Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Opposing execs hated the Vikings offseason? Hm.

Episode Date: April 7, 2025

Matthew Coller talks about an article in The Athletic quoting executives around the NFL who were down on the Vikings offseason and questioned GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah's power. This narrative is getting tired, isn't it? Plus answering Viking fan questions.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey, everybody. Welcome to another episode of Purple Insider. Matthew Coller here and want to start the show before I dive into what the athletics Mike Sando was able to gain from talking with NFL executives about the off season by just saying congratulations to one of us. Page Becker's becoming a national champion today for Yukon. about the offseason by just saying congratulations to one of us, Paige Becker's becoming a national champion today for Yukon. I have enjoyed her journey from day one. I mean, I saw her play here as a junior. My wife, I used to write for the athletic and cover women's basketball.

And she wrote a feature on Paige Becker's when she was at Hopkins. And now today she is a national champion and very soon will be the number one overall pick in the WNBA. So very, very cool to see that journey for a Minnesotan who went through a lot injuries, close calls, and then today a champion. So an awesome day for Minnesota and for page Becker's and I saw the Minnesota Vikings tweeted out a picture of page Becker's when she was a little kid wearing an Adrian Peterson jersey with a Vikings helmet. So Minnesota through and through is Page Becker's.

So congratulations to her. And I was looking around for something to talk about this evening. And the reason I'm on Sunday night as opposed to Monday evening is that I have something to do tomorrow night that I'm excited about but also will keep me away from being able to go live. So I decided what I don't want to miss out on talking with you guys. So here I am on Sunday evening and hopefully a few of you are thinking about football and wanted to jump in as well. Plenty of space, all sorts of room on the show

this evening for you guys to jump in. Questions, comments, thoughts. I'm sure you got draft on your mind. What do you wanna know? And I saw my friend Kevin Seifert wrote about seven things that he felt like are resolved about the Vikings path and their organization this off season now that we've had the free agency, the press conferences, the owners meetings,

conversations, and all those things. Um, so that means, uh, there's a lot to talk about with this off season still. And what's on your mind? What do you feel like is not yet resolved for the Vikings off season? Let me know in the comments and we will get to all of your questions. I promise. But I want to begin with Mike Sandow of the athletic every year. He does a couple of really amazing articles that bring you behind the curtain of the national

football league. And when I wrote my book, I messaged Sandow and I said, Hey, can I just send you a copy? Cause I've always so much respected your work. I just, you know, want to do that. So I respect Mike Sando so much and the relationships he's been able to build over the years where he can get coaches and assistants and executives to talk to him anonymously for his article. So he always does the quarterback tiers article where he asks coaches and

execs to rank the quarterbacks. And that's fascinating. Tons of interesting commentary about what people in the league think. If you were listening before the season, there were some executives that thought Sam Darnold could be a second tier quarterback in the NFL. And they were right that he was with Kevin O'Connell and the Viking setup. And he also does this piece where he asks about the off season. And once things are settled in free agency and before the draft,

he goes to people in the league and he asked that or should I say in the league and then he asked them what they think of other people's off seasons. What's most interesting to them? What do they think of this that the other thing? It's a great piece. Go read it. So interesting. But when, of course I did control F, let's go see what these execs are saying about the Vikings. I was a little bit surprised because what I expected to see other teams saying

about the Minnesota Vikings was, all right, wow. They've got to this point without tanking where they've got a stacked roster and they just spent all this money around the rookie quarterback contract. And I expected to see a little bit of McCarthy skepticism because that is a complete unknown and would be totally fair. But I did think since it has become such a model in the NFL for teams to build around the rookie contract and there's been so much success doing it. I mean, we could go

through all of the recent examples of it. Some of the recent examples are amazing quarterbacks who are mega stars, but even Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes. We know those guys transcend that, but their teams made a lot of it with Jackson winning the MVP quickly and Josh Allen by year three having a seriously competing team for a Super Bowl. Patrick Mahomes stepping right in that team being as good as they were. And then we've seen even quarterbacks that we don't consider the elite of the elite. Even the Houston Texans. Look, they weren't amazing last year, but they won their division. They were in the playoffs the last two years. They spent a lot

around CJ Stroud and maybe if Stephon Diggs had stayed healthy or their offensive line had been a little better, they would have been a better team. But we saw the Eagles on Jalen Hurts rookie contract go to the Super Bowl. Not this year, but a know, a couple years ago and lose to the Chiefs. We saw Jared golf do it in 2018 with Sean McVay arrives in 2017. They get Sammy Watkins. They get Andrew Whitworth. They stack that roster up around that contract. There's endless examples of teams doing this.

It didn't come up in the article. I really thought it was going to be the main focus of like, wow, they're doing this. It didn't come up in the article. I really thought it was gonna be the main focus of like, wow, they're doing it. They've been able to pull it off while not having to go to the bottom, which certain podcasters thought that they would have had to tank to get to this point. That's me.

But that was not the main subject. So I have pulled a couple of quotes and I will read them to you. And then we'll talk about each one of them And then I will answer any questions and comments, but the questions don't have to pertain to this Whatever is on your mind draft random opinions, whatever it is Don't ask me about food because I just don't have good opinions on food. But other than that, whatever is on your mind All right

Let's start out with the biggest quote of the article for Mike Sando in the athletic. An executive told Sando it's like the 2015 Colts all over again. I mean, you guys remember the 2015 Colts who isn't talking about how that's a random. I got to say it's a pretty random poll. That was 10 years ago. I I'm going to tell you, you can say to me a lot of teams from a lot of years. I'll be like, oh yeah, that was the team that did whatever.

If you said the 2015 Colts, I'd be like, today was there something that they were known for got other than not blocking for Andrew Luck? Like, I don't know. But anyway, it's like the 2015 Colts all over again, signing older guys who have been hurt who are on their third or fourth contracts. You cannot build a team with older players, especially old players who have been cut

because they were hurt. So let's talk about that quote right there. And that has been one of the biggest points of discussion that we've had. You recall a few weeks ago, I went through what Seth Walder wrote, the analytics angle, uh, and grading a lot of the Vikings moves and the grades that he didn't give that were very high were often for players that had been injured in the past. Now what Kevin O'Connell had to say about

the injuries was that they believe in their training staff to the point where if they bring in guys, they can create, he called it 365 day, a year type of plans for them. And he pointed to Andrew Van Ginkle and Aaron Jones as guys that were coming off of injuries that last year played the entire season. He also, well, actually quasi-afel Menta was the one who mentioned that they see the old and injured thing as a way to get better deals on players that you wouldn't have before.

Maybe you look at a Ryan Kelly in the way that he's performed throughout his career and he would be a 15 to 20 million dollar player. But because he's coming off a year where he didn't play a thousand snaps and he's over 30, you get him for I forget what it was. Is it 8 million 9 million something like that on essentially a one-year type of contract? The same would go for someone like J von Hargrave who's been one of the best interior pass rushers at his position But because he ends up getting cut and was coming off an injury Then you get him for a lot cheaper than you normally would have expected.

You would have expected he would get 20 to 25 million. Instead, he gets more like 15. It's a real legitimate two-year contract. There's a lot of dead money if they let him go after two, but it is only a two-year contract. So it's on the shorter side. So there's a few things to go through with this. I mean, number one is that injured player is not.

Every player has the same injury. This is important. I had Jonathan Allen, he got injured and then he came back in the same season. He had a pack issue. Also, Danielle Hunter had a pack issue and Anthony bar had a pack torn pack that kept him out for the entire year. He came back and never got injured ever again. The every injury is its own entity as a, they used to say about interceptions

or Kirk used to say about interceptions, like each one is its own. Each injury is its own. Aaron Jones injuries of the past are not the same as Jonathan Allen's or J von Hargrave, so this team would have assessed each injury as its own. But that's not really my gripe because I can understand that gripe of looking at it and saying, well, look, they just signed a bunch of old guys

because that really gonna get them over the edge. And a lot of those guys have injuries which turns up the dial on the potential for re-injury. I don't think anybody debates that. I mean, every single time you gotta go under a knife, it's worse for your body and for your future. And as much as I think the Vikings are the cutting edge of cutting edge,

they borrowed from the Rams. The Rams had those really low injury rates for years and the Vikings have brought it over. And I think they do an excellent job of managing their injuries and creating these plans. And it's a cheat code for them. And you look at where they grade for their training staff. It's one of the reasons players sign in Minnesota is the training staff. However, they are not miracle workers.

And the way that Kevin O'Connell talked about it the other day was almost like their miracle workers. So that's one thing. Look guys, I am just about at the age where I'm starting to notice that hairline fading a little bit. So if you're struggling with the same problem, allow me to make a suggestion.

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and have had injuries, there is the potential for regression. And you're concerned about already someone like Jonathan Allen and last year, couple of years, his pass rush win rate was not the same as it was in 2020, 2021 is PFF pass rush grade is pressure production, all those things, and especially his performance against the run, these are hard facts. These are not like random. Oh, it's an injury. I don't know, but these are hard facts about older players and regression and

When someone has had back-to-back years where they're not the same as they used to be then you do have to question Is that really the best move and I think it was Seth Walder for me? SPN gave it a D plus and it was like well I get where he's coming from with this because on paper an injury some regression He's older all those things are red flag, red flag, red flag. So I get that part. And even on the offensive side, if you're asking a lot of Ryan Kelly and he hasn't played a thousand snaps in two years and he wasn't quite as prolific as he was before when he's at his absolute best, he's as good as it gets in the NFL. But that was a

couple of years ago. So all those critiques, I think have merit. The issue that I would take with is a small word and it's or a couple words, I guess it's build a team in the quote. It says you cannot build a team with older players. The Vikings did not build the team this offseason. That's not what they did. They rebuilt a part of their offensive line. They rebuilt a part of their defensive line with older players, but they did not build the team.

They won 14 games last year without these players. And in terms of who they lost in free agency, you can't buy them. But as Pat Jones, who else was it? Who else was it that they lost that they're trying to replace? What they're doing with these older and injured players is they're enhancing. They're enhancing. And the other thing is, too, there's not a lot of them that are that old. I mean, there's really three. It's oh, they're trying to build a team with old players.

Well, the Hargrave and Alan at a position that does age pretty well and Kelly. Am I missing something? Am I missing somebody else that was old? I mean, okay, they kept Harrison Smith, but he's got an impeccable health record over his entire career and is still playing at a high level. Okay. Maybe you count Harrison Smith too, as a free agent, I guess. But Byron Murphy Jr. is 27. Aaron Jones is old for running back. I understand that, but they're not going to ask Aaron Jones to play all the time

because they brought in Jordan Mason so they can have a duo there. And Mason was averaging five yards of carry last year. He's also what? 25, 26 might be 26 years old. So he's not old. And if they need Jordan Mason to be there starting running back because Aaron Jones regresses, well, that's why they've got him is just in case that they have that. And everybody out like you're saying in this quote, like they built a team, they did not build a team, they built a team through several very effective drafts. One of them with Justin Jefferson

or high draft picks I should say, and a lot of other good moves around them in last year's free agency. The main parts of this roster were built by Rick Spielman drafting Justin Jefferson and Christian Derrisaw the two most valuable players in this entire franchise the current regime drafting Jordan Addison. And on defense them going hog wild last year with Jonathan Grenard not old Andrew Van Ginkle. Get in there but not there yet I don't think and Blake Cashman, not old Byron Murphy. They signed not old.

They will have a cornerback. Isaiah Rogers, Mackay Blackman, not old. Theo Jackson. Nope. Even in the middle. I mean, Harrison Phillips is going into I think the last year of his contract, but not an old players, a veteran, but he's not an old player. They are developing some interior D line on the offensive line.

Brian O'Neill is a little little on the older side, but still playing well and tackles last for a long time. Will fries is not old. That was where their most money was spent. When you say build a team, that doesn't look like building a team to me. It looks like a bunch of guys who are in their primes with the roster being enhanced if Ryan Kelly doesn't play well because he's old and injured. That's a problem.

If one of Jonathan Allen or J von Hargrave regress is hard. They did have the other one. They've spent on both of them. But even if those guys are not the version of what they used to be, unless they have nagging injuries, instead of just random injuries, they could still be way more effective than what they had on the interior last year. And that's kind of the point they spent a lot, but if those guys are above average, you don't need them to be top five, you need them to be above average.

Well, last year they had about the worst pass rushing interior in the entire NFL. I mean, Jehad Ward, who was just blitzing on third downs, led them in pressures for on the interior by a lot. I mean, this year, now they have two of the guys who have been the best in the last decade in the NFL in their Twilight, but even if they're effective. So I think that that executive going back to the 2015 Colts and saying that the entire team is being built by old players after they signed three old players might be a

little bit of a reach, a little bit of a stretch on the Vikings off season. Okay. Let's get to, uh, let's get to another one. Another executive told Mike Sando. There is no more fascinating team than Minnesota because they have 13 and 14 win seasons over the past three years, but no playoff win to show for it and only one division title.

I mean, what are we doing here? Only one division title because the other team 115 games. Come on now. Come on now. Okay, the playoff part though is fair enough and we have talked about this that and hey, they would have had a home game if the rules had been changed and I did see on a pro football talk today that the league apparently wants the playoff format

to change and they wanted the lions to put in or somebody, I guess, to put in that proposal because they don't want to do it this way because they, I mean, it would be really funny if they changed the playoff format because right after the Vikings lost in oh nine, they changed the overtime and then. You know them not getting a home game and I know they might have lost no matter what if Sam Darnold freaked out again No matter what would have been a lot more comfortable at home. I'm just saying Anyway, not the point. We'll see if that changes someday the point is I mean okay to say They have no division title is obviously silly because whatever or one division title But when it comes to the playoff win, that's a real thing one division title. But when it comes to the playoff, when that's a real thing, uh, it, that is a real legitimate, Hey, they're interesting that they've been able to get so far with really excellent coaching and squeeze more out than was there. And if we look at the

objective measure, this isn't just me being like, you know, whatever defending them, this is look at the objective measure of the over unders for the Vikings with Kevin O'Connell and what they've done versus the expectation. They have won 34 regular season games. When we add up the three years of over unders, it was six and a half last year. I want to say it was probably eight and a half the year before and maybe eight and a half the year before that or seven and a half. I mean, they've been expected to be a below average

or average team every year and they have 34 wins over three seasons. And half of one of those seasons is played with not just backups, but atrocious backups. Like bottom five type of backups in the league. I mean, that's a pretty good sign. I mean, it does make them fascinating in the way that usually if you get that

many wins and you don't win in the playoffs, the pressure ramps up pretty quickly. And I think that that's actually true. I think that is actually very true that when you draft a quarterback and you let another 14 win quarterback go. And you don't bring in Aaron Rogers, which I, of course, you know, I don't think that was a good idea, but I'm just saying you don't bring in Aaron Rogers. And so you turn it over to a quarterback who's never played before and you spend

all this money in free agency and you give all this money to Kevin O'Connell and the contract extension, all that. There is pressure. There is, but I don't know what NFL city where it's just like, there's just vibes. I'm not sure what any NFL city where they're like, you know, no pressure here. It's all good. I mean, I think that's every NFL city all the time, but the expectation has been raised by winning 13 and 14 games.

And that is a legitimate point of what makes the Vikings so interesting because if you go another year year you go another two years With Kevin O'Connell and you have these good regular seasons and don't win in the playoffs All of you right now could say hey if they don't win the playoffs next year, it's okay But did you talk to me in January? Because that's what you all said last offseason and then you were flaming mad when Sam Darnold melted down. There is no way to escape what it means to be a team with very serious expectations.

It's also a heck of a great place to be because for years, where were the Vikings in terms of expectations? Oh, uh, maybe they'll be in the playoff hunt. Great. How many times did we talk about this purgatory that they were in from 2019 where they win a playoff game and have a great regular season team and then melt down in San Francisco in a year where everybody was about to leave and free agency and their cap was screwed and everything else. And we looked around with how are they going to get back? Twenty twenty, twenty, twenty one. We went into those seasons all off season.

I was like, how do they how do I make this into something that sounds interesting as a content creator? And how do I how do I make this interesting? Because we all know what the deal is for twenty twenty and twenty twenty one, especially twenty twenty one. Did anyone think that they were going to go anywhere? I thought they could be a playoff team, but that was about it. So now if the thing that you're saying about the team around the league is, well,

they keep winning so much, they're going to have to, you know, do more. Well, that's the place that you set out to be. You set out when quasi a dafoum, MENSA and Kevin O'Connell got here to be you set out when quasi adaptho Mensa and Kevin O'Connell got here to be in a position where people could say man you know they got the roster and they put everything into it they've had these great seasons before it's time to win there you go now we're there now we're where they're supposed to be so I don't know if that was supposed to be I mean maybe it's just a it's like is it supposed to be kind of an insult or I couldn't really tell like what that was supposed to mean exactly I mean, maybe it's just a, it's like, is it supposed to be kind of an insult or

I couldn't really tell like what that was supposed to mean exactly. But I think it's really about pressure that do you have Marty Schottenheimer here is really the question. Uh, but a lot of coaches have had this happen where they get their teams through the regular season, get beat in the playoffs. And eventually they get there. Think about what Andy Reed's reputation was for the longest time now we do not have that reputation for and read what time will ultimately tell and i generally agree with that when you are done this much winning and show this much and put this much investment into the roster go with.

the roster, go win. And that's where my standard is set. And that's where everybody's standard should be set, regardless of whether it's a young quarterback or not. It's, it's time to go. It's time to win the North. It's time to compete for a Superbowl because that's the position you've put yourself in. And again, it's a compliment to their work because there's a lot of NFL cities

that are talking themselves into Gino Smith or something like that. Like, well, you know, maybe we'll get back to the plan. Like, okay. Well, that's a, that's a different position. Okay. Two more. They were a little bit suspicious. One of them, an executive on quasi Adapho Mensa said until a

new deal is in place, people will wonder. That is true. That is true. Now at the owner's meetings, as you guys know, because we did a podcast there and you listen to every single second of every podcast, obviously, uh, at the owner's meetings, Mark Wilf in a sit down with myself, Ben Gessling, Kevin Seifert, Alec Lewis, and Dane Mizzetani in Florida. Uh, we talked about quasi-adaphal Metsa's contract and Mark Wilf made it completely clear with

no hesitation whatsoever that they want quasi Adolfo Mence to continue to be their general manager. And I will say this about Mark Wilf that I have probably been present for, I don't know, maybe 20 conversations with Mark Wilf over the years. I have not found Mark Wilf to be full of crap. Put it that way. I just have not a lot of times. He lays it out there.

I think about Justin Jefferson when we asked him about Justin Jefferson a couple years ago. He said it's our intent to have Justin Jefferson be a Viking for a long time. And that's what they did. And last year when we talked contract with him, he was upfront and probably more upfront than Kevin O'Connell wanted him to be when he said like, yeah, we're not negotiating new contracts right now, last off season. So he's usually been pretty straightforward with us when he

answers a question like that. So I'm more likely to take his word for it and not completely because until we see it, we got to see it. But when he says that he wants the power structure to remain the same, when he's very happy with the leadership, when he wants to get a deal done, he was not waffling. He wasn't dancing around the subject. He could have easily told us and he knew the question was coming so he could have easily told us if he wanted to. Uh, guys, I just, I just don't really want to talk about this subject and like, what are you going to do? Right?

You're not going to fight him in at a hotel in Florida. I'm just okay. If you don't want to answer the question, you don't have to. He could have avoided the subject, but he went out of his way to not only address the subject, but tell us how he wanted the power structure to be. So I'm assuming that this deal will get done with quasi-dafile Menta after the draft and that that should clarify things. But that executive is right that until a new deal is in place, people will wonder.

And there are a couple more quotes in there about, well, who's pulling the strings, who's calling the shots and all that. And I've always found it a little odd is that these types of things have shown up with the Vikings every year since quasi Adolfo Mensa got hired. Was he really in charge or is he really qualified or all these things? And eventually the, the, I mean, if look, and this is only if they sign them to an extension, if they don't, what new information, I'll take it back. But I'm, I'm taking Mark Wilf's word for it. If they sign quasi to a longterm extension, I think we just got to call shenanigans on all

the stuff, right? There's always going to be internal politics to anywhere you work, except purple insider, where it's just me. But if you work at McDonald's, which I did once, or a grocery store, which I did once when I was in college, there's always internal. This person has more say than that person and everybody else and then things like that. This person doesn't like that person where every every place of work and there's always different ways that people work together and dynamics and all those things. But if they sign him to an extension and then we look at the roster as what it is, is one of the best rosters in the NFL that's been built with a clear-cut plan of Kwesi Adafel Mendes' bigger picture vision and players that Brian Flores wants and that Kevin

O'Connell wants on the field. What am I supposed to say? The GM doesn't know what he's doing and what? Or the GM has no power or something like I don't know I thought they were supposed to work together to build this roster that could potentially win I thought that's what they were doing here but that sounds to me there I think there's always been some people no I don't think I know because I've been told there's always been some people around the league who think that quasi Adolfo Mensa jumped the line, that he went from a researcher to an assistant GM very quickly.

And while a lot of other folks in the league had grinded their way up the ladder and he ends up as a young general manager in comparison to people who have been doing it and doing it and doing it and fighting the fight. Now that's because the Wilfs wanted to go a different direction from the old scout of Rick Spielman. And I would say if the biggest critique of them is that they keep winning too many regular season games and not winning in the playoffs. Well, yeah, that says a lot about where they're at, but I've heard it since day

one about quasi-adopthalments. Well, is he really qualified and does he know what he's doing and who's got the power and all these things? And my thing is, as Stefan Diggs said, uh, there's truth to all rumors, I guess. Uh, and so there's probably internal politics and different stuff that people hear and they like to share and gossip and whatever else. The only thing that we can judge from here, from our seats, I'm not in the meetings.

I'm not the owner of the team. The only thing we could say from our seat is how well has this team done since these two have been placed in power and we could throw Flores in there as well. These three recently, especially, but even just these two, O'Connell and quasi-Dolfo Mensa, how well have they done? 14 win season last year. It's pretty good. Huge off season to fill a ton of different needs that they had to strengthen

a roster that they mostly kept together. Drafted a quarterback in the first round, moved on from Kirk cousins, got their salary cap right for the future. They could do a little better in the first round, moved on from Kirk Cousins, got their salary cap right for the future. They could do a little better in the first draft they had. That's for sure. A lot better. But aside from that, I mean, you're going to have to show you're going to have to use your hands.

Point to me with your fingers where the dysfunction is from the outside, from the roster, from how, what chance do you have to win? How good is your coach? How good is your staff? How good is your staff? How good is the players on your team they kept Justin Jefferson they signed Darasaw early Do you know what Darasaw would make now? I? Mean, I don't know these seem like good things to me I'm just not sure but the executive is right then until the deal is done

Then we can't say for sure That this operation is going to continue. So we wait and we'll see how that goes. Alright, one last thing. An executive told Mike Sando, the Vikings interest in Aaron Rodgers, quote, reflected uncertainty regarding J.J. McCarthy's readiness to lead the team. Well, that might be true. I mean, there is uncertainty about whether JJ McCarthy can lead the team

until he leads the team. We can't say if he can lead the team. That is true. And I don't disagree with that. I mean, I think that when you have a quarterback who has not played and not practiced in a long time and didn't play a lot in college, didn't throw a lot of passes in college, as we've talked about and has one training camp of second team reps and one second team preseason game, it's pretty hard to say that they were fully locked in.

No doubts. This is Peyton Manning of the future. I mean, of course. Yeah, I think that's right. I think that there's an uncertainty and a little unsteadiness and nervousness. I think that's true. I think there's nervousness about it. There should be the roster is so good and you move on from a quarterback that you knew

could win 14 games and put you in position to play games as big as they did last year. Who wouldn't be nervous going into this ultimately though, they landed on sticking with JJ McCarthy, but yeah, I think that's, I mean, I think that's right. I don't think that's a, that's unfair to say that the conversations with Rogers also were reflective of thinking. Well, and of course in the public, they're saying, well, well, you know, you've got to talk to Rogers because he's so good.

And I don't think that that's disingenuous that when it's Rogers and he's had his career that you don't hang up on him, but I also think it was more serious than that with their discussions. I think the discussions got real inside the building and that I know that there were people inside the building that were pro Rogers because they're not sure about JJ McCarthy. The thing about the quarterback position is I've heard Kirk say it. I've heard KOC say it.

When you hold the football in your hands, how many people's jobs are on the line when you hold the football in your hands is JJ McCarthy. There is no more pressure in this universe. This is why when you know, Chider Sanders, who I really liked watching in college, but when he goes to the podium at the combine and he says, you know, I turn around programs like, okay, man, it ain't like that. Or he says that you be a fool not to draft me. It's like, I don't know, man. It's hard. It's hard out here in the NFL. There's a lot of pressure on the guy who holds that egg. So of course you'd be nervous because if you put all this work into building this great team and the guy can't play, you're all in a lot of trouble. So that's that's probably true.

So a lot of interesting comments there, you go read the article again. Mike Sando does a great job of gathering a ton of different executive commentary. And I just thought, what a group of comments to pick apart. And I got to say, as as I consider myself, one of the kings of random old team references where I'll be like, oh yeah, you know, 94 for some reason I was talking to my wife and OJ McDuffie came up the other day. So this is how deep we're into this. And I was like, oh yeah, that, you know, OJ McDuffie is on that like 94 dolphins team and whatever. I would have never made the connection to the 2015 Colts.

They signed Frank Gore and Andre Johnson and Trent Cole. So there you go. Somebody there was maybe thinking about the 2015 Colts. I'm just saying like, you gotta, you don't come up with that off the top of your head. That is quite a reference. So anyway, it's a fun article. I love going through it. Great job by Mike Sando. And now we can get to your thoughts and your feelings. So anyway, it's a fun article. I love going through it. Great job by Mike Sando. And now we can get to your thoughts and your feelings about all of that, but also of course

anything else that is on your mind regarding the Minnesota Vikings. Dan says haters gonna hate. Well that's true. Yeah. I don't know if it's, um, I don't, I don't know if that is the motivation for, you know, somebody's talking about, I think that as general managers, things like that, you're always trying to look for like what might go right or wrong with that team. So when someone asks you about the team, you might say,

well, what could go wrong is that they've got a bunch of old players and they do have a lot of veteran players, but my issue was they didn't build the team with old players because I actually completely agree with the statement that statements a hundred percent true. If you go into free agency with a pretty empty roster and you say, here's what we're going to do. We're going to sign eight 30 year old guys and try to save our jobs.

That doesn't work. That's been done a million times. Stephen says, if it's jealousy, do you think other GMs may not want to deal with quasi in terms of draft day trades or try to lowball him? Like the 2022 first round. Well, I do think that when it came to that 2022 first round, that what do they say about, you know, the poker table and spotting the mark, the new GM, if you know, the new GM is really interested in trading down, you could try to take advantage.

I still think though, when you look at a lot of the draft value charts, it wasn't so much about that for me. It was, I really didn't believe in the positions that they drafted for where they were as a franchise, where they were as a franchise. At that point, I thought they need everything for the future. Remember, they didn't have Jordan Addison at that time. They needed a receiver for the future. I was very pro Jameson Williams at that time. They need receivers. They need the premium positions, corner, edge rusher for the future because we knew that the Neil Hunter's contract was going to be up and they didn't have Everson Griffin anymore. They just need guys, but especially like corner, edge rusher, receiver, like they need these things. They're just trying

to fill a spot with Zedarius Smith. They needed more than that. And they went with a safety and it was like, no, that's Nope. Because we had seen Sadejo and Harris and then ultimately can't bind them, fill that spot next to Harrison Smith. So that was my issue. I thought also when you trade out of 12, 12 is a pro bowl type of position. That's where you draft pro bowlers. Not everyone is a pro bowler, but that's where a lot of them come from is that top 15 32

back end of the first round. Not really where you get the pro bowlers. A lot of good players, a lot of average players, not too many mega stars. Definitely not many guys who are going to the hall of fame. There was some crazy stat. I've probably brought it up five times on the show, but it just always comes to my mind about there was some crazy step like half the hall of fame is guys who were drafted top five. And so every pick you go down is farther away from someone who's gonna make the whole thing and i thought twelve thirty two that's jumping away away the end with junior pick i thought was good until he told us that he had never been healthy that was. I thought was good until he told us that he had never been healthy. That was.

That was concerning, but that was the right position at least. But then they drafted a guard and a linebacker. So safety guard linebacker like that. That's not, those aren't the premium positions that are changing your life. That was my issue with that. Uh, deplorable Neanderthal says, hopefully your takes are better than that of a Neanderthal. Uh, did the 2015 Colts win 14 games before bolstering their roster with old guys?

Nay. Yeah, that's what I didn't, couldn't really make heads or tales of that. Now look, could the Vikings have these blow up and have them not do what they think they're going to do? Of course they could. Yeah, of course they could. Uh, but 2015 Colts is a, that's going back a ways. I mean, I'm sure other teams have spent money on their free agents to fill holes

before, uh, the injuries are a real thing. I don't disagree with that. My thing is just that they have all the foundational pieces in place at quarterback, wide receiver, tackle, edge rusher. These are the most important positions on the field. And even corner are not young guys. Isaiah Rogers and Byron Murphy Jr. are not young guys. Sorry, excuse me, are not young guys. And Mackay Blackman is a young guy, but I mean, they're not old guys. I mean, they're veterans. I don't know. Was I saying young guys?

I meant old guys. They're not old guys. Like, they're foundational pieces that are in their primes for all those key positions. It's the old guys that are filling the other spots that they needed for this next season, after last season, their weaknesses. That's what they're doing with it. And the biggest money they spent was on Byron Murphy's 27 and Will Fries was 27.

That's not building a team with old expensive guys. That's my issue. Aaron says, free agency track record last year was phenomenal, trust the Vikings, Vegas six and a half last year, 14 wins. Eight and a half, my guess this year is 12 trust in O'Connell McCarthy. I mean McCarthy is certainly a wild card where you're kind of trying to split the difference. Uh, if you're Vegas, if you're making,

if you're Vegas and you're making an over under, you're trying to say, okay, well they won 14 games last year, but a lot of stuff went right. They led the league in turnovers. Maybe the schedule was not as tough as we thought it was going to be because the AFC South was a true abomination. Okay. And so we know that they could pump up a quarterback, but we still don't know how good this quarterback is going to be eight and a half tough division, eight and a half, 12, I think is fine for a pick. I might go 10 or 11 because I think there will be a learning curve there and maybe some some games that just don't work out but

I think if they're anything less than right in the conversation down the stretch, I'd be very surprised Aaron says I think that the quote risky signings are Jeff Okuda and Rondale more and their contracts aren't going to hurt them if They don't work out Alan Hargrave or former pro bowl players. I trust in Flores. Well, that's the thing with, um, with the former pro bowl players is neither one of those guys has played as well as they did in their prime recently. I mean, Hargrave was out for almost the entire year. The year before that he was phenomenal but we have.

Going through that a little bit with someone like mark stavinport now he didn't have the track record of these guys. What there was a little bit of hate two years ago this guy was really great and a little alarm bells go off. Sometimes. sometimes When I hear that well two years ago, it was great But now he's gonna be back to that guy and that's a little hard my my thing is though with Alan and Hargrave as Long as they are healthy and that's hard to say whether they're gonna be a hundred percent or not if they're 75% of what they used to be even if they are the worst version of themselves that we've ever seen of them on a football field It's a huge upgrade and I think that's what the Vikings are going for now when it comes to price This is the other part of it because they have the rookie quarterback contract

You go into the store and you buy The television that you want to watch the game for more than you think it should cost You want to watch the game for more than you think it should cost. But you already had a lot of money in your pocket. Like, I want it now. So I'm just going to and I don't know. I'm struggling with the metaphor. Let's say there's one TV left on the shelf and you got to watch the game right now. You're going to pay whatever it takes.

You need to interior pressure right now today. But you have the money so you can outbid. You could throw the money on the table and be like, whatever. That's where they're at with the salary cap. That's what they did with these signings. The one that's concerning, I think is Kelly. Now he's a great player and he's been a great player, but from an injury perspective, because if Alan or Hargrave does not work out, there's the other one.

They would both have to not work out to be a huge failure. And 75% of both of them or either one of them or both of them is still much, much better than what they've had. Kelly is a center. That is such a key position for this team with a young quarterback. That's the one that's concerning. It's also the one that's not that expensive. And Michael Juergens, apparently they, they like this from what it sounds like.

So, uh, K foul 77, they can get guys in the draft like gray's able or Derek Harmon to learn behind the older guys. Yeah. I think whatever position they go, they're going to be in a spot where they can either start them right away or not. If they draft Gray Zabel, they don't have to start him at left guard right away. And if they start Derek Harman, then he can be a rotational player for them. And that would be a really excellent thing to have him learn behind two of the best pass rushers that have been in the league for, you know, how long.

Uh, let me get back to your questions in just a moment, but first got to remind you now I saw a tweet the other day that the receding hairline is now in. Yes. Yes. Yes. Because of apparently a character on white Lotus, he's attractive and he's got a receding hairline. So here I am thinking, well, what a day for me, right? But, uh, you know, the responses to that were not so favorable. A lot of people not buying

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Hims.com slash purple insider results may vary based on studies of topical and oral minoxidil and finasteride prescription products require an online consultation with a healthcare provider who will determine if a prescription is appropriate restrictions apply. See website for full details and important safety information seems like other executives are losing their hair over what the Vikings did this off season am I right Bradley says this year is very tough schedule I'd be happy with 10 or 11 games go look at the schedule you will see I have looked at the schedule the other day I did make a mistake on the show I apologize for that I think I said they have

nine home games they have eight so that makes it harder what was in my brain is that they had eight last year but the NFL took one and moved it to London so that was what because I think they only actually played eight games at US Bank Stadium last year maybe I have it all messed up I don't know uh Blowfishes says I see that my prediction on your show that the Vikings were interested in Joe Flacco's McCarthy's backup, but would wait until after the draft is now picking up steam. Well, good prediction then Mr. Blowfishes. I will remain in the same camp as I have been on the backup quarterback is. Okay, sure. Yeah, that's fine. Joe Flacco is fine.

Is, I mean, he's been a backup for some guys that were on the younger side. He was all right. It's got experience and is not going to threaten JJ McCarthy at all. Sounds good to me. He can play if you lose JJ McCarthy for a couple of weeks, but you wouldn't want him to be lost for a long period of time, because then you're probably going to be in trouble if Joe Flacco is your quarterback. That's fine.

Wentz is fine. Tannahill's fine. Whoever they want to get works out for me. And yes, of course, after the draft, because of the compensation formula and all that, it's better to sign them after the draft but yeah Joe Flack goes fine that'll work K Fowl77 says draft is full of D tackles there are other interior O line later as well well that is the the challenge though is that there's just not a ton of draft capital here to reinvigorate the roster with young talent.

And that is something that they're going to have to figure out how to do eventually. This year is clearly not the year to do it. And they have lucked out in being able to get younger free agents like Jonathan Grenard, I think was still 26 when they signed him, agents like Jonathan Grinard, I think was still 26 when they signed him. Byron Murphy, these over multiple years. So it's going to have to kind of start next year, but since they haven't let tons of free agents go in the past, they don't have a ton of comp picks. They needed to spend in free agency to rebuild big parts of the roster. And it was interesting for Mark Wilf to say that in past years, they kind of looked at free agency as a place to spiffy up

the roster as opposed to now, they look at it as a legitimate roster building option. Of course, we know that that goes back to the quarterback, but they do need more draft capital into the future. Maybe they'll get some by trading down. We'll see, I'm not totally convinced of that, because as I mentioned with trading out a number 12 to 32, you can't go back too far,

or you are trading yourself out of opportunity. And I did that study looking at the value, the weighted value by pro football reference of picks 15 through 25 versus 40 through 50. And the gap was absolutely enormous. Over the years, the hit rate was pretty pretty different So they don't want to trade down too far if they're doing it, but they also need more young players Steven says this is what a quarterback on a rookie contract scale looks like you can afford free agents like this other

GM's in worst quarterback positions might be crying over spilled milk. Sorry, not sorry. Yeah, it could be. That could be. There has been a little bit of an attitude toward this team. And, you know, I think I think we can figure out. I mean, why? One reason. Every year, the players give the Vikings a pluses. And if you're another team, you're probably pretty annoyed at hearing all the time about the quarterback whisperer, the analytics GM, the culture, the other whatever. I mean, I'm sure that it gets a little bit like, hey, what do they want?

Which is fine. Which is fine. And I've said that too. But I'm sure that when you're turning on TV all last year and hearing about as they went down the stretch in the playoffs about the culture, the quarterback whisperer, the whole thing and all that kumbaya stuff or whatever else. Yeah, maybe you from the outside you're these are competitors. These are not your friends who are talking about it. These are teams that want to see you lose. Sean says people question the Vikings the hardest last year about letting Kirk walk.

Now that's true. They they did. I would be if somebody wants to go back and look at the 2024 offseason version of Sando's article, I wonder what they said. Major questions and going with Darnold. Major questions. Yep. Now they're questioning, letting him go and switching to McCarthy. That's true. Yep. That is true. Where can you bet the over in California? I don't know.

Yeah, it's California. I think Minnesota is also maybe right. We haven't done the gambling thing yet or have we done the gambling thing yet? I don't know. This is this is something I don't do would be I talk about it, but betting on the team that I cover would be a bad idea. Matt says if Jones, Hargrave, Kelly and Alan all looked like old mediocre players next year, I wouldn't exactly be surprised.

Uh, if all of them looked mediocre, I would be surprised. I am not expecting every single one of these to hit. And what they have with each one of these players is they have plans built into that. these players is they have plans built into that. Like Hargrave and Alan, both looking mediocre and bad. Doesn't seem that likely considering how good they were. One of them maybe is possible or one of them getting hurt, but signing both of them. And then Aaron Jones having the backstop of Jordan Mason means that you're not just relying on Aaron Jones to run for 1,100 yards again.

You're looking for like 700, 750. And Kelly, that one you're a little bit up a creek. Now they did draft and develop Michael Juergens, but that one's a little harder to replace somebody like him. That's a very serious, awesome veteran player that it's hard to just kind of, hey, kid, go be Ryan Kelly. It's not easy to do. But for the most part, they've given themselves bumpers. My biggest quibble was just with the phrasing of it. Like, well, they're trying to build the whole team with these old guys.

OK, well. If if Kelly and or not. Yeah, I mean, if Kelly Allen, think about if Kelly Allen Hargrave are just OK versions of what they used to be. How many fewer pressures are you allowing at the center position probably a lot how many pressures are you gaining on the interior probably a lot is it worth the exact number of dollars no but that doesn't really matter because they're not up against the cap uh George says if we avoid cluster injuries, AKA the 2024 Alliance, yeah.

Number one injury recovery is Darasaw. The other injured free agents recovery or secondary Darasaw getting back to form. Yeah, I agree with that. Uh, I believe Kevin O'Connell, the last update, he said that Darasaw is on track. We did ask the other day, I don't think he was referring to Darasaw about the injured players that they signed and said that they all should be ready to go by training camp, so Yeah, no you're completely right and that I think is why they brought in just in school the tackle from the Tampa Bay Bucks is kind of just in case

If Daras is not ready to go, we'll see. I mean, ACL is usually they're about that timeline where he should be ready around training camp. But if it was any more serious than that, then I would be a little more concerned about it. But I agree. That's the one we're going to be asking about a lot. That is a massive recovery. And if he has to wait a couple of weeks into the season, you

want him to be 110% ready to go, not just a regular because it's not an easy injury to come back from all the time We saw that from Hockinson last year. They eased him in Steven says if building younger is the Pats spending 26 million dollars a year on Milton Williams who was a rotational DT I'll take Allen and Hargrave. Well, you got to remember though The Patriots are in a position where their salary cap situation was even more wide open. Um, so they could do anything they want. I mean, all that's a lot of money, but I'll defend that type of move all day long, all day long. I mean, sure. Overspend on Milton Williams. What's holding you back? Give him the most money.

Try to stack up as much as you possibly can with somebody like a younger talent like Milton Williams. I would take Milton Williams at 26 in that situation over the two older guys, because the upside of Williams is going to be higher. If you're giving me 26 million to spend and asking me which one you want, I would have probably gone with Milton Williams. But the other two are really proven players over a long period of time. The reason I'd like Williams second M for a long time, maybe

the rest of his career if it works out, but both teams are in the same position. Oh my gosh, they overspent on Milton Williams. Like who cares? They can they needed to make sure they got players. They can't just sit around and go. Well, you know, that's $1 too many. Well, not when you have how many of her dollars they had in free agency.

Digit says analytics about capitalizing on advantages not taken by others via conventional wisdom that are available opportunities for competitive advantage to optimize effectiveness and efficiency. Well, that's what it says in the Webster's dictionary, Mr. Digits. Yeah. effectiveness and efficiency. Well, that's what it says in the Webster's Dictionary. Mr. Digits. Yeah. So that's the question is with quasi-da-fomentza.

Is he taking advantage of opportunity by getting older injured players at a cheaper rate? And the answer is probably yes. Now it has to work or it has to work at least to the point where they're getting value out of those guys. And if they needed the value, this is the thing I remember going through this couple of years ago. Maybe it's 2021 where I looked at the roster and I said, okay,

they need this to go right. This to go right. This to go right. This to go right. And this to go right for this to go right, this to go right, this to go right, and this to go right for them to even be in the playoffs or even be competitive. What are the chances that's going to happen? So now when we do that same question, what do you need? You need health. Everyone needs health.

You need J.J. McCarthy to be good. You don't need him to be paid manning. You need him to be good. What else do you need? Well, you need this interior line and the run game to be better to be a serious contender. You need interior pressure to be better.

You need the the players from last year to play at the same levels Andrew van Ginkle and Jonathan Grinard or at least close. But aside from that, I mean, you're not asking a whole giant laundry list of things that are a coin flip. Like, what are the odds Jonathan Grenard's good next year if he's healthy? Well, good, really good. Justin Jefferson, really, really, really good odds that Justin Jefferson will be great. Jordan Addison. These guys have proven long enough.

The guys who really drive the success have proven that they can continue to do so. And that's where you look at. I think this Vikings team and you can talk about like making the bet on them or why you think that they could be a contending team is that one of those things is not. Wow. If, if Javon Hargrave does not get 50 pressures, they're screwed. That's they've set themselves up for that not to be the case. And they could even draft a Derek Harmon as well. So that's why I look at it as being a pretty strong and favorable situation is

that they have not asked these players to be that. Dusty says, how could a question about leadership ever be answered with Aaron Rodgers? The guy is toxic. Maybe you're responding to somebody else to hear. Yeah, I think what's been nice is that we've not had to have the Rogers conversation very much recently. But when I look at that conversation about Rogers and what it said, I don't quite get to, oh my gosh, they have no belief in JJ McCarthy

because they landed on JJ McCarthy. But I also think it's very fair to. Wonder what JJ McCarthy is going to be and to have the conversation with Rogers as looking into what are our other options in case we don't really believe in JJ McCarthy throughout the spring or if he gets hurt, that there's that backup option for Aaron Rogers. And that's why you have the discussion with him, but you're never going to not have questions.

And you know, Sean says that like about Jayden Daniels or Bo Nicks or whatever, like you're always until you see it, you're never going to know for sure. Uh, mama says no one, no one else ponders the 2015 Colts every night in bed. Yeah. You know, I just didn't think too much about it until now and now I do Dusty says I think if you're gonna bring in any young quarterback into a place to try to teach him to lead wouldn't it be our Locker room they remarked at how much of a natural he was last year during the offseason. Yeah, so

That's right the leader of the franchise is Kevin O'Connell. We can all agree on that. It's Kevin O'Connell's football team. And what we saw last year is him take a quarterback who had no connection whatsoever to the Vikings. It was coming in totally cold. And by the end, they're raising him up on the shoulders by the end ish, which tells you everything you need to know about how Sam Darnold under the teaching of Kevin O'Connell was guided into that leadership position.

I do think that, uh, JJ McCarthy is a more natural leader than Sam Darnold with his personality. I think Sam Darnold is a very kind of relaxed guy and I'm gonna show up and do my job every single day never throw people under the bus Very likable in that way, but I also see McCarthy is having more of an outgoing Kind of galvanized the guys little more rah rah type of thing in his personality Kind of galvanized the guys a little more rah rah type of thing in his personality where Sam Darnall was more quiet and they galvanized around him as the season went along once they got to know him. But it factor is a major reason that they drafted JJ McCarthy and the belief that

he could be a leader and that that would make up for some of the difference in inexperience, but he seemed to me like last year, uh, he was leading the team like a franchise quarterback. That's why Kevin O'Connell called him that. And that's how he was acting last year during training camp. So I don't have any doubts about whether he can lead a team from a personality standpoint. Uh, Brooks says, uh, but maybe you're, maybe you're just alluding to the idea that like if you're bringing in Rogers, that doesn't really fit with the culture in the same way that McCarthy does. And I totally agree.

And it's one of the reasons I was against it. Uh, Brooke says, uh, the Vikings just need Alan Hargrave to be better than the replaceable DTs they had last year. Think about how much money they spent on those DTs last year. What was it like 3 million for Bullard and five or so for Jerry Tillery and those were replacement level players that they brought in and these are much much more accomplished players than what they had before they need them to stay healthy Jonathan Allen did return I mean that is a point we say well

they signed injured players. Well, he did play in the playoffs. He got seven pressures against Jared Goff. A sort of injured.