end the podcast thanks for coming on well