Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - The Athletic's Jon Krawczynski enters Vikings imagination land

Episode Date: July 17, 2020

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Blue Wire. Welcome to another episode of Purple Insider. Matthew Collar here and joining me today on the show from The Athletic. I am forcing him to put the basketball down and pick up the much more oddly shaped football, John Krasinski. What's up, John? Collar, great to be here. Still wondering why they make the football that shape. Like we can't bounce it very easily when it's like that why don't they make it round like a basketball like god intended it's a great question

i think it's easier to heave a long way i guess yeah i mean unless you're lebron lebron can do those full court passes kevin love kevin love yeah maybe the best minnesota arm over the last 15 years or so in the state. But no, unfortunately, it does have that shape, but that leads to a lot of hilarious fumbles and fat men returning footballs for touchdowns. Yeah, so it's great. Yeah, I wouldn't change a thing.

But I've got a lot to talk with you about on the show today, and I want to start with what I'm going to call imagination land because you have little kids, so I feel like you can play along with imagination land. I can. It pertains to Mike Zimmer and his contract situation. the New Orleans Saints last year at the Superdome in the loudest environment I have ever heard in my life covering a football game. I want you to imagine that the Vikings lost that game by, let's just say, 28 points for a moment. Do you think in imagination land that Mike Zimmer is still the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings? Yeah, I mean, I think that there's a good chance that he isn't, right? I mean, that's obviously what you're getting at mean, I think that there's a good chance that he isn't, right?

I mean, that's obviously what you're getting at. And I think that the only conclusions right now that we can draw from him not yet having the contract extension that he wants is there's one, to me, there's one of two options. One is, hey, it's a pandemic. We don't know about the revenues going forward. There's just so much up in the air. Like, do you pay a coach five or six million dollars a year or whatever when you're going to be taking, you know, maybe 10,000 people into the stands or something like that? I mean, do you have to account for that in some other way? And are they trying to get their arms wrapped around that situation before they were to commit long term from a money aspect type of a thing that's one option or two is that yeah that they they are still kind of in the mode of do we want to marry mike zimmer do we just

want to date him kind of a thing and um you know the to me Zim has a great case for an extension I think he's had a lot of success he's developed talent here he's done you know in by and large a very good job the one of the things to like lead back on a long way around to your opening what if is that on the very biggest of stages in the very biggest of moments the Vikings haven't just gotten beaten they've gotten routed and and it looks like okay the step up and weight class is not what they are ready for and so had they had another one like like that, a 35 to 7 wipeout type of a thing, maybe that does sort of contribute a little bit more to the negative side of Mike Zimmer's tenure here and the narrative on that side of things and makes it easier for the Wilfs to say, you know what, we need to get someone

else to bring us over the hump so far. But, you know, on the other side of it, I think Zim has made this franchise exceedingly competent, which is not something to shake your head at and to totally dismiss. And they have won some playoff games. And so it's not like he's terrible or anything like that. But, yeah, I think that had they gotten just crushed, again, that would have been hard to recover from. But because they had a very, very good victory and an unexpected one

in an insane environment, you say, well, maybe he's making the right progress, and you go forward from it. It is fascinating to me how, if you look at just Zimmer's win-loss record, even over the last two years, it's hard to say, well, how terrible is this? You had winning records each of the last two seasons, 8-7-1 and then 10-6. But the bar was not set at winning records. It was not set at six seeds when you have one of the easiest schedules in the NFL. It was set at returning to the NFC Championship game. It was set by an upgrade at quarterback. And over the last two years, there's been a lot of tense environments. There's been a lot of bad losses. There's been a lot of national television games that they have come up short. And in San Francisco, a playoff game where at the end

of the game, everyone in the stadium has left because the game is already over in San Francisco. And that is not what you signed up for over these last two years. So I could see where the Wills would set a certain standard. I also think that if you are judging by a game, a single playoff game, you should have had the decision made before that game and not said, well, you know, he put Daniil Hunter over the guard in this game. He must be great. Like, if you're going to move on, then move on instead of let someone twist in the win. Now back to imagination land. So let's say in this imagination scenario, they lost that game. Two questions for you. What is the fan reaction if he is let go after that game? And is Kevin Stefanski right now the

head coach of the Minnesota Vikings? I do think that Kevin Stefanski probably would be the head coach. What we know of the Wilfs is that they crave continuity and stability, and they want to be the Maras. They want to be the Roonies. That's what they model their ownership style after, as opposed to some of the more shoot-from-the-hip type of ownership groups that we see out there. And so it would make sense that if they had decided to make a move that, hey, we're not that far off is probably what they would say. I mean, they're not firing – they wouldn't be firing a guy who was 3-13 and just they had no chance. They need to bring in something totally different and new.

You have Kevin Stefanski who younger maybe forward thinking uh type of a a different a different approach but also has been under this umbrella for so long that I think that there is an advantage to that so my my guess is is that yes again if they had made that move I think Stefanski is the leader in the clubhouse and probably gets elevated to do it. First part of your question was? Fan reaction. Fan reaction. I think that, yeah, again, if we put it back in the perspective of they got wiped out

and just completely crushed, I think that most fans would probably be like, gosh, I hate getting my teeth kicked in at this stage of the season. And every fan is always enamored, not every, but most fans are always enamored with the shiny new toy. And you don't know what it is, whether, you know, maybe Kevin Stefanski is going to be Bill Belichick in New England you know or maybe he's going to be Bill Belichick in Cleveland when he with the Browns and not ready for it so but but we're always they we always love different

coaches who come in fresh perspective they can say all the right things and we can say we can pin all of the blame on the shortcomings on the last coach. And, well, he didn't know how to do this, or he didn't know how to do that. And then the other thing is they love draft picks before they happen. Ooh, we got three draft picks in the top 46. Great. That's awesome. Well, yeah, that might be great if you draft really well, but it also might mean nothing if you swing and miss but everyone wants to think about the future and wants to put their GM hat on and say you know this is great we have assets we have change we're going to be

moving forward so I think in general it would be well well, thanks, Zim. You know, we had some fun, but, yeah, this thing isn't working out, and we got to move on. Now, but now he did win the game, and so I do think that he has earned some allegiance from fans who like his no-nonsense style. They like the way that he speaks his mind, and they like the good defenses that he puts out there. That feels like what the Vikings roots are all about, is Alan Page and Carl Eller, and now Daniil Hunter and Eric Hendricks, and that's great. That takes us back.

So I think he has a strong following. It's fickle. The mob is fickle, as we learned in Gladiator, that documentary. So, yeah, it can change at a moment's notice. But, yeah, after a wipeout, I think most people would have said thanks, Sam, but we'll take our chances with someone else now. They're like, hey, this guy can coach, and I don't mind him being around here. Before we get back to the conversation, Now they're like, hey, this guy can coach, and I don't mind him being around here. Before we get back to the conversation, I want to remind you to go to sodastick.com to get your original Minnesota sports-inspired goods. Baseball is back, and Soda Stick just launched its latest partnership

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up to $10,000, to Tommy Watkins Foundation's backpack program supporting Twin Cities youth. We're going to hook you up also with free shipping for your Wiener winner shirt. Use promo code PURPLEINSIDER for free shipping. That's SOTASTICK.COM, S-O-T-A-S-T-I-C-K.COM, original Minnesota sports-inspired goods. Code PURPLEINSIDER for free shipping. So for a piece on my website purple insider.com i was going

through some past situations with coaches who were similar to zimmer in the fact that they won a lot but didn't necessarily get their teams over the hump somebody like bill cower or andy reed for a very long time i think people would be be surprised that Zimmer's win percentage as a head coach isn't that far off of Andy Reed, and it's ahead of Doug Peterson. So, you know, when you look at other coaches around the league, he's right in that ballpark for regular season winning percentage. But, I mean, Andy Reed in Kansas City does not get his team over the hump. Starting in 2013 to 2018, he has two playoff wins, and that's it, in seven playoff appearances.

So every year they're getting there, they're being competitive, they're over.500, sounds familiar, like Mike Zimmer, but not being able to get over to the hump. Now, of course, he has Patrick Mahomes, the best quarterback in the NFL, huge difference maker from Kirk Cousins, who is a good quarterback. But Zimmer is almost a product of his own expectations set by getting there with Case Keenum to the NFC Championship. As if, well, you should just be able to take any quarterback who's pretty good and get him there. So there have been these other coaches.

And Cowher was like this with Neil O'Donnell and Cordell Stewart. And then he gets Ben Roethlisberger, and suddenly he's a much better head coach. But I wonder about, like, the other part of that, too, is that, you know, you can have coaches that are there for a long time, and eventually you've just had them for too long, and it's time to move on. I think of Marvin Lewis in Cincinnati, where he built them up once with Carson Palmer, rebuilt them again with Andy Dalton. They were competitive, playoffs five straight years. But then they hit

that wall. The roster started to deteriorate, and Marvin Lewis couldn't coach them up to being competitive anymore. They busted out on a couple of drafts, as the Vikings have in 2016 and largely 2017, and that's where I wonder, John, like how do we project how this is going to go? Because the roster is really relevant here. These are not all of Zimmer's guys from 2015 through 2019. This would be, if they signed to a long-term deal, signing on to him for a completely kind of new era of Zip. Yeah, it is. And, you know, when you look at, again, like Andy Reid, I mean, he won in Philly with Donovan McNabb at his height, right? And, you know, what you can say for Zimmer is that he has put together a winning percentage that is comparable without the stellar quarterback play.

You know, he has not had that provided to him by the front office. And so, but there is also no question that right now they are in a period of transition with this roster. So it's changing over from the old guard that Zimmer had a huge hand in bringing in, especially defensively, to, you know, now it is. It's Hunter. It's Kendricks. I mean, Harrison Smith, how much time does he have left as a top flight player? All the cornerbacks are gone. Linval Joseph, all those guys are gone.

Everson Griffin. And so we are turning things over, I think, eventually here. Kyle Rudolph is coming up on how much longer is he going to be around and several of the offensive players too. So the roster had aged to a point where it was time to turn it over. And, yeah, so then you do make a decision at that point. Is the coach that we have in place, the guy and the systems that he has installed going to carry us forward and will they stay relevant going into whatever the next phase of this, of football is, of

the Vikings are. And so my sense is, and kind of getting back to your point about you shouldn't base your decision on him on one game, whether it's a win or a loss with New Orleans. You should look more at if we think we're going to have to pivot and adapt in a much different way going forward, maybe it is time to look for a new voice and bring in a different coach who we think is going to provide that. But the fact that they have kept him around through this last draft and through somewhat more of that turnover seems to me to be a vote of confidence

that we don't think that necessarily what has held this team back is the system, is the offense and the defense. And there might be people that agree or disagree with that, but that seems to be the decision internally. The other part that complicates this, as you know, is the Spielman element. We have seen the Wilfs want to sync up their contracts and want to keep those two hand in hand. And so if you decide to move on from the coach, do you let Rick Spielman pick another guy? Or do you think that, hey, this is the time to make the whole clean break and go with a new GM and a new coach? That, I think, is what you look at. I mean, it seems like the Wilfs have faith in Rick Spielman and have a good relationship with him,

but that's another part that they might be weighing in how they make these decisions. It's not just a coach decision. It's a whole leadership tree decision right now. The leadership tree. It will be between you and I for a long time after you saying that. So from the, from that part of it, I look at now where they are with a roster.

And if I look at what the front office has done through this off season, now there's some things that I would maybe quibble with. I mean, you pay a nose tackle $27 million over three years. That seems to be kind of making the same mistake twice. Linvall in 2017 is one of the best players in the NFL. But aside from that, you were last year paying $12 million on the salary cap for a nose tackle who was one-dimensional at that point. And if you look at how Bill Belichick has handled this position, Alan Branch, Danny Shelton with his second team, like finding a fat guy who can stuff a couple of gaps

is usually something you save money on, not spend extra money on. But, you know, that aside, that's probably something that Zimmer really wanted, so they went out and found the best guy who could do it, and Michael Pierce is a very good player. But aside from that, with some feel like, yeah, maybe you could have brought in another receiver, I don't know. You get 15 draft picks and you look like 2021 is when you're going to be really competitive again.

Eric Eager from Pro Football Focus was on the other day to rile up Vikings fans by saying there's a good chance they go 6-10. But they probably are closer to 6-10 than they are to the one seed in the NFC. So, you know, you are looking at a year that's very wonky, very strange with COVID and all the things that are going to have to change. I mean, are we judging Zimmer? This is real land, not imagination land anymore. Are we judging Zimmer on this season and how he performs? Are we judging the front office on how their rookies look this year? Because that's really hard too.

I mean, it seems like you have to extend it out if you do believe in Zimmer's systems for at least a couple of years to see how these guys develop and what you're really looking at as a team in 2021. Yeah, I agree with you there. And in turn, especially in terms when you look at getting back to, again, their confidence in Zimmer.

Another indicator that they do have confidence in him is the Michael Pierce signing, is Anthony Barr last year. They are spending money, big money, at positions where right now in the NFL you're not spending a ton of money at. And that seems to be an indicator of, hey, Zim really wants Anthony Barr. Hey, Zim wants to get this up. So if you don't believe in your coach, if you think you're going to move on from him, why are you giving him that influence on the roster? Which, again, would indicate, hey, maybe on day one of training camp, we're going to have a three- or four-year extension for Mike Zimmer. Maybe this will all work out. But, yes, in terms of – I think now, in terms of when you evaluate Zimmer,

he has a large enough body of work in this organization that it shouldn't be based on one game. It shouldn't be based on one season. Right now, you know what you have with him. So either you like him, and you say, this is our guy, and we think continuity is important, and we're going to get behind him and go forward, or he's not our guy. We want something new. We want something different. Now, the one thing that just kind of pops into my head is, what if they do think that, hey, this year is going to be repuntant?

You know, like the pandemic, roster turnover, a lot of youth, all of this stuff. Why put that on a new coach? Like, let Zim go one more year, and then at the end of the year, when he does go 6-10, then it's going to be easier to say, okay, thanks, Mike, for everything. Now we go to whatever coach we've targeted and and bring them in for 2021 when those guys have a year under their belt because they do know no matter what happens whether they win or lose they I think you know that this coaching staff is going to coach well in terms

of developing talent in terms of getting these guys to learn football the right way. And we have not seen many times where you look at the prospects that are brought in, the draft picks and things, and they leave and you say, man, they didn't really do right by that guy. You know, it didn't really work out. They messed up. Every staff has their examples of that. But in general, I think they're pretty reliable from, you know, fundamentals, teaching the game, that sort of thing.

So you can trust them to go through that and that they will do right by you. And then, you know, maybe you try to make that decision at the end of the year. Now the risk that you run if you take that approach is, let's say this staff poaches the hell out of them. Let's say things fall together somehow magically and they go 10 and 6 or better and they really exceed the expectations that everyone has for them. Now Mike Zimmer has all the leverage on his side,

and you're either going to pay through the nose for him a lot more than you probably would now, or he might leave because Zim will do that. Like Zim is petty enough to say, you didn't believe in me. All right, Team X wants me to go there. So I'm going to have it happen. So this is all – it's not – the Vikings are not without risk if they want to play this thing out over the long haul as well.

So that's all got to factor into the calculus that they're doing right now. I agree with you that I could very much see him doing that and saying, well, you guys wouldn't sign me up last year, but now I went 11 and five and all of a sudden you want to be my best friend again. I don't think so. I'm going to go coach for team whatever instead. And I'm going to get a five-year contract with them and make a bunch of money. Because if he does go 11 and five with this team that everyone kind of views as retooling, then that's going to be even more credit for him. And people will say, look, the guy only had one losing season. It was his first year, and it was just under.500.

I mean, he kind of sets a very high floor for you because of how good he is defensively. I really wonder, though, what the expectation is for ownership because folks like you and I, we try to realistic now I picked the schedule I came up with 10 and 6 as an expectation I don't think the NFC North is particularly strong you can beat any of those teams at least once maybe twice when it comes to Chicago though in Soldier Field probably not just ever in Soldier Field. But it's not a spectacular division. It's probably the second easiest in the NFC. And their schedule has a lot of question marks. How good is Phillip Rivers?

Is Ryan Tannehill going to regress? All these types of things that leaves the door open for you potentially winning the division. The Packers did not get better in the offseason. They were kind of lucky last year. So that's where I kind of put the expectation myself is, well, how about you just be competitive, get that seventh playoff spot. That'll be a victory for where you could go in 2021. But getting a read on where ownership thinks that the expectation is is a little more tricky

because even coming off of 2017, I remember in 2018 camp, we were talking like, I don't think this team's going to be anywhere near as good as last year because a lot has kind of changed and the offensive line isn't as good. And last year, Aaron Rodgers got hurt and all those things. And I think 2018 to us after seeing camp was kind of not shocking, but it might've been to the people who own the team because of where they were the previous year. And it just feels like 2017 has put them way up with their expectations, where every year they think, well, we should be a Super Bowl team. And I wonder how much that's changed for them this year.

If they say, well, we got all these good draft picks, we should still be a Super Bowl team, or if they are more realistic about it. Yeah, you know, it's interesting because, I mean, for as long as I have known the Wilfs, they have always made it clear that, yes, they want to win a Super Bowl. That's the goal number one, no question. And I do think that you have been able to tell during certain seasons and certain after certain losses, both in the Zimmer era and before, that you can see this theme coming out of Ziggy's ears when he comes out of the locker room and you cannot tell he's really upset. But their words and their deeds and their actions definitely skew toward the pragmatic. Like, they seem like a fairly patient group and an understanding group. And they don't want to be the ones that are rocking the boat and are the, you know,

picking up the phone and saying, if you don't win today, you know, you're done. Like, that's just not their style. And so I think that, yeah, I think, I do think that most years they go into it expecting to contend for the division championship and then get in the playoffs and see what happens. And I think they understand that the NFL is kind of a crapshoot in the playoffs and things can happen good or bad for you one way or the other, but they're very process-oriented and they look at these things and they trust the people that they hire, and so that's the way they have been.

Now, each year that they keep going is another year that they've gone that they haven't achieved their ultimate goal. So how long do they try and keep that approach? And how, you know, before they say, look, I've had it. Like, I don't want to be just good. I want to be great. And when and who do they blame for that not happening? Is it front office?

Is it coaching staff? Do they blame themselves and not happening? Is it front office? Is it coaching staff? Do they blame themselves and say, hey, look, we're not doing enough? So I just – I don't see them as having the, you know, maybe just like having the meeting before training camp with Spielman and Zimmer and saying, hey, guys, this is it for you this year. Show us or you're out. Like that's – I think that they like to watch how it all plays out, and then they make their decision.

Hey, if they go 6-10 but they're in every game, they've had a few injuries, and this season is all messed up with pandemic anyway, maybe they're like, all right, that's fine. Or if they go 10-6 and then get freaking hammered in round one, maybe they look at that as a different way and say, yeah, this is not what we want. So I think they're going to look at things from a much more holistic level and not kind of be the ones that deliver any edicts.

But, you know, that's the way they've been so far. That can change quickly for millionaires and billionaires. Hey, before we get back to the conversation, I want to remind you that sports are coming back and so are your chances to bet on your favorite teams and events. There's no better place to start than our exclusive partners, BetOnline. Get in on the action for this week's big UFC fight or check out odds on NASCAR, Formula One, and the Premier League. Can't wait for your favorite team to come back.

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I forget who it is. Like Mike Tyson, like everybody has something to say until they get punched. Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face. That's it. In the mouth, yeah. Everyone has a plan until they lose to the Packers at home on national TV. A hundred percent. Right?

Isn't that it? I mean, they have they have a, they have a plan and we'll see how it goes. And then you go one in four to start the season. Then what's your plan. And last year, last year was very much that because we were going along and, Oh, we've got this 20 point win against the Broncos. Hooray. And we won on national TV against the Cowboys by mostly running but that's fine kirk cousins got his win on national tv this is all great everything is great and then they played the packers and everything changed after that in the following two weeks there's rumors that zimmer could get traded to dallas there's the uh statement that they put out saying that we're not going to fire zimmer and spielman which could have really blown up in their face in imagination land if they had lost by 30 points and then

they had to make a change. It really altered, I think, a lot about how we felt about last season and even how the ownership felt to see them just get whipped by Green Bay and for Green Bay to come into U.S. Bank Stadium and say, no, sorry, you're still the second class citizens in this division as you've been for the majority of the last, what, 30 years to the Packers. So, you know, it is funny about how that can happen. Like maybe they do want to sign Zimmer, but they don't want him for five years and that's what he wants or whatever else, but that could all change in an instant. I want to do one more imagination land, John. If a fat guy named Derek Wolf does not fall on Delvin Cook's shoulder last year in

imagination land, which I look at, I know a lot of people say injury prone, and I'm sure that this drives you crazy in basketball too. Somebody steps on somebody's ankle. Ah, that guy's injury prone. What are you going to do? But that one is an ultimate sort of bad luck. You fell wrong on your shoulder. In imagination land, if he does not have that happen to him last year and finishes second in the NFL in rushing or yards for scrimmage, does he have a contract right now with the Vikings? Well, I'll say this. I mean, for the Dalvin Cook situation, more than the Zimmer situation,

the Vikings have shown over the years that one thing they love to do is the week or the day before training camp opens, here's a big deal. And they can get this thing together. And then, you know, then a player arrives at training camp after just getting the bag. Everyone's happy for him. It just sets a breezy tone for the start of camp. And so that's why I think with Cook, I still think that's going to happen. Like, I think that if you do some insight on both sides of the situation, you have, you know,

Cook is not asking for Christian McCaffrey money. He knows that he's not going to get there, so there's a little bit of flexibility that way. The Vikings want to keep Cook. And if they hadn't, they should have traded him already. And so they have shown time and time again, if they want to keep a player, they find a way to do it. They get creative and they make things happen. And so I think that's where we're headed with this,

is that week of camp you know they have a breakthrough they get back to the table one more time and they finish this off and then Dalvin drives up in some fancy car and has a big smile and Mike Zimmer can say this and Spielman can say yeah we take care of our guys and and everyone looks that way um I do think, though, if Cook, if that did not happen, and if Derek Wolfe never falls on him and he finishes the year and has the numbers that he did, it could make the deal a little more difficult for the Vikings to pull off. They may have to pay a little bit more for it just because of some of the leverage going back toward Delvin,

being in an offense that is basically built for him and how unique that is, they need him. And so if he didn't have some of the injuries that he had, whether they're unlucky or not, that's part of his story. And that's what, what will allow, I think the Vikings to save a few bucks in the, in the long run. But, but yeah, I mean, I think at the end of the day, like we're going to get to whatever that Wednesday or that Tuesday is before camp opens and something's going to happen and that's going to break through. I'd be really, really surprised if that's not the way this whole thing plays out.

Yep. Every year that has happened and it feels like, and then what I've heard from both sides too is they are far apart, but they feel like they can get to where they want to be. And Derrick Henry signing today to a deal, four years, $50 million, $25 guaranteed, 25 guaranteed, I think helps this situation set a bar. If they believe that he's as valuable as Derrick Henry,

he's better at receiving out of the backfield. Henry's probably better at trucking people over, and also has stayed healthier. If it is a four-year extension for $50 million, 25 guaranteed. I put it out on Twitter where they have all the right answers John and 56 percent of people out of over a thousand votes said on my Twitter that they would go with that deal if it was for Dalvin Cook for four-year extension for 50 million so I think that that sets a bar to work with that's a little more reasonable than Christian McCaffrey and we could see it done over the coming weeks where it's going to get really interesting is if camp keeps getting pushed back and we're not sure what the salary cap is going to be going forward next year,

and if they do play a little more hardball. I mean, they did play hardball with Kyle Rudolph for a while and then backed off. Anthony Barr for a while, signed with another team, and then decided to come back. And I agree that they loved Alvin Cook unequivocally as a player, seemed to love him as a person too in the community and all that. But this is a little bit of a different conversation because it's the running back thing, and they do have another player who's good at the position, so they're in more of a spot to play hardball.

I also wonder if Zimmer, now you mentioned the Pierce thing and the bar thing, so that's Zimmer's influence. How much influence does he have right now at this moment, though, over the roster? Because if it's Zimmer making this call, Delvin Cook is back at that kind of money. But if they're taking the keys away from him a little bit with the roster, then I don't know, maybe it's a little more tricky. Yeah, yeah, you know, and I guess, you know, that would just to me be weird if you're going to capitulate to Zimmer on Pierce, but then you're not going to do it on Cook.

Like, I mean, you've already done it, and I think that it's perfectly understandable to want your coach's input and to be, like, on that same page. Like, that all makes sense to me. But you're far enough down the road now that why, I guess, why would you take an abrupt left turn with the guy who is literally the most important guy on your offense coming in now? That to me is, would be a question mark about that.

Maybe they will. Maybe Dalvin will have a change of heart as they get closer to this and try to dig in himself and say, no, I want X amount of money. And I'm not going to be quite as flexible as maybe some people were expecting earlier on in this process. These things can change to affect that one way or the other for better or worse. But I just do think that Cook wants to be here. He knows that he would come to an offense that is rare in this day and age that will absolutely hand him the keys and let him do what he thinks he's capable of doing. And, yes, the Vikings do have he thinks he's capable of doing. And yes,

the Vikings do have another running back that is really good, but you need two running backs like in this league, especially if one of them is Dalvin Cook, who might get dinged up a little bit, like you need two. I mean, I don't think you would feel good about letting Dalvin go. And then it's, you know, Madison and Mike Boone, even though we've seen the Niners and a few others have success with journeyman running backs or less heralded tandems, I think you need a home run hitter there. And that's where it gets back to ultimately, too, as well as the Wilfs,

is with their expectations, like they can try and want to be smart and want to say, hey, we, you know, is it smart to really pay this running back, you know, pay this position that we've seen time and time again, where some of these really big deals are not getting the return on their investment that we want? Well, yeah, but then the agent can say and Dalvin Cook can say and even Zimmer could probably say, hey, Ziggy, do you want to win? Like, do you really want to win or not? And if we say goodbye to Delvin Cook or – you wouldn't say goodbye to him, obviously, but you'd bring that – for this season,

you'd bring all that mess into it. If we do this, then we're really looking at 6-10. Like, then we're looking hard at it. And it's always, you know, kind of getting back to an earlier conversation about being punched, the whole, the plan being punched in the mouth. Ask the Philadelphia 76ers, you know, like, when Sam Hinckley put in the plan, the process, everyone was like, oh, man, this is a cool idea. This is great.

Yeah, stockpile draft picks. Yeah, lose. Lose a bunch of games. Who cares? Like, let's get good draft picks and let's put ourselves in position to do it. But you go one year into it. You go two years into it. And all of a sudden, man, we're losing a lot.

This sucks. Like, I don't want to do this. And it's hard to stick with that kind of plan. It could very well be that Spielman and Zimmer have said to the Wilfs, hey, 2020 is going to be a little rough, guys. Like, we're in this transition period. We got to get through it. Let's just keep that in mind. And let's really come back strong in 2021 and make our move. Every organization goes through a little down cycle here or there, unless you're the Patriots. And just hang with us. Get us through this year, and then we'll really be back in it. And the Wolves can say, hey, yeah, guys, we understand.

Had some old guys. Has to turn things over. It's going to be okay. But then, yeah, you start one and four. You start two and seven and it's they look around and and and there's nobody in the stands and they're not making any money oh man this is not what it's cracked up to be and we got to make we got it we got to move on here yep and uh you could see even last year when it was only madison or when mike boone was in

there it's just not the same it's not the. It's not the same as having Delvin Cook. And if you do want to be competitive and if you are setting the bar high, then it's pretty hard to say, sorry, Zim, go win without your very special player who is one of the most untackleable players, along with Derrick Henry, in the entire NFL. I think that would be a hard thing for them to do. So I agree with you that it ultimately gets done. So in your opinion, in imagination land or in real land, I guess,

I guess you have to imagine this because it hasn't happened yet. Are we playing football on time, John? I think we are going to play football at some point. I don't know when that's going to start, and I don't know when that's going to start and I don't know when that's going to end. So I could see them starting on time and then having to shutter things down in October. I could see them looking at the landscape and being like, guys, we got too many guys that are sick. The coronavirus cases are exploding. Let's push things back to the start of October and see if that helps.

I think they made the schedule to try and build in some flexibility. And I think that they will do that if possible. But you also know that NFL owners believe that they can change the tide on their own just by sheer will. And so I think that there is, and I don't think that necessarily the Wilfs are part of this group, but you can name them, Jerry Jones and several others are just like, no, we play football on Sundays in the fall, no matter what, come hell or high water, come coronavirus or not, this is what we're going to do, and we're not going to bow down to the virus. And so if I had to bet, I would say that we do have football week one, just because they don't want to feel like they're giving in.

But how long you can hold on for that, that's anybody's guess. That I don't know. They will try to out-football a virus. Yes, yes. It is amazing how these people think. And I look forward to next June where we're being welcomed in by Al Michaels to the Amazon Coronavirus Super Bowl. Welcome in.

No, I botched the joke. Coronavirus Vaccine Super Bowl. Vacc in. No, I botched the joke. Coronavirus Vaccine Super Bowl. Vaccine Super Bowl, yes. If you forget that word, that really messes up the joke. Just edit that out. John, always great to catch up with you, man. And you know what I'm rooting for is for you to have some basketball soon to cover. I'm really hoping that even though the Wolves aren't in it,

that the bubble works and at least we have a model for some pro sports and you can enjoy your main sport again soon. Hey, I've been watching the basketball tournament, Travis Diener hitting million-dollar shots, and that's been fun. So I don't care if LeBron is on the floor or it's Alex Caruso all the time. I just want to see some hoops, so I hope that happens too. Alex Caruso, that is my kind of basketball aesthetic. All right. Follow John at The Athletic, as you already know, on Twitter. He's actually the guy who's in the office.

That's right. It's that guy, John Krasinski. So I appreciate your time, John. We'll catch up again soon, buddy. Thanks, Collar. Appreciate it.