Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Packers reporter thinks Malik Willis is a fit with Vikings

Episode Date: February 18, 2026

ESPN Wisconsin's Jason Wilde joins the show to discuss the NFC North, the Packers' offseason questions, and why he thinks Malik Willis is a fit for the Vikings 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.

Hey, everybody, welcome to another episode of Purple Insider presented by Fanduil. Matthew Collar here and joining me from ESPN, Wisconsin and a many-time guest of the show when he responds to his text messages, Jason Willdy, to talk a little Green Bay Packers check-in. Wilde, I want to start out actually with a former backup quarterback. I'm assuming it's former Malik Willis will be signing somewhere, very likely to be a starting quarterback. we've had some conversations about Malik Willis. Why don't you, why don't you take us through Malik Willis to begin the discussion? How's it going, man? Yeah, first of all, great to be with you.

Such an honor. And Malik Willis, it's kind of like this right here. It's a reclamation project. Like, did some stuff with your podcast, then cast aside because I didn't respond promptly enough, and now I'm back. Look, he's a, he's a, he's a, phenomenal story, but he's more than that. He is also a guy who has rebuilt his career and played pretty damn good football for this

team when they needed him to. You know, it does make me wonder between the ownership in Tennessee and the different coaching staffs that they've been through. And obviously, Mike Vrable had a ton of success once he left there and had success there as well. But it just feels like a place where quarterback's careers went to die. Marcus Marriota obviously didn't have success there.

And Will Levis didn't have success there, although he did have the mayonnaise commercials. And Malik Willis was there. And they just, he just never had a chance. He played before he was ready. I get frustrated with Packers fans

and stands who love to say, oh, you got to do it the way Packers do it. you know, let a guy sit for a few years. Yeah, that's easier to do when you have a Hall of Famer in front of him, which is what happened with Rogers behind Favre and with love behind Rogers. But Malik Willis got exactly what he needed. He got really good coaching. He got a couple of opportunities. Don't forget, just because he played at Liberty, he was at Auburn first. Like, he was a big-time recruit. So it's not like he was this, you know, a little engine

that could. But he got into the right system, got the right coaching, improved a ton, and then what everyone wants to do as a competitor is when you get your opportunity, you play at a high level. And he did that in 2024. And he did that again this past season. And now he's going to have an opportunity. If he goes to the right place and ends up with the right coach, Kevin O'Connell, he would have an opportunity to really be successful again. I was really impressed with, how prepared he looked when he went in the game. The first time, the first season he went in, they, you know, looked like they sort of truncated the offense a little bit down for him and had him,

you know, only throwing like 13 passes or something. And they ran a lot. They used his running a lot. But then when he gets in the game against Baltimore and then also against Chicago, that was an NFL starting quarterback. And some of the numbers are really silly about his completion percentage and quarterback rating and stuff like that. I think everybody knows there's no way that he's going to, you know, have that much success once the league starts to figure out what he can and can't do.

But something that stands out is when someone steps to the line of scrimmage under center, has full command of his offense, gets people lined up, sends guys in motion, throws to the right reads. Because if you do that in a Lefleur offense or in a Kevin O'Connell offense, you're going to have a lot of success. And I think that, Vikings fans may have taken Sam Darnold or even Kirk Cousins for granted with their abilities to do that in an NFL offense because it's actually a lot harder than it looks sometimes for younger quarterbacks. How impressed were you with that element of it? Because if, you know, Willis is going to be a successful starting quarterback at some point, like that's what he's going

to have to do is to play within himself, execute an offense and those, you know, moving quarterbacks running quarterbacks have a reputation for playing outside of structure a lot. But I thought that he really didn't do that and he ran when it was right to do. Yeah, I would say first of all, it was great to see you for the Vikings against the Packers JV at the end of the season. But like, it's really unfortunate that Malik Willis had the hamstring injury in his relief performance in Chicago because Annie had a shoulder injury on top of it, by the way, because the Vikings probably don't win the game. Like, I'm, I'm serious that Clayton Toon had really no business playing that game. And by the way, the Packers chose not to even bring him back on the practice squad after they

released him. And I mean, that told you that they did not see enough in him that he was even worth carrying. They kept Desmond Ritter instead. So their offensive line was terrible at game. they had a lack of skill position guys. But I think especially for Vikings fans who were intrigued by that possibility, it would have been nice for them to get to see it up close because watching Malik Willis, he's not just a running quarterback.

He certainly has that elements. He's not built like Dante Culpepper by any means. But he kind of, like when Dante Culpeper was at the peak of his powers for Vikings fans, and you were a much younger man than as was I. But like, he didn't run just to run. Like he was, I remember Packers coaches being so exasperated by him because you get the Vikings in third and 10 and you cover Randy Moss effectively. And then Dante Culpepper picks up 11 with his legs.

I think that's what Malik Willis has become. Certainly it has the element of being able to, you know, run some read option stuff. and designed runs for sure. But no, he's a, he's not just a running quarterback who can throw the football. Like we saw him, he made some throws, the throw in Chicago to,

to Dobbs for a touchdown. I mean, that crappy press box that they have in Chicago that they forgot to put in while they were planning the stadium and then they had to wedge it in somewhere. Like, it was a perfect line for watching that throw. It was immaculate.

I mean, it was really, impressive. He is, I'm not saying he's, let's slow our role. I'm not saying he's going to go, you know, win the MVP when he becomes a starting quarterback somewhere. But I think he's going to be a pretty damn good quarterback for whoever gets him. And whether that's Miami, whether that's Minnesota, wherever he ends up, you know, they're going to, and to your point about Darnold, I do think we have to be careful about thinking, oh, well, you know, these coaches can make anybody effective. Because I think, you know, I think. And to your point about Donald, I do think, we have to be careful about thinking, oh, well, you know, you know, these coaches can make anybody effective. Because I think that that is a clear mistake, which obviously Vikings fans saw with J.J. McCarthy. I don't know what J.J. McCarthy's career arc is going to be, but I think he showed that probably should appreciate what Sam Darnold's capable of a little bit better. But he could be a little Sam Darnoldish. Gets to the right situation. Sam's obviously been in back-to-back right situations with the right teams, the right systems. I think he can do something similar

for whoever team he ends up with. I think from a Vikings perspective, Jason, they probably would only try to woo Malik Willis if they felt like J.J. McCarthy is just not a starting quarterback because I think Malik is going to have contract offers from at least four teams that need quarterbacks, the Jets, the Browns, the Cardinals, and especially the Miami Dolphins, although with the dolphins cutting half their roster, just a few minutes before we were recording, I'm not sure that that looks like anything more than a total rebuild project. But these other teams are not that attractive, other than I think Pittsburgh to some extent with Mike McCarthy there. But aside from the

Steelers, you look around to go, well, who needs a quarterback? If the Vikings feel like they really need a starter, then I think he becomes part of that discussion. But if I'm Malik Willis, and I've gone through all of this behind the scenes and everything else to get to this point where I'm kind of the next Jordan Love of somebody who developed for multiple seasons. I don't know if I want to go to a place that is going to tell me, okay, yeah, but you got to compete in training camp with our former first round draft pick who is so much of our golden boy that we let, you know, Sam Darnold go. And I'm not saying that there is high on them now as they were then.

But, I mean, if I'm comparing that to Arizona's releasing Kyler Murray and you can just go there and throw the ball to Marvin Harrison Jr. and Tray McBride, yeah, you might only win seven games versus maybe winning, if you're really good, 11 or 12 with the Vikings, but they're probably going to pay you more than the Vikings would be willing to. My case to Malik Willis, I've made the pitch just in case he watches the shell. I've made the pitch of like, okay, let's just assume that they don't want to start J.J. McCarthy next season that if you signed a smaller short-term deal with the Vikings, the last two quarterbacks that left here, Sam Darnold and Kirk Cousins,

made a heck of a lot more money so you could sign the short-term Justin Fields multi-year deal with Arizona or take a little less and throw to Justin Jefferson in an offense that has proven to work when it has the right quarterback. Look, you're the one who covers the Vikings, so I would never be presumptuous enough to say, well, this is what I think. I will say that, you know, when you've invested a top 10 pick in a guy, whether you're the Vikings or someone else, you obviously wanted to work, right? And there were moments, I think you would say, where you thought, okay, you know, there's something there to what degree I don't know.

But if I'm Malik Willis, I think fit is so important. I am not going to a team that has institutionalized ineptitude. So I'm not going to, he's a, and, you know, Malik and I had a really good working relationship. Like, you know, we hit it off pretty well the last two years. And then our youngest decided that she was a Malik Willis fan, which like, I had enough trouble finding her. Like, I'm not like pro Jersey guy at all. And she wanted a jersey.

And so it like, I had to go to like T-Moo to get one. And so, because seriously, like he, he had arrived. And he's a great. story, right? If you're a parent, like perseverance and working your ass off to build your career after you've dealt with a lot of adversity, he's great. So I had no problem with that. But if I, if Malik was tuning in right now, I would say, dude, you got to be smart about this. The Jets have proven that no matter how good you are, they're going to screw you up, right? The Cleveland Browns. Who wants any part of that organization right now? Right.

I mean, they had to settle for Todd Munkin as their coach. And I have nothing against Todd Munkin. But like, you saw people running away from that job once they became the leaders in the clubhouse. Now, I would say with Arizona, with Mike LaFleur, Matt LaFleur's brother, with the weapons that you mentioned, I would say that would be worth a serious look, right? And then the Viking situation, yes, I would, you know, there's a lot of people I would love to throw to, Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison and have that. And quite frankly, one of them would be a different former Packers quarterback, which I'd be very curious to see if that ends up being a thing.

Because we certainly heard about the possibility a year ago. So, yeah, look, I want, I don't root for teams. I root for people. And I would like to see Malik Willis succeed because, you know, he's a good dude who deserves the opportunity. But he better choose what, like, I think you're probably, probably too young to this, but what's the, what's the, it's Harrison Ford is Indiana Jones. Which one is it where the, uh, the like 900 year old, uh, night is guarding the chalice?

He choose poorly. Yeah, don't choose poorly, Malik. Or you're going to end up like the, like that movie does. I think I probably saw Indiana Jones movies when I was like seven or eight. So I get the reference. Six, seven. Yeah. So, oh, okay, right there.

Anyway, Arizona makes a lot of sense because of the connections. And then the price tag is going to matter because the Vikings, while they can create cap space, they cannot create a gazillion dollars of cap space. If somebody is willing, and that's my last thing on, on Malik Willis for you, was just like, what, how do you even put a price on this? When someone has thrown so few passes, but they've looked really good. you know, there were instances you talk about going back in the day like Rob Johnson, here's a reference for you. Rob Johnson played like one game for the Jacksonville Jaguars and was good.

And the bills trade a first round pick for him as a backup. Teams used to do that all the time where they would see a small sample of a backup quarterback play and they'd be like, okay, let's try to trade for him with a fairly high draft pick. I mean, even like Sam Darnold went from the Jets to the Panthers for a second after he had struggled. Josh Rosen got traded for a second, which to me said, and then Justin Fields got, what, 30 or 40 million dollars last year from the Jets? Like the quarterback remains the most valuable position out there. So if you're Malik, are you thinking, hey, 30 million or something?

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Prescription required. See website for details, restrictions and important safety information. Yeah, I don't either. And you're exactly right. Like, again, old school reference. Scott Mitchell, I believe, is the kind of patron saint of backup quarterbacks. getting opportunities. And look, sometimes it works out, right? I mean, the Packers traded Matt Hasselbeck to the Seahawks for basically the equivalent of a first round pick. Obviously, they moved from 17 to 10 and then squandered the pick. And the Seahawks took Hutchinson, who turned out to be a pretty good player, Hall of Fame player. But my point is that that was the equivalent of a first round pick. And Matt Hasselbeck went to three Pro Bowls, went to a Super Bowl.

So sometimes you're right. And there wasn't a lot of evidence on him, right? I mean, Brett Farb never missed a game. So I think Malik Willis has shown more. But again, I think it is situational dependence. And to your point about creating cap space, that's the thing the Miami Dolphins are doing today. And obviously, you have a coach in Jeff Hathley,

who was in Green Bay and around Malik Willis on the other side of the ball. And you've got a GM and John Eric Sullivan who was around him. But I think people are kind of assuming, oh, these guys have Packers' backgrounds. They're going to get Malik Willis. Malik Willis has to do what's right for Malik Willis. And to your point about your sales pitch for him, that might be the best choice for him. But again, I don't know enough about the Vikings' cap situation to know. And to me, the bottom line is don't go somewhere that's going to completely set you back

because you've made so much progress because of where you were in Green Bay. Well, the cap situation is you can do whatever you want for a year and it might hurt you later. But if the Vikings were really, really sold on him, they could sign him to a deal that would have a fairly low cap hit at first and then restructure everything under the sun and try to figure out a way to make it work. The hard thing to really gauge is how far gone are they on J.J. McCarthy? Like, are they to the point where they would like to see him compete with somebody, even though everything that gets mentioned with them is quarterbacks who would be the starter, Kyler Murray, Derek Carr, on the day that everyone's talking about how the Vikings made a mistake letting go darnold. It ends up out there. I'm sure not from him, but ends up out there that, oh, I would be willing to come back. And maybe if someone begged me to play, I don't know.

I guess I couldn't. you're like, are you talking directly to the Vikings, Derek Carr? So they've been in the mix for all these things. But Willis would be a significant investment. And if you think that he could be your guy, I think the upside there, you know, I'm going to do at some point a ranking of my favorite quarterback ideas for the Vikings. I'm not sure anyone's going to be hired than Malik Willis because I think that has a lot of upside.

Let me ask you about an old friend of yours, though, A. Aaron. I mean, is it when you, when you talk about Aaron, And how does that feel? Is it like someone you went to high school with? You know, you know how when you go to school, you'll be with the same people from the time that you're five until you're 18. So you just get to know them really, really well.

And then you all just leave each other and never talk again. Is that you and Aaron Rogers, you're together for so long, covering Aaron Rogers. And then he's gone. But, you know, you still go to his Facebook page. You see what he's up to. You see how he's doing. Is that how it goes?

Uh, sort. of. So, you know, obviously I did a radio show with him for four years. You know, the guy showed up at the hospital when my first born was born. We had a great relationship. And it's not necessarily like a high school girlfriend and then you got married to someone else and you know you made the right decision. But like I still text with him from time to time. You know, text them a few times always in Pittsburgh. I think for me, and again, I don't know what the demographic is of your audience. For me, I had, my wife was going through breast cancer during COVID and have someone out there when she didn't have any sort of immune system because of chemo. I didn't love the messaging that he chose on that and how frequently he decided to discuss that. So that was a bit of a disconnect for us, and we actually did kind of have it out over that.

And we're okay now. So, you know, I would hope that once his career is over, you know, we'll reconnect some more, as opposed to my high school classmates who I don't really have any interest in reconnecting with. But I would say this. I was really happy to see him. And we corresponded a little bit this past season. And like he had a dream of it playing out like it did for Tom Brady. And he goes somewhere else and he goes and wins the Super Bowl and shows, hey, I can do it wherever I am.

And instead the Jets thing was a complete catastrophe, not just the injury, but then the way the following season went. And I was happy to see the Steelers thing work out for him to some degree. I mean, dude played with a broken left wrist. Like I know he ain't farve, but who's a. a whole other discussion about his off the field stuff. But it was pretty compelling. And I watched when he would play. And now I'm really intrigued by what the Mike McCarthy wrinkle adds to that.

Because frankly, I would say that it's an opportunity for him to kind of rewrite the ending. Because when Mike McCarthy got fired in 18, things had gone its course, he was, you know, he had publicly criticized him multiple times that season. So this is a chance for him if he chooses to go back there to do something. Am I more interested in him going to the Vikings? Abs so blank and lootly. Like, count me in. I'm in. I can tell you, I can guarantee you I'll be at the game at U.S. Bank Stadium and at Lambo for that.

But again, like he's 42 years old now. selfishly, I want to see him keep playing because he can still sling it. And if he, you know, again, you know way more about the Vikings than I do. But my thought all along was that J.J. McCarthy, after taking a medical red shirt, is not going to be ready. I thought that I was pushing for them because I think it was Diana Rossini that it kind of put out. that angle more than any other insider. And I was all in on that because I thought, you know, it could really help J.J. McCarthy.

And correct me if I'm wrong, but when he had the meniscus tear and they repaired it and then he had complications, like when you're on IR, you can't practice, right? So like not only did he not have a rookie season, but he wasn't practicing during, at least Jordan Love was getting to practice. his rookie season. He was the number three quarterback. So he wasn't getting a lot of quality

practice reps, but at least he was doing stuff on the field. And that's not the case with McCarthy. So I thought Rogers as the quarterback with those weapons and McCarthy getting a red shirt, regular red shirt year where he ran the scout team the whole time. I thought that would have been a perfect scenario. Some of us were against the idea because of his recent performance with the Jets and going back, I mean, really hasn't had an MVP caliber season since 2021. So when you start adding it up, I thought there would be maybe a limited ceiling, which I think is what happened in Pittsburgh as well. It wasn't a perfect team.

And the Vikings turned out not to be a perfect team either. And I think Aaron is not a quarterback who could elevate you. So why not if you're going to go with McCarthy and let Darnold go? Why would you go with someone else when you know how good Darnold is, And he's in his prime and you've had him in the building for a year. So if you're not going to go with Darnold, then why would you go with anybody else was kind of my case? But back then, there were some podcasters who brought up what you're talking about that

he didn't start throwing again until January of last year. That also might be an argument for why, you know, he's got a chance still to develop is that he really didn't have a full off season going into last year. But in terms of the Rogers idea, there's a really good debate over. whether, like, that would have been a good idea for the Vikings or not. Like, it would have gotten him to the playoffs. And then you'd still be sitting here going, we have no idea what J.J. McCarthy is.

Aaron got us to the playoffs. Do we turn it over to McCarthy? Do we stick with Aaron for another year? He wants to come back or he doesn't, right? And it would be kind of this, um, it would feel like just simulating a year to the future and ending up in the same exact situation. But now the situation is different. And if there's any quarterback that you could sell,

carthian. Hey, last year was really tough on you for a lot of different reasons. But Jordan loves that for a year behind this guy and turned out to be a really good quarterback. Can you give it a year? There was even a story once upon a time that, you know, Brock Purdy, you remember, went five and O to start his career, something like that. And then got into the playoffs, won a playoff game, ripped his arm apart that the 49ers were trying to get Brady to come play for for them. And they had told Brock Purdy, like, can you sit for, a year. Like, are you going to be okay mentally if you sit for a year behind Brady?

And he said like, yeah, I could do that. I mean, I could sit behind the goat. Like would J.J. McCarthy, because if you get Malik Willis, then McCarthy is, it's, it's toast. It's over. If you get Derek Carr, it's probably over. If you get Kyler, it's definitely over. I mean, there's, there's a few quarterbacks like that. If Kurt, if Kurt comes back, I'm kind of on the fence about whether it's over. If you go to the goat, one of the best throwers ever, one of the best quarterbacks ever, that's a much. easier sell. Hey, why don't we just take a step back, work behind this guy and then we'll reassess, you know, at the end of this year. I still don't love it because of the idea of the

ceiling. Like if you're talking about a Murray, even car, I'm not sure, but even a car to some extent, but especially a Murray or a Malik Willis, because of their unique athletic gifts, because of their age, you could see them like taking off here and being the best versions of themselves. We're with Rogers, I just don't think that it can get much better than it's been the last two years, which has been okay. It's been probably the 21st best quarterback play in the league or 18th. I just don't know that that really gets you there in a division like this. Well, I would say, I don't think he would deliver the 2009 Brett Favre type performance. but I think with that weaponry and, you know, I don't know what the Vikings offensive line will look like.

I mean, I love Derisaw. I mean, he obviously had injury issues and everything else. But like, the problem for Rogers was that he, I mean, they got him D.K. Metcalfe. But like at the end of the season, he's thrown to Adam Feelein and Marquez Valdez Scantling. Like, what is this, 2016? And on top of that, their offensive line was terrible. So, like, you put him in Minnesota with what Minnesota has going for it. If they can protect him playing indoors, he's always been great indoors, right?

And so I'm not saying he would be far of O'9, but I think he'd be better. Because, look, I watched him during the second half of the season with the Jets, and I should have gotten hazard pay for it, but he played pretty well. He really did. Like you can see he was rounding back into form. They got him Adams who played really well for him. So I think he's got another year of playing at a pretty high level if you can protect him and you have weapons around him. That never made sense to me because D.K. Metcalf doesn't have a track record of being super like precise and, you know,

And Rogers is so demanding that I didn't love that fit to begin with. So yeah, again, I am, I, I root for the story. Well, I also think, I think on your side of this, that if McCarthy is just not the answer for them and that's, you know, made clear or they just think he, he needs another year to develop, I think Vikings fans just want to feel something after last year. I mean, when you just look at how miserable that season was and you're one of the worst offenses in the league, every single game is a slog. At very least, since Vikings fans, sadly, do not have their Super Bowl rings. A lot of times it's give us the entertainment like Sam Darnold gave them. And during that season with Sam Darnold, I kept saying, like, guys, enjoy this because it's not guaranteed every single year. I am more open to the idea of Rogers than I was last year, because,

you're not moving on from Sam Darnold for Aaron Rogers. You'd be moving on from a guy who ranked 42nd out of 45 quarterbacks and quarterback rating. And I need to see Justin Jefferson be good at football again, because that was probably the worst part of last year is that even in those bad seasons where Kirk was here, I mean, at least the number one wide receiver at 1,500 yards. What about what about these old Packers currently? I follow a lot

of your colleagues who talk about the Packers, and there's a wide range of different thoughts on bringing back Matt LaFleur, who, you know, it's so funny about the outside view, I mean, if you're on, if you're on this side of the border, you're like, yeah, fire him. He's a good coach. Get rid of them, Packers.

What are you thinking? You know, he messed up in the playoffs again. Get rid of him. But then I follow a bunch of Packers people who are like, oh, they're settling for being a 10-win team forever. and they're never going to get to another level as long as they have this coach and et cetera and et cetera. And, you know, the defensive coordinator change.

It's, it's an odd situation to evaluate because it's nine, three and one when Micah Parsons gets hurt with the lead against the Denver Broncos. And then it all comes apart from there, but in such different ways. Like Jordan Love gets a concussion and he had played very well, but there's, and, you know, end of game stuff that goes crazy and the bears. game where they completely blow it. I mean, what a strange, bizarre season where it looked like they were legitimate Super Bowl contenders and then everything that could go wrong went wrong.

So this has been a struggle for me and you hit on exactly what I was going to say. So I'll just extrapolate from that. I get it. We're not supposed to use injuries as an excuse, right? We're not supposed to talk about that. We don't talk about Bruno and we don't talk about injuries. Like, it's like, oh, well, what if, yeah. Every team, my favorite one was whenever I would bring up injuries.

Well, look at what the 49ers are doing. Yeah. Look what the 49ers did the previous year, right? They went five and 12. Getting hurt, if it's the wrong guys, you're cooked. And to me, and look, again, am I a Malik Willis Stan probably to some degree? am I a Jordan Love Hater? Absolutely not.

I think he's a very good quarterback. Do I think he's going to win an MVP? Maybe. But I think there's still a lot more out there for him. Like, he's not a finished product. But the product he is currently is pretty darn good. Okay. So that's where I come from.

I would argue, though, that if there were two players that the Packers could least afford to lose last season, that's who they lost. And I'm including love in that. Like, I think they could have been okay. and probably gotten further if they had kept Michael Parsons healthy and kept Tucker Kraft healthy and been forced to start Malik Willis for eight games. So that's where I come at this from.

And I wasn't in Denver, but they're up 23 to 14. They get a takeaway, if I recall correctly, or a fourth outstop, one or the other. And LaFleur, in a rare moment of go for the throats, goes deep. And if Jordan Love puts that ball two yards out in front of Christian Watson, it is a 80-yard touchdown. And suddenly now it's 30 to 14 against the team that has won 10 in a row at the time. And instead, not only does Patrick Sir Tan intercept the pass, but Christian Watson lands and crumples to the turf leaves in an ambulance. Right? So that these guys are not cyborgs.

That affects the team, right? They're still leading in the late third quarter when Michael Parsons tears his ACL, which of course, players have been in the NFL. They all know what it looks like. They know what happened. This is not, oh, he tweaked his knee. He'll be back next week. They know he's done.

So now you think you may have lost Christian Watson for the season. You already have lost Tucker Kraft for the season. to an ACL. And now the guy that has turned out to be the heartbeat of your defense has now torn at his ACL and they end up losing that game, which by the way, it was still a one score game. I think they lost by eight. Like everything went to hell for them. And so then to suggest, I mean, they never won again. Like they lost four in a row and then they lost the playoff game. So to me, yes, they are sitting at nine, three and one. If they win that game, which they would have done if those two guys don't leave that game.

Now you're 10, 3 and 1. You're on the precipice of the number one seat. You're on a five-game winning streak. Christian Watson turns out to be okay. And he basically, I don't want to say he made up for the Tucker Kraft loss, but he certainly mitigated how much they missed him. And now you've got arguably the second best defensive player in the NFL behind Miles Garrett having a blockbuster season,

and he's still healthy, I think you're playing in the NFC championship game. I'm not sure you win it. You may go to Seattle, and with that defense, you probably lose anyway. But so this, this, the issue that I have with Packers fans, who I certainly deal with on a regular basis,

first of all, it's not the entire fan base with the LaFleur thing. We did enough polling and others did as well, that it's about a third of the fan base that actively wanted, Lefleur gone, they're just much louder. And so, like, I do, I have a tendency to say this. Hey, if you want Matt LaFleur gone, that's fine.

But look around the league. Look around the league at how many times teams have struggled to try and find a new coach. Like, I hate to pick on the Bears, but like they fired Lovy Smith after a 10 and 6th season. And they hired a bunch of unqualified jokers to be their coaches, right? Like, I don't have any against Matt Nagy, but that didn't work, right? Matt Eberfluss, that definitely didn't work. Like, they also have tried all kinds of different bad coaching decisions during their time. Like, I think Matt Lafleur's a good coach.

Does he need to be better in big games? Absolutely. Is he loyal to a fault that maybe he should make changes with his staff on occasion and doesn't? Yeah, that's all. so fair. But if you want to throw the head coach out with the bathwater, you can, and you don't keep somebody because you think, oh, my God, I could do a lot worse. I get that. But like, I like Kevin O'Connell better than him. I do. I like the way he handles the team. Again, from the far from the outside, not covering him every day. But I think Matt Lafleur is a damn good

football coach. And I think people that want to get rid of them are short-sighted and a little bit entitled because they haven't been to a Super Bowl now in 15 years. And oh, my goodness, again, talk to your neighbors to the West and understand that it is not your birthright to go to the Super Bowl, you know, every several years. And I understand there's a great stat that the teams that have won the most games since 2011, I think you probably saw this, like it was the Seahawks, the Chiefs, the Patriots, and the Packers.

And all those other teams have like 14 combined Super Bowl appearances in that time, and the Packers have zero. I get it. That's frustrating. But, you know, I would like to see Packers fans take a deeper dive into the GM that everyone thinks has done such a great job. which he has, by the way, but maybe see that maybe there's a flaw in the roster building that they've done that maybe factors into the failures in the playoffs.

Yeah, I mean, I think that you could say, and I believe it's happened to Kevin O'Connell twice, now in both playoff appearances, that Matt Lafleur has been outcoached in the playoffs or made some serious catastrophic mistakes in the playoffs that have cost the Packers not going deeper. and this year was probably the, well, you know, one of the most shining examples of that.

You know, last year, last year being 2024 at the, the Philadelphia Eagles were just better than them. But I don't know that that was the case this time around in the playoffs that they were, you know, not the better team. But when you look at, you know, kind of the bigger picture of Matt LaFleur, he's always putting you in that position to be there and have a shot at it. And sometimes there are coaches that are a little bit victims of their own success. where if you had a bad coach or a mediocre coach, you're probably just missing the playoffs. So you eke your way into the playoffs with a decent but not great team.

And this has been a little Kevin O'Connell too, 13 and 14 win teams that likely did not deserve to be 13 and 14 win teams. They lose in the playoffs. And then it's like, well, your coach is bad. But not to say they didn't get out coached in both of those playoff games. But also the coaches historically, a lot of them who have given their teams many, many chances will usually eventually get there when things click and go right because there's no better example than Seattle this year or Philly last year of how you need certain things to go your way in order to reach the Super Bowl. The Seattle Seahawks, they play a 49ers team that they were better

than to get into the playoffs with a buy. Then they sit at home as the 49ers lose half their roster, which was already beat up to begin with. They don't even have to play a full football game to get into the NFC championship game. That is a really hard game. But the Rams had gone to overtime the week before with the Chicago Bears. Well, Seattle, their game was over and they were, you know, drinking beers in the locker by the third quarter. And so they got a big advantage there, home field.

And even the Super Bowl is played on the West Coast with a, you know, home fan base and stuff like that. So like things have to go right. And if you look at the Packers, you go, I don't know that any team reaches the Super when they have a top five player in the NFL gone. The offensive line banged up, the running back banged up. But I think that with Lafleur, his, he will commit to the run, even if it's not working.

And if it's working, it's a really, really hard offense to stop. And if it's not working, it's not as hard of an offense to stop. That's kind of been my observation. If, if there, if Josh Jacobs is 100% and their offensive line is moving people, they're going to work play actions off that guys are going to be open all over the place but if you're in second and 11 all the time i you're probably not going to be as efficient the outlook for next year though now that they've brought him back and you guys have had all your debates over mat lafleur and everything else it looks like it's going to be mostly the same

team jonathan gannon defensive coordinator i have some familiarity with him as a viking's coach She's very well respected in Minnesota. But how do you go into a season as those following the pack? Thinking about anything else other than just you have to win that playoff game in January. Like, how do you enjoy football anymore when you get to this point on a week to week basis where the only thing that really matters when everybody's been around for a certain amount of time is where you get at the end of the season? Yeah, it's the kind of problem that a lot of other fan bases would love to have, right?

I mean, fast forward to January and let me know how it goes, right? And again, look, I am extremely appreciative that I have now put in 30 seasons covering this team. It was 24 for the 96th team, and I went and covered a Super Bowl champion. I was like, this is great. That's how it's going to be every year. Turned out to not be the case. And by the way, while certainly Vikings fans and Minnesota, so to sports fans have more than their share of heartbreak in their lifetimes.

The Packers have done a pretty good job of that, too, right? Fourth and 26th, the 2014 NFC championship game, uh, January 10th losing the way they did in Chicago. The block to a rival where 21 to three half time lead. I mean, again, not to talk about injuries, but they were playing pretty damn good defense when Edger and Cooper was on the field. They lost him in the third quarter. they gave up 25 fourth quarter points.

Might have had something to do with the outcome. But to your point, like, it is what it is, as the great philosopher, Bill Belichick said. Like, this is the world you live in, Matt LaFleurre. Like, nobody cares, right? He always loves to say nobody's going to feel sorry for us. It's one of his go-to lines. Well, guess what?

Nobody's going to feel sorry for you. They're not. Like, you got a pretty good team with a pretty good team. with a pretty good quarterback. I'm super curious to see if the defense elevates further or has a regression with Jonathan Gannon. I mean, I haven't even met Jonathan Gannon yet. Like, they haven't made him available.

So we haven't talked to him about his system. You know, I love the anecdote, which I'm sure has been recycled a bunch when he went to Philly and interviewed for the defensive coordinator job and Siriani asked them, well, what, what system do you? What, what scheme do you run? And he said, I don't have a scheme. You know, I think that's probably what appealed to LaFleur because Halfley's kind of that same mentality. Like, well, we're going to run what works best for the people we have.

And LaFleur had a great line when he was out in Arizona for Mike LaFleur's hiring. He said, if you're still locked into what we run, what we run, you're a dinosaur. like it's over. You can't do that anymore. And so I think that's what appealed him. But there's a big question mark there. You know, you're not going to have, you're not going to have Parsons for the opener. He says he wants to be ready in September.

You got to move on, I would think, from Rishon Gary. So you've got defensive line questions, both interior and on the edge. Your cornerback situation, like, I think Carrington Valentine is a good player, but they rely on their corners to tackle, and he did not show the ability to do that consistently. Kishraun Nixon is mercurial, right?

He has games where he's really good, and then he has games where he's not so good. And he does maybe some occasionally knuckle-headed things. And then there are nickel guys, Javon Bullard, who I think might be one of their best defensive players, but he's not good enough to be an – he's not an outside corner. He's a safety.

But that's the one position where he feel really good about them. It looks like they're going to let Quay Walker walk. So there's a lot of questions on defense. Then we move over to the offense. And, yeah, they've got wide receivers coming out of their ears, so they're not going to keep Romeo Dobbs. You're hoping Watson has finally unlocked what he's capable of and stays healthy because I think he's a really good football player.

But so much of his career before this, I mean, we were comparing him. He did something his rookie year that he was in the same sentence as Randy, Moss. And I know what a big deal of it is because I was there in 1998 on a rainy October night when that dude showed everybody what he was going to be, right, at Lambeau Field. But he hasn't done that. He hasn't stayed healthy enough. And so he was really good in a truncated season. Can you get a full season of that from Christian Watson? Because then I feel pretty darn good about him, Reed, Wicks. And then Matthew Golden, Like, I understand he didn't have the kind of season that the two rookie first-round picks did in a Mecca, Buka, and in Carolina, Teterola McMillan.

But I still think he showed flashes where he's like, okay, this guy could be good eventually. The tight end with Tucker Kraft back, I think he's one of the best in the business. Luke Musgrave was not up to the task when he had to be the number one guy. But to me, the biggest question is, A, can you get the running game going? with a healthy Josh Jacobs and some sort of complimentary guy that can be different than him. And B, what are you going to do on your offensive line? Because you're going to let two starters walk. You're going to let a guy that was a pro bowler at left guard who you moved to center

and turned out to be miscast there. You're going to get rid of him because he's turned 30 and you don't want guys that are 30 on your team, who's coming off of an injury in Elton Jenkins. So your first round pick from 2024 has played pretty much everywhere, except left tackle. And when he did play left tackle against the Vikings, he didn't look great. So is Jordan Morgan ready to be a franchise left tackle? And are you going to be able to protect your quarterback? Because as Viking fans are well aware, J.J. McCarthy may have been bad regardless, but playing without Darrasaw and playing with that offensive line didn't do him any

favors in his development either. So for a team that, as we talked about in the The Denver game was so close to being perhaps in the NFC championship game caliber team. I go into this offseason looking, I'm going, there's a lot of work to do and not a lot of cap space. And oh, by the way, you don't have a first round pick this year or next year because of the Michael Parsons trade. So there's a lot of moving pieces. And it's going to be a fascinating spring.

Yeah. To me, the biggest question is that offensive line. because when they could not move bodies in the run game, it just was not the same offense. And it seemed like there was always this guy is now playing this position and that guy's now playing that position and so many guys banged up up there. And you also can't look too much farther from what happened in Chicago with how much better they got with their offensive line overhaul and with Detroit,

with them losing Frank Reg now, losing Kevin Zitler and how much different that was I think that interior offensive line has now become more important than ever because the amount of blitzes, the amount of stunts and, uh, you know quite well from all that stuff that Brian Flores throws at an opposing offense, a lot of it is rooted in rushing up the middle. And that was an Eric Wilson job, which you're familiar with Eric Wilson, but he had a breakout year. A lot of his rushes are coming up the middle and he's got 30 something pressures this year doing it. So you got to have guys who can sort through all that. You got to have good blockers. You got to have good running backs that can block as well. So there's a there's a lot to be resolved, I think on that

offensive line before you can really say that the ceiling of that offense is consistently elite. And then it's, you know, I mean, look, most quarterbacks are not, you know, every single Sunday, they're amazing. And every time Jordan Love has a down game, it's, oh, this is why he's not that great, folks, because he was capable of a stinker, which most quarterbacks are. But he does have that inconsistency element in his game that you can smooth out. If you can run, you can smooth. That's, I mean, that's really the story of Sam Darnold is Seattle smoothing out some of the rocky ups and downs by running the ball, building an offensive line that by the end of the season

was very strong. And then, of course, as always, staying healthy. So let me hit you with this. our friends at Fandul over there, Green Bay is plus 700 to win the conference next year. The only two teams with higher or I should say better odds are the Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams. We're not sure what Stafford's going to do if he's going to keep playing or, you know,

retiring as the MVP seems like a pretty cool way to go out. But would that be where you have them? And when you look at the NFC, knowing that there's a lot still. here to learn about the Green Bay Packers off season and what Gannon's going to be like and everything else. Do you have them as a top three NFC team for 2026? I mean, yes, but I have the same concern that you expressed about their offensive line. Like, again, I've just seen too many teams that were otherwise really good teams that were derailed because they couldn't run the football and they couldn't protect their quarterback.

And, you know, they have not replenished their depth there. And we also know that most offensive lines aren't together for 17 games. Like I covered the 14 season when one starter missed one game for the Packers. Brian Bulaga was the right tackle. He missed week two against the Jets. But otherwise, he didn't miss a game. And the rest of those guys, that just doesn't happen. Which is another reason why that loss is so difficult.

still i still get packers fans whenever i bring it oh too soon it's like a decade ago bro but i get it because that was a missed opportunity right so yeah you know you get parsons back he plays at a high level because he he's going to you know he's going to you get tucker craft back you know he's going to play at a high level look jordan love is a very good quarterback better protect him though because now two out of the last three seasons, he's missed time with injuries during his three-year stint as the starter. And I mean, I kind of thought the 2024 team was kind of an aberration. Like they beat a bunch of bad teams.

They lost six games to the three teams that were better than them in the NFC, right? The Eagles who won the title beat them to start the season and in the playoffs. And they lost both their games with the Lions and with the football. Vikings that year. Like, it's the most fraudulent 11 and 6 ever, right? But last year, I thought they were legit until they weren't. And so, you know, to take those odds, I would, I need to see what happens in the offseason because I feel like they have more holes than those odds would indicate they have. Can you explain the hoodie, the 612, the purple, the gold? Yeah, I, I found this while things were a little alarming in your area,

and I thought this was my way to support my friends in the Twin Cities. If it had been a different color scheme, I might have worn it in the Packers locker room, but I didn't because I didn't want to be accused of. I once wore an SMU basketball hoodie in the locker room, and guys thought it was a Detroit Lions hoodie, but I got a bunch of great. grief about it. I'm like, no, no, no, look, no, it's not, no. So this, I think, was a little bit

closer to being problematic. So I weren't for you, but again, I don't, I'm not a fan of any team other than the teams that our girls are on. Well, I really appreciate that, the support for our twin cities. And though there is, you know, the rivalry, I know Vikings fans are always curious what's going on over there in the land of beer and cheese. So, uh, Jason Wilde, I appreciate your time. always great. And look, now I got one text back from you about coming on the show. So, you know, you're talking about texting back and forth with Rogers, which shows it's possible, which means next time the expectation has now changed for you and this show. So we will certainly talk again very soon, Jason. Thank you for your time. I very much look forward to it. And you know,

I think the world of your work, I was an early adopter of Purple Insider. And, you know, you know, there are a lot, I'm lucky, right? I mean, I never got to the Star Tribune. That was kind of a career goal for me, because I wanted to live in the Twin Cities. It has worked out great for me. Paula and the girls and I are extremely happy here. We've gotten to cover a lot of good football. But whether it's Kevin Seifert or Judd Zolgad or you,

Vikings fans are really lucky. They've got a great beatwriting core, and their team hasn't had as much success as they would like. But I think that the people I cover the team are really, really good at what they do. And after I got over the fact that the Star Tribune sent Judd here in 2003, and I thought that was going to be my big end to get in there, and that was ruined. Jud ended up standing up in my wedding. He's one of my best friends. So nothing but love for you guys in the Twin Cities.

and I can't wait to be back at the Mall of America. I assume it'll be around Christmas time because that's when it always is. And so the girls get to go shopping and go on rides. And I get to see your smiling face of the press box. There is certainly only one Judd Zolgad. We could say that. And I have had the honor of sitting next to Judd now for a entire decade of Minnesota Vikings football.

Every single home game, me and Mr. Zolgad there, including the one that he left early. came back from down 33 points or whatever it was. So you know all about that journey. Well, we'll definitely talk again. And one thing we know is when the Vikings and Packers play, it's always something that, you know, it could be good. It could be crazy, but it's always something.

Thanks, ma'am. You got it.