Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Should the Vikings sign Jaire Alexander? (Part 1)

Episode Date: June 10, 2025

Matthew Coller talks about the Packers releasing Jaire Alexander. He might be a test case for their belief in the secondary. Plus, Alexander or Ramsey? And a report about a 3-year windowSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of Purple Insider, Matthew Coller here, and I would like to thank the Green Bay Packers for giving us something to talk about while we wait for mini camp. Tomorrow the Vikings will start their three day mini camp. I will be there as always and we'll have recap, some of them from out here, some of them from back here. As we break down what JJ McCarthy looks like at mini camp, how much progress has he made?

And then we'll try to take away whatever else we could take away from it. Where guys are lining up, how guys are being used, are any wide receivers popping, all that great mini camp stuff from the past. And then my understanding I think is that Brian Flores is going to talk and then Matt Daniels, Wes Phillips. So I'll be very curious to hear from Brian Flores.

I don't believe that we have spoken with him since the Vikings added so much talent to their defense. There's a new kickoff and then we'll get the offensive coordinators look at what he's seen from McCarthy, the receivers. So just even the podiums alone should have a lot to take away. And then the practices as well, they kick up a little bit of a notch during mini camp,

the OTA practices, there were maybe 20, 25 throws that we could actually work with over the two practices we saw, but normally in mini camp more has work with over the two practices we saw, but normally in Minicamp, more has been installed over the last couple of weeks of OTAs, and then we get access for all three practices, so we get to see how things progress, and then off we go. So tonight though, we have a little bit of time and space

to talk about Jai Year Alexander, who was released today by the Green Bay Packers, and it is really a Vikings motif over their history to take a disgruntled packer or a former packer and make them a Minnesota Viking. We've seen it many times, you know, you're Greg Jennings, you're Aaron Jones over the years. In fact, I would be interested in the comment section.

Who is your favorite Packer to Viking? That's not necessarily Fav, because 09 was a very special year, but give me another one. Give me your favorite. Me, for me, it was probably the most random. If we're going favorite or random was probably Dayton Jones,

because he was a pass rusher for the Packers that the Vikings signed. And we made a big deal out of it. Oh, they've got their next Tom Johnson. Dayton Jones because he was a past rusher for the Packers that the Vikings signed. We made a big deal out of it. Oh, they've got their next Tom Johnson. They got this interior rusher Dayton Jones. He's going to be a difference maker and he was not. Yeah. He didn't even make the team. He just got cut, which maybe tells you a little bit about our off seasons during the Zimmer era

where we were talking about players like Dayton Jones. But give me your favorites, Packer to Viking over the years as we talk about Jair Alexander. I'll give you my opinion first and then we'll break down what you guys have to say on this and do you like the idea or not? For me, if I am given the choice between Jair Alexander and Jalen Ramsey, now I think

Jalen Ramsey might get cut if they can't find a trade suitor. And I'm also guessing the reason why Jair Alexander is being released now is that the Packers tried and tried and tried and tried, but when everybody knows you're gonna release somebody, normally it's pretty hard to work out a trade. I would have expected that there would have been a bidding war for Jalen Ramsey, but the fact that he has not been traded yet makes you think that the offers must be pretty bad.

And sometimes teams will just say, you know what, rather than trading one of our best players for peanuts, we would prefer to just cut the guy and let him sign wherever the heck he wants to sign. If that happens with Jalen Ramsey, then the Vikings could potentially get a really good short-term deal. Right now, the holdup with Jalen Ramsey

versus Jair Alexander is that you have to trade for him. So you have to give up something and also you get a contract that is not necessarily all that favorable, uh, going into the future. It's, it's not impossible to work with, but it's definitely more difficult than just signing a guy to a one year deal. So I'm much more on the side of Jalen Ramsey for two major reasons. Number one, Jalen Ramsey is a better player

over his career and has recently been still a top notch corner. Last year, Ramsey was still in the top 10 by PFF. He was not where he was before, which was number one. He was the premier corner in the league. He's drifted off a little bit since then, but still a very, very good player. He can play in zone.

He can still play man and run with people. He's such a big guy. He can tackle when he wants to. I mean, he is a really dynamic player inside outside. I think Ramsey is a better player and I think he's more dynamic and he's been better recently. The other reason is health. He has been very, very healthy throughout his career. He has

played almost every season with 900 or more snaps, including last season. That is not something that we can say about Jair Alexander. I have his snap counts right here. And over the last three years, he played 900 snaps in 2022, but then only 445 in 2023 and 361 last year. His PFF grades are still good. 82.1, 72.8 and 78.3, which is all above average, if not really, really good, but he's just not on the field very much. And what Jair Alexander kind of reminds me of is somebody like Marcus Davenport, where now Davenport had not had quite the career of Jair Alexander. He's been one of the better corners in the NFL, but he had a couple of seasons that were very high end and then was just hurt all the time. And there's a pretty big difference between someone like Jonathan Allen, who had never had an injury history and then had bad luck, or Jayvon Hargrave, who had bad luck.

And then someone who's perpetually injured three out of the last four years, basically not playing half the snaps. That to me is very risky at even at any price, because if you sign someone even for a small price, you still have an expectation of them playing. And then if they don't play, you have to scramble and bring in someone else. That would probably be the best argument for Jair Alexander though,

is that the Vikings do have a group of corners that if they brought in Alexander and he didn't play, these were the guys they were going to use anyway. The Isaiah Rogers, the McKay Blackman, I mean, these are the guys that they had already planned on having as their starting corners. So if you brought Jair in, let's just say it's a one year, $9 million type of contract for Alexander somewhere in the ballpark of what Stefan Gilmore got for this team last year. And he plays 462 snaps.

He's injured half the time. He's good. The rest of the time. That's what he's been for the Packers is 400 something snaps worth $9 million of really good play. And then you have Blackman and Rogers and Murphy and maybe Dwight McLother. And you have all these guys who are filling in the blanks effectively, that might actually be worth it. Now, Jalen Ramsey, he might cost more if he ends up being a free agent.

I think the sure thing of Jalen Ramsey is better than the risk with the injury of Jair Alexander. I also think that there are limitations to the powers of this team and their medical team. Like that they do a really good job and what they did last year with Aaron Jones was excellent to keep him on the field for 17 games. They came up with a plan for him,

but somebody who's been this injured, that might be a little too much. And that's why I use the Marcus Davenport example, because he was banged up all the time and then he goes to Detroit and what happens? He immediately gets injured. So I think that there's a lot of risk involved with bringing in someone like Alexander. And that's not even to speak to the issue with the locker room.

Now the difference to me, because I've seen people sort of conflate the two, while both of these guys are unhappy all the time or whatever, I think that it's different. The Miami franchise is in a lot of trouble because they've paid to, they had a bad year last year, they're kind of floundering a little bit, stuck in the middle, what are they really going to be?

So you could see where Jalen Ramsey would say, okay, this isn't going anywhere. My career is getting older. I want to get out of here. That's more understandable. And when he left Jacksonville for the Rams, same kind of deal where the Jaguars weren't really going anywhere. They were struggling. He wanted to win. He worked his way into a Superbowl with the Los Angeles Rams. To me, that's a lot different than with Jair Alexander who has been with a competitive team that's had some good defenses, some great quarterbacks, there's won a lot of games.

And yet it still seems like there's always a problem with Jair Alexander. I think guys who always have an issue with their team, their coaches, the defense, whatever else, you're probably not going to just be able to culture that away. And the Vikings do have a delicate type of culture with the right mix and combination of players. Do you want to toss somebody into that that could be, you know, poisoning the well? I don't know Jair Alexander. I have not covered him.

I'll have to ask if the Vikings sign him a Green Bay guest to come on and talk about it. But just following this as a fellow NFC North team, it has always seemed like there's some issue with Jair Alexander. I don't feel that way about Jalen Ramsey when his defenses and teams have been good, then he's just been good. So for me, it's Ramsey by far. I would do that in a second. I think that could be a final piece to a defense that would make it from good to great, or maybe even great to really great. If you watch my conversation with Cody Alexander, who does X's and O's as good

as anybody on defense in the world. If you watch my conversation with him the other day, I hold his opinions in very high regard. He studies Brian Flores, his defense down to the final detail for the writing he does. He loved the idea of Jalen Ramsey in this defense because of his versatility, because of his instincts, his knowledge, institutional knowledge. And I saw one of his former coaches, Yajuro Evero talking. It was just some clip from a, I don't know, teaching or speaking or whatever it was.

But he was talking about Jalen Ramsey and breaking down his preparation, his intelligence. All that stuff seems to be very Vikings-y, like a Stephon Gilmore, where I just don't know with Jair Alexander. So for me, it's Ramsey, do this. This is a very good idea, where Alexander, if they do it, my reaction will probably be, okay, let's find out.

We're gonna have to wait and see, and I'm not sure how good of a fit this guy is really going to be. I don't think it's a bad idea philosophically because they've made similar moves kind of all over the field. And when we talk about getting older players, well, they've already done that.

They've made every one of these types of moves, and it has felt like just that one final piece in the defensive back room could take them from having one glaring thing that we're really questioning. And I think Isaiah Rogers could be very good for this team. I think that Mackay Blackman can be very good for this team. But if you know, one layer down, who are we talking about here? One layer down, we're talking about well, Dwight Maclother and another guy who's intriguing. But with every one of these comes along what well, you know,

I think you've got my attention and I think it's interesting that Brian Flores wanted Isaiah Rogers so much and I think I really liked what I saw from McKay Blackman and I think I really liked what I saw from Dwight Maclother. But these aren't sure things. Like the only sure thing in this secondary is really Byron Murphy Jr. Because there's questions about everybody else. Theo Jackson, even with Harrison Smith, one of the best to ever do it at his

position, but we will go into every year that he's going to play from here on out saying, is this the year that he declines at some point? If you're bringing in someone like Ramsey, to me that's much more of a sure thing that can elevate your defense than even Jair Alexander, but really than anybody else that you could possibly get your hands on at this point. So do you like it? Do you hate it? Do you want Jair Alexander on this football team? And we do have to add,

I mean through his career, he has given Justin Jefferson some problems. He has given the Vikings some problems. He has given the Vikings some problems. He's been really good. And he's had that label of being one of the best lockdown type of corners. And if they want to play more man coverage, this is the type of guy who could actually play more man coverage.

So I would not say, oh, don't do this. I'd rather move the franchise to New Mexico than sign Jair Alexander. It's not, it's not that it's more just, I have questions if they do it, are you going to be able to contain Jair Alexander, make them happy? Are you going to be able to keep him on the field and then how much of a Jair Alexander and then how much does it cost and how much of him are you actually going to get for that price?

So those questions are there, but I'm interested to see what you guys think. Julian says he'd rather have Jalen Ramsey. I mean, for me, it's not really all that close. And your reasoning is that it seems like Alexander is always hurt. Well, it's not your imagination that Alexander has always been hurt. And even when you go back to 2021, he only played 219 snaps. So 21, 22, 23, and 24,

there is a season and then a half a season and otherwise years that are basically lost. Now his performances are still decent. And when we look at his career, I mean, he's only allowed on throws into his coverage and 84.4 quarterback rating on throws into his coverage, which is really, really good for a corner who's constantly taking on the best wide receivers. So with him, it would be really a dice roll of if you find the best version of this guy, wow, it's going to be really good. But if it's not the best version of

Jair Alexander, if it's the most recent version, which was, what was it? 360 yet, 361 snaps. That's just not, that's just not worth paying for. So there is a lot of risk that comes along with it. Sean says, the only way this would be a viable option is if Alexander took a prove it deal. No way Quasi-Dalfo-Mensas should give away big money deal if he could prove he's healthy for a full 17 plus games. Well, so this is the thing. I don't see, this is the argument for Jair Alexander. If you like it, it's that I don't see any team in the NFL being like, Oh,

the green Bay Packers, a perpetual playoff team, a good franchise. They're letting someone go. We should give them $20 million a year like that. That bus is left the station for Jair Alexander. I mean, he's not going to get that type of money. I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if it's $10 million or less and it has to be a proven deal. I mean, nobody in the NFL,

I don't think there's gonna be some insane bidding war here. I don't think anybody in the NFL is giving Jair Alexander crazy money here, any more than 10 to 12 million dollars. And it might be one of those now we have to especially watch out for that. It might be one of those Jair Alexander signs a two year, 30 million dollar contract with whatever team and the real contract is more like one year and eight million. We see that happen all the time. So be aware of that when it comes out, when he signed somewhere.

But I mean, if we were talking, this is the thing. It's all about the price, right? I mean, this is why quasi a da Fomenta is here is the economics of the thing. So if quasi a da Fomenta looks at it and says, look, one year, $9 million. We're not tied down. He gives us depth. He gives us potential high end.

And then if it fails completely, if he never plays it down as a Viking, we gave them the same amount as Marcus Davenport. I, the low risk that they have really liked this over the years where guys are not locked in super long. They have a career history and they've they missed on Davenport. They missed on Dean Lowry, but they also took a bit of a risk on like an Andrew van Ginkgel or a Blake Cashman guys who had some injury issues in the past and had maybe only a small sample size of success.

I know that's not exactly the same because those are and Grenard, the highest character type of guys you're gonna find. That to me is the stop point is what type of knowledge does Flores and O'Connell have about Jair Alexander and how he's gonna fit? And are you gonna have camp fights because him and Justin Jefferson are gonna get into it? If you don't name him a captain, is he going to go out for the coin flip

anyway, which he did in one game? I mean, how is it that he became as disgruntled as he became now? There is a connection, but I don't know how much there would be crossover. I think of Mike Petten as being with green Bay. I don't know how much knowledge he has though of Jair Alexander. So there might be some insight there into what exactly happened. I know that they had a pretty bad defensive system

for a couple of years that may have poisoned the water with him. That was kind of like a Stefan Diggs thing where the offensive system was problematic, but also the guy was problematic and maybe it was just both. Aaron says out on Alexander Ramsey if they think they need him to get into the top five, Alexander appears to be too high of a risk for the culture and injuries.

Who else could they get at corner that would have that kind of impact? I mean, nobody would have the type of impact as a Jayalen Ramsey or the high end of Jire Alexander. That's one hold up when you talk about this is the high end of Jire Alexander is really, really good. And it has been throughout his career. And for a guy who has had so many injuries, he is 28 years old. I mean, he's basically the same age as some of the highest paid corners for this year in free agency. I mean, isn't DJ Reed 28? Isn't Sharvarius Ward 28 and Jair Alexander is that same age. So it's not like he's decrepit and old and should be having these types of problems, but how many injuries can you overcome? You also wonder with as unhappy as he seemed to be in Green Bay, was it all that he was too injured to play or did he not want to play in certain

instances when he was banged up? I don't know any of the stories behind that, but that does happen in the NFL. Sometimes is that some guys are not going to fight their way through. If they are not too happy and others like Harrison Smith, for example, are going to do everything they can to that toxicity is a little bit much to wade into. And I think it would be on the aggressive side of leaning into your culture a little too much. And I think this about the training staff and I think this about

the culture where I fully believe in those things. And I think the Vikings crushed those things out of the park, but let's not talk about them as if you could turn water into wine. I mean, there are realities to those things. So if someone is a bad culture fit that can infiltrate the locker room. And if someone is an injury problem where they won't go back on the field, unless they're 110%, there's not a whole lot of training staff is going to be able to do about that. So that's why to me, I'd be a little bit hesitant in order to do this.

James says, if the price is right, I say, bring him in. He could only help if he does not get too weird. And that's, yeah, that, that, that point right there, if he does not get too weird is absolutely my concern. Even, even the median outcome, isn't that bad. Like the medium outcome is, let's just say, let's say the worst outcome is that he just is a terrible fit.

Nobody wants him in the locker room. He's causing problems and everything else. Now we do have to consider that if you sign a guy to a one year contract and he realizes that any locker room issues mean that he's probably going to be out of the NFL after this, well, you know, then that is a pretty good motivator to behave that one year contract where, you know, it that is a pretty good motivator to behave that one year contract

where you know it's kind of on the line. And the Vikings are really a great place to be that guy, to have that one year type of deal. So there is that side of it. That's, but even that's the worst outcome is that he basically just never plays and is a problem. The median outcome would be that he plays 450 snaps and it isn't really an issue.

It's just not on the field a ton. Would 450 snaps be worth a one-year contract if they were good snaps? It probably would if they're confident that he's not going to be an issue. In terms of naming former Packers who have become Vikings, Aaron Jones definitely last year put his name way up on that list, but Ryan Longwell from Gazinkad is a great selection.

Longwell was a great Viking and a great Green Bay Packer. Bradley says only if you could sign him to a if you get injured you won't get paid type of of one year contract. Those don't exist, but the one year contract element has to be, it's a non-starter if it's anything more than that. And of course, a two year deal can always be a one year deal. Even if you look at Ryan Kelly, Ryan Kelly's two year deal is a hundred percent a one year contract. If if that if he signed the same type of deal as a Ryan Kelly a Guy with some serious injury history and Kelly character wise is a plus that is a different part of this It's also a corner though. It's not a leadership position But Byron Murphy is the leader of that room

But it's not one of those positions that we generally think of as well this guy He has to work with the quarterback. So you need Ryan Kelly to be a plus. Do you need Jair Alexander to be a plus? Not really. You need him to kind of just stop wide receivers from catching footballs and not be frustrating to everybody around him, I guess, which it sounds like he kind of has been in Green Bay, but always a uh, two sides to every story, I guess. Will says, does the amount of cap space the Vikings have imply a move of some sorts is coming?

Or is it for a move like Gilmore last year to roll some, uh, slash to roll some of it over to next year? Yes. I mean, I think so. I think that they purposefully wanted to leave X number of dollars as a just in case fun Because this is the type of team that makes this type of move. I'm sure that there are 25 podcasts tonight going live talking about whether their team should sign Jair Alexander But how many of those teams really make any sense to sign Jair Alexander. But when a team is

put in a position like the Vikings are here, where they are legitimately good enough to compete for a division title and more, they've been building over multiple years, they've gotten their salary cap to a really good position. This is the spot where you do stuff like this. And I'm trying to remember, I think so. so I don't know why this popped into my head, but maybe because the 2017 Eagles are one of those teams that we hold up as an example of look how good you could build a roster with a bunch of veterans around a rookie quarterback contract.

Unfortunately for the Vikings, they smashed their faces in, in the NFC championship game. But why they did that was in part they were so strong with veteran talent. And when they got to the right before the season started, if I'm remembering this correctly, the Eagles signed one more player and I think it was Patrick Robinson who had been around and he had been with New Orleans and he'd been a pretty good player as a corner and they added that one final piece to the defense. And if I'm not mistaken, he was the guy who picked off Case Keenum and took it back. Just one of those extra, they also had Ron Darby on that team, just one of those extra free agent,

veteran type of guys that are a late ad that you need to make sure you keep some cap space for. And just to stay with the analogy to that team, Jay Ajayi was the running back that they were able to pick up in the middle of the season and the Vikings have been a team that is active even when it gets into the season. I mean, every year we've seen them do this. We saw them sign Dalton Reisner. We saw them sign or trade for TJ Hawkinson. Last year they trade for Cam Robinson.

Last year they sign Stephon Gilmore. So they're not a team that is just a set it and forget it roster, which means that you should try to keep a little cap space leftover for the next year or for the year to make those moves. And then if you don't use it, like you said, you just transfer it over to the next year. They could also use it for the next year, by the way,

if you've looked at overthecap.com for 2026. It'll be fine, don't panic when you see the number, but they're over the cap for next year and we'll have to do some stuff and it'll go up and everything. It's not like they're gonna not make it, but rolling over some cap space would be good for them too. Colt 45 flowers says I'm all set without locker room cancer guys. I think Ramsey and Alexander both fit that description. I think only Alexander fits that description.

I would not put that on Jalen Ramsey myself. Alexander has been problematic and not on the field. Whereas I haven't heard anything about Jalen Ramsey being problematic with teammates or coaches. It's just that he's wanted out of a couple situations. That's all that we have. If there's another story that you've seen, let me know. But I haven't seen anything over the years that's talked about Ramsey being an issue. And he certainly wasn't an issue on a defense that was number one in the league that ended up winning the Super Bowl Against the Cincinnati Bengals a couple years ago

The Vikings are in that type of position that the Rams were in to kind of push the chips to the middle of the table I'm not saying I would trade five draft picks for him or something But if you're looking to go with that one last move, they really have like this, this off season because it's kind of just come in like, Oh, today they did this and the next day they did this and the next day they did this. I mean, but when you go back and look at the totality, the Vikings actually have some of the most turnover in the entire league and they had some of the highest spending in the entire league was with guys like Alexander Ramsey.

There is a little bit of what's one more of this type of signing, but Ramsey to me is a can get you over the top to the next level as a defense. Alexander is, if he's on the field, I think he can be really helpful for you and maybe just an insurance policy because of the uncertainty with a lot of these other guys. But as you mentioned in the previous thing about the cap space and so forth, this team always kind of keeps one back door open for another edition.

I mean, they even added Fabian Morrow last year. He didn't have to play a whole lot, but that was a signing that would have given them some additional depth where they can go and corner is probably the position where guys are most available. Maybe it's an easy position to learn or easier to learn on the fly than some other spots, but I think they always are keeping some guys in the back pocket. Corners are available in free agency into the summer.

So if you see it and you don't like it, then you could always bring in, I don't know, Russell Douglas, I think is still out there, right? Has he signed with anybody? There's always one, two, three guys who sign at the last minute. Adore Jackson was this guy last year, if I'm remembering correctly. So I think that they can also just wait and they can let Ramsey and Alexander go somewhere else They can see how it plays out and there's still gonna be one or two guys that they

Could decide to bring in anyway Son of a beavers. I am in if he's taking a pay cut to stick it to his old team of that You know what? I didn't really think too much of that Element of it, about like the motivation for Jair Alexander. We definitely saw that from Aaron Jones last year. Like there was some pep in that step. There was a little bit of extra fire in the breath from Aaron Jones,

who is the nicest guy in the entire universe, but also a very high level competitor. And I just thought there was a little angry in the runs from him last year to show the Packers that they had let him go too early. And you know, that is a good point. When you talk about what's he going to fit in, how is it going to work? You might factor that he would be coming. If you're, if you're coming from green Bay to Minnesota, you know why you're coming to stick it to the green Bay Packers twice a year and try to knock them out of the

playoffs. That is a motivating factor. So they could argue that his desire to show up the Packers and the fact that if it's a one year contract, which would be my expectation, you're really playing for your NFL life at that point. Like those things talk me into it a little bit better than my initial feeling. That's maybe too much rationalization for a guy who has,

it sounds to me like, created a lot of his own problems in Green Bay. But if you're talking me into it, I think that's a good way to do it. James tosses out Greg Jennings as I don't know, was Greg Jennings a great Viking though? I'm not sure that he was. I thought he was kind of disappointing and maybe not that thrilled about being a Viking, but you guys will have to remind me

on the history of Greg Jennings here. Brandon says, Aaron Jones is the best packer to Viking, great production, an amazing addition to the locker room. It's a hard one to top. It is a hard one to top what he did last year. Sean says, I would prefer to gamble and wait for Ramsey to be cut and try to sign him rather than pick up a hobbled Alexander. Yeah.

I mean, Alexander is far behind Jalen Ramsey in, in my mind, far behind. I, it's not even really close for me because Ramsey has been so healthy and so good recently and he's won a championship with the team. He is a guy that I think you know you can bring in and he will be a professional and he's going to handle his business and he's going to be on the field. And even if he does have his issues in the past of being disgruntled with teams, it's usually only because they're not good teams and he wants to get out and go compete for a championship because he considers himself one of the best players

in the league. Alexander cannot make that argument. So it's, if we were doing percentages of like, how in are you on this idea? Jalen Ramsey, I like 95% in, if they can either get him for nothing in a trade and deal with that contract or what's more likely is what you mentioned, just waiting out him getting cut.

And if you had to pay a little bit more and make it work cap wise again, I am okay with that for Jaylen Ramsey, even if it was a multi-year deal, he's only 30. He's still been very good. The health issue is, it's not a problem at all. Alexander is much more of a low dollar figure, roll of the dice to the point where if you were just unhappy with him at any point where you could just walk away. That I would want, I would want it to be such a low offer

that if you just could walk away basically at any time for Jair Alexander. Brandon says, if Jair is okay coming off the bench, he would be great to use on passing downs as a shutdown option. I would still rather have Ramsey. Yeah, I don't, I don't think he's going to be okay coming off the bench. I think he's going to be wanting to start, but that's okay. If you're rotating him with Isaiah Rogers, Mackay Blackman in a similar way that they rotated last year with Shaq Griffin. And look, this is if you're making the argument and you're talking me into it. I think last year you would look at Shaq Griffin and say Shaq Griffin did not

even play all that well. He was cut by the Houston Texans last year. And you know, the previous year before they signed him in 2023. And then he comes to the Vikings and adds a lot to them. I mean, he was not perfect, but he was very good in his role.

And that's another guy that's still out there, by the way, who you do know fits if you need him. I don't think he signed with anybody else and he could be depth if you need it. That just speaks to there are usually corners that are out there. So if you don't get Jair, if you don't get Ramsey, it's not like you're on cornerback Island where you'll never in a bad way, like you'll never get anybody else. No one could ever come here again. Like there are going to be other options. Jackie says he would love to stick it to the Packers, bring him in a one

year contract. He will be on good behavior. I would expect that as well. I would also think that if, if he was feeling like I want to sign with the Vikings for one reason and one reason only to show the Packers what they're missing, that's not a bad position to be in. If you're the Vikings for one reason and one reason only to show the Packers what they're missing. That's not a bad position to be in if you're the Vikings with that level of motivation. Does it ever work the opposite way by the way? Like what Viking has ever been like, hey, I'm going to go sign with the Packers to stick it to the Vikings. I know they have. Players have signed the other way around. It just always seems like they're going from green Bay to Minnesota with the intent of showing green Bay something.

Maybe, maybe I'm wrong. Caleb says, I trust beef flow to know whether he needs depth or a cornerback. Well, I do too. The thing about a beef flow, Brian Flores, I feel weird calling him beef flow. flow, Brian Flores, I feel weird calling him B flow. Uh, the thing about Brian Flores is he is absolutely fantastic at identifying talent, really, really good. And all the moves that he's made, it seems like have just been hits. And, you know, we mentioned the Davenport one, we mentioned the Dean Lowry, those

were kind of desperation signings with not much cap space left to work with. But you look at the players that they brought in last year, he's at the center of all of those guys, especially Cashman, especially Van Ginkle and Stefan Gilmore. And that relationship certainly, I think, got the Vikings over the finish line

to get Stefan Gilmore as several teams were interested in him last year. This is his cheat code is that he came up in this game as a scout and he's great at identifying talent. I don't think that he is a miracle worker though, where he's always going to be right forever. And the more talent that you can add the better. So I do agree that he has earned that deserved trust that if he says he loves Isaiah Rogers, then he loves Isaiah Rogers and off we go. But I mean, corners do get hurt a lot,

but you also just never really know how somebody's going to play. And corner is the most volatile position, I think on the entire field, the position that goes up and down the most from year to year where one year it seems like someone's great in the next year, they're not, somebody might just not be as good of a fit as you thought, or Mackay Blackman might not come back the way that you thought, or you know, the depth, there just isn't a lot of it.

And if somebody gets hurt, can a former undrafted free agent like McClother and step in? We just don't know. I think there's some confidence in that, but we just don't know. And when you're in a situation like this, where you have done so much to the roster, this feels like, how about this?

You've built a very, very expensive house in Florida, and you did not put in a sub pump in your basement. I don't really know exactly what that does, but I think it has to do with water. Right. You're just saying like, Oh, we'll be fine. And then your basement floods. I think they don't really have basements in Florida. Is that right?

Let's just say, I don't really know anything about how this works, but you're not doing anything to prevent water getting into your basement when you have a $2 million house. That's how the Vikings roster would be by not adding another corner. Like maybe, maybe it won't flood. It's very possible. It won't flood. Maybe the odds are even in your favor that it won't flood, but you're still leaving yourself open to calamity happening and ruining your house when you've spent so much on everything else. That's why I'm in favor of moves like this.

But even if they brought in just one extra guy or Griffin back, that's what it feels like to me is just one more is necessary. Uh, son of a beaver is speaking of Dalton Reiser is he still making videos trying to get someone to sign him. That was last year, right? I think that was odd. I think everyone thought it was odd, but the league is just not going to sign a guy that is so poor when it comes to run blocking. I think that's a mistake, uh, because you can work around the run blocking shortcomings, you can not work around defensive tackles, going right by your

guards and sacking your quarterback. It's allowed the Vikings to get him at a cheap price a couple of years in a row. And if they're not 100% confident in Will Fry's recovery or something, it sounds like it's going, you know, going to be fine with, and he's going to be back in training camp. But I had thought previously that we would see him maybe in mini camp does not sound like that's going to happen from what Kevin O'Connell said two weeks ago. We'll see if he's still out there and you get an injury on the offensive line. You always know you could go back and get Dalton Reister. Uh, Rob says always only two questions.

Will Jair make the team better? Does Flores want him or have a role for him? Right. And you know, Flores, when we talk to him tomorrow, I'm sure is not going to speculate about free agents and stuff like that in the public, but, uh, his feeling would carry a ton of weight there. And if Mike Petten has a previous experience with him, that would carry a ton of weight on Petten and Kevin O'Connell are very close and Petten's the assistant

coach of this team. So it matters a lot. What he would think about that with his connections to the Packers organization. And, uh, Brian Flores, right? Can you find a spot for him or does Flores prefer to just see Isaiah Rogers first? Like that was his guy. That was his go out and get me this in free agency the same way that Van Ginkle was last year or Cashman was. The front office goes and gets him.

He might say I'd rather see how that's going to play out than go get somebody else that we're unsure about. And Isaiah Rogers also views this as his one big shot in the NFL. And it really is. He is bounced around a little bit. He had the gambling issue that kept him away from the field for an entire year This is his big chance to really shine Put him in that position, but the depth of the corner back spot

That's where it does get a little bit dicey for me. And will he make the team better? The answer is yes, but I don't think it's just That simple that he'll make team better because it's he'll make the team better if if he's on the field, he hasn't been on the field a whole lot lately. If he's good with the locker room because so much of their success I think starts there it starts in their meeting rooms. This is a complicated defense, you need everybody connected everybody playing on the same page. That's why Harrison Smith is so valuable. That's why Byron Murphy was paid as much as he was. He gets interceptions and he's a good player, but his connection with his teammates and his ability to communicate and lead that defense are really, really valuable.

So do you want somebody that might not fit with that room when I think it's so integral to their success. So you have to really understand what it was that went wrong in Green Bay and why he is a free agent before you decide to make that move. Blake says, effort sign him. I appreciate that attitude. He's younger than Ramsey, as someone mentioned. Well, in this case, age is but just a number because the injury history would matter

more, right? I mean, Jalen Ramsey might play till he's 25. I'm sorry, 35. He's already been 25. He might play till he's 35. He might be Stephon Gilmore where he's still really effective into his mid thirties where we've seen corners before. Xavier Rhodes was one of them that got hurt a lot and then we're out of the league into their late twenties or early thirties. So the injury history and the mileage are two kinds of different things. It just being older doesn't mean that your body is more broken down than somebody who's barely played. They would have to get a good feel for where his body actually

stands at this point. But Ramsey is such a big and thick and strong dude that I think that that helps him as far as staying on the field a lot. That's why I'm much higher on that idea is because I can point to a number and say, it's very clear that this man knows how to stay on the field. Aaron says, uh, Russell Douglas is still out there too. Flores will let a KOC and quasi know if he needs another corner. Yeah.

I mean, I agree with that, that, and, and he might want to see it. He might want to see it first. OTAs is not going to tell you is your corner back room good enough. They would know if Isaiah Rogers is picking up on the defense and the same with Mackay Blackman Blackman is a guy that the floorores drafted and really, really liked coming out and played well. And then Rogers is someone he really, really liked in free agency. Still though, this is another rotational position.

So you could still love Isaiah Rogers. You could still love Mackay Blackman. You could still love Byron Murphy. You could still love Dwight McClothern and everybody could be out there on the field at some point if you want them to be. So if you sign Jair Alexander to kind of be the Aaron Jones of the secondary this year, not last year where he carried the entire load, but what we expect this year, let's say he plays 550 snaps for $9 million and it's in a rotational role. So he's able to stay on the field.

He's on there for more third downs. It doesn't mean if you sign him, you just have to say, you know what, all you guys that I said I liked get out of here, leave. Like, you know, it doesn't have to be that way at that position. Dane says the best, I think what you're, are you going for the best ability is availability and he hasn't

been available. No, that's right. And you said two years it's really been like three out of the last four that would be concerning. Aaron says, did you look at linebacker Jermaine Pratt who got released today for depth was a captain on the Bengals. I'm not I mean I'm familiar with his game from watching the Bengals. I'm not sure where he would fit into this because they brought back Eric Wilson. And Eric Wilson is the guy who's taking on that third linebacker type of role and has even been filling in for when Josh Metellus is not doing the seven on sevens. Eric Wilson is taking that spot because he is a dynamic and versatile type of player.

I don't really know where Pratt would fill in and if he would want to come to a team that's so settled with their top three linebackers and then even drafted another linebacker who is getting a lot of looks from this team, I'd be surprised by that. I think he's much more likely to sign that's some some somewhere. That's very light at the linebacker position Let's see Six shooter nation gaming says I just want the season to play out and look forward to the next season Well, you know the

thing about football is that we only have so many games to work with and a lot of time to have fun talking about football. You're, I mean, it sounds like you're the Madden guy that wants to simulate the whole season so you know what you have in JJ McCarthy and everything. Let's, let's enjoy the ride and let it play out. And I always think that this time of year for front offices is pretty fascinating because you're not making or breaking your roster, but the little extra dashes and the little extra moves that you make and think about last year in the Dalton Reisner move or the Cam

Robinson at the end of the year in the playoffs, those things fell apart for them. Yes. But if you look at how valuable those moves were in the middle of the season, or even cam acres, they were big difference makers, little moves that happened throughout a season to add that one extra piece. So this conversation to me is, I think a lot of fun to talk about. Well, do you just buy in to what they have now? Because Brian Flores is buying into it. In years past, we would have said, you got to get somebody else. You can't just roll out this unproven cornerback group in a win.

Now season we've given Brian Flores and he has earned this 100%. But we've kind of given him this whatever whatever you do, we'll just buy into. And I think that's an interesting dynamic as well, because I also lean in that direction. And then I think, but if you had Jalen Ramsey, like imagine how good this thing would be. Rob says, Ramsey has a complicated contract, but it looks like the Dolphins get $14 million

dead cap hit this year and 16 next year. If they cut him next year, they could get out much easier. Yeah. I don't think that they can wait till next year to get out from under this because it ends up being a distraction. I'm not sure if he's even going to play for them ever again, or if it's just totally over. I know what you're saying. Uh, it just, it seems like everyone has decided from the reports that are out there, it's over with Jalen Ramsey and they're trying to get anything and

everything that they can squeeze out of that. His contract is challenging to take it on because it's one of those contracts where you could get out of it pretty easily if you cut him post June 1st. But if you cut them before that, then it takes a really big dead cap hit that's going forward into the future. But if you cut somebody with the post June 1st designation, then you can't use that cap space.

So if the Vikings brought in Ramsey and it was an utter disaster and they had to cut him, well, now you're kind of stuck with that's just gonna sit there and get in the way as you go to sign free agents and you're not going to have it until after June 1st. It just gets a little bit dicey, but nothing is nothing is impossible with where they're at right now because right now is the situation where you just do everything and anything you can everything and anything to win regardless of what it does to your future cap like we know that they can work themselves out of the cap stuff with Rob Brzezinski and quasi daful Mensa and three years from now it might be problematic and challenging and there might be a year

like 2023 where guys have to go and it's not the best reset year or something. But in this spot right here, that's where it's it's time to go. It's time to put the gas pedal down. Bradley says who gets paid more Alexander or Ramsey. I'm going to guess if Ramsey gets cut because his contract, you know, still exists right now. I'm going to guess that Ramsey would get significantly more than Alexander. Could be wrong. Son of a beavers, Latroi. I don't even know that guy.

I don't even know how to say that guy's name. The defensive tackle that played for the Vikings from 08 to 2013 and went to play for the Packers. Oh, I was not familiar with that story. I don't know if it was to stick it with him or not. Is it guy on Latroi guy on? I'm not familiar with his game. I don't think of anybody in that era outside of Williams Wall. But OK, maybe maybe he was sticking it to him.

Oh, Chan and Sullivan is a good one, though. That is a good one. I don't think that was sticking it to the backers rather than just hoping to find any place. Henry says they should make an offer reflective of his injuries. If he takes it, I'm a thousand percent in as far as his antics. I'm a hundred percent sure the Morale and camaraderie in the Vikings locker room will cut that out of him. That I am less sure of. than you gave it 100%. I'm less sure of that. Uh, there are some guys who cannot be contained no matter how good the reason.

See, here's the thing. The reason why the Vikings have the culture they have is number one, they have a coach who's a former player who really understands how to connect with the leadership and he understands little things that matter to players like the scheduling guys bring that up I've asked players before like why is it that everybody really connects with? KOC so well and what loves his culture one of the things that always comes up is well It's a really good schedule for us like he really talks over the scheduling and that's something you and I don't think about but

If you've ever worked somewhere where you've had an annoying schedule. Well that can but if you've ever worked somewhere where you've had an annoying schedule, well, that can be something that makes work easier. And then the way families are taken care of and all that sort of stuff, all of that is really good. But a major reason that the Vikings have the culture they have is because they've put a focus on it and they've brought in players

who are leading that culture. So if you bring in Aaron Jones, who's like the best guy ever in Green Bay, people will weep openly if you mention Aaron Jones, they love the guy so much. Well, that's who you're bringing in. You know what that's gonna do? I mean, everyone here is familiar with Blake Cashman.

You know what kind of guy Blake Cashman is. You bring him in, you bring in Jonathan Grenard in. I mean, those guys are gonna make that culture what it is. If you have a Fox in the hen house, potentially that could take things apart. Can one guy destroy the entire culture? Of course not. But if he has the antics that he had in green Bay, I'm sure it's a distraction and I'm sure it's frustrating a little bit.

And I don't want to go completely in this direction just because, you know, Antonio Brown really went off the deep end. But Antonio Brown was kind of that guy that the Bucks were able to contain for long enough with Tom Brady there to win. And then he took his shirt off and ran out of the stadium like a crazy person, like the Bucks may have had the best culture there for a while, but there was nothing that was holding that guy down. So, uh, yeah, it's, it's a tricky thing. It's a very tricky thing of trying to figure out. And that's why you have to have background on the guy. I think you can

understand what the issue was in green Bay. Let me get to, uh, this show has a couple of sponsors, which I am very happy to have. So let me inform you about them and then we'll continue the conversation. Also Mondays with Maggie coming up, Maggie Robinson has, I have demanded some hot takes out of her about recent news items, including, I need her opinion on Jairi Alexander. So she will be coming up very shortly, but first I want to tell you about a new thing that I have been doing to try to cut fast food out of the diet.

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Anyway, all right, let's get back to a few of your comments that will bring Maggie in here as well. Kerpluppy says, do you think that they've gotten any intel on Isaiah Rogers in Purple thus far in the off season that can confirm or deny B-Flo's gut feeling on him. I don't think a lot. I don't think a lot. Now you, you can get a little bit of a sense of how hard the guy's going to work in his meetings and in his preparation, like, is he showing up to the workouts? Is he working hard in the meetings?

Is he really understanding the defense as you install it? I do think that you pick up little things. If someone is really bad, then all right, you're going to notice right away. Oh, we brought in somebody, but as far as their performance and how they're actually playing, you probably need a couple of weeks of training camp for that. Sean says, have you noticed how center Ryan Kelly and McCarthy's chemistry is? I have not. No, there's not a whole lot

you can figure out from that. In fact, I don't know if there's any real way for us to ever know with that, with a center, unless they tell us how that's working out, or if someone is really excellent at the center position, we could probably figure out that their chemistry, if they're really good at like picking up on blitzes and stuff like that as a team, then you can draw that back to the center.

But the guys who know that are the ones that are in the huddle and in the meetings and figuring these things out together. If I was good enough to figure out the chemistry between a center and a quarterback at OTAs, I would be incredibly smart and I think teams would pay me a lot of money, but no, I just, with those two guys, I think with Kelly, the important thing is that he has so much experience working with younger quarterbacks. This is not his first time. He knows how to grab the reins and when it comes to handling blitzes and all that sort of stuff, I really think that, uh,

he is going to be a huge addition and it was something that was very necessary for them. And he's also, he's got a little bit of that grit to him, that edge to him that I really like in your center because it's not as much of, um, a Garrett Bradbury is a really nice guy, but you know, we saw that there wasn't that element of it that I think can help in this locker room. The sandpaper if you're a hockey fan. Rob says, I think we also might be overlooking Ambry Thomas. He played a big role in 49ers Superbowl in 2023. He's only 25. When it comes to somebody like Ambry Thomas, one thing that I always consider

is that these teams do things for a reason. So just for example, with Ambry Thomas, like for whatever reason, PFF is being very slow and frustrating the last couple of days. But I mean, there's a reason if a guy was playing a big role on a team that went to the Super Bowl, that he's here on the contract that he's on

after being a third round pick. And I think injuries were definitely a part of that. He did not, if I'm not mistaken, did not play all that well in the postseason for them. I could check on that. He's in the Chandan Sullivan, just another guy on the roster. But you never know. I mean with corners you never know.

Yeah, he did. He did not play any more than 573 snaps for that team and in in the postseason and regular season together and ended up with a 61.5 pff grade 99 quarterback rating against. There's not there's not a lot there to say that Ambrie Thomas is like the type of depth that Jair Alexander would bring them for example. That's a that's one of those roll of the dice, you know who reminds me of is like Anthony Zettel. Remember that guy kind of had a good game one time against the Vikings and they gave it a shot. Brad says, why did Green Bay let him go? One would probably be his contract, but it also just seemed like he was very unhappy with the Green Bay Packers over the last couple of years,

their head coach, their defensive coordinator, their system, their training staff. I mean, I don't have all the answers to that, but if you Google why is Jair Alexander unhappy, there's stories throughout the last couple of years. And the weirdest one was when he was not a captain, went out for the coin flip or something. It just has been one thing after another with him.

Henry says, is there a different team who would make Jair a way better offer than the Vikings who has the cap space in more need than the Vikings? I don't want to melt my computer by going to overthecap.com so you guys can check down on that for me. I don't think there's a team in the league that is going to be spending a huge amount of money on, uh, Jair Alexander because of all the things that we've talked about, all the risks we've talked about over the years with

Jair Alexander, with the injuries for three of the last fourth seasons, the locker room issues that he's had, like, I don't think anybody is going out and saying, Oh, let's give them a three year contract for $50 million. So I just don't think that's going to happen. If you want them, you could probably get them. Ramsey is much harder I think to get, because he's going to pick where he wants to go.

I feel like 28 teams are going to want Jalen Ramsey where there might only be a couple that really want Jair Alexander. See Jared says Ramsey would be the locker room culture fit solid player, but you're younger with Alexander. And that's, and that's my point about the age being just a number because I look at a guy who's been injured three of the because I look at a guy who's been injured three of the last four years versus a guy who's been injured one time in his career and still played over 600 snaps that year.

I would much rather have the 30 year old with fewer wounds than the guy who's 28 but has been injured all the time. And then you just wonder, I mean, and I'm, I'm not calling out anybody. You just through the years here that some players are not willing to fight through anything to get onto the field. And I heard a story even this last off season about a player who was cut and there was a lot of shock. Well, why is this player cut? Because that player told the training staff, if I'm not a hundred percent,

I'm not playing period. And the team said, okay, we just, we need you on the field. It was a veteran player and the, he had made his money in the league and decided like, Hey, look, I'm just not going to play through pain. It's football. Sometimes you have to play through stuff. Uh, Dean says I trust KOC and quasi to evaluate the whole, uh, the whole situation and make the best moves. I've been a Vikings fan for over 50 years years and this might be our best chance in the next

few years. Yeah, I mean, it's their best chance in a while, I think. Their best chance over the last 20 years is 2009 and then you're within one game of it in 2017 and so forth. But I think what you're talking about is not just one shot at it when you say over the years, but having multiple shots at it, which is something I want to talk about at a later date in the summer about what Jeremy Fowler said. I'm writing about it about having a three year window. I don't think it's quite that, but when you have this leadership,

it feels like you're going to have multiple shots at it because they are good at making decisions and these micro decisions. Sometimes you win. Sometimes you lose. Sometimes a guy gets hurt. Sometimes you bring in someone that you thought was going to work and they didn't and you know, whatever that's the Dean Lowry.

That's the Marcus Davenport like it happens. You don't always hit three for three with three guys playing their best career football like they did last year and Stefan Gilmore turning back the clock. Like that's really rare to have four major signings and every single one of them crushes. That doesn't happen that often, but they're going to miss. There's things that they're going to do that aren't going to go right going forward. But I think they have the right process of doing this, which is the league was looking at some older players like a J von Hargrave who may have been a 20 plus million dollar a year guy.

And they said, well, we could get him at 15 because he's coming off the injury. They might look at this Jair Alexander thing and say, we can get him for a lot cheaper than we would have gotten anybody else in the past because, uh, at this level of talent, because he has had these issues and sometimes it's just a bit of a, you got to have a trade off. And that's the Ryan Kelly thing. Like his injuries over the last couple of years allow you to get Ryan Kelly. And you wouldn't have gotten them otherwise for that kind of price. You would have been paying like $18 million a year.

So you take, sometimes you take the risks and it results in a high risk, high reward type of thing, or it could fall apart. And they've been willing to do that this off season with other guys and that's why it wouldn't shock me if they did it now. Jared says, after watching a few games back yesterday from last year, where do we rank at allowing third down conversion? Seems like we held up on early downs, then gassed guys

after allowing conversions. Well, I could pull that up. Again, sorry if this melts the computer. I thought that overall they ended up being very good at that, but I do think you make a fair point. Yeah, they were 12th. They were 12th. So they were pretty good.

They were not the elite of the elite on the third down conversions. But what you're getting at is something that I thought of as well last year that as the season wore on, the defense wore down. And this is why you need the defensive rotation, defensive line rotation that we've been discussing quite a bit. And that you need depth in the secondary, you need depth at linebacker, which they did not have. and that was a key position that hurt them this year. They are deeper in a lot of spots. Uh,

Hamza says, did you see the reporting from Fowler that the Vikings see a three year window to win a championship with a really good quarterback they like on a rookie deal? Yeah, I did. And it's been an interesting study. I don't like to talk a lot about what other reporters are doing, whether it's locally, nationally, it's just not worth it. The athletic and ESPN and the different coverage of the Aaron Rodgers, Minnesota Vikings, brief flirtation was really something to behold where it felt like some folks didn't want to accept that that wasn't going to happen. Some folks seemed to make it sound like it was really, really close to happening and

then backed off at the last minute. And it's not really that clear how close it was or it wasn't from the reporting. And then there was still some hangers on. And this is what I found to be kind of odd was there were still some hangers on who were scraped, you know, sliding down the wall with their fingernails scratching like, no Rogers could still be a Viking. Like that's how it seemed. And then when he signed with the Steelers, it's like, wait a minute. So he wasn't, Rogers was definitely not holding out waiting for the Vikings as numerous

reporters had said was possible because otherwise he would have signed before training camp, not before mandatory mini camp. He would have waited till the end of the spring to see if something hit with McCarthy, whether it's an injury or just they weren't happy with them. Cause mini camp is more telling than OTAs when it comes to that. So that wasn't true either. And it kind of seems like Aaron Rogers just wasn't really telling anybody what was going on.

And everybody was just guessing in the dark based on pretty poor information is what it seemed like to me. And Rogers is such a big name and there's so much demand for insider stuff that you just gotta have something all the time, the three year window. I mean, nothing about that should surprise anybody. The proof is in the decision. They decided to stick with McCarthy and not Darnold and not Rogers.

So that tells us a lot about how they really feel about McCarthy. There is a lot of information just in that decision because it would have been a lot safer to bring back Darnold. And, you know, maybe you could argue that it's more risky to go with Rogers, but he has so much bigger of a track record that they could have gone with him for a

one year swing. And then we would have found out, okay, their trust in McCarthy's really not as high as we thought it was. It is, it is as high as we thought it was because Rogers would have come running to Minnesota, uh, instead of going to Pittsburgh. And even just as a guy, Rogers, who lives in LA, like it's a pretty easy flight from here. It's not the easiest flight from Pittsburgh. So I think there's, it's very telling that they just wanted to stay the course. And this is why you listen to purple insider. My friends, we've been talking about this with quasi Daphne Mensah, this track to get

here, this path and plan to get here to this point where they open a window in order to really chase a championship by spending on the roster around a young quarterback. Like we've been waiting for this for five years. The entire existence of Purple Insider has been discussing this moment. And then quasi at a full Mensa has actually executed it.

And here we are, wow. So yeah, I mean mean his reporting like obviously, I mean, I'm not saying he shouldn't tell the entire football watching public that they don't know that. So it's his job. I'm not making fun of him for his job is to tell everybody like this is what their plans are, but it's certainly not groundbreaking to any of us. The only thing I would say is that it's, if you look at really the roster on paper, there's gonna be a two year version of this and then we'll see after that. Everybody on this roster is not locked in past two years.

So we're gonna see on that eventually, but to me it's more two. it's more of a two-year thing Anyway, well I appreciate all of the Conversation here. We got to get Maggie into the show. Let me read one or two more comments Hamza says one thing I've noticed the rest of the NFL is as fascinated with JJ as we are seems like fans of other NFC teams are hoping he's bad because if he's good, the Vikes will be a problem. There's no doubt about that. There's no doubt about that. And I wrote about this too. Purple insider dot football, everybody go sign up for the newsletter. But I

wrote about this when Colin Cowherd was it was, was it him? Somebody, one of those guys was talking about McCarthy and it was, you know, typical hot takey, you know, TV stuff. And my takeaway was this is how it's going to be this year, folks. The Vikings are hot for TV, a young, unproven quarterback, a great roster coach of the year. They're on national TV constantly get ready to be back in the conversation. You are going to be back in the conversation on the national level this year. And the best place to get your Vikings is still right here.

Okay, Jacob says, I would much rather have Ramsey. Alexander worth the shot if Ramsey isn't available, at least he isn't a locker room cancer for the Vikes. Well, we don't know that. Yeah, that's the thing. I just don't know Alexander and what the issue was in Green Bay exactly, but I would rather have Ramsey I I think I'm a little bit out on on Alexander overall, but there is Some argument at least that he would be motivated by his future and motivated by revenge to the point where it wouldn't be a bad idea. So final take before we bring in Maggie Robinson is that if they do it,

I will look at it as well. If they get a good version of Jair Alexander, this has a high ceiling. This could be a great move for them. It could also go down in flames. So we're going to have antennas up to see how this goes, and it'll add an extra layer of interest, and it's probably not going to cost that much. I can't be all in on it though in the same way that I am with Jalen Ramsey, who I think could really help them get over the top as a defense, and that they might need to face some of the best quarterbacks in the entire NFL.

So that's kind of where I stand on it. You can continue to give your opinions as well.