Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Picking free agents to put around Kirk Cousins if he returns to Vikings (and a crazy trade up idea)

Episode Date: February 2, 2024

With the reality that Kirk Cousins could sign back with the Vikings, Matthew Coller and Manny Hill pick 3 free agents that would give the Vikings a chance to compete right away and then talk about a wild trade to land Jayden Daniels in the draft Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Purple Insider is presented by PrizePix. Go to prizepix.com and use the code PURPLE for a first deposit match up to $100. prizepix.com, code PURPLE. Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of Purple Insider. Matthew Collar along with Manny Hill here. And finally, Manny, the YouTube studio is fully complete now. And I hope that it's noticeable because there's a lot of effort that's gone into this. And we finally have a little more professional lighting, a little more professional camera. We got the background all set up. And all I need to do is at some point do something I should have done a while ago, which is to get you a webcam where your head won't freeze.

Or maybe we need to boost up your Internet or something. But we're looking good. And the camera's a little closer to my head, but this is actually how I look. Sometimes I watch back to YouTube videos. I'm like, I look weird, man. I look like I am very pale. I live in Minnesota, but I'm not that pale. Am I? So we've put some effort into it. I went to a small business, which everybody should try to support. And I went to a gentleman and I said, help me out, sir. And he did. And this is what it looks like. So I hope everybody likes it. This is a little bit of the new look. And we've got a lot to discuss this evening. And already, Manny, the chat is upset. The chat is extremely, extremely worked up just based on the headline, which is often my goal. But the headline is, what free agent should the Vikings sign if Kirk Cousins

returns? And I feel that I have kicked the bee's nest of the chat because I have insinuated that Kirk Cousins could return. But folks, we have to deal with the reality that this is possible, right? We spend a lot of time talking about why you wouldn't do it, but we do have to deal with the fact that it is a realistic possibility. So are you ready, Manny, to go through this, to look at some free agents,

to talk about some ideas if they do end up bringing back Kirk Cousins? I'm going to have to be, right? I mean, this is just kind of the reality is that Kirk coming back is a possibility. And I think we all have to kind of prepare ourselves for this being a possibility. We've talked about Kevin O'Connell wants to have Kirk backvin o'connell wants to have kirk back i think crazy wants to have him back at the right price um so this is a possibility and i think we have to uh you know those of us who think it's a better path to move on we might have to accept

the reality that this is this is still very much a possibility and now it's like if it does happen if they do bring them back how do they you know construct a good enough team around kirk cousins um you know in order to try and compete in 2024 yeah i also did bring a present for the chat as well which is a trade proposal that somebody for the newsletter for the friday mailbag newsletter asked me and it's a it's pretty juicy actually i really like it so stay tuned for that i'll make sure that we get a sexy trade-up that uh is interesting to talk about so the chat doesn't lose its mind and and i'm not i'm not kidding like uh tim says the chat is sad blah blah blah pissed off josh says the chat is sad, blah, blah, blah, pissed off. Josh says the chat is about to strike.

CJ says maybe time to hop on the Texans bandwagon is what Tim is feeling right now. So we'll talk about some trade-up possibilities as well. But I do agree with this. And this leads us, Horn Fan 2, into exactly what we're going to talk about need to spend every penny if you bring cousins back i fully agree with that if they bring kirk cousins back they have to structure it in a way where it's kicking a gazillion dollars down the road where they can spend as much as they possibly can over the next two free agencies and try to stack up this team as much as possible to the point where in 2024 and 2025, you feel like going into

the season, you have a strong enough roster to give you a chance and that's the best we can do. So what Manny and I have done is we have made lists of three each big fish free agents. I put in the chat earlier, the PFF top 150. So we are picking from the best of the best free agents, picking three of them. If the Vikings could just have their selection, offer the most money, kick the most money down the road, 14 void years, who cares? That's how we're doing it uh so but they they could sign anybody they want in free agency and we decided to pick three and you know i was scrolling down the list manny there

is a lot of interesting names here i don't think a lot of them would actually sign with the vikings in reality but as far as our purposes go it's a bit of a thought experiment of, so what do you think is really standing in between them and being a competitive team? Because if you have access like Madden to all of the free agents that you can sign, whoever, there are some pretty good opportunities. So why don't we just go back and forth? You give me your first one. I'll give you my first one and we'll talk about it. So why don you begin who is number one on your list or I guess countdown number three on your list for your three free agents the Vikings should sign if Kirk Cousins returns uh well I'll just I'll just pick one no particular order out you know one of the first guys I'm thinking of is

Christian Wilkins of the Miami Dolphins. You know, we've been, I've been talking about this pretty much all through the season about how the Vikings defense needs more, you know, more sort of beef, I guess, if you will, in terms of interior defensive linemen that can apply pressure as a pass rusher and can be really stout in the run game as well. And Christian Wilkins is a guy that, that to mind he's at a good age he's he's in his late 20s he had a very good season in 2023 he played for Brian Flores in the past with the Miami Dolphins um so he kind of

knows the scheme and knows the system and he's really kind of coming to his own as one of the better defensive linemen in the NFL. So Christian Wilkins, probably going to get 20 plus million dollars a year on the market. You know, whoever ends up signing him. But we're having fun here. This is a fantasy free agent session, right? So give me Christian Wilkins to beef up that Vikings defensive front. Huge fan, huge fan of Christian Wilkins.

He could do everything. He can rush the passer. He could stuff the run. He is an impact player in the middle, which they have not had in a very long time. We have spent a lot of space on the show complaining about how they have not had that guy. And even when it was Sheldon Richardson, it was kind of hard to figure, like, did he really live up to what they thought he was going to be in 2018? Because he had a couple of monster games, but wasn't a game in and game out guy.

He was kind of like one of those edge rushers. Mario Williams used to be this way where he would get three sacks in a week and then four straight weeks of kind of nothing and then three sacks. And I thought that Sheldon Richardson was that way. Christian Wilkins is one of those every down, down in and down out impact type of players. You pair him with maybe a real nose tackle, which they don't cost a gazillion dollars. And then Harrison Phillips, now you've got a good interior and we'll see if you have other pass rushers to go. Now, this is where I took a little bit of a different route. Now, I'm trying to be mildly realistic that the number one wide receiver

on the list would not come to the Minnesota Vikings. So it would probably not be T. Higgins. It would probably not be Mike Evans, even in a fantasy type of situation. But I am picking a wide receiver. And let me tell you why. Because with Dante Culpepper as the quarterback and great wide receivers and no defense whatsoever, the Vikings had a lot of success and some really good seasons just on the back of being a wild ass offense. And the Detroit lions were in the NFC championship with the lead. And look, if that's where we get, then it's a success. Okay. With the lead in the third quarter with one of the most

mediocre to poor defenses in the league, they just were able to create some pressures with Aiden Hutchinson. They were able to do just enough, but they really couldn't cover anybody all year long. They couldn't, they couldn't cover Justin Jefferson or Jordan Addison when they were playing the Vikings. They won those games. Why? Because they had an awesome offense. Offense is still always going to win. Who's in the Super Bowl?

Top offense in the league, San Francisco and the GOAT quarterback. Every year it's like that. Last year, Philadelphia. What do they have? Elite offense. Every year it's like that. Last year, Philadelphia, what did they have? Elite offense. Every year it's like that. So I'm signing Michael Pittman Jr. from the Indianapolis Colts, and I'm saying, Cook, Kirk, we know you're not running anywhere,

so throw it to all these open wide receivers, pay Michael Pittman whatever he wants, and we're going to try to go three deep action. Would he say yes to this? Probably not. You might have to go a little farther down the list. But in this scenario, he's sort of a second tier behind someone like Mike Evans. I'm aiming for a real three deep, not what they were trying to sell with KJ Osborne.

What do you think? I like it. I mean, load up the, if you're going to bring Kirk cousins back, the best way for him to have a lot of success is to just load up that offense as much as you possibly can give him as many weapons as possible. You never know.

I mean, guys get hurt, guys get injured. You know, you can never really have enough weapons as we saw last year when Justin Jefferson went down, things kind of changed for that offense. They just weren't quite as potent. case um of of some some of these other guys that tend to get injured the more depth you have in terms of how many weapons you have the better um so i i like it that that's and i like michael pitman jr he's really good his dad was a pretty solid running back in the nfl too so uh yeah i like it huge fan all right who's Who's next on your list? Okay.

So this is going to be an interesting route. I'm going with another Miami Dolphins free agent. And I'm going with Andrew Van Ginkle as a edge rusher. And the reason why I like Andrew Van Ginkle is I don't know. He's never really been a every down type of edge rusher. You know, you kind of look at the snap count he's had in recent years. He played 727 snaps in 2023, a very impressive 91.1 PFF grade. You know, he got injured late in the season,

which really kind of hurt the Dolphins' defense late in the year. But he's been a really productive pass rusher. And I think if you can throw him into the mix on this defense and this is I'm doing this to kind of assuming the Vikings are going to find a way to bring Daniel Hunter back. I don't know how realistic that actually is, but I think if you add Van Ginkle into the mix and then you bring back DJ Wanham them and then obviously you've got daniel hunter there as well you've got a nice i think group of edge rushers that can be impactful and you're not relying on one guy entirely uh to be just like your entire pass rushing defense so i'm gonna go andrew van genkel edge rusher uh plucking him off with the miami dolphins but just see everyone now googling who is andrew van genkel because also played for brian flores in miami as well another one he did and he really emerged this year as a star player for them and he is a great fit for brian flores kind of a

do-everything guy but a really effective pass rusher and one of pff's highest rated edge rushers but just sort of sounds like something you made up it was like when you would do the madden draft classes and it would just generate names like andrew van ginkle that's not a real nfl player but he is he is and so you're really going the route of let's load up the d line well here's what i'm gonna do so uh horn fan it's getting a lot of run on this podcast today, says, I agree they need a wide receiver three, but in January, you need a good run game. Well, you know what, Horn fan? I agree with you.

So here's what I'm doing. I am signing Kevin Dotson, who is a guard from the Los Angeles Rams, one of the highest graded run blocking guards in the National Football League last year, because I would love to see if it's the scheme or the offensive line. I tend to think it's a little combination of everything, not having a real identity, a little bit on the scheme, a little bit on the running backs, a little bit on the play calling, never sticking to the run. Cause if you only run a handful of times a game, while you maybe miss out on opportunities for explosive plays, but I also thought they had

the one week link all the time. Well, there saw left tackle dots and left guard. Let's go. Let's run behind the left side of the line and give Kirk cousins as much time as possible. But this guy, this guy's a road grader. He's going to push people around. I am loading up on the offensive side, Manny, because I don't even know if I believe you could sign three free agents to make this defense great. And I'm just saying, Brian Flores, do it again, buddy. Just dial up some new blitzes.

You got all summer. Come up with some new blitzes. We're going to need them and develop some players. You are going to need them because we're going to score 34 points a game that's gonna be the goal so who's who's your next guy on the list i'm i'm going with a guard i figured if i was gonna if the chat was gonna be upset with us that i would give them a guard that should make you happy right yeah it's because everybody we from what we've seen from the Vikings fan base, really since, like, I don't know, probably even before you got to Minnesota in 2016, it's always been like, sign a guard, sign a guard.

This offensive line is terrible. Sign a guard. Please sign a guard. So, yeah, I like it a lot. You are loading up on offense. I am, damn it, I'm loading up on defense, man. I'm going right back on the defensive side for my third guy. And I'm going big. This is a guy who has really, you know, emerged as a really good player in the last couple of years on one of the best defenses in the NFL in 2023. I'm going with Jarius Sneed, cornerback from the Kansas City Chiefs, had a very nice season, and he's at a pretty good age.

He's kind of mid to late 20s, was really a big part of the success of a Chiefs defense that at times this year had to kind of carry that team because of the struggles that they were having on offense. You know, I mean, Patrick Mahomes is still Patrick Mahomes, but, you know, the Chiefs had some issues on the offensive side and they had to really rely on their defense to really kind of help them help them kind of keep things together this season. And the Jerry Snead was a big part of that. So I'm going with him just to add some corners just because the vikings have some young corners that that are promising but i'm just worried that none of them are really going to reach the potential that they that they may have i want to like a caleb evans but there were times late in the season where he ended up getting pulled out of the lineup because just

because he just wasn't performing performing as well um you know mckay blackman i think has a lot of potential but you kind of wonder if he's just going to be you know sort of an interior you know you know inside slot guy uh for the most part of his career so i'm going with the jerry's need to kind of boost up that secondary uh on the outside so i actually do believe that they are a number one corner away from having a good secondary. I mean, let's say that Harrison Smith retires. I don't know if he will or not. Let's say that he does. And you still have Bynum and Metellus more likely than not. Metellus would move into that role as being the Harrison Smith box safety and as opposed to being more of a linebacker.

And then I like what Byron Murphy mostly brought to them last year. There were definitely ups and downs. He graded as an average or a little below average player, but I still think he's okay to have. And then on the other side, you just have kind of a mystery. Like you said, I like Makai Blackman. He graded extremely well among rookie corners, but I don't know if he has physical gifts to be any more than he was. I think he probably is who he is. So you need that guy that when you face the best wide receivers in the NFL, you have a chance one-on-one with them because right now you don't. And every time they faced a good quarterback and a good group of receivers, they just got roasted like Keenan Allen putting up 74 catches in one game, like mad and stuff. uh the chat's not doing well with it if you're

wondering before i move on uh to my third player uh efelt says spend all the dough for the next five years because the whole front office will be fired once kirk goes 500 again hashtag just saying uh says efelt follows up with i feel like i'm taking crazy pills. People forget we were one in four with him. Just to be clear, neither one of us advocate this at all. However, I would say that they could also sign these people if they draft a quarterback. They don't have to be with Kirk. But it's kind of more of the all-in approach where we're basically giving ourselves blank checks to spend more than anyone else would on these free agents because they wouldn't come here to play with Michael Penix. They would be looking for Super Bowl chances, unless you said we will outbid everyone by a lot and screw over our cap for the future, which you would only do in the case of Kirk Cousins coming back. So just kind of,

you know, make it all sense of that. The next I have is a long snapper. No, that's just, that was a, that was a joke from the chat. Uh, that's not who is, but you know what? I'm going with another offensive player. I am going with a player who in person is one of the most wild. I think wildly impressive players to watch in person. He's one where when he played against the Vikings, I went, Oh my gosh. And that is Saquon Barkley. We are going to run. We are going to run Manny. We're going to run. We're going to throw a screen. We're going to throw a screen. It's going to work. Okay.

They're going to throw it two yards in the air and have it run for 20 more because Saquon Barkley could still play. That poor man was given the worst offensive line last year. It was just disastrous in New York. I felt bad for him. He should have tried to find some other place, but Saquon is an impact player beyond just the run game. I think he can be in the pass game as well. And if you're going to make it work, you got to make it work with all aspects of this game, not just the passing game.

The best offense the Vikings had with Kirk was 2019 when they could run and pass. So we're loading up to run the football. We're going to add another wide receiver and it's going to be Robert Smith in the backfield and three deep and the offensive line of 98. We're going to try to – somebody said – let me put it on the screen. It's too good.

Let me scroll up. Hold on. That was good. I can't find it. Somebody said that they're going to score 576 points and give up 577. I'm like, well, let's have some fun then. One of the biggest issues, Manny, that we have had over all these years is they haven't been fun.

That's one of the biggest complaints that I have. Was last year fun? No. 2022 was fun for nine weeks, but it wasn't fun after that. They started 8-1. They finished, I think, 5-4 if you include the playoff game, and one of the wins was at Chicago when Chicago was actively trying to lose the game. 2021 was miserable. 2020 was a horror show.

2019, Stephon Diggs spent the whole season trying to fight his way out. 2018, they fired an offensive coordinator. It's not been a good time. Let's make it a good time. And if you lose, you lose. But let's get Saquon, a big old left guard, and another wide receiver, and defense be damned. That's my plan, Manny.

What did they call the Eagles when the Eagles made all those moves and got all those big name players was that 20 that 2012 or 2011 or something like that they went and got like Nnamdi Asamoah and like you know all those guys did they call they called like the dream somebody called it like the dream team or something like that right yeah that's kind of what it was the dream team yeah that's kind of what it feels like I mean I look I I am the number one guy that, you know, pounds my fist on the table and says, you don't pay running backs, don't pay running backs.

I will say, though, I do love me some Saquon Barkley, man. That guy is incredibly fun to watch. He really is a terrific player. He just unfortunately plays a position that you just, the shelf life of productivity is just so much shorter than a lot of other skill positions in the NFL. But I mean, I'd take him for on like a two year contract. I'd take him. What the hell? I mean, he's 26 years old. He's kind of going right into the the the best couple of years that he's probably gonna have most

productive couple years he's gonna have as a player provided he's healthy i'd do it what the hell what the hell is the point right it's like the whole point is there's no reason to live so just try something in free agency if they bring him back none of us believe that they could actually go somewhere so you would have to make a bad bet and it would have to work out for you. It is a bad bet to pay Saquon Barkley a ton of money to come here. However, if he is the version from last year with the giants or 2022 with the giants, where he was basically their whole offense and Daniel Jones running read option. Oh yes. CJ, we have gone full nihilism that's that's what happens that's what happens if they bring back kirk this is going to be my attitude there's no

there's no reason to believe in this team so let's have a good time is exactly what i would be doing here and uh i see what you're trying to do uh adam here saquon and he spells it jaylen but i know it's Jaden. We've gotten this down. I haven't made that mistake in weeks. So we'll have that down, which actually is going to lead. Wait, did you give all your free agents, man? Yeah, you did, right?

You gave all three. Okay, you gave all three. It was Vince Young who apparently dubbed it the dream team. And Dan says the early 2000s were so much fun. Offense everywhere. It was wild. You never knew what was going to happen on a Sunday because Dante Culpepper could throw for 400 yards at any time. And they could lose that game when it was happening.

So why not? This is good. You guys are on fire. Stare into the void years i will i will tell you this one of the most fun vikings games that i ever saw in person was in 2002 when they played the buffalo bills and you you probably remember that game peerless price had the winner in overtime that was the game where doug bryan missed two extra points and then he got cut the next day um But that was, you know, the Bills won the game in overtime, but it was like that kind of spoke to that era of Vikings football

where the team wasn't good, but like they scored a bunch of points, couldn't stop anybody. So they played a lot of like really close high scoring games. It was just fun. It was just fun. So much stuff, crazy stuff happened in that game that, you know, I want to have some fun watching this team. Folks, have you ever heard of test driving a phone network i did not make this up it is an actual thing

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Terms apply. Awards based on open signal, independent data. Visit uscellular.com for details. If they're going to do it, if they're going to bring him back, then I really feel this way. I'm kidding around, but I'm not kidding. Your plan has to be to load up even more on offense. It has to be to get a real wide receiver three that fits with your offense. I think KJ Osborne's a good football player. I don't think he ever fit with Kevin O'Connell's offense. You have to get not just

a decent running game. You have to get an elite running game. You have to go from 27th to top five. You're not going to be number one because that's going to be Baltimore with Lamar Jackson. Running quarterbacks are going to be at the top, but can you be the best team that is running the football without a running quarterback? Probably not unless you get a left guard

that costs a lot of money and unless you get a running guard that costs a lot of money and unless you get a running back who is legitimately great and i i agree that i think saquon has still got enough juice to be good for multiple years it's not a delvin cook situation where we could see this thing is not going in a good direction uh he has he's been banged up all of them are so you know and and the screens maybe we could even run a screen. That's another thing too. Like he could catch 75 passes out of the backfield, which Alexander Madison, the biggest failing we talk so much about, like, is it him? Is it the scheme? Whatever. One of the biggest failings was the guy couldn't catch the football. He dropped

like the highest percentage of targets his way. was mind-blowing get somebody who kirk can check down to remember how many times kevin stefanski that year would just be like kirk looks a little off dial up a screen and delvin cook will get 30 yards like that's a great way to even out the kirk coaster is uh screen passes uh adam says serious question if they resign kirk will you keep ranting about what a bad idea it was or will you try to go along with it, or will you leave Minnesota? I feel like two of those options are on the table, and one of them there's no chance. Two options would be continue ranting about it or leaving Minnesota.

You know what? I like the traffic here way too much to leave, uh, and the weather beautiful in January as I've earned February, as I've always said, I've always said that on February 1st is the greatest weather you can get in Minnesota. Uh, no, uh, truly here's what I'll do. I will continue to go back to that decision and reevaluate it at every term and continue to say i don't think it's going to work and if it does then i'll say great for you guys it worked just like with the rams i didn't think that was going to work with stafford and it did and good for rams fans you don't have to ever apologize for it that flag flies forever congratulations

it worked it shouldn't have but it did and uh so good for you if they end up having it work then we'll give them credit and say look it worked it was kind of against the numbers or whatever but it worked uh and if it doesn't then yeah there will be a lot more rants and a lot more discussion of how in the world they could make that decision when every one of the people watching this show understood the situation they were in, except for the people who ran the team. So that'll be my approach, Manny. Yeah. I mean, I I'm, I'm kind of right there with you. I mean, if they, I I'll put it to you like this,

if they decide to bring Kirk Cousins back, bring him back at a reasonable deal, and they go all in and push their chips into the center of the table, if they actually go all the way through with that, I may not agree with it, but I will at least respect that. Look, they're pulling out all the shots. They're just going for it. They're just trying to do whatever they can to try and win right now.

And I will at least, while I won't agree with it, I'll at least respect it and appreciate it. What will really, I think, bother me is if they bring Kirk back and they still try to just kind of have one foot in and one foot out like they've been kind of doing the last couple of years. I think that's just the worst thing you could possibly do. If you go all in, I'll at least be like, hey, at least they tried. It was not without effort.

You know what I mean? They tried to just go all in and try and win a championship right away. But I think that's the thing that would really kind of bother me is if they bring Kirk back and it still just ends up being like an 8-9 season because they didn't really push all their chips to the center of the table. And I feel like, well, what did you bring him back for? Because to me, that's my ultimate viewpoint of just like, what is the point of bringing him back unless you are going to just swing for a home run and try to win a championship in 2024. People who are newer to the show, which welcome, great to have a lot. I get a lot of newer people finding the show on YouTube since we've put more effort into that lately.

So there's new people finding the show all the time, and I hear from them. It's great. But if you're new to the show this season, you probably heard me after a number of losses kind of be like, oh, well, you know, like the Bengals lost. People were really upset. And my thought was, I don't know. You started Nick Mullins. I don't know what to tell you. And the same thing, even in Denver, I was kind of like, well, look, you mostly played

OK and things didn't go your way. It happened. Somebody fumbled. That will not be my attitude. And if you are a longtime listener to the show, you remember what it was like in 2021. You remember losing to Cooper Rush. You remember when my eyeballs popped out of my head after the game they lost to the winless Detroit Lions.

And I remember after that game, I was quoting Michael Corleone or I actually, uh, his wife in the movie and Godfather two, when she says this all must end when she's breaking up with the Godfather. That's, that's what I was yelling. I remember that yelling, this all must end.

That's what it will be like every Sunday. And that could be fun for us because you guys like to see me get upset but so that but every every game will be armageddon and you you remember the the first rant that i really had on the radio 2018 it was exactly that way the code words rant which people still reference and every year in training camp judd zolgad will ask a question with the word code words in it just just for me he'll ask somebody a quarterback a coach just for me because judd's the best but um so but what was the what was that rant about that rant was about kirk cousins saying hey you know next year will be better it's okay or whatever whatever. And I was like, it's not okay. Like, this is what you went all in for. That's what it will be like if they come back with Kirk.

And the day that they sign him, I will say what we've been saying. This is not logical. Doesn't make a lot of sense. And I think you've doomed yourself. However, let's try to figure it out. And that's what I was trying to do here Because there's been a lot of kind of You know, Kevin Seifert put it out there Of like, would it, you know

A two-year, $85 million deal That kind of thing and all that And so I wanted to have a little fun with it With free agency and kind of talk about Like, so what would they do? What should they do? What would our plans be? And that's what it is

Let me give you now Since all of you have waited patiently through the idea of kirk coming back and i appreciate that now let me give you this look at it some some people know some people know some people have been around for a long time listen to the show dan says final 2018 game rant you had was legendary i i smacked the glass. You were producing, uh, Courtney was co-hosting. Yeah. Um, but what I found out later was that a lot of people agreed with the way Kirk had come across and I don't mean fans. So I'm just saying, I can't really say, but I'll just say that a lot of people agreed. They wouldn't have said it the way I said it,

but they agreed that that press conference did not go the way it should have. Anyway, let me give you this trade proposal. Okay. Number 11, 2025 first round pick, and Christian Derisaw for the number three overall selection to take Jaden Daniels. Would you trade 11 first round pick for next year, 2025 and Christian Derrissaw, the great left tackle to get Jaden Daniels number three overall? What do you think? Take your time. to get Jaden Daniels number three overall. What do you think?

Take your time. I'll just keep nodding. For people listening audio, that's all I'm doing. You didn't lose the feed. I'm just nodding. Oh, boy. Okay, so you're talking about this 2024, your 2024 first-round pick, one of the best left tackles in the league,

and your 2025 first-round pick as well. So you're not going to have another first-round pick until 2026, unless you decide to trade Justin Jefferson, which would be stupid. I don't know if I would do it. I don't think I would do it. I'm going to say no. It's very tempting, though. It's very tempting. It's very tempting, though. It's very tempting.

It's very tempting. But I would probably say no just because if you trade away your left tackle and now you don't really have one and I'm just having – now I'm kind of becoming exactly what I criticized a couple of weeks ago about just like allowing, you know, bad play at positions to traumatize me. Because now I'm thinking, not having a left tackle, I'm just having like TJ Clemmings nightmares like in my head now. Just like having a complete train wreck at a tackle position, which 2016 was just not fun at all. So I would fear for the life of Jaden Daniels,

even after draft drafting him, if he doesn't have a left tackle. So I would probably say no. All right. So let me try then to talk into it because when I got this question from a reader of the newsletter, purple insider dot com, go there. I was like, my initial reaction was, I don't think so. No, you can't give up a left tackle. But then I don't know if you've ever seen that meme or gif with the lady who's trying kombucha tea.

And she's like, no, maybe. Yeah, like that was kind of me here. Here would be my justification to do it. Number one, Christian Derrissaw is about to become very, very expensive. And we have seen this happen with the Miami Dolphins trading away Laramie Tunsil. And what did they do? They eventually just signed somebody else who was good Teron Armstead. And yeah, he was banged up a little bit, but great player got him in free agency that tackles do become free agents from time to time. You can draft them and try to develop them, but it's probably not going to be as good as Christian Derrissaw. It's very unlikely that

the guy is going to be as good as Christian Derrissaw, but how good do we have to be to make this work? Does it have to be the best or can it just be good enough because your quarterback is an incredible running quarterback? This is not Kirk Cousins we're talking about here as a pocket quarterback, this is a guy that you're drafting in large part because of his escapability. And if we think about it, the Vikings did go to the NFC championship with Riley reef, who was an average left tackle, but what did they have? They had case Keenum, some scrambling type of quarterback made plays, made up the difference. And then you also get with Christian Derrissaw $25 million in cap space. And even if you sign an average guy, it's not going to cost as much as the best guy, which is Christian Derrissaw. Now he is an impact player. He is a

huge player, but this is, this is a great example though. Dan says he could be our Joe Thomas. How many playoff games did joe thomas play in that just shows you the different they had the best left tackle the generation joe thomas himself would tell you the reason they never made the playoffs is because they were trying to play ken dorsey a quarterback like this is the this matters this this the the difference between quarterback and the next best position is so massive but the difference between a great left tackle and a good left tackle is not as much it's still significant and i'm not taking away it absolutely matters i would never tell you that left tackle doesn't matter as you

said my first year on the beat was tj clemm, and I wanted to heave myself out of the press box watching him. But you draft Daniels because he's such an impact player with his legs that you can work around someone else there. And I think I would probably do it. There's just more left tackles than there are quarterbacks, and it's worth so much more. Did I talk you into it? You know what?

Yeah, you did. And you want to know why? I just started while you were talking, I went and started looking at free agent tackles. And you know what? Tyron Smith is going to be a free agent you know he's not as good as he was you know maybe five six years ago when he was probably the best left tackle in the league but he's still pretty good you know you can keep him healthy

you know christian derisoff for as great as he, does have a tendency to be banged up here and there. And he finished the season not quite as healthy as you want him to be. So I think you've convinced me. You can go and get a guy like a Tyron Smith or a Trent Brown or something like that in free agency. I think you've convinced me. Here's another point to this too jayden daniels is going to be your quarterback for a long time he's going to have a long rookie quarterback

contract you are going to have time to draft other players to sign other players guys will come up trade for other players to build the roster around him you are really not in a position to win right away with him anyway when we look at the are really not in a position to win right away with him. Anyway, when we look at the roster, you're in a position to be interesting with him and to have him maybe have a good, exciting rookie year and we can all have a lot of fun. But even CJ Stroud and a budding Texans team was not good enough to go all the way in the playoffs. That takes multiple years to build up your team. So's great if you want to do that uh if you want to you know get the rookie contract and build it up but if you if you keep derisal and then draft michael pennix and it's daniels who turns out to be great and

pennix is not and the gap between them is huge and you just did it because kirk left and you were desperate, that's not really what you want to be doing, right? You want to be able to, and this is what Ben Gessling was talking about when he was doing his radio hit that we quoted and discussed the other day. But what he was talking about is the Vikings want to find their 10-year quarterback. Teams will come and go. Let's go back and look at Patrick Mahomes' first roster. How many guys are still on it from 2018?

The rest of the team filters in and out around the quarterback. That always happens. And, yeah, I mean, is Derrissaw better now than Laramie Tunsil? I saw that brought up. Yeah, I mean, I guess so. Tunsil was very valuable, though. So if you could convince another team, I don't know if it's the Chargers since they have Rashawn Slater, but if you could convince, I guess it would be like Washington

and you'd probably have to trade all the way up. So Washington or the Patriots who have a horrible offensive line, could you convince the Patriots if they were not sold on Jaden Daniels? And look, if Jaden Daniels goes number two, I will do this for Drake May. I will do this for Caleb Williams. It doesn't really matter. I'm just bringing him up because it feels like he's the guy. So, uh, and this, and this is not, this is not true. Troy running quarterbacks can expect to miss two to four games. Uh, this has been studied many times. And if you look at this season,

there's plenty of evidence there. Uh, the Vikings have the most statuesque quarterback. He popped in Achilles. There is no evidence that running quarterbacks get hurt more than pocket quarterbacks because you could get hurt running or you get hurt standing in the same spot and someone kills you. So quarterback's dangerous and they'll get hurt. But I would be willing to do this. There's really the only player I wouldn't do it for is jefferson manny because jefferson is so vital to the quarterback succeeding that's that it's just so important that i would not do that i don't and i think that the gap between jefferson and a receiver you could sign if it's not mike evans is pretty huge really huge the gap between a really great left tackle and a good one you could sign maybe less huge that's all yeah yeah well and and going back to the to the running quarterback

thing very quickly i mean lamar jackson played every game this year except for week 18 when it didn't matter so and he for the most part in his career plays every game now you know in 2022 he you know was a little banged up and decided not to play the rest of the year because he's like i saw what happened to dak prescott i'm not uh i'm not gonna keep playing these games without you know without a contract like i'm just not gonna do that um but otherwise for the most part lamar has been a guy that stays pretty healthy and we see he runs all the time so um but yeah i mean i i you know to the to the larger point about just you know you do have to kind of think about like all right what's the best path you know we talk about this all the time like what's the best path for this team what makes the most sense you know and you know the value of the quarterback position you know if you

if we've talked about this if you find a guy and he's great everything else you know justin jefferson is probably the exception to, but like everything else can be interchangeable because you have that one great quarterback to your point about Patrick Mahomes and the chiefs. Like that offensive line is almost completely different from what it was in 2018 when he won his first MVP and they almost went to the super bowl. So, and here they are again, like it, it doesn't matter that they don't have the same like tackles and the same guards and, you know,

the same receivers and things like that because of him. And we don't, do we know for sure that like Jaden Daniels is a guy that can become that? No, we don't know that for sure, but the potential is there. And if you take them and he becomes that guy, you're set, you are set. And at that point, it doesn't really matter what you do with a lot of the other positions, you know, and like you said, I mean, I think Justin Jefferson is kind of the one, the one exception to that rule because he is just so elite and so great that, you know, if you want Jaden Daniels to be successful, if you want Drake May, whoever that guy is to be successful. Justin Jefferson is going at least a decade,

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a whole heck of a lot of money. That prizepix.com slash purple just more or less on yardage totals and you are in prizepix.com slash purple the code purple for a first deposit match up to 100 dollars if you think about it if you trade away derisaw and and Jaden Daniels is a bust, then you're fired. But if you draft Bo Nix or Michael Penix and they're a bust, you're fired. Or if you bring back Kirk Cousins and you don't go deep into the playoffs, you're fired. So every route leads there. If it doesn't work out, it's all about what's the high end to me that's how i often think about these things it's not really the low end because we know the low end

in football is always you're fired and what's the chances that it works out well the chances that a top three pick works out who won the heisman and graded over 90 passing and rushing by pff in college working out versus a guy with two acls who's 24 years old and just has a big arm to work with in michael pennix or you know a flawed prospect like bo nicks it's probably that i don't know it's it's massive but it's there there is a difference for sure if a quarterback drops past about 12 uh the chances of them working out plummet. And there's, of course, exceptions to that. But that's just odds wise. Top three quarterbacks have a history of very high end or very low end.

But the high end is they become some of the greatest quarterbacks ever. That's what you're looking for. And even if you don't get it, there's always the Carson Wentz and Jared Goff examples to me. It's like even if the high highest end does not happen, that player, Carson Wentz, the better example, because Goff's really good. But Carson Wentz was not good. And yet they were able to trade up and build around him with all the money that they had and still built a team so strong.

And look at all the free agents that that team signed in 2017. Torrey Smith, Elshon Jeffrey, there was a corner who got interception in the game in the NFC Championship, all sorts of things. So there's all this opportunity that you have in the coming years to even if he's just decent, Jalen Hurts is like this, even if he's just decent,

you've got a chance to at least have one shot at it with that guy, which you've had no shots at it so far with Kirk Cousins. Enigma1 says, how about draft Penix late and trade Derisov for more capital? Remember, Penix is a lefty anyway. I'm not into the idea of trading Christian Derisov. I'm not advocating that. Only in the case that we are talking about getting Jaden Daniels.

That's the point is if you if you draft these quarterback if you drafted pennix you could still have you could still pay these guys because you have the money uh man juice which i you're always so reasonable man juice the name just makes me uncomfortable um uh he says uh it's a nice allegory for refocusing on what's important so i guess that brings up what is the price that's too much for you guys to me it's justin jefferson is too much or it's anything beyond three firsts three for anything if you had three firsts and a second now you've gone too far like that then i have nothing to draft people with i think that's important yeah no i i'm you know we had i think just last week we talked about you know the you you asked me like what is too much and i said like anything beyond like three first

round picks is just that's just asking a lot because now you're you're really diminishing the opportunity to have to even build around you know that young quarterback and now you're not really giving him a lot to um a lot to work with yeah i mean i i would three firsts i think is is it's you're giving up a lot but we've seen teams that have given up three firsts and it hasn't worked out for that quarterback. I mean, San Francisco was the three firsts that they gave up to move up to get Trey Lance, I think. That didn't really seem to hurt them because they were able to kind of find some guys and sign some guys on free agency,

and they drafted some guys in later rounds that have turned out to be pretty good. So if you can do that i think it's still it it's not something that can cripple you um if you can you know find ways to to get guys in in other ways but you still want to give yourself as good a chance as possible to kind of continue to build a roster with young talent um over the course of like a three or four year period you know because we've seen evidence of how that can really work on the high end with the Detroit Lions where they've just been nailing draft picks for the last couple of years in the higher rounds and now they have a team that's really good and they still have a lot of flexibility

with their cap and everything as well so you you you got to give up you got to give up a significant amount to get to move into that top three to get that special player that potentially special player but you don't want to um you don't want to turn this into a new orleans saints trading away an entire draft for ricky williams type of thing and then you end up going nowhere anyway so well you just in general maybe not for a running back that exactly that would be a different conversation uh bron fricking solo says ravens with dilfer and flacco bucks with johnson washington football team with uh rippin rams with stafford even the steelers with bradshaw history is full of teams without stud quarterbacks winning at all. Truly is not.

Also, Bradshaw is in the Hall of Fame. Terry Bradshaw was a great quarterback. Was a great quarterback. Don't just look at the numbers, people. Don't look at the stats. He was one of the best quarterbacks in the history of the NFL. That's just yeah but but pittsburgh rebuilt through one of the greatest drafts in literally history like that still gets talked

about but when they picked terry bradshaw guess where they picked him number one overall and it took longer to rebuild then than it does now because they didn't have free agency but i mean you can't say well that hall of fame quarterback see he wasn't that good no he was that good uh but now the other examples you use one of them is from 12 years ago another one is from 24 years ago another one is from 22 years ago matthew stafford was the number one overall pick who they traded a quarterback and first round picks for, or a first round pick for, uh, but it was a star franchise quarterback with another team. I don't know that these are good examples, but I would say this, I think you're making a fair point. That's made kind of the wrong way.

So look, I mean, Brady and Mahomes have eaten up all the Superbowls. So if we try to do anything by Superbowls, it's always wrong. Uh, Roethlisberger Manning and Brady took all the super bowls so if we try to do anything by super bowls it's always wrong uh roethlisberger manning and brady took all the afc championships because they were the greatest and if you get the greatest you are going to win always like always the only reason that josh allen doesn't win always is that somebody else is two percent better than he is but then that's it right so you're just going to win forever if you have breeze rogers you're going to be there every single year but you can build a team that gives you a chance so like with san francisco they have had a chance they had a chance with garoppolo took several more years they got a chance with Purdy who makes $800,000. Look at Jalen Hurts. They got a chance. Jared Goff, the first time around, although again, a number one overall quarterback,

but with the first time around with the Rams, a chance on a rookie quarterback contract. So the only way people get there is those two routes. So if Jaden Daniels isn't a goat, but you could still build a team around him, you can have a shot at it. You won't get 10 shots at it. Like if you have Ben Roethlisberger, but you might get one. And that's more than the Vikings have had in quite a long time. But when we're talking about going back to, you know,rent dilfer or something that's a completely different era of of football that was wildly different it was it was really the end of you know the l way and like the those great quarterbacks from that era and there was a weird pocket of time where there wasn't great quarterback play yet well and even in the case of like because he brought up

mark rippin too like mark rippin over the course of his career was not a stud quarterback but in 1991 he was really good like go back and watch that washington team from 91 they came here to the metrodome and beat the bills in the super bowl mark rippin was fantastic that year. Like he was a stud. If just for one season, he was a stud that year. And that can happen. Like, and that's like Brock,

Brock Purdy, I think will be good for the continuation of his rookie contract. And as long as they can keep him cheap because he's a good enough playmaker and obviously is incredibly smart and gutsy and can find open receivers, run that offense, everything else. But it's not going to last forever with a player like Brock Purdy. Kind of reminds me of Kurt Warner, where Kurt Warner had a lull in his career because he was on some really bad teams and he wasn't the type of quarterback who could just carry a team completely. He was more of a perfect fit at

the perfect time. And then that was the same thing with Arizona as well. And Kurt Warner got a couple shots at it with a great team. That's how it works for most quarterbacks, even some of the hall of famers. So that's what, that's what you're looking for as kind of the baseline of why you do this. You're hoping that you get Patrick Mahomes. Everyone is hoping that that's a one in 50 draft pick that you make. It's one of the rarest things you'll ever find in the sport is picking that guy. But the second best thing you can get is a shot. And this team has not had a shot in a really long time. So I'm willing to do that even if it would require trading a really good player who I have a ton of respect for in Christian Derrissaw. Let's before we wrap up, Manny, I wanted to throw

something else at you. The NFC has kind of solidified itself here with a couple of coaching decisions. Washington is bringing in Dan Quinn, which I think does not overwhelm anyone, but I like it in part because I feel it's the same way with Mike McCarthy in Dallas. Now, I know it hasn't worked in the playoffs, but Mike McCarthy in the regular season has been a huge success. Everybody hated it because he was a retread. Retreads often improve on what they did before. And also Dan Quinn took a team to the Super Bowl. He's not some weirdo fool or whatever.

This guy's done it before, so they're picking someone experienced. And Mike McDonald with Seattle. What is your feeling on those selections for head coaches? I like it. I mean, the Dan Quinn thing, I can see it working. I think that it's probably just going to take a while, and I would hope if you're a Commanders fan, I think you have to just hope that management and ownership

are just very patient because that's a roster that has a lot of work to do. But that can be a good thing. Like they, you know, they're, they're moving kind of into a new era where they're, they've got the new ownership group. They've got a lot of draft capital. You know, they've got some, some solid pieces on both sides of the ball that can figure can, can be around for a while. I think you just have to let that thing kind of slow cook for,

for a little while. And you just give Dan Quinn some time. If, you know, if he goes three and 14 and 2024 and like six and 11 and 2025 and show some improvement, don't fire them. Just stick, stick with the plan, give them, give themselves a couple of years to really kind of build, build that thing back up. Um, you know, that's a division that, that, that the Cow couple of years to really kind of build, build that thing back up. You know, that's a division that the, that the Cowboys and the Eagles are kind of really contending for right now. So it's like, don't, don't start, you know, tricking yourself into the idea that, well, we should be right there with those teams. It's like, you're not giving,

give them some time. And I think it can be something that can, can work out for you. So I like the Dan Quinn one. You know, another coaching hire that I like is I like Raheem Morris in Atlanta I think that can be something that can really uh work out as you know well too he's he's been around some winning programs you know he's with the Rams when they won that Super Bowl and he's a defensive guy but he's coached on the offensive side as well. So I think he, you know, that kind of helps with that part too. And, you know, maybe they're a team that kind of explores, you know, draft unit using their top 10 draft pick on a quarterback perhaps as well, or they may go for the veteran route because they have a roster that's,

you know, outside the quarterback position is probably ready to compete right now, especially in that weak division. So, yeah, I think it's, I think most of the teams have done, you know, a pretty good job of just identifying a guy and, you know, just sticking with it and just, you know, seeing how it turns out. Yeah, I mean, I think Seattle is probably the one where I'm most intrigued by, but I also think that they're in a really hard spot. The division is difficult. The Rams, they're still going to be there and they're,

they're a mediocre team. And one of the problems that happened, and this kind of applies to her cousins in that discussion is that gino smith was just okay he was just okay enough to get another contract because they didn't have another answer and then he was just okay this year and it wasn't good enough and they were a fine football team that they they probably will be again and they may improve but until they get somebody who is more of a game changing quarterback and I love the story. We love journeyman on the show. I love when one shows up randomly

10 years after they were drafted and wins a bunch of games, but Gino Smith is just okay. He is probably a little, just a shade behind Kirk cousins for what he is in Seattle over the last two years. And it's just not going to be enough most of the time. So I agree with you in Atlanta. I think it's so good that Kirk Cousins should go there. And it actually really does play out. And I'm even being serious. It plays out to make a ton of sense for Kirk Cousins to go there. Raheem Morris is a win now type of coach. He's not a total full teardown rebuild coach. His offensive coordinator is going to run the same system as Kevin O'Connell runs. It's a team that is more stacked up and ready to win in a division that's terrible. With Washington though, I mean, they're so far away that they should really trade Drake

May to the Vikings. That's what they should do. That's exactly what they should do. So last thing, Brian Flores, the coaching hires are over. Everybody's got a job. Brian Flores didn't even get an interview. I can't say that I'm shocked, but I thought that he would at least be brought in. And look, you talk about Raheem Morris, Antonio Pierce, the NFL did a lot better job of rewarding the people that deserved it not just certain types of people this year and maybe Brian Flores shining a light on that problem played into it and made the league pay attention and his efforts did not go for nothing but his efforts probably cost him a chance at ever running a team again that's my guess yeah that's kind of what it seems like just the fact that he didn't even get an interview he didn't even get

like uh hey we're just doing this to meet the standards of the rooney rule interview he didn't even get like one of those you know what i mean and we see we've seen those kind of come up over the years as well since that rule was was instituted so yeah i mean it's probably looking like he's going to be a defensive coordinator probably for the rest of his career and you know it's kind of unfortunate because he didn't do a terrible job in miami i mean he he actually did a pretty solid job you know maybe there's some question marks about how he handled you know to his development and all that stuff. And I think that's fair.

But, you know, maybe it ends up if things work out for the Vikings, you know, if they make the right decisions over the next handful of years. Kevin O'Connell is around for a while. Maybe this is just a situation where Brian Flores becomes, you know, just the best defensive mind in the league and, you know, on a team that that makes some good moves and and starts to contend in a few years. And that's OK. I don't think there's any there's any shame in that. It is just kind of unfortunate the way things have played out for him. But, you know, I think if you're a Vikings fan, you like what he did with the defense last year. I mean, that's at least, I think, a pretty good sign that he's probably going to be here for a little bit.

And I think that can be good for the Vikings organization going forward. Oh, it certainly can because you can figure that he's going to find players. I think this is the biggest thing that I like about him is that he is really good at finding players. And we saw that last year of figuring out what guys do well, developing them. That speaks for the long-term and not just for the short-term for Brian Flores. He's going to be better to have around than not for sure for the Vikings. I think that if there was consideration based on the buzz from turning around the Vikings defense for Brian Flores, it died when Ryan Fitzpatrick trashed him on TV about his handling of Tua

because the one thing that nobody wants is a head coach who can't handle a young quarterback because a lot of the teams that are hiring are going to have to have that. What the chargers are doing is rare to have a franchise quarterback and change quarterbacks or change coaches usually you're in a spot like washington where you're probably going to draft one or new england where you're probably going to draft one so uh yeah i think that even if there was going to be thought of bringing him in it probably ended right there and i also think he could be like a raheem morris where he got a head coaching job very early and it was rocky.

And look, in the NFL, there is, and I appreciate what he did, that he shined light on something that had been going on for a very long time and was unfair and the opportunities were not fair. And you could look at the success of coordinators and the data and whatever you want to look at, it was fair the the league was not not doing it right and starting to correct that now um but there is probably some part that even if your owner is a crazy dude you kind of have to just play the game because there's 30 to 31 owners, no owner for the Packers, 30 to 31 owners who are crazy and, and they're, and they might want you to do things you don't want to do.

How about Wade Phillips? One of the craziest stories of all time, Doug Flutie started an entire season. This is old Matt history. Doug Flutie started an entire season and was really good and got the bills into the playoffs to the point where they didn't have to play week 17 so they start rob johnson he has an amazing week 17 game that didn't matter at all and the owner demanded that wade phillips start rob johnson the playoffs and that was the music city miracle game rob johnson should have won it he actually played really well in the second half of that game. Let a game winning drive should have been a hero. But the point is that's insane for an owner to just walk down and say, no, you're actually starting the other guy. Cause I like him better. That's crazy. But you know, it was either

quit or do it. So that's what happens. The only people who don't have to answer to a boss is me because I'm my own boss and it's great, but I don't own a football team. If I did, I'd probably tell the coach what to do. So anyway, you know, with Flores, if you're the owner of a team, you're like, yeah, that guy threw his owner under the bus and didn't want to do what the owner wanted him to do. So do I want him as my head coach? Probably not. But you do want him as your defensive coordinator.

And that's what the Vikings have going forward. So so anyway great stuff everybody this was really fun and look manny they stayed around the chat survived us talking about something if kurt came back you all made it we all had fun i promised we would and we did and now we will carry on on. So if you guys haven't seen the What Happened to That Guy series on our YouTube page, go check that out. That was plenty of fun. And Manny didn't freeze. How about that? So also the Friday mailbag and the newsletter. Go check that out as well.

And we'll carry on. Oh, and keep an eye out for Saturday, Senior Bowl. We will have a Senior bowl post game recap recap podcast. They'll go up on the channel. It's not going to be live on a Saturday, but it'll go up on the channel with Terry Horstman, who was the correspondent down in Mobile, Alabama.

So lots, lots to come. And then I'll be out at radio row in Vegas for a few days as well. So we'll see you guys out there anyway well great stuff thanks everybody for showing up and playing along thanks manny as always and next week we will be uh all sorts of super bowling next week manny i'm looking forward to it i'm excited as am i all right we'll catch you all later football