Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Mark Wilf talks and which position battles could have surprise upsets

Episode Date: July 31, 2022

Matthew Coller reports from US Bank Stadium on Jared Allen being inducted into the ring of honor and Mark Wilf talking about the team's direction... Wilf answered questions about choose to keep the team in tact rather than making major changes. Plus fan questions about the first few days of training camp. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to another episode of Purple Insider, Matthew Collar here and just returning from U.S. Bank Stadium where the Minnesota Vikings held practice today. But that really wasn't the story, to tell you the truth. It was more of a walkthrough to get the players familiar with U.S. Bank Stadium. And the only star of the day was Greg Joseph, who actually had a very good day kicking the ball. But since we don't have a kicking competition, it really takes the juice out of kicker analysis, I guess. So now,

you know, I guess that, uh, he had a good day, but other than that, the biggest story was twofold. Number one, Jared Allen is going into the ring of honor. And number two, Mark Wilf talked about the team's off season moves and direction as a whole. So let's start out with Jared Allen. And this was a pretty cool moment at us bank stadium, Jared Allen, after practice, all the players gathered in the stands and he had a microphone and he gave a speech to all of the players. And then after his speech, they played up on the video board, a bunch of highlights of Jared Allen sacking people. And at the end, then it came up with a graphic that said

ring of honor inductee. And Jared Allen did not know that he was going to be inducted into the ring of honor. He was asked to come up and speak to the team by Kevin O'Connell. So he did that, but he did not realize that he was going into the ring of honor. So a very cool surprise moment for Jared Allen. And of course, deserved one of the great pass rushers in NFL history and Vikings history as well. And since they started keeping the sack statistic third in team history, though, those who have gone back and pro football reference and reviewed the purple people leaders days you won't be surprised to found find out they had a lot of sacks from

back in the day but jared allen nonetheless one of the great defensive players in team history and very deserving and after practice zadarius smith talked about jared allen's message to the team and what that meant to him. It was great, man. I watched him growing up and one of the main things that he talked about, what's your purpose? Is it family? Is it money? Like what is it really? And he brought out the money part about it and a lot of people get the money and want to quit after that, you know. So I look at it differently because I was a guy that came in, played one year high school football, got a little taste of the money, but I'm still here today wanting to play football.

It's just because I love the game and it's in my heart, man. And that message that he had said, it meant so much to me because I felt like I was a part of that because I really love this game of football. What do you remember about him as a player and the way he'd get to the quarterback? Just a dog, man. Crazy bull rush, man, and just on the edge. Each and every play when they really needed him, he came through.

I think I remember one game where it got to the end. I forgot which game it was, but it was fourth quarter, and they needed a sack really bad and he was the one that made the play I think the commentators was talking about him like we need a big play here and he was the one that delivered on that play but yeah man great guy great guy to look up to and of course we have to go with the local angle of Adam Thielen a Minnesotan if you didn't know who grew up watching Jared Allen and also got to play on the same roster as Jared Allen for one year. Yeah, for sure. I think, you know, his

energy, I've always tried to emulate, whether that be in meetings, in the locker room, on the field, you know, he brought it every single day. You you know he was a fun guy to be around because of the energy the you know always joking around messing around but when it was game time he was going and uh he was still messing around a little bit but but when when that ball was snapped there was a different guy uh so i've always tried to uh try to emulate that and the way that i kind of carry myself now when vikings owner mark wilf came to the podium, naturally, he talked about Jared Allen as well and just called him, you know, one of the great players in team history. And that's why they're putting him into the ring of honor. And it was a cool moment to see him there. But then we turned the conversation to the direction of the team. And I had a chance to ask Mark Wilf about keeping veteran players deciding not to rebuild and staying competitive. I've included the question here along with the answer. Deciding to keep a lot of players and veterans where you kind of had some options that could go one way or another and just the decision

to kind of stay a route of being competitive. Yeah, well, there's no question that's something very important to us. And I do believe we have a great roster. And I give Kweisi and Kevin a lot of credit. A lot of work went into it. It is a mix, some great rookies coming in, but we also made some moves in free agency that were smart. And between Kweisi and Kevin and Rob and the team, they did a great job balancing a lot of factors to get us to be really competitive. I know our fans, when they see him starting tomorrow practicing, we've got a lot of factors to get us to be really competitive. I know our fans, when they see him starting tomorrow practicing,

we've got a lot of great talent here. And more importantly, it's really starting to gel together in terms of a new system and new leadership, and they're really taking well to it. So when I tweeted this quote, naturally there was a handful of snarky responses. But I have to say, when he gives his analysis of the roster he's not wrong that it is a mix of younger players and veterans the thing is that they didn't really focus so much

on getting younger though which is part of the competitive rebuild and makes you lean a little bit more toward they wanted to be competitive and they wanted to aim for getting back to the playoffs more than they wanted to do the rebuild part of it that that's where they landed on as a whole and notice that you know Mark Wilf did not say anything about the future or trying to reset the roster or freshen it up or anything like that it was no we think we've got a mix of really good veterans and we think we were smart in free agency, which I would say yes and no about being smart in free agency. Like smart as in you got someone like Harrison Phillips, who's a young ish player who

could be here for years on years and be a big part of the interior of the defensive line. Like that was a good signing for kind of now and later. There are other ones, maybe Jordan Hicks on a short-term deal, or maybe, you know, even Patrick Peterson on a short-term deal, even though it was not expensive, that include a little bit, you know, in Peterson's case of dead cap space down the line. I mean, you know, things like that, I'm not sure were the best route to go

in free agency. Uh, another guy that's a good move is Shandon Sullivan. Somebody who is going to start for them at nickel quarter is fairly young, could be here for years as part of this. Like there were moves that were early Zimmer Vikings ish, where they signed players that might be a part of this thing going forward. And it's the short, short, short term deals that I kind of raise an eyebrow at. And, uh, I would say that the Zedarius Smith move, when you look at his cap hit, that's a smart move because that is somebody who can be with you for several years. If he stays healthy and has been an elite player before he isn't ridiculously old so if his

back holds up and his health holds up he could be one of the best steals in the league as far as how much you're paying him on the salary cap versus what he produces so it's kind of a mix of opinions of yes and no with some of the free agent approach for this team. But I just thought it really stood out that he focused almost entirely on, yes, competitive now, which he did in a later quote in the interview as well. Certainly that is what drives us every single day. Our ownership is a stewardship of this great franchise for the fans, and it burns all of us to get back to winning ways and competitiveness and to be where we want to be, winning divisions, winning championships,

and competing. So we feel we've made a lot of great strides on that front, and I can tell you the players are super, super energized and motivated as well. They don't like losing. A lot of them have come from winning college programs or they're just winners in their own right, and they don't like that taste either. So, again, like I said before, there's a lot of good energy, good positivity towards getting to those goals, and I believe we'll get there. The Vikings owner was also asked about how much he was involved

and him and Ziggy Wilf were involved in the decision to stay competitive, which I think is kind of the wrong way to put it. And I'll, I'll maybe scrutinize myself a little bit there. Like not exactly stay competitive. It's more of go for it. Like, I don't think in any direction they would have been non-competitive. I don't think there was any route where you could have as many talented players as you have, like two good young tackles, Justin Jefferson. Even if they had moved on from Thielen, you have young receivers who could step up as well. And there were other quarterback options, and still are, in Jimmy Garoppolo that would have sustained competitiveness. It was more of

long-term approach versus short-term approach, which they took aside from not trading draft picks, which Kweisi Adafo-Mensa has brought up, like the going full Rams. But aside from that, it's been a, we're going to try to win this year type of approach. And you heard that in the previous quote, where it's like what drives us is to get back to being in the playoffs and competing for the division and so forth. So there's, again, no real talk of, well, down the line, what we wanted to do was reset

this, that, or the other thing. It's entirely, hey, we're really going for it right here, which is also why I have throughout the off season set the bar high for them and said, if you don't win 10 or 10, 11, 12 games, maybe I should keep that at 11, 12, that this didn't really work the way you wanted it to. And there's nothing about his quotes there that would change my mind that the standards should be very high for the season. When they talk about the roster this way, there was not in that though, like a playoff edict, which it sounded like there was in the past, the past two seasons, but especially last year

where Mark Wilf kind of went out of his way in those interviews to say, we want to be back in the playoffs, like kind of given the, uh, a little extra oomph to it. Like, you know what I'm saying here? Um, and then, you know, it came to fruition that they didn't make it and, and made this big change. Um, but Mark Wolf was also asked about his role, uh, and how much they had their frame fingerprints on everything that the team

did with the roster after hiring Kweisi Adafo Mensah and Kevin O'Connell. Well, certainly, uh, the, the decisions of bringing the coach and GM on were something that as ownership we took it very seriously. We know how important that is and from there there was a lot of communication where we were involved engaged back in February and March

and we had a very short time frame and tight window to work with because Kevin was in the Super Bowl and everything started a little bit later than normal. But I give them great credit for getting up to speed really quickly. Okay, so those are the big takeaways for today. And then on Saturday, the fans will be out there. It's still unpadded. Sunday, they'll have a day off. And then Monday, it is pads popping time, folks. And we'll finally get there.

There's always a feeling of it's turned up to 11 once the pads come on. And that's when we start to really find out where people fit in. You've probably already heard me say this too many times to begin with, but that's the moment in camp where everything really starts to take off. So until then, let's answer some fan questions as always. And again, I just, I don't have a Diet Dr. Pepper on me. It's not an official fans only podcast though. So maybe we'll keep that for just when it's official.

So I'm going to try to run through five camp questions pretty quickly. And then the other questions that people have asked, maybe not necessarily as focused on training camp. So we'll start off at KevBot says, what has been the most significant or eye-opening quotation that you heard thus far from players, coaches, et cetera? I think it was actually from the general manager, Kweisi Adafo-Mensa, responding to the USA Today report where he had some quotes about Kirk Cousins being a good quarterback and Mahomes and Brady are usually the guys that win the Super Bowl and things like that, that Kweisi admitted that he was, quote, new to this media thing.

And, you know, that was pretty striking to have him, A, admit that, which I think is smart to come out and say, look, you know, maybe I should have phrased things a little bit differently. So they didn't come off a certain way. And I've got to learn to do that. Now that I'm the general manager of a team and everybody is going to be focused on every single thing that I say, which indeed is the pressure that goes along with this job. So that was pretty eyeopening of kind of a reminder that like, yeah, these guys are new and there's going to be things that happen that maybe wouldn't have

happened in the past. And there will be learning experiences that still come along with Kevin O'Connell and a quasi Adolfo Mensah. Aside from that, I think that maybe it was just, you know, Justin Jefferson talking about, um, you know, wanting to be the best wide receiver in the league. Like that stood out that I think everyone already does think of Justin Jefferson as the best receiver or one of the best receivers. Maybe it's like one ABCD with three or four other guys. But what always sticks out to me, and I know that, you know, I've gotten notes in the past

of like, you're just always, you're always praising Jefferson. It's like, well, I don't know what else to say from the negative side. You know, I think that he's become your biggest superstar and your franchise player for a reason. And I'm always looking for those reasons. Like why is this guy the way he is physical skill, but also mental makeup, which, uh, as you guys know, I'm usually interested in. And I, I just think that the great players have something that they're always chasing. And that one was a reminder that Justin Jefferson is the type of guy who feels like he's always chasing the next thing. And, uh, you know, last year he came into the season and he was saying, I spent a lot of time working on this specific

technique that I wanted to improve and that I wanted to master. And I remember it popping in my mind and feeling like this is a really good sign because a lot of times if someone has that first year where they succeed in pro sports, then they'll kind of go, all right, this is all I need to do. And his recognition that he wants to get better. Um, you have to get better to stay the same in the NFL because everybody game plans for you. And so now he's chasing something else, which is being the best receiver in the league that stood out. And the fact that, you know, um, maybe Kevin O'Connell and Kirk cousins comments didn't exactly match up when they talked about how much they want

to communicate to master the offense. And I don't mean a Zimmer thing. Nobody, nobody freak out. But I just mean that, you know, Kevin O'Connell was talking about, yeah, you know, the process of getting his feedback sort of starts today. And, you know, we're, we want to communicate all the time to find out what he likes with the offense. And Cousins said, well, I've got to really learn the offense first before I can really give you that feedback. And so watching this relationship is going to be something we're looking at all year is how are they getting along with each other? What are they saying about where they stand with the offense?

And I think Cousins is right when it comes to this, that he is going to have to master what O'Connell wants him to do before he can select the plays. But then O'Connell also said that having played quarterback, that he never wants to run a play out there to the quarterback that he, that that quarterback isn't comfortable with. And I think maybe in previous years, we've heard people say that, that quarterback isn't comfortable with. And I think maybe in previous years, we've heard people say that, but then there was also the sort of vibe of like, just, just run the offense Kirk and Hey, I'm going to meet with you and watch film for the first time in 2021. Right. So, uh, yeah, that kind of stuck out to me as well. And then look, you know,

anytime somebody has given some praise to a specific player it's going to stand out so talking about andrew booth jr and things like that probably those are the ones that pop to me the most so far plenty of time to go folks training camp is here and there's no better way to represent your purple fandom by going to sodastick.com and checking out all their minnesota-inspired goods. The best football designs, in my opinion, are Randy Moss' disgusting act and the purple people-eaters look. But look, there's lots more for you to check out at SodaStick.com, S-O-T-A-S-T-I-C-K.com. T-shirts, hoodies, hats, whatever you're looking for. Use the promo code purple insider at

checkout for 15% off your purchase. Uh, onto the next question is from, uh, Robert C man, uh, or yeah, I don't know how it's pronounced, but, uh, which, uh, defensive back not named hit man. Do you expect to impress the most at training camp? Well, Andrew Booth is certainly a good answer here, but Cam Dantzler is the guy to watch every day because Dantzler is going up against two of the best wide receivers in the league. And I, I know that expectations change for Thielen as he gets older and has had some injuries and so forth. But when you watch him run routes up close, he is as good at running routes as

anybody you're going to find in the league. And with Dantzler, I mean, it's a lot of good practice to go up against somebody that's that good, but also you could get beat down throughout a training camp if you're getting roasted routinely by just the Jefferson and Adam Thielen. So how Dantzler is responding to that and the pressure of having someone like Andrew Booth Jr. kind of nipping at his heels from behind him, you know, that's the player. Those two are really the guys that I expect. I mean, you said to impress the most, but just to be the most interesting to me to watch and see on a daily basis, like who's kind of rising and falling in that battle. If we are considering

that a battle, I think it is. I mean, I think Dantzler, it would be hard to knock him off, but if Booth Jr. plays way better, then he's got a chance to win that job. But I expect Booth Jr. to impress because he's naturally gifted. But also with Cam Dantzler coming in, in this camp, knowing that this is his chance, and this is his chance to solidify himself as a starter. I would expect that from him as well. And I think that Cam Bynum will impress and make it very hard for Louis Seam to take his job. I think that too, because I just get the sense that he's a good player. And all of a sudden, like this is an important thing about the secondary. It has questions and all of this seems to be kind of rocking a little bit,

teetering a little bit where it's like, if this guy works out, then it can work. If that guy works out, then it can work. But you can see the bones of it though, more than I think the last two years when you're banking on Bashad Breeland and Mackenzie Alexander, uh, of being, you know, maybe their best versions of themselves. That was a little bit of a bridge too far for me, but could I see young players like Bynum booth and, uh, you know, cam Dantzler, could I see them making improvements and showing something like, yeah, I could. And I think that's where

this defense really rests is how well those guys can cover. All right. Onto the next camp question. And, uh, if I haven't said it already, purple insider.com contact us, send your camp questions at Matthew collar on Twitter, or send me a DM, uh, on Twitter as well. Any of those things will work for camp questions. If you have any other weird football question or just an NFL question in general, fire it away, put it in the file, and we'll make sure that we get to it. So this comes from JTLorry on Twitter. Is Wyatt Davis really that bad?

I have yet to hear one thing about him. Do you have any insight into why he's failing to get any opportunities? Well, last year, it was not a good sign where he started off. And I know that we do the let's blame Zim for everything, but the, the, the premise that I naturally reject having covered Mike Zimmer for a long time was that, well, they just mis-evaluated this guy. There have been coaching staffs in the league who probably did that on a regular basis where they watch players and they came to the wrong conclusions and they entirely screwed up. And those guys were way better than we thought that was not a Mike Zimmer issue.

And, uh, with Wyatt Davis, if he couldn't get past the third team last year, then there was a reason for that because he was not executing the things they were asking him to do. And then Zimmer, uh, you know, I think not so accidentally let it slip that he was out of shape as well. It's impossible for me to tell you whether a big fat offensive lineman is in better shape now. Like, I don't, I don't know. They're all big. Right. Uh, But coming off that last year, the impression of the organization that O'Connell and Kweisi Adafomento would be working with to determine where everybody starts camp is that it didn't go very well for Wyatt Davis. And he's a third round pick. Like this happens a lot. It's just not like a shock that someone could come into the league and not be able to cut it at the highest level it's very very difficult to play in the NFL and this happens all the time

and a good example of this would be Drew Samia if you guys remember when they drafted Drew Samia which was only one round later in the fourth round and it might've even been an early fourth round pick. Everybody went, okay, future guard. This guy is, he got a nasty streak. He comes from offensive line university at Oklahoma. And the minute he got into the game, it was over. It's like, oh, okay. This is not going to work. There's so many technical details.

Somebody that I know calls it the dark arts. And I think like, that's right. Yeah, there's so many details to this that even watching, if someone's getting beaten all the time and you're watching from the sideline, like you notice, all right, okay, this guy's just getting crushed out there, play after play. But there are a lot of details in the running game

that how can you know if you're just watching from the sideline, but the coaches will know and they'll go back and review the tape and say, this guy's not getting it. There's another part of this too, that his opportunity isn't over. It's just a clear sign that they didn't feel like he was going to be a key part of this when they made their off season decisions. But there's time right now he is going to have to come from way behind, like the NASCAR driver who's in 43rd place to win the job, but it's not impossible that he could shine and show something different. I think the most likely scenario when somebody doesn't get on the field at all and stays with the third team through their entire first

camp and then into their second camp is just that it's one that's not going to work. And this is a little bit of the problem with draft hype. And of course we here are a part of this machine, but every draft pick on draft day is the best pick that's ever been made by the organization. And there's, you know, destined for the hall of fame. It's just not the case. Sometimes you draft good players.

Sometimes you don't like this might not have worked out. We'll see. I mean, if he starts to emerge, it'll be a good story. Uh, this one comes from, uh, let's see, USNR Jacobs on Twitter, defensive line, looking like a top five defensive line. No, but they look good. I mean, top five is a lot. And when you don't have interior pressure, you have guys who can push the pocket, but you don't have a Chris Jones, an Aaron Donald, a cam Hayward, someone who is just an absolute freak that is pressuring the quarterback. You know, every other play from the inside, then you can't be a top five unit because there's a lot of teams that do have those guys that are very, very effective interior

pass rushers. The pass rush, if it's interior is going to have to come from Zedaria Smith in which there will have to be other sacrifices made on the outside pressure. If that's going to be the case, do they have a top five pass rush duo? That is possible. And the fact that like every day that Zedaria Smith and Daniil Hunter walk out there and have a full practice and everything's good, then you get closer to that happening of having a top five duo. But when you start to go through the pass rushers in the league, it's like, there's a lot of them. There's a lot of really, really, really good defensive lines in the entire NFL. And, you know, I think that they

can have a very good one, but I don't know if they can match up with the teams that are truly, truly great when it comes to that, when they have, you know, especially more depth teams that have rotational rushers, the Vikings really haven't proven to have that. Uh, they can, they're allowed if somebody emerges or multiple somebody's emerge. But when you look at the defensive lines, I just went to the top five pass rushing defensive lines by PFF and then compare LA green Bay, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Vegas, and then Philly, Cleveland, Dallas. After that, I don't think you're quite in that class, but you're probably one level down. Um, if, and if, you know, Armand Watts, maybe it becomes a little bit better and, and looks like a legitimate past

rushing threat. Like there's a world where it can happen. I just don't think it's on that quite of a level where I would say that it's top five in the entire league, but the healthier it is, the better chance it has to be a very, very good defensive line. Okay. Last one for the rapid fire training camp questions at Herzog underscore Mike, what are the three biggest upsets you could see happening in position battles? Well, uh, is it an upset if Kellen Mon beats Sean Mannion? No, that's not an upset. No, I don't think so. He probably should beat out Sean Mannion in year two when he's had a whole year to prepare for this. But, uh, aside from that wide receiver is one that came to mind as I was getting ready for the season and writing my camp previews of could Amir

Smith-Marset or Albert Wilson fit better than KJ Osborne? It seems like a bit of a long shot that that could happen with Osborne having a really good year last year, but it's a new offense and how everybody fits in might be different this year than it did before. And you said upsets. So it would have to be one that surprised us. So I would go with if Amir Smith-Marset or Albert Wilson ended up as the third wide receiver on day one, that would be an upset that is possible, but not likely, which is what makes it an upset. Albert Wilson's got a lot of experience in the league. If he were to master it a little better, he still looks very quick to me.

And then Smith-Marset has that deep running ability and ball tracking ability that could make him a pretty serious, you know, downfield threat. And if that's what they want out of wide receiver three, more than somebody going underneath, if they want more of somebody who can be on the outside when they're moving other players into the slot, then yeah, I mean like that's, it's, it's possible, but it's definitely would be along the lines of an upset. Andrew Booth Jr.

Starting might be, um, I don't know if now after the first couple of good days and his draft status, that it would be a tremendous upset if he started, but it would be if he started over Patrick Peterson. If they decided to go starting corners with Andrew Booth Jr. and Cam Dantzler because they just loved how they looked and they felt like the youth was the way to go and Patrick Peterson was rotating and playing different positions or maybe, I mean, cut seems unlikely, but you know, I guess it's possible. If that were to happen, that would be a pretty big upset. If Patrick Peterson didn't end up as the outside corner,

like I said, I mean, these are, I don't think they're going to happen, but are in the realm of possibility if they're just blown away by Andrew Booth Jr. and the way that Cam Dantzler plays as well. And I guess, you know, buying them over Louis scene, it's pretty big upset. If that were to happen, uh, if Kenny Wong Wu ended up as the second running back over Alexander Madison, that's probably an upset as well, but there's a lot to look for when it comes to this stuff. Or if, uh, anybody else wins the right guard position other than Jesse Davis, that's probably an upset as well. All right, let's get to some other questions here.

This from at TeddyJames54 on Twitter. My opinion has been that the Vikings problems in the last four years have been their salary cap was too heavy. I know Cousins is the heaviest contract, but in my opinion, the Rudolph and Barr contracts are more problematic. So my question, who is to blame for those contracts being bad? Spielman for paying Barr as a pass rusher or Zimmer using him to stuff the run and set up the defense or paying Rudolph as a passing game weapon or Zimmer using him as a blocker too much.

The answer is definitely not Mike Zimmer. I don't think that either one of those players were used in a wrong type of way. I know Rudolph was very bitter about not getting as many targets in his last season. And hey, we were the ones, if you're an OG listener, then you remember me even telling Sam Bradford the throw it to Rudolph thing. And Bradford agreeing on the radio a couple of years ago when I interviewed Bradford. But this is something I've been on. I was on for a while of just like, I don't understand why Cousins doesn't throw to Rudolph

more in the middle of the field or more as an outlet, but he never seemed to feel comfortable. And Rudolph was not a separation tight end. So maybe there was a little bit of a fit issue with those two where he trusted him in the red zone, but he would look and maybe not see him open. But Rudolph is always open because he's just gigantic. But I don't think that was a usage issue. Like they use the tight end a lot. And I also looked up how often Rudolph was blocking on passing plays. You're not going to be shocked by this. It wasn't that often. It wasn't as often as Kyle Rudolph was making it sound like in some of the things that he said. So I don't think he was used wrongly. And the bar pass rusher thing, I don't believe that they

signed Anthony bar to be a pure pass rusher when they gave him his contract. I think they signed him to continue to be Anthony bar because Mike Zimmer never made any bones about what Anthony Barr was. And I, this is like one of those hills to die on. I don't think Mike Zimmer used Anthony Barr wrongly. I think he was a very, very effective player at what they asked him to do. training camp as an edge rusher, it just wasn't there in the same way that like an edge rusher has that explosiveness that as they call it, the twitchiness where right off the snap, the guy is just exploding because it wasn't something that he had done. And when you say, well, he did it in college, right. But like the quality of competition is so much different. So they had him as a situational blitzer of which he was really good at. And he, he, I think played largely well in coverage because of his intelligence. And when he was at his best running sideline to sideline with his speed, he was very good.

He was very good in that spot. The issue is how much was all of that worth and how hard was that to replace? Because when Eric Wilson played, who is just not a star at all, it wasn't like a massive difference when he played alongside of Eric Hendricks. I'm sure details wise, Mike Zimmer could tell me why it was a difference. But as far as the defense's performance, you were paying a huge amount of money to Anthony Barr.

And I think only maybe one or two years of that was a huge cap hit when they first did it, they had a low cap hit to start, but you're paying a significant cap hit to a guy who was bringing those things, which are replaced easier than say elite receivers, great, great offensive linemen, you know, things like that, that are just harder to find great edge rushers, great corners than it is to find a linebacker who can do a lot of things really well. So I think that was much more of the issue when it came to those. I agree with you that those two contracts were problematic when it came to filling out an entire roster and they did not get bang for buck for those deals. You think about after

signing bar, he misses basically a full season. And then last year he's banged up for most of the year. There's not like elite level performance there, which his contract would have suggested. And the same for Kyle Rudolph with those things as well, that there was a part of just valuing the fact that the guy had been drafted and developed and was a big part of the community and the organization and was one of the faces of the team that I think during the Spielman era, they got very loyal to people and that allowed those people to fight for every last dollar. And this went for Delvin cook too, because these players knew like, you're going to, you're going to give in, you're going to cave because I know you want

me. And that's exactly what ended up happening in those negotiations. So yeah, I don't think they were used wrongly. Like those were two good players during their time. It was entirely that in the NFL, you have to be extremely shrewd, whether it's about the player's age or, and ruthless, honestly, the, the, the cost, the replaceability. And when they fell in love with someone, especially if they drafted him, I mean, heck, they tried to resign Matt Khalil, like Matt Khalil, by the time he was done with the Vikings was just not a guy that you wanted starting at left tackle. And yet they gave him a huge contract offer. He chose to go somewhere else, but if they had not

signed Riley reef and instead had ended up keeping their guy because they drafted him, where would they have been even in 2017, because they got good tackle play in that year. So I think that was the major issue with that group is that they had fallen in love with those players or maybe some people from the top wanted those players to stay. That's also possible as well. All right, let's get in one more question here. Maybe two. Let's see. For fans only, is there a former Viking who had a short tenure with the Vikings who you thought was either let go too early or given up on too early by the Vikings? Also, with the alternate helmets and uniforms debuting for other teams, would you like to see the Vikings debut an alternate this season?

I always thought that the gray alternate Seahawks would be a cool idea for the Vikings. A gray uniform with hints of purple and gold. Sure, yeah, I'm into that. The fact that they can do a different helmet is pretty awesome. Um, yeah, I mean, I'm always into that. Like going back to kind of the way back old school style. I like when they do the, uh, the all white on the road. I think that just looks better. I know the offensive linemen don't like being an all white. So Jeremiah Searles disagrees with me on this, but, uh, I think those look good for the old school, all whites, but I'm all for being creative. The one thing that I have not enjoyed about the alternate uniforms and helmets is that everyone

just made there's black. It was like, did you guys just get together and just like make your helmet black instead of the regular color? Cause I don't know that that looks that great, but a gray uniform. Yeah. Or, you know, something with the helmets that's a little bit different. Um, I'm into that. I'm, I'm cool with that. Like, I like what Cincinnati is doing with the white helmet. Like I don't have super, super hot uniform takes. I just think that when you do creative stuff with what you have, like soccer teams or college football has gotten into this, then it's cool for fans like to buy different looking uniforms and stuff like that. You love when something new kind of comes out. So yeah, I'm good with that. I like that idea. And as far as the player who they gave up on too early, you know, J Ron curse had an off the field issue that I think Mike Zimmer never let go. And I think Mike Zimmer made a mistake

in focusing on that more than maybe he should have what J Ron curse could do because we saw last year with the Dallas Cowboys, J Ron curse became this box safety for them who blitzed, stopped the run, made plays. And he was very valuable in their defense. And if you go back to that game against Denver, where he has to come in late in the game and he made plays. And even there was a game early, I think it was maybe week two, 2018, where he had to come in and play that like big nickel thing and did a really good job against the green Bay Packers. There was some potential there, but I think when there was off-field problems, especially when it was something is as kind of senseless as it was

for J Ron curse. Like he was driving the wrong way on a closed road or something. It was just like, dude, what are you doing? Like you're on the Minnesota Vikings. Like you're, and he was with Mike Hughes, the first round pick. And I could see it. I mean, if you were a coach, would you be happy with that guy? Probably not, but maybe didn't give J Ron curse enough, uh, attention to what he could do and resign him. And they end up having to replace another position at, at corner or safety or defensive

back. And they really struggled with that in 2020, the injuries at corner were one of the biggest reasons they missed the playoffs. That's the player who comes to mind for me. There's always going to be the, why didn't they play Brett Jones more thing that, you know, maybe Brett Jones couldn't have played the whole season at guard. It's a, it's a little bit different than it is playing center, but I'll always wonder like, why did they stick with some guys that were really struggling there rather than giving Brett Jones a little more attention?

But that's, that one feels deep in the weeds and maybe a little nitpicky because we're talking about Brett Jones here. Like seemed like a great guy, super intelligent, was a decent enough pass blocker. But I think the issue was he couldn't do what they needed him to do in the run game. And if somebody like you're running half the time, somebody can't do what you need them to do. They can't really start over a long period of time or eventually those problems will end up getting revealed. But it's hard to think of like too many guys that were here for a short time and that they let go that we went, Oh boy, that's going to come back to bite you. Like does Taylor Heineke count because he's become an average backup quarterback? Probably not. Right. There's not that many

guys. I mean, the one big one, it's not, this doesn't go for a short tenure that they gave up on too early, but the one guy that they regret as far as giving up is probably Stefan Diggs and not so much regret in the way that like they didn't replace him. Of course they did with Justin Jefferson, who's cheaper and just as good, but more of what that signified and what that meant. And when Diggs came out and did an interview and said, yeah, it was pretty much because the team wouldn't communicate with me. That was my problem. Um, yeah, I mean, I think that that really sort of showed where we were at with the organization.

And they didn't, they gave up on him from the perspective of listening to him and gave up on, well, we just, you know, we just can't deal with this guy. So we're going to trade him away. And then he's had a ton of success. That's one that comes to mind as far as like letting players go that they shouldn't okay one last one here uh this from ro28 on twitter i have a non

football fans only question for you it occurred to me while listening to your latest podcaster that you are a master of something i just haven't figured out what that something is yet maybe you could help are you a master audio editor who is able to undetectively piece together multiple audio clips to make 50 to 60 minute podcasts? Or are you a master of one take broadcasting and able to talk for 50 to 60 minutes without mistakes in need of editing? Much like the one shots or long shots that made Stanley Kubrick's films so great. While comparing this pod to Stanley Kubrick is, I think in its weirdness at times could be accurate, but I'm not sure it's as artistically brilliant as Mr. Kubrick. Anyway, back to the question. When you address this issue or answer the question, I'll just add my two cents that in

my head or out loud, depending on the environment, the biggest difference is that if I were being recorded, I would have to stop constantly and edit out and redo the parts where I said something stupid or profane or politically incorrect, but mostly profane. I realize you're a professional, which must be why you don't have this problem. Whatever the case, one of the reasons your pods are enjoyable. Well, thank you so much. The absence of uhs and ums. Sometimes, sometimes if you went through with a fine tooth comb, you would probably find a few, but there's no bad edits, I hope, in the podcast as well.

So to answer your question, it's hours. That's what it is. I mean, naturally, I've been good at talking since I was a kid. But when it comes to how I'm able to do these in one take, which, yes, is the case, the only thing that I'll edit is when I put in the clips. So then I'll record, throw in the clip, record, throw in the clip. That I do. But as far as the fans only, I don't stop.

I just hit the record button and go. And sometimes you'll hear this when I'm trying to look up something and I will be talking and rambling a little and then, okay, now I found it and I've got the answer that does happen, but it's really just hours. I mean, when it comes to anybody who's professional at doing anything like this, it's how much you put into it. So if you are a violinist for an orchestra and you're practicing every single day for X number of hours, and then you're working with the rest of the orchestra and you're playing and playing and playing, and you're putting in all those hours, you're not going to play bad notes too often. And the same goes for this, where I don't play bad notes too often there are times

where I've said things I know the other day and I felt bad about this I think I said Tony Soprano instead of Tony Sperano so misspeaking does happen on the show do not act like I'm perfect but it's more that having done this since let let's see, it must've been 2009 when I first started being on the radio in Rochester, New York. And I did a hockey show, like a one hour Saturday hockey show. And if you went back and listened to that, it would not sound like this. But ever since then, I was in radio from 2009 all the way until 2020 when the medium became the podcast instead. That's a lot of days.

That's a lot of hours spent in front of a microphone talking. And that's the result is that by now I've sort of mastered the craft. But again, that does not mean that you guys could go through every podcast to point out where I misspoke because it does happen. Everybody makes mistakes and you see that anytime someone has to say bulging disc, for example, on Twitter or on TV, you will see sometimes that there are mistakes made. It does happen. But I appreciate that.

I take that as a compliment. That's my job. It's what I do here. So anyway, uh, by the way, just before we wrap up five stars on iTunes, you guys have been awesome about this and it has just been super great. And I already see the pod getting more attention and climbing the charts a little bit. So that's great. If you go there, give a five-star review. If you like these shows,

thank you very much for that. And also if you made it this long, here's a little nugget for you that I'm very proud of. I have just become a member of the pro football writers association, which to you guys is kind of like the what now, but it's kind of a union of football reporters. And, uh, the only people who are in this are professional football reporters who cover teams and who are there all the time and things like that. And I thought it was maybe time to apply for that. And here we are. So member of the P F W a, as we say, so I appreciate them accepting me into the club. And it's a, it's kind of a win for non-traditional media in a way, but also a win for like people who moved away from,

or were forced to move away from traditional radio, newspaper, whatever else, but also being treated as on the same professional level as those outlets, because it's really more about the individual and the professionalism than it is about, you know, if you're putting it on a podcast or you're putting it on a newspaper website or something. So thanks so much to them. Really appreciate it. And really appreciate all of you listening. I need more camp questions. So send them purpleinsider.com or on Twitter at Matthew Collar, and we will catch you next

time.