Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - New Vikings general manager candidates revealed (Part 2)

Episode Date: May 14, 2026

Matthew Coller gives his thoughts on new candidates for the Minnesota Vikings general manager position. They have something in common with the first batch of potential GMs as the search is underway. Plus the Vikings are playing in Mexico City in November. Do we like international games? And Matthew's ranking of opponents that improved the most. The Purple Insider podcast is brought to you by FanDuel. Also, check out our sponsor HIMS at https://hims.com/purpleinsider Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Alexander says bears confirmed to play week one at Carolina. Okay. Pick the game. Okay. Well, you know, I think Carolina's got a lot better on defense specifically. They were not a good. They made the playoffs and not a good defense. But if you want me to pick that game specifically,

I guess I would go Carolina to beat the bears there because I just don't, this is what baffles me. I just don't see how the bears are going to pressure any quarterback. And with Tet McMillan taking another step, adding Chris Brazel, I know it's a mid-round pick, but I think he's a talented young receiver. They've got some other guys, Jalen Coker, who's been improving. They've got a decent run game. They've built a good offensive line.

They're going to protect Bryce Young, and he's going to be, I think, free to drop back and throw against that team. So I'll go Carolina. But I actually love this bit if you guys want to do that. Hey, when the schedule comes out, pick this random game. I'd love to do that. Nano Joe, the QB Carousel never ends with this team. It's guaranteed some BS will happen during the season with the QBs.

You know, sometimes it is and sometimes it's not, man. We've had every different version. It's crazy because if just for example, like go back 10 years, if Sam Bradford got murdered in 2016, just killed the terrible tackles, bad offensive line, he got hit left and right, stayed healthy the whole season. Never missed any time. 2017, I don't even remember anyone hitting him, and he's out for the year. Who knows?

And then Case Keenom is great, right? And Sam Darnold was supposed to start for three or four weeks and then turn it over to J.J. McCarthy, then wins 14. And this is, you're right that even when you say some BS, like, it could just mean, it could mean Kyler's great. Like, just some stuff that you never see, never see coming or the league never sees coming or whatever. it's guaranteed it'd never be normal with the Vikings, but would you be surprised at all if JJ McCarthy ended up playing five games? That's my whole point about McCarthy is stay ready, man,

because it wouldn't be a shock if you end up playing quite a bit this year if you earn that job. But if you can't beat out Carson Wentz, you're not going to play. So, yeah, yeah, it's pretty much a guarantee that something happens that we don't expect. I would agree with that. Sean says water cooler chat today with my Bears co-worker was to get used to watching Big Citrus Forklift Bradbury into Caleb Williams both games this year.

Well, Caleb is a little bit better at escaping than maybe Kirk Cousins was, just as we saw Drake May get to the Super Bowl with Garrett Bradbury. So it'll be a little bit less there. But the defensive line for the Vikings interior, incredibly fascinating with how they change the game against some of these opponents, as you're mentioning. There's, even if they're inexperienced, just raw power is way different. Going up against a interior of the line for the Detroit Lions, it's quite a bit different for the Packers that was underwhelming, for the bears that lose one of their best players.

It's a totally different thing. And I did kind of throw you guys a little bit of a juke there when I said on the Fandul question of the day, I kind of turned it toward Justin. Jefferson a little bit. But, you know, that we, I like that discussion, though, of where you guys rank the NFC North, because I did want to get it in there that Justin Jefferson is still being thought of fairly highly at plus 1,700 for offensive player of the year. And Kyler Murray is just not played with a guy like this in many years.

So I think when we do the who's the best quarterback in the NFC North, the thing is with ranking quarterbacks is you can't. take the context out of it. It can't be, well, you know, if they all went out on a field and threw to the same exact receivers and they had the same exact offensive line, what would it look like? And Kyler Murray has new circumstances. So whatever he's done before doesn't exactly predict what he's going to do now. It's not Cliff Kingsbury coaching him. It's not Marvin Harrison, Jr. running wrong routes. This is Jefferson and Addison and Hawkinson and Joanne Jennings. These are pros. These are these are proven wide receivers. Um, so it's quite a bit different of a scenario,

which is why I would bump up Murray, but gosh, where do you put him versus these other quarterbacks? I mean, I think he has the capability. I think he has, I think they all have the capability under the right situation to be the best. I think he has the capability to be the best quarterback in the NFC North, but it's hard to deny how good Jared Gough has been consistently. I would probably put Gough number one. and then with Caleb Williams, if he plays exactly the same, he's probably number three or four. But if he plays like he is Josh Allen taking the big year three step, then he could easily be number one. There's a lot there.

Planet Yevin, there is, McCarthy is still a kid, might be too much to ask for a person so young to be aware enough to appreciate the growth opportunity presented to him. you know, I think that that is a good point, but in pro sports, you have to figure it out quick. And I hope that, you know, McCarthy has good people around him because you know that the team's going to be sending this message to him. And you know that his teammates are going to be sending the message to him exactly what I'm saying, which is you are nowhere near the end of your SKOC's as quarterback journey, but you are nowhere near the end of your career. It is just starting. And the number of players who have had their first time out not work out the way it's supposed to is immense at the quarterback position. But the thing is, it just was so much in the limelight. There was a, there was national TV games and there was, you know, against the Packers, meltdown against the Bears.

I know that was a special team's play at the end, but he did not play well at all. and you just had these so much pressure and so much discussion about the Sam Darnold thing, if you can make it through that and come back and have a good attitude about your growth opportunity as Kyler Murray's backup quarterback and understand that you probably are going to get in the game at some point, then he can become a better QB pretty quickly because the talent is obviously there. The skill set is there. The thing about J.J. McCarthy, I think that everyone got wrong, and I'm going to include the Minnesota Vikings about this, is that he was much more of a raw prospect with really, really good tools than he was a pro QB game manager. He was talked about coming out as if he was going to be able to just manage games and then make the occasional play.

And I fully believe the Vikings thought that this was what it was going to look like and what he was going to do. And when he actually got there, it was much more, oh, like, he's a wild man. He's trying to make plays all over the place. He's pushing the ball down the field like crazy. He's running all over and getting hurt. Like, this is, this looks like a young, raw prospect, not the polished game manager who won the national championship in Michigan, but Michigan is not the national football league. So I think that's what everybody kind of missed, which means you need to take a step back.

and like you need to to smooth this out the rough edges before he goes back out there again. And they may very well need him to do that. And he needs to understand to himself that it's going to be progress, progress, progress for him if he puts in the right work and has the right attitude about it. And if he doesn't, then Carson Wentz will be QB2. And I know that COC probably very spooked by what happened over, you know, the 2023 season. and last year with all the quarterback injuries, I'm sure desperately wanted Carson wants to come back.

Let's make sure we got three of these guys, not some UDFA who's going to be tossed in there. But I also think that it's, if JJ does not have the right approach to this and does not show improvement, we need to have a real backup quarterback. Aronses, who do you think will be the next few guys to get contracts extensions for the Vikings? That's going to be a big decision. that the next general manager has to make, which is, are you extending, Blake Cashman would be very high on my list.

Brian O'Neill is the toughest one because Brian O'Neill is not only just a great Viking. It has been one of the best Vikings offensive linemen of the last 25 years when you look at the resume, how many games he's played, the Pro Bowls, all those things. Like, he's been a great, great offensive lineman, but he's also been a great. great leader in the locker room, great ambassador for the team. You know, he's the first guy to step up when things go wrong to be ready to talk and that kind of thing. I mean, he's really been a leader for them by example.

He's as hard as working as you get everything that you want. Like that is as home run of a home run draft pick as you can get for the Vikings in the second round 2018 and he's become this. You want him on your team. But age and price are real things. and if you get to a point where you're past 30 years old, teams kind of have to approach it year to year with everyone just because it's football and people wear down.

And I think if you're the Vikings, ideally, what you'd like to do is just wait on this. Like, see where he's at. I mean, does he stay healthy for the entire year? Because if there's more injuries, you'd be pretty concerned about giving him an extension. And you also have to consider just the price tag between. he and Darisaw, can you pay $60 million on the salary cap or whatever it's going to be for your offensive tackles? It's just a lot.

If you maybe need to pay a quarterback like Kyler Murray or, you know, somebody else who comes in that's available in 2007, that's a veteran, it becomes a little bit tricky. I think Cashman, he has had some injuries, but that's one where you could give a two or three-year contract extension to feel pretty good about it. I don't know that there's anybody else other than Isaiah Rod. who if you're Isaiah Rogers, you're probably not doing it right now. What you'd like to do if you're Rogers, my guess is, is have another really good season and then tell the team I want $20 million per year. Because if you did it right now with Rogers,

it's actually the right time to do an extension with Rogers. Give him a three-year contract extension worth, I don't know, $15 million, $14 million a year, somewhere in that range. And if he takes that, then that's a pretty good deal for you. but if he has a great season and hits the open market, I mean, he could push 20 million. Maybe with his background, there might be some hesitation about that. So maybe that's overshooting. But look at what Byron Murphy got.

And that's been a very good corner in the league. But there's just, when it comes to corners in free agency, there's a lot of guys who you know can play and could start. But there's not a lot of really good players. So they get money. Maybe I'm going too high on some of the numbers there probably. But like, would it be could they offer? him 10 or 11 and then maybe if he hits free agency and has a great year it's 15 but i mean what if he gets like five or six picks i don't know that happened with murphy two years ago and then he got the

bag so i guess that's kind of really the list right now of players that you'd be talking about for extensions uh mike says the water cooler chat right now is can brandle be good uh can rookies anchor a solid run defense and will the secondary improve and the minor issue of a viable course quarterback, optimistic chat, while you and your friends are, you're hardcore. I mean, if you guys are talking of whether the center can do it, then you are very serious football group chat friends or water cooler friends. Well, let me help one at a time. So with Brandel, I think that can he do it, can he be good is, I think he can be fine,

serviceable, in terms of a leader of an officeable. I think in terms of a leader of an offense, Brandel is definitely the guy you want there because he knows the offense inside and out. So he's with Keith Carter last year. He's been in this offense for a long time. He knows the language. He knows the checks.

And he can help Kyler Murray a lot. So I think there's an intellectual element that's really big for center that Brandel is going to be fine. I think he can move bodies because he's strong and is, he's nimble enough to have been a former offensive tackle, even in the NFL at times. So he's got some some athleticism to him, even if he's not a great athlete technically like on paper.

But the expectation being set any higher than fine is maybe that would be very optimistic. I think he could be okay. If you had, if he finished, this is why like we think of things to these kind of PFF grade terms. But if he finished in the top 15 in pass blocking and top 20, and run blocking, well, then that's great. Like the price you paid for him and Lloyd Cushenberry probably wasn't going to do any different if you got him in free agency.

So that should be okay. Can the rookies anchor a solid run defense is a huge question because asking Dominique Orange to be, hey, kid, rookie, step in and just be the guy there. It's a big ask and they haven't gone out and gotten another DT other than was Eric Johnson who's just kind of been a guy who's played like 400. for Indy, but they haven't gotten anyone of consequence at defensive tackle in free agency. I wonder after June 1st if maybe they consider finding one other person, but it might be a lot of Levi Drake Rodriguez this year who's taken some huge steps over the last couple seasons.

You know, Jalen Redmond is a surprisingly good run defender for somebody who's not the biggest guy because he sheds blocks and gets into the backfield. but it's a big ask for orange. And where, you know, Caleb Banks comes into this is also kind of interesting because Caleb Banks was not a good run defender in college. But I think if he's in the right position, I saw for whatever reason people arguing about the four I versus three technique on the internet today. I'm not sure what happened.

I just scrolling and I saw that. But that four, if you know, like the techniques are just position. that people line up on the defensive line. So the five is like over the tackle, the four eye is a little inside the tackle, that kind of thing. But it's basically the three, four defensive end is how you would know it.

That's a little bit of a different spot for Caleb Banks than lining up like right over the guard or right over the center. So if Caleb Banks is in kind of a position to move bodies there and allow more for Eric Wilson, for Blake Cashman, for Josh Mattelis. I think that they can manage there, even though they're pretty young. And then you have guys with some experience, but I did think that they were going to bring in one more guy.

Will the secondary improve as hard without Harrison Smith? It's just hard to be better than they were before. Jacoby Thomas would have to step in right away. I think that's my biggest concern right now is will the defensive backs be as good as they've been before? James Pierre definitely helps, but it's not like a huge needle mover. That would be last year they had some struggles when Harrison Smith was out. The minor issue of the viable quarterback, we've definitely talked a lot about. Norse 4 says, how's there a quarterback competition when McCarthy can't hit the side of a barn

and Murray's tossed over 4,000 yards, been in the MVP race. McCarthy probably traded before the season starts. So I don't see that. I don't see him being traded unless, unless, unless, there's a different vibe from him, unless they get to a point where he is very unhappy, he's QB3, he's demanding a trade. But even then, I don't think you have to do it because who's trading for him right now? There's a reason why Anthony Richardson is still in Indianapolis, because no one's willing to give up anything for that. If the Vikings want to trade McCarthy, the best

thing for that would probably to get him in a couple of games or have him light up a preseason game. but I don't think they want to bail on J.J. McCarthy yet because here's what we know about quarterback. We don't know anything about quarterback. That's what we know, right? We were just talking about Case Keenham and Sam Bradford and Sam Darnold. We don't know anything about what a quarterback's going to do, not just for the Vikings, just in general. These things are so up and down. Sam Darnold is your Super Bowl champion quarterback. If I told you that two years ago, you would have laughed hysterically and said, you're a moron. But he, is the Super Bowl champion quarterback. So things could change quickly with guys who get laughed at and

made fun of and everything else because they struggle. Not saying that McCarthy is going to win the Super Bowl for them, but from a front office perspective, why would you give up? Like, he's under contract for your team. Go practice and go play as hard as you can and see what happens for McCarthy, he truly did struggle with accuracy, probably as much as I've ever seen an NFL quarterback struggle with accuracy. And when that happens, the odds of your success go down enormously. If your completion of percentages, it's a certain mark. If your turnovers, interception, sacchar at a certain mark, you don't have a great chance to succeed. And I think that's fair to look at it that way with McCarthy. But we've seen guys with worse or just as bad, turn it around.

so I don't think that it would be a good idea to bail on McCarthy. Rather just see how it plays out first. Shack said would it be a bad look if Darnold goes back to the Super Bowl and wins it? I actually don't think the look can get worse, Shaq. I truly don't believe that you could get worse than winning the Super Bowl. I guess winning two would make it worse because if he wins one and then goes nine and eight or something this year and drops off the side of the table, you could be like, well, you know, but no, you can't really. Your franchise hasn't been to the Super Bowl since the 70s and has won three playoff games

over the last, what, 25 years and you gave away the Super Bowl winning quarterback. You can't look worse than that. No, no, I don't think he can. Even if he wins it again, it's like, well, you were already at zero. So this can't go any lower. You've already hit the rock bottom by allowing the Super Bowl winning quarterback, who played incredibly well in the playoffs overall to walk out. So, uh, the magic scientist, what a veteran free agents you think for,

uh, edge three. So we're looking at this, uh, the other day. And, you know, the name that I like the most is a guy that, you know, I've seen him tweet a couple of times and seems like he thinks that more teams should be interested than they are, uh, is Kyle Van Newe is an interesting name for me. Because, you know, he hasn't been amazing in recent years. but he's been still pretty good, and he's been a longtime good NFL player

and has played for teams that are in this 3-4 system, like the Baltimore Ravens and the New England Patriots. So I like that as a 30-something-year-old veteran to come in and play, I don't know, 350 to 400 snaps. And if someone gets hurt, he can be a backup there. You could go AJ Epinessa, who's still out there if you want a little more of a traditional type of defensive end to make. in. Jehad Ward is still out there. Jihad is an interesting character who has bounced around a little bit,

but he was actually legitimately useful for the Tennessee Titans last year. So I don't know. Any one of those guys could come in. There's nobody that's going to make some crazy impact, but they definitely need one more person, I think. Jay Mulls so true about Ryan Vandemark, very underrated signing that no one will talk about, but can become very important and much improved overall offensive linemen because of it plus tier and in two that's the thing is you know offensive line depth there is not a analyst out there that i've ever heard say when they're doing a tv hit or something like that you know what this team did they improved oh line six and oh line seven and that's why i'm buying them but you know what oh line six and oh line seven

they get in the game they they matter and we saw that last year they went with Justin School, who actually, you know, we just hammered him early in the season and it was pretty rough. Later on, when he got some real starts, he was actually fine. But I mean, some of those games where he had to be thrown in, he was just not up for it. Van der Mark is a big dude and Ternan too. I think school is one of those guys that worked really, really hard and is very smart and has maximized every ounce of physicality that he has. So if someone's quicker than him, he's just he's just done i don't think that's true for a tyernan and vandemarks so they've gotten better there and some positional flexibility potentially on tiernan guard backup guard i'm a little

bit suss on and center but you know we'll have to see how that kind of plays out um last year we did talk about walter rouse being a guard i wonder if we see that after they've added these these tackles if he's going to be a guard from the start of training camp because they wanted that or we said we we had heard that they wanted that last year and then it never really came to fruition. So I'll be curious if that happens this time around. Folks, you guys know that I'm a hat guy. I've always been that way because I sunburn easily and my wife likes how it looks. But if you find yourself wearing hats these days to cover up your thinning hair or receding

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your free online visit hymns.com slash purple insider individual results may vary based on studies of topical and oral monocididid featured products include compound drug products which the fdaia does not approve or verify for safety effectiveness or quality prescription required see website for details restrictions and important safety information contra pastin uh says lions fan ray agnew is a good dude would be happy for the picks. Vikings fans are too kind-hearted to pull a falcons on us. So, yeah, well, it's not up to them. It would be up to the league.

And just the way that the structure happens, yeah, it would be up to the league. But your point on Ray Agnew, I saw a lot of, a lot of Lions reporters and people saying that he would be an enormous loss. It's clear that he's been a big role player in them building their team. And they build a great team. And it's another one that stockpiled draft capital. Why was Brad Holmes so genius? I don't know.

When you have like five picks out of the first 50, you got a good chance to hit on some of them. So maybe if that's a Ray Agnew thing, then, you know, it'll work out. Bryson, I did see, I did see your super chat. It just took me a long time to get there. So hopefully you're still watching and you saw that. But don't be afraid sometimes with the chat, I just get behind because I talk.

too much. That's why we end up with really long streams is because I get way behind and then, you know, takes me a little while. So you got to stick with me, but I appreciate it, man. Dirty Mike, I don't know how you can look at the last 20 years of this organization and think that maintaining the status quo is going to work. We need sweeping changes. The inability of our franchise to find a long-term answer quarterback, not exclusively bad luck when you never draft high and never take a swing at Lamar, Jalen Hertz type. Your odds are are minuscule. I agree with you.

I agree with you on most points there. I think that the like sweeping changes point doesn't have to happen. It doesn't have to be that they hire a GM and he fires every scout that they have. There is belief and I know that this is hard to wrap your head around because they've drafted so bad. Like there's belief around the NFL that the Vikings have a very strong front office overall. And the issue has been and, would continue to be if they were going to continue to trade draft picks that if you don't have

enough of them and you don't draft high, then the odds just really are not in your favor. You're fighting an uphill battle there. And that wasn't the only reason. Like there was some bad process picks during Kwezi Adafel Menta. And I think that that's the biggest thing that they want to change with the next hire is how do you maximize what you have for draft capital? Because you probably won't be drafting number one overall. But you are right, though, Mike.

You are right. Like, if you don't take shots at the Lamar and the Jalen Hertz, both of which they could have drafted. And the Jalen Hertz one, I think, is much worse because you had just signed Kirk to a multi-year deal that paid more guaranteed money. And like, that would have been kind of crazy to draft Lamar. It was just one of those theoretical things that, yeah, you should have done. Jalen Hertz, though, the Vikings weren't even good when he came out in the draft. They weren't even put it to, no, they were good in 2019, but they were not. projecting good. They had just lost a bunch of stuff in the offseason. They had just traded

Stefan Diggs. Like they were not a good roster. And they were a team that clearly was in a good position to draft and develop the next quarterback. And you could say what you want about Jalen Hertz, but he's been to two Super Bowls and has a ring and is the MVP. So like, I don't know. I think it worked for them. That would have, that's one where you do have to take a swing at the quarterback position. But in general, if you look at the play, playoffs, I think what was it, Brock Purdy was the only one who wasn't a first round draft pick of all the quarterbacks in the playoffs. I think that's right. So you can't, well, you can't win the lottery if you don't play.

And it often requires drafting high in order to get your franchise quarterback. Maybe not number one, but top 10. And they did it with McCarthy. And that's the only top 10 draft pick quarterback that they've taken. What was that ever or something? I don't, I don't remember what the stat was. but it's pretty crazy how rarely they've been in that position to take those quarterbacks, which is your golden ticket.

So does the next general manager put a lot more focus on the draft? And are they in a position after this year to draft a quarterback? That's possible. I mean, if Kyler Murray is just okay and they eke out nine wins and losing the wild card round and he's the 19th best quarterback in the league, but it was sort of fun at times, then you're looking at, you know, trying to draft quarterback next time. If, if they're out on McCarthy or whatever. But your point is well taken, though.

I mean, in terms of sweeping changes, I don't think you need to fire scouts. Like, if they're good at their job, but you drafted bad, it's not their fault. But they're still doing their job. But the decision maker needs to be better than what they've been. And they need to do a much better job of thinking in terms of long term, not we want this player right now. So let's give away a second. round draft pick. We want this player right now. So let's move up in the first round and take them. And, you know, I think Turner is going to be really good next year. But it's almost impossible to

justify what you gave away. And we used to say this with Kirk, but it became true about the draft capital. It's like you cannot separate the price from the player and with someone like Dallas Turner. Like, that's not his fault. Dallas has worked his butt off. And we saw it last year. And it was very impressive how much he grew quickly. But in terms of when we're doing the economics of stuff, you got to figure that out and be accurate with it because there are other teams that are very accurate with it. And when it comes to your drafting, if you're going to have a draft class of five people, what do you expect?

So those are the types of sweeping changes that I would be thinking about. AP Carlin, what are your thoughts on Mexico City? Never been. Never been. Have not been. I've been to Canada. but I haven't been to any other country. That's a fun little fact about Purple Insider.

I haven't been to any other country except Canada. Now, what do I think about it? I have some questions about the turf, which has been an issue with other international games that I think the NFL needs to put a lot of emphasis on. Was it there a game that had to be delayed or canceled or something because the turf was so bad in, was it Mexico City or somewhere else?

I'm probably forgetting the NED. details about this. But it has been a problem in a lot of different places. So you do wonder about that and kind of worry about that at times. But overall, I think it's a W for the Vikings. You don't have to go to a place that's been a bit of a house of horrors for you. When was the last time the Vikings won at San Francisco? They lost in 21. They lost in 19. They lost in 15. I don't even remember when the last time that they won in San Francisco was or Santa Clara. So not having to go there, which has generally been a tough place to play for them is beneficial. And it just, the math of this is, is very good.

The math is that they now have nine home games and seven away games. And this is away, but both teams are away. So it's neutral sight. So I think they, they should be happy with it. And that's probably why it happened. I would guess that the Vikings with not, you know, or, you know, not having, well, I guess it was too. road games last year. But having said yes to the international games back to back last year, I think they would

have at least built up enough with the NFL to say, okay, stop doing this to us. Can we get a year off? But maybe they saw this as, sure, if you're going to take a game away from San Francisco and keep it in our time zone, then why not? Taslio says, just eating my popcorn, a loud group will be mad no matter what happens this year. Well, you know, I mean, unless they win, then... Most people will be happy.

Now, I shouldn't say that because in 2024, people were still unhappy that they weren't winning with J.J. McCarthy. Folks forget that there was not a lot of love for Sam Darnold as a successful Vikings quarterback as it was happening. But I know what you mean, yeah, people, I mean, look, if we didn't argue about football, then what would we be doing here? It's a fun sport to debate and break stuff down and everything else. But I get what you're saying. like no matter what happens, the J.J. McCarthy people will think he didn't get a fair deal with, you know,

Kyler Murray in the competition. Competition. But, you know, I think if, I've always thought this, though, because I think that's what you're referring to.

If I was a big J.J. McCarthy guy and I had his number tatted on my back and I had J. Chay forever on my neck. I had, let's say like, like a chain. that had his face in the middle, the picture with the heart, I'd be happy with him getting an opportunity to actually grow his game.

Because I've always believed that it's better for young quarterbacks to not play. It's crazy out there, but then the pressure off the field is even worse. The pressure from the locker room to win, the pressure from the organization, the pressure from social media and everything else. And even if you try to tune it out, that's not possible. in 2026. Any player who tells you, I don't know what's being set out there.

How could you not? There's no way to even just live about society and not know what is being said about you. So all that pressure that goes along with, I think it's harder than ever for young quarterbacks to go into the NFL, especially when they didn't play a lot of college football. So if you're the biggest J.J. McCarthy person, I think you should be like, this is good for him.

And if you want him to succeed long term or have even a chance to still be the future franchise quarterback. There is a best case scenario for Murray or for McCarthy where Murray plays pretty well, but McCarthy gets opportunities and plays four games and goes three and one and looks really good. And at the end of the year, the team says, that's the JJ McCarthy we drafted. Thank you, Kyler, for helping us through this year. Now we're going back to McCarthy.

Stuff like that has happened and could happen. Anyway, so the, uh, I'm changing. the fan dual question of the day i initially wanted to be about jefferson but the fan dual question of the day is the nfc north ranking quarterbacks it was out there today esPN was arguing about it how would you rank them with kailer murray as the viking starter how would you rank them and uh i'm gonna look just out of curiosity i'm gonna look to see because i was looking at awards and i know kiler is like comeback player of the year i wonder if the have the divisions changed at all is there any adjustment there they actually have actually has gone back to the Vikings at plus 550 so it was plus 600 so they've

updated the NFC north and still have the lions at plus 155 on fan duel to win the division green bay plus 230 the bears plus 310 and the Vikings plus 550 golf love williams and murray the quarterbacks there which usually carries the most weight in the betting markets so would you agree with that order or is it a different order for you Fan dual question of the day. Jim says that I hear Grigson is a possible candidate. I don't know about that. I have not,

I don't know if anyone reported it. Usually they do have internal interviews, whoever they, but even with someone like Rob, it was reported that it was out there, but it's not like they ever announced it. So I don't know. What they're clearly going for is scouting background,

and Grigson does have that, but I have not seen officially if they have, completed an interview with him or anybody put out any details of whether he's a legitimate candidate or not. Gazincad, Mexico City is in central time. Okay, good to know. Central Standard time, but Minnesota's in central daylight time, but by the time the game starts,

it'll be back on standard time. Okay. I'm glad that Gazegad, I'm really glad we sorted that out. So it will be a 720 start here. here and a 720 start for the players' bodies in Mexico City. But thank you for that. So it is different. It technically is different.

So right now in Mexico City, it's what, an hour behind or ahead? Behind? I don't know. Takes on time. Anyway, Jay says Vikings need another defensive end. Then at that position, what are your thoughts? Who would you sign? Yeah, we talked a little bit about that.

But, you know, I do think that they need. someone else there because there isn't anyone proven behind that position. And the Vikings have done this before, though, where we've spent an offseason banging a drum. This was like 2023 or, no, in 2024, when are you getting a corner? When are you getting a corner? What is going on? And then at the end, they come in and do it.

That was the same with wide receiver last year. At the end of training camp, they grab one. And that might be how they approach this. let's first see if any of the group of young players behind those guys end up taking a big jump. But it's kind of hard to see. I mean, Bo Richter is a great special team or he should be on this team. As a pass rushing starter, that's a lot to ask. Same with Chas Chambliss.

Tyler Batty, I think has some potential there. But these are all unproven, undrafted free agents. I mean, it's not like an Epinessa or a Kyle Van Nuoy, who are my two nominations that has been around the league or you know, Leonard Floyd. Leonard Floyd has been a pain in the Vikings behind for quite a while. AP Carlin is Edison's down year last year on him or JJ? I think the answer is kind of both. There are certainly some passes that yeah, he should have caught, but dude, if you throw it that hard, it's going to be pretty difficult for any wide receiver to grab. But there were other ones that were right in the midst that he needs to bring in concentration catches or whatever

it was, I don't think that we can put entirely on McCarthy. I do think with receivers that timing is a big deal. And when the timing was thrown so far off on some of those throws that you do get messed up. And if you ever tried to catch a pass from an NFL quarterback throwing it as hard as they can at you, I promise you'd have more respect for some of the drops that receivers have. But there were some that just that needed to be caught from Jordan Addison. that didn't. And so there is a little bit of that hovering of it's not just the casino thing. It's not. It's also, because to me, that didn't end up really materializing other than you

shouldn't be in the news for this ever, Jordan Addison, and you don't get the benefit of the doubt based on your history. But aside from that, it's, you know, this is not Al Capone here. But the drops and some of the concentration elements, maybe early in 2020, he's been a very, very good player. But when you're making a decision, do you want to stick long term? Do you want to pay $25 million a year? Something like that, it has to be in the thought process. So if that doesn't turn around, he's not completely different with Kyler Murray,

then they will be having that conversation of can you really pay this guy? Dirty Mike, golf's flaws like Kirk's make beating contenders extremely challenging, but can feast on teams below the top tier. Sometimes true. I mean, the guy did make it to a Super Bowl. And if Josh Reynolds catches a ball, he makes it to two Super Bowls. He did beat the Vikings defense repeatedly when he had a good offensive line. I think that, and I also think just in general, like, golf is compared to Kirk.

To me, he's not. I mean, to me, he's bigger. His arm is much stronger. His execution, when things are right for him. is unstoppable where, you know, Kirk is very good. We know this. Kirk was very good. I think golf is on a different level.

And I think because neither of them runs and they're a pocket quarterback, they get put together. But one guy was the number one overall pick in the draft for a reason. I mean, that arm is pretty ridiculous. So I think that he is the best execution quarterback. A really hot take there would be that Jared Gough is closer to Tom Brady. than he is Kirk Cousins. But if you just mentioned Tom Brady at all, it's like, no, no, no, no, you can't compare anybody. But in terms of how he actually plays, his willingness to, you know, check down or throw swing passes at the right times,

his vision for how he sees the field, stays in the pocket. And when, you know, this is true of Tom Brady when he would get pressure, he would come apart. I'm not saying golf is him. I'm saying that there's a lot of similarities with how they play. And there is a kryptonite element. And when you're golf and you've had some years with really, really great offensive lines and you've gone to a Super Bowl and you've taken teams to the NFC championship and top five offenses, but at some point, you usually reach a team. And then this is what you're saying. You usually reach a team that gets you that gets after you and pressures you.

And golf has never really had an answer for it. So I'm not saying he's Brady. I'm saying that they win in similar types of ways with, you know, offenses that allow. for if you can process it really well and you can see the field and understand your offense and execute, then you can put up big numbers. But I don't, I don't think that he's just like a garbage time merchant or whatever, where it's, oh, well, when he plays bad teams, he puts up huge stats and then just loses to the good teams.

That's not really true. I mean, he's had a ton of games. I mean, he went 15 and 2. He's had tons of games against good teams and good defenses where he's played well over the years. It's just when you don't win a ring and you aren't flashy, see, if you are flashy, if you're Justin Herbert and you're flashy and everyone loves you, then no matter what happens, you just get apologized for and you're the best quarterback and it's wonderful.

But if you're Jared Goff and you're flawed, like you're saying, like, and it's not flashy, and golf throwing a swing pass, which is maybe the right decision and then getting 30 yards or the right checkdown or just hitting a crossing pattern between, you know, a certain type of defense that he read perfectly and executed perfectly, it's just not a highlight real thing. So the highlight real quarterbacks always get way more benefit of the doubt than Gough. And those types of quarterbacks like Gough, they have to win a Super Bowl or everyone will say they stink forever. I don't know why it just is because quarterback analysis is very lazy.

I think that's the main thing. If year after year, you can put yourself in a position to have a championship caliber offense as a quarterback. There's only so many times where you can be like, no, it's the, it's the line, it's the receivers, it's the coordinator, it's the this, this, this, this. And just, it's like, that's, it's that way with Brock Purdy. Like, how many times is Brock Purdy have to play really good football before we just say he's a good quarterback, but he's not perfect. Dak Prescott is a great quarterback. He's just not perfect. And I, you know, Mahomes has not been perfect in years. And Josh Allen is not perfect and, you know, whatever. But

There is a, to the flashier players, the stronger arm or the bigger or whatever it might be, they just tend to get a lot more credit. And it's probably because they have more solutions to problems than someone like Jared Gough. Like if Gough is pressured, he just has no answer. He can't escape. He can't throw on the run. And someone like Allen or Mahomes, they can pull something out when it's not going their way. And that's really the difference.

But I think that Gough, based on the numbers he's put up and the offensive. as he's had has every right to be the number one quarterback in the NFC North. And I just think that people put it into aesthetics maybe way too much rather than actual production. Because if Justin Herbert had the same seasons as Jared Goff, I mean, there would just be endless, well, there already is for whatever. There already is endless fawning over him. And I don't mean to be down on him.

I just have not seen it in the same way as other people. But there's just endless excuses and endless fawning over Justin Herbert. when he doesn't put up the same type of production as Jared Gough, for years, for 10 years now almost. I mean, so I don't know. It's a weird thing. Mike says love is the best quarterback in the North, take the Homer glasses off.

The thing about every NFC North quarterback is that on a given week or even a given month, they can all be the best quarterback in the North. That's why the conversation is interesting, but we also don't have like this clear-coct answer because there are stretches where Caleb Williams will be and has been the best quarterback in the north. And there are stretches where Jordan Love is.

But every season with Jordan Love seems like 10 games of being amazing. And the rest is up for, I guess, interpretation. The rest is Matt Lafleur's fault. The rest is the running game's fault. It's kind of like the Herbert stuff. And he has the huge arm. He has the highlight reel. He gets a lot of credit for that.

And I think he's very good. but it's been inconsistent and that's the the struggle. I feel like golf is probably the most consistent quarterback there is in the division where week after week after week, you're probably getting what, 12 to 14 good games out of him in a season unless he run, but he runs into that one opponent in the big game and he ends up looking bad and then everyone says he's not good.

So it's a really interesting question. Murray first stretches in 2024, even just just 2024 kailer murray would have been the best quarterback in the nfc north the way he played for arizona but then had stretches where he would have been the worst and what the vikings are trying to do is even that out contra pastin uh says uh the cult of mcvay worship scarred golf's reputation national media think shan can do no wrong that's absolutely true that's absolutely true it's if shan if shan mcvay decided that this guy wasn't good enough

and they needed to trade him for Stafford and then they win the Super Bowl, then he must be awful. And he must be just a product of the system and everything else. But Jared Goff has long proved that to be wrong. And I think McVeigh deserves all the credit that he gets. But I agree with you that everyone judged that decision just on, oh, well, this means that golf is terrible. What it meant is that Stafford has something that Goff doesn't. And they needed that with that team.

also Jared Gough the last year he was in Los Angeles he had the worst or one of the worst offensive lines in the league and he had never had that before in Los Angeles he had always had good offensive lines and then they got a ton of injuries I think they were like 28th or something by PFF that's just not going to work with Jared Gough and Stafford also they rebuilt the line that was healthy in 2021 they were I think the best pass blocking unit in the NFL but Stafford has, and this is the slight difference between very, very good and you can definitely win with them in the right year and maybe gives you that extra gear, is that Stafford can throw a no look pass in the Super Bowl with the game on the line. And Stafford can, it's funny because he

is a quarterback that could play out of structure. I think that was in part why they wanted him, but then he doesn't really do that anymore because his back is so messed up. So he's been forced to be a pocket QB and it's been better for him. So it ends up being a great trade for both teams. The Rams get the Super Bowl championship. But golf, I mean, year after year after year, top five offenses. At some point, the quarterback has a lot to do with it. Mike do not extend Cashman.

The contract will age like Barr and Kendrick's contracts. Really depends. I don't think he's that old. I mean, by linebacker standards. And those were big. Those were kind of big contracts. Bar got a big contract. I don't know that it would be like a top of market type of deal.

Cashman, the concern is just injury. It's not how he plays. His explosiveness is very much still there. I don't think that's going to fall off at all. It just comes down to can you stay healthy? And that would be the major concern about extending him. That's really it, though. The leadership element, the violence that he plays with, the instincts that he has.

I don't quite see the same thing there between. barred Kendricks, but it would depend on the dollar figure for sure. Contra-paston Michigan fan. JJ seems younger now that he did at UM, almost like success went to his head and caused him to regress. You know, I really think that it was, I just, I think that we don't ever think about enough the strain that an injury puts on somebody, physically, mentally, all that sort of stuff. and how hard mentally playing quarterback in the NFL really is.

It's just, it is so, so, so difficult. And I think that you come in with so much confidence if you're McCarthy and then you get really hit hard in the face in Atlanta, but then also with the injury, you come off the injury, get the big win. It's J.J. McCarthy's here. At the time, after they won against the Detroit Lions, in his return game. I was saying, I'm sure everybody else was saying, like,

yep, this is what it was supposed to look like. He did everything that he was supposed to do in that game. And even though he didn't put up huge stats, like, that's, it was like a Teddy Bridgewater win when he was a young quarterback. Like, find a way and do enough and keep the train on the tracks, make one or two good plays, two good throws or runs, and you're going to be able to win. But I think that after that, I don't know if it was success or it was the failure of

the following week or two. that just weighed and it's, man, it really feels like when you're in that seat that the weight of the world is entirely on you and you are just letting down everybody and you're being mocked mercilessly on the internet and everything else. It's really, really hard. And I think it just takes a long time for some people to get used to that, if not everyone, to get used of it. And it maybe a show's more with others. I really think what it came down to is that the the timing of his throws was just off because the game is so much faster and you have to see things so much quicker and it takes reps.

I mean, there's a lot of different things we could sort of opine about. But the number of reps is just not high enough for him to have been able to come in because he's not a naturally accurate thrower. He has to learn how to be accurate. So when you're not a naturally accurate thrower and you're trying to time. things that are down to the millisecond. That's, it takes anticipation and he has never been really an anticipation thrower.

Like, it's a lot of practice that has to go into it to maximize those tools. So I think that that's kind of what it's about. But he did show at times last year. I do agree with you. I'm not disagreeing there. I do agree with you that he showed that he was not mature wise, really ready to take on a whole franchise in certain ways. Not like screw it off or whatever, but just in terms of like handling.

the whole thing. You know, being coachable at times. It seems like wasn't always what you would expect from like a veteran quarterback. And I also think that Kevin O'Connell, so I'll give you an example. And it's going to sound, it's going to sound funny. But you guys know who watch all the time that we have the Greyhound. And when we first adopt the Greyhound, he doesn't, he was a race dog and he doesn't really know how to be a dog.

And he's kind of crazy. and he is kind of all over the place and he won't really do anything that we want him to do. And you sort of forget if you had been without, like we were without a dog for a little while. You sort of forget that, oh, yeah, that process of getting a dog to be comfortable in your house, it takes a while. And I think COC may have forgotten that too about really young quarterbacks where he had been working with Darnold and working with Kirk and working with Mullins and Matthew Stafford. before that, like maybe didn't fully remember how much work it is for a young quarterback and how

sometimes, like, you just can't put certain things on their plate. And then by the end of the year, kind of figured that out. So, you know, Mike, I think you're being a little unfair on McCarthy. There's no quarterback in the world that doesn't have a big ego. I just, I mean, come on. Like, if you want to be that guy, you got to have, you got to have a lot of self-confidence. So I think that's unfair. Look, if J.J. McCarthy had played really well and he did the whole, what was he calling himself, nine thing, everyone would have ate it up. Everyone would have loved it.

If you win, they love it. If you don't, they hate it. And they'll make fun of you. And that's what it is. Son of Beavers read that Scooby Williams will always remember Scooby Williams, Viking, failed his physical. So who was the guy? Who was the guy?

They had a, PJ Hall. He goes under the PJ Hall category of was once a Viking but failed a physical. What vet should you sign to provide a little depth? Yeah, I mean, I think the outside linebacker position makes so much sense. But I would also toss out there if they feel like Harrison Smith is not going to come back. Then Donovan Wilson, formerly of the Dallas Cowboys, is still out there. I would definitely consider him. He at one time was a pretty good playmaker.

He's been a good blitzer. He fell off last year, but I mean, he just, you know, that was a terrible defense. I think he could still play. And I'm just a little bit suspect on Jacobi Thomas, Jay Ward, Theo Jackson, let's roll the ball out there and see. Would prefer to have a veteran in there with that group, even if he ends up being a backup. Contra Pastin, if you said two years ago, the Darnel won the Super Bowl. I would have assumed it was with the Vikings.

Yeah, yeah, well, and who knows how it would have played out last year because had they gotten healthy down the stretch and made the playoffs with Sam Darnold, the way the defense was playing, who knows? Tony, what are your favorite golf courses? I usually play, I usually play city courses, man. Like, you know, Hiawatha and Highland in St. Paul and, you know, places, places like that. Places that are worthy of my talent level. because I feel like I would be wronging the golf universe if I went to really awesome courses and then was not that great. But break,

break in 80 is the goal this year. We'll see if we can get there at some point. The way I played the last two days would not be quite there yet. So we got to get a little more consistency. Pudding is the hardest thing to get in the spring because the greens are just not what you expect. and also it's so much touch. So we're working on it. We're getting there.

Friends of Taz rewatched week nine versus Detroit today. And there were drops on great throws to Addison and Hawkinson that would have made the game less close and boosted JJ's stats. They ran a lot as well and they won. Yeah. I mean, look, they showed that you can win with J.J. McCarthy if things go the right way. And he played very well in that game. But we can't. And clearly by getting Kyler.

Murray, they proved this. They, they were not going to look the other way. If you have 12 interceptions and are sacked, he was sacked as many times as Sam Darnold was and dropped back one third as many times, like, you just can't have that. So you have to learn out to really play the quarterback position. And that's a process. If we just take the best moments, that's the reason to not get rid of J.J. McCarthy is that the best moments matter. The high end matters, but all the other stuff cannot be ignored in this conversation. So that's why you don't just bail on him and you don't just say, all right, well, you know, he stinks and we're over him and whatever. It's like, no, we've seen a lot of things that were very good from J.J. McCarthy.

But the bad stuff happened way, way, way too often to win in the NFL consistently. So there's things there and they need to be refined. And whether they get refined will basically determine whether he works out in the NFL or not. Jay, what's the weakest link of the Vikings heading into the 2026 season? The weakest link right now, we've talked a little bit about the safety position, talked a little bit about center. Yeah, I mean, I think that that's really, that's really probably what it is. What they can't allow to be the weakest link is the defensive tackle spot.

Because if that is, if that's not way better against the run and at least helpful in pass rush, then things are, you know, not going to be better as the overall defense. But the safety spot in losing Harrison Smith is probably the one that I would focus on the most. It's just, it's not something that you could just wave a magic wand and Harrison Smith shows up. Even if Mattelis can play that role, even if he's like a big nickel and has the communication element, that's a hard thing to deal with. I would say if you're going to have a weakest position, you'd want it to be safety. if it ends up being defensive tackle and those are two of your top draft picks, that's kind of a problem.

But if you'd rather have it be safety than other stuff, like corner, you'll just get destroyed. Edge rush or if you can't pressure the quarterback, you're not going to do very well. So other than that, though, I would have said wide receiver depth, but that was, you know, greatly improved. Evolution, if Murray goes nine and eight, we pick 18th. Good luck getting a quarterback. You make a fair point. I think it's one of the reasons. to trade Jonathan Grenard is to get extra draft capital if you do need to move up in the draft

to take a quarterback. But the concern and the, I think the cynical Viking person follower would probably say that's a very likely outcome. And I think that that's fair. They have to take every shot they can with this year's group because the other option was moving on from Aaron Jones and T.J. Hawkinson and what difference does that make? Like, what instead of nine, you win eight? What, like, what's the difference? So go for it with this group. You've put it together. You like these veterans. You think you can be

really damn good. So go for it, right? You think Murray can take this huge step. You think he's going to prove everybody wrong. And maybe he will. It's worth rolling the dice for that. And it might be a magical season and you never know. This guy was the number one overall draft pick. he has been a pro bowler, he's been, you know, 4,000 yard passer, all these things. It's in there somewhere, or at least it has been. You might as well roll the dice and take a shot for this year. But in the future, you'd like them to think about this a little bit more in those terms that you're talking about is 9 and 8 and drafting 18th is not going to help you get the future franchise quarterback if it's not Kyler Murray. Raiden says love is inconsistent, doesn't elevate the team around him and doesn't have a number

one wide receiver or elite offensive line. Like the Packers, love will be mediocre for the foreseeable future. I don't think he was mediocre last year. I thought he was really good last year overall. Just on the whole, his accumulation of his 2025 season was very, very good. But I agree with your points. He does not have a true number one wide receiver. he does not have a top-notch offensive line, which means it's going to be a lot of up and down for Jordan Love.

That's why it's hard to put him as the best quarterback in the NFC North. Talent-wise, I think if you put him on the Vikings, he would be arm strength-wise and accuracy is fairly consistent for him. But I think that his lack of playmaking does show up that he's really a pocket quarterback. He has every ability to be, and playmaking, I mean, two things, really. It would be like escaping rush and making a play on the run. You just don't see it as much as you think from Jordan Love and actually running, scrambling. He doesn't do it. He wants to stay in there and throw.

So you don't really have that element of his game that some other quarterbacks like Caleb Williams and Kyler Murray have. He won't run for 500 yards, but Kyler Murray will and Caleb Williams will. So that, I think, leads to inconsistencies as well because some of the scrambling, like with Josh Allen, if you're not having the best game passing the football, but you can do something else, I think it leads to less inconsistency. But their team around them, it's just okay. The running game might be just okay.

Their offensive line might be just okay. Their receivers might be just okay. Tucker Kraft, I think, is very, very good. But aside from that, it's like it's hard to find, you know, amazing. on that Packers roster around Jordan Love. And you have to evaluate it within the context, for sure. Mama, we need Mani's thoughts on the schedule to predict our record for this year. That will happen eventually.

Tomorrow, though, Manny is not going to be available, so it'll be me doing it. But we'll do it with Manny for sure when we can. I want it. I really badly wanted Manny on tomorrow to pick the schedule as soon as it came out for sure. and I was texting him about it, but he will. He will. Probably next week. It's a long off season.

We'll have plenty of chances for Mandy to pick the schedule. Friends of Tass has heard Eisen implying the Vikings could still be in play for a trade for Max Crosby, how that would make the Vikings instant contenders. It's clickbait season. Yeah, that would not make a lick of sense for me. Also, they don't have a GM. So how the hell would we know what they're going to do right now? They can't.

You're not trading for Max Crosby. if you don't have a GM. Now, if you get a GM, I guess you could certainly consider that, but not after the way they manage this offseason. You're going to suddenly cobble together a bunch of draft capital to throw at the Raiders. That would be very, very odd. Maybe not clickbait season, but hey, do you believe they could do this season? I don't know.

You could do every single team. I actually think that Sam and Steve on a check the mic. I haven't gotten to this podcast yet, but I think they did like how every team could win the Super Bowl, which is a fun thing to do at this time of year because it's kind of like that. Evolution, the Niners were just better than us for the last 10 years. They aren't scary nowadays. Well, they were in the divisional round last year.

They still do have the best coach, but I don't think they are as good as they've been, like you said. I mean, 2019, that's a monster. They go to the Super Bowl, 2023. The Vikings did beat them at home twice. Going there, I think, has been very, very hard. for the Vikings. They're still pretty scary.

Trent Williams is still good. Christian McCaffrey is still good. If George Kittle comes back to 100%, Kyle Shanahan's got just an incredible offensive mind. But it's not the same. It's not of that level. It feels like they're sliding down the slippery mountain, like the wrong side, the bad side.

That there's not much left in terms of how many more years can they be that competitive. Yeah, I agree with that. Mama says it bad. I'm still unsure about the Caleb Banks pick like I was on draft night. No, it is not bad. It's completely fair to have skepticism about whether that's going to play out or not. I mean, it's a, it's a bold pick to go with when most of the world thought he was more of a second round draft pick. But they're believing in themselves.

And now it's something that we're going to be watching. But the thing that we can't really do with Caleb Banks is have like, and I know it's football, so we're going to, but a week to week, maybe we should make a bit out of it. Like, is Caleb Banks, is Caleb Banks a hit or bust? While he played 23 snaps and had one quarterback pressure, like this week, he's a, he's a bus. Next week, he's a hit. Might be some of that.

I think the hard part about this is it's going to be a little bit of a longer evaluation on Banks, unless he just immediately starts throwing people around and is amazing. It's just going to be like a little bit more of a slow. process with him. So the first week of the season, his first game, you might not think, wow, they crush that draft pick. But maybe by week 10, you're starting to think that. We'll have to be a little bit patient with it.

Nomad. You're funny nomad. Bo Richter should play more big, big moines. I like Bo Richter a lot. As a special teamer, I don't know if he can be somebody, he might be like, a guy that you could put out there occasionally in some sort of role to blitz or whatever. I just don't think that he's going to be somebody that you say, oh, that's proven depth. He might, he's a very good athlete.

And he's one of those guys that could play inside or outside in a pinch. But it's just hard to see a ceiling there of, hey, Bo Richter's going to be playing like 300 snaps on the edge, like you could see from Jihad Ward or some other veteran. but I do think that his role is important on the special teams and he could be a little bit of depth, but, you know, he's much more of that kind of like deep depth type of guy. Friends of Tas, one, anyone challenge Miles Price for the Return Specialist position. I could see DeMond Claiborne getting in the mix, possibly. Skoll Shadow golf is like Eli Manning.

He needs a village to take him anywhere. I think he's a little different from Eli in that Eli, didn't take sacks very often. Well, no, I guess golf doesn't really, but Eli was amazing at it, not taking sacks. And he was, the difference would be that Eli was super aggressive, a downfield thrower. And if things went his way,

he's actually, I think of Eli Manning is more like Jordan Love, where if things click for him, he could get so blazing hot and just win a Super Bowl. I could see Jordan Love going through four weeks and just every downfield pass, somebody catches it off a helmet and it just works for him. Goff is just a great executor, play in and play out. But it does take things going his way.

It does take pass protection, really. Whenever he's had pass protection and weapons, he's great. There's no, but to your point, there's no quarterback who just takes themselves there. Otherwise, Josh Allen would have four Super Bowls. So there's nobody. Can I try to get some former players on the show? I love that you mentioned all legends and then Sean Salisbury. That's funny. Like Chris Carter, Robert Smith, John Randall, Randy Moss.

Randy Moss does not do a lot of appearances. I don't know how much I would have to pay Randy Moss to come on. I've had John Randall and Chris Carter before and Robert Smith. So I have checked off a few of those boxes. If anybody knows Randy, we could try. But yeah, I've got, I don't know Sean Salisbury either. Had CJ Ham the other day. You could check that one out. break 80 that's awesome well i'm in i'm the i'm in the worst spot with golf that you can be in where i am good enough to play right on that line of breaking 80 but i am not good enough to actually be breaking 80 so i am better than some people but i am not really actually good at this

it's tough place to be i've been working on it and i've got the golf net in the backyard but It's just not to be an excuse guy, but did you see spring? It was awful. I would love to have 10 rounds in by right now. And I have like four is what it is. So the weakest link is the field goal holder. Well, if they go with Johnny Hecker, you should be fine. He's done it a long time.

Jay, what team is the biggest threat to the Vikings in the NFC North? I've bounced all over the place on this. this man. I said in my NFC North power rankings, the first edition, which was early April, and I'm going to try to do, somebody asked for once a month. Like, I think that's a great idea. I had Detroit as the favorite. They're the favorite on Fanduel to win the division. And then Chuck Foreman, that's a good one. I could probably get Chuck. And then, uh, I had the Lions fourth the last time I did it. So I actually don't have a very good one. I could probably get Chuck. And I can't, uh, I actually don't have a great answer. I actually don't have a great answer to that. Like, because they're

so even. Who's the, who's the biggest threat? Like, they're, they're all so close. It's probably the team. So I guess I'll say it this way. The team that could be the best, like the highest ceiling, if everything goes right for them, is the Lions. We've seen it. They've won the division. They've, even last year, had still a great offense and had the best point differential. So I think the Lions are the one with the highest ceiling, unless Caleb Williams becomes Josh Allen. And all bets are off. So anyway, well, great, great conversation. As always, guys, really, really appreciate it.

I am going to go watch some Minnesota Wild Hockey. So I'm really glad everybody could tune in. Tomorrow night will be exciting. As soon as the Minnesota Vikings send out their schedule and we have it officially. I know there's leaks all day. I try not to look at them because sort of like the draft. Christmas morning, let it happen. But as soon as that comes out, I have the schedule and I will live pick the games.

I will not pick the games beforehand. I'm just going to go W's and L's. You could pick along with me, play along with me, and decide what we think on May 14th, the Vikings record is going to be. I always enjoy doing that. We'll talk about best road trips. We'll talk about toughest stretches, easiest stretches, interesting factors, great matchups and the games we can't wait to see.

So I look forward to that tomorrow night. I would assume that's going to be around 7 central that they drop that. But if it's a little earlier, we'll be right here. So thank you again so much, everybody, for tuning in. And we will see you tomorrow night. Football.