Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Vikings free agency special Hour 2: Isaiah Rodgers signs with Minnesota

Episode Date: March 10, 2025

Matthew Coller reacts live to news coming down surrounding the Minnesota Vikings on the opening day of free agency.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Oh, Paul, so the Debo signing, huh? I haven't seen that one yet. Do we, who's got that one now that now that our social media is broken, I've got blue sky over here. I've got NFL network over here. I've got people texting me. Kevin Seifer texting me that Dan Orlovsky wants the Vikings to get Jamis Winston.

Oh yeah. Uh, Asante Samuel is a good name for the Vikings, but $10 million for Jordan Lewis, a veteran proven corner, maybe doesn't set the bar crazy high. That's probably the first one that we've seen where we go. Like, okay. So, uh, let me know where the pulse in a Debo news is, but if he is off the list, then not, not great for the Vikings there because that was one of my top targets for them.

Uh, I think that a Debo, Oh, here it is. Okay. I'll wrap a port. I've got it. Thank you. Thank you. Uh, yep. Pulse and a Debo.

So there you go. One of the top guys that I thought would have been good for the Vikings is off the board in pulse And a Debo and that's another one that is going to tell us a lot. Okay, Diana Rossini is Now I'm sitting here asking is Diana Rossini on blue sky. She has to be right There she is. Okay, let's see following Diana Rossini I I made a blue sky account a while ago cause everybody was doing it. And I thought, well, maybe I'll use this and I haven't really, but now today it's coming in clutch just because Twitter has completely broken

and we've got, you know, NFL network is always a little bit, um, slower on TV cause they have commercials and stuff like that. So, okay. Rapaport reported. Yeah. Okay. Paulson Adibo being gone is disappointing because I think Reed is a DJ. Reed is the top target for me, for the Vikings. They're looking for somebody to play man coverage. They're looking for somebody that brings a physical nature. And Adibo was a little bit more of a,

I think Trayvon digs makes most sense to people where make plays on the football take risks, sometimes give up big plays, but sometimes pick passes off. Like that's Paulson Adibo, but he's just explosive and an exciting player. Whereas DJ Reid is much more of a kind of hard nose, very physical. He's going to get called for penalties, but he's also going to be somebody that people don't want to play against that kind of thing. Um, Matt says, uh, worried the Vikings are forced into drafting a corner with their first pick, you see a free agent corner where they don't have to go that

route with their first pick. pick, you see a free agent corner where they don't have to go that route with their first pick. Um, yeah, over these next few hours, days, we're going to, I think, get a much better sense for where they're going in the draft. If they sign two corners in the next 10 minutes, well, then probably corner won't be their topic. But think about it this way though, because you said it, the way that you framed it, Matt, was that you're worried about the Vikings drafting a corner there. And I guess I can understand maybe with some of the recent history of the Vikings drafting corners that maybe that would be concerning to you, but look at what

JC horn just signed for, I mean, everything is a surplus value conversation. If you draft a guard, those guys are getting paid more all the sudden if you draft defensive tackle. But if now, I mean, if you draft a corner, the top corners are getting paid 25 million and usually corner is a young man's game. We're always talking about how this guy plays man coverage and this guy has done this, this guy, uh, Oh, 18 mil for a Debo is, uh, what's being talked about. Wow.

Okay. That would set a pretty high bar right there, especially since he was injured last year, that would set, that would set a high bar, but that's exactly the point. Right. would set a high bar, but that's exactly the point. Right. Is if you draft a cornerback, then you're getting a huge amount of surplus value. If that player is good and you've got young legs for them and you could sign them into the future and everything else.

Oh, Milton Williams with Carolina. Hey, Carolina serious now. Carolina is serious now. They are a serious team. Now after the way Bryce young played in the second half of the season, they have now some talent on defense to go with Derek Brooks. Who's a big guy. Derek Brooks, Derek Brown, Derek Brooke, Derek Brown to go with him

and Milton Williams. That's pretty good. That's pretty good for Carolina to get Milton Williams. Very interested to see that money right there. Now we're starting to get things rolling. Here we go. Milton Williams to the Carolina Panthers. How about that?

The money there will be very, very interesting. It's I agree. Uh, Rach or Rach, uh, that, uh, it's a, it's a really good pickup for the Carolina Panthers. They last year started to put together a pretty competent offense with Bryce Young and they didn't even have great receivers at all. I mean, it was Adam Thielen and I don't know what else. Uh, so they've started to put together a pretty good offense. Chuba Hubbard was great for them. They were the first team, really Carolina that spent all that money on guards. And last year, remember last year, everyone went, huh, what, why are they

spending $20 million on this guard? And now we're talking about a much worse guard, potentially going for, uh, you know, $20 million on the market now. So they were ahead of the game there in spending on a guard last year. So they've built up a pretty good offense to work with, but their defense was historically bad. I think they allowed more yards than anybody else ever in history. And they played close games. Like this is how fast it changes in the NFL, right? You go from a, what a laughing stock the Panthers are their owners throwing drinks at people or whatever.

And then they hire a new GM who came from Casey. They hire a new head coach who came from Tampa Bay and it helped Baker Mayfield turn it around. And they completely change what they're doing there with Bryce young halfway through the season. He plays much better. They now look serious and they get a player like Milton Williams, who is going to be an impact interior rusher for them.

Now Williams, I think if you're a team like Carolina, overpaying is a great idea for Milton Williams. Okay. Uh, Dan Moore, the left tackle signed for four years, 80 million, 82 million. Wow. Wow. Yeah. Cam Robinson is going to get some money.

Kim Robinson is going to get some money. I saw a bunch of people from other teams writers saying, well, Cam Robinson should be a top target. And I was, wow. After the way he played last year for the Vikings, you know, I don't know about that man. And now that I see Dan Moore, who's such an average left tackle getting that. That seems like a lot. Um, my thoughts on Josh Myers, not an upgrade that that's the

problem with, I don't even disagree with the Garrett Bradbury takes that everyone has tossed out there, but you have to show me who's going to be a better idea. And I couldn't find that, that person I couldn't find in free agency, a better idea. And if the Packers are letting him go, you always have to consider the franchise that's letting someone go. And you have to give the Packers credit. Like they're good at evaluating their own players.

They usually don't let go a bunch of big stars. Uh, Miles wants to know if we should go after Grady Jarrett. Oh, I never circled. How much did I circle back to Jonathan Allen visiting with the Vikings? Uh, I think that Grady Jarrett three years ago was one of the best players in the league and I think Jonathan Allen is a better choice now based on how they've played recently for a pure pass rusher role. Grady Jarrett was a very average player. The thing about this, if you just looked at Grady Jarrett on paper, he had about as many pressures as Jahad Ward last year. It just not the same guy as he was before.

And that might be part of it. And this is why I would rather go Jonathan Allen than Grady Jarrett is Grady Jarrett is not the most physically imposing player. He's undersized. Quickness has always been the way he got in the backfield. As we saw against the Vikings numerous times, Jonathan Allen is a huge dude, absolutely huge man. And I think what does he listed at? No, he's only listed at six, three, 300. Okay.

He looks huge, but he's a first round draft pick powerful, strong. I think maybe his strength stands out that I think strength will carry over better into his thirties on a short term deal than quickness for Grady Jarrett. Both of them have dropped off though. Both of them are not where they were. Just as I get a text from Jeremiah Searles that says the brain that the Vikings need to go sign Grady Jarrett And just as I'm saying that I think that Jonathan Allen is a better choice than Grady Jarrett. Let me look again

Let me look again at His numbers. I looked at his numbers earlier. Let me look again Grady Jarrett last year 744 snaps. That's good. But we're not talking about injured 60.6 pass rush grade, 34 pressures. Let me give you some context to tell you where that ranks. Just, just for example.

And I know it was not a great defense, but in terms of pass rush grade for Grady a great defense, but in terms of pass rush grade for Grady Jared, he was 43rd last year in the league in pass rush grade. That's not what we expect from Grady Jared, but I mean, there's guys that are in that ballpark that are like Harrison Phillips was 42nd. So Harrison Phillips was 42nd last year in PFF pass rush grade and Grady Jared was 43rd. That's how much he fell off and that's football. That's just how it goes.

Somebody gets to that age and they're not the same player. And that's why, when it comes to free agency, we love names and, uh, who's younger, how old is Grady Jarrett? Grady Jarrett is 32 and Jonathan Allen is 30. So I think that there's a, that that's an easy choice would be Allen. We have our first reference Skoll guy of comp picks. Thank you. Yes, that is true.

If they were to sign those players, that the comp pick would not be an issue. I just think that Allen profiles better. He was a top draft pick. He's a physical monster. He still was grading pretty well as far as his pass rush grade over the last two years. It was really his run defense that fell off, which is okay because that's not what the Vikings would be using him for. Um, we have gotten to now I see a Malik Collins. I did see Malik Collins was, uh, let go. Was that a cap casualty?

Because I thought Malik Collins was pretty good. Is that what happened there? Let me see. Let me see what he did last year. This is why it's so good to have the numbers. So I don't have to guess at what somebody did last year, because my perception was that Malik Collins was pretty good. Was he good last year?

Um, yeah, no, he was. Yeah, he was good last year. Forty five pressures, 70 pass rush grade. Huh? Did that? It must have been a cap casualty, I guess, but we have reached a little bit of the boredom here. If, uh, if we're talking about making, you know, trades for Jonathan

Grinard, I wouldn't move on from a Jonathan Grinard for just about anything right now. Um, Carlton Davis to the Patriots. All right. We're rolling. We're rolling. Oh, we, we do have a relevant number by the way, Carlton Davis, $20 million per year over three years really tells you what, what Byron Murphy is going to get.

Byron Murphy is going to be around $20 million a year. And are the Vikings willing to pay that? So Carlton Davis is off the list and Paulson Adibo is off the list. So now the clock is ticking. The clock is ticking with a DBO off and Carlton Davis off. I'm trying to get a Dane Mizutani to jump in here, talk about what's going on. We're getting the prices. We're just not getting the Vikings involved yet. We're getting all the numbers.

Oh, Jimmy Garoppolo is the one I wanted to talk about. So the numbers came out for Jimmy Garoppolo and he is now going to get $11 million. Is that what I saw? $11 million over 10. And that tells us what the price for a backup is going to be. If the Vikings want to bring back daniel jones. They are likely to have to pay at least ten million dollars for me if jimmy garoppolo is getting that now that's not a terrible price for a backup quarterback and that's what you paid for sam darnell last year. What do you want to spend that much on the backup do you wanna wait i think it would be worth it to spend that much on a backup? Do you want to wait?

I think it would be worth it to spend that much on a backup for this year. Carl says very early, not a great start. Well, we'll see what happens. We'll see what happens. Some of these players, a Debo Carlton Davis, they were my targets. I don't know if they were the Vikings targets. They were my targets. They were players that I was interested in based on statistical profiles and.

Histories and what I've seen of them playing against the Vikings, but Brian Flores would know a little bit better. I think probably what works for him. And some of these prices might be just very high. Andrew Kramer just blue skyed on, cause that's what we're using today with Twitter dying That he thinks Byron Murphy is gonna get more than Carlton Davis 20 million dollars a year for him 18 for Paul Sinodibo big big money is Going to cornerbacks and that's why I forget

I'm sorry who threw it out there earlier the idea of drafting a corner is very attractive to me. Trey Amos of Ole Miss or Darien Porter from Iowa State. These guys if they work out, I mean, Carlton Davis is a good corner, but he's not like Patrick Sertan. He's not Jalen Ramsey and that money is starting to get close to that. He's good. He's good. He's good. But 20 million dollars for Carlton Davis is a lot.

Oh, Twitter is back up, you say. Let me see. Let me see if mine's working. Mine's still spinning. I'm still getting spinny guy. We're doing OK here, though. Shiver is ward. That's another option. I think we're doing OK. I'm still getting my phone is getting the updates from Schefter

and people are blue sky and everything. So we're good okay. I'm still getting my phone is getting the updates from Schefter and people are blue-skying everything So we're good. We're good, and I've got it over here too on NFL Network. So we're good. We're rolling along 20 million dollars for Murphy pass and go a Sante Samuel jr. I Don't know how much a Sante Samuel jr. Is gonna get now everybody gets this much money. So where do you want to spend it? Murphy the argument for Murphy was always for on my side was that. Byron Murphy Jr. Has been a great fit. He is not a super shut down freak.

Oh my gosh. He's just going to line up against the best receiver and you're never going to hear that guy today. I think that's also kind of disappeared in the NFL, which is sad. How many of those guys are there? Most of the best corners now you can lock them down at a certain time. Uh, if you need a third down man to man coverage, but you know, it, most of them are playing zone coverage when you look at the numbers, I could pull this up. Carl davis is one of those rare guys i'll get the numbers for you on this i've been fascinated by it i look this up that even going back like five six seven years the number of players who are playing man coverage even when.

Xavier roads was that is best i'll get you the numbers on this This is why this is why the PFF thing can be so. Uh, demonstrative is if that's a word to, to kind of tell us where the league is going because somebody like Carlton Davis played a ton of man coverage, but there's just not many guys who are that shutdown guy because everyone in the league is using all this, uh, you know, all this, uh, motion and stuff, so it's hard to have one guy just track another guy all day long Which is taking away a classic NFL thing of like here's Deon Sanders versus Jerry Rice or the night that you know Oh

Odell Beckham was at his peak and Xavier Rhodes shut him down 2016 got a pick that was a great moment like oh look at its heavyweight battle We just don't see that. And this is, this is a Byron Murphy argument is that Byron Murphy is a zone corner who isn't shutting people down, but is in the right place at the right time. And, uh, demonstrative, is that what I said? What did I say? Did I say that? Uh, but Byron Murphy is a guy who's in the right place, right time a lot.

And one of the reasons he gets a lot of target numbers, I think is because he's so often playing zone coverage. And if the throw goes into his area, then PFF is going to track it as him being targeted that might go a little bit less with someone who's playing man coverage, where if it's thrown right, it has to be thrown right into your coverage. That doesn't mean I think Byron Murphy is worth 20 million, but I also don't think Carlton Davis is worth 20 million. So just to demonstrate this last year in terms of coverage percentage, there were only six corners in the league who played man-to-man coverage more than 40% of the time. That tells you right there.

Most of the league is playing zone coverage and Carlton Davis was one of them. That's what made me interested in Carlton Davis because the other guy for the Patriots, Christian Gonzalez was another one of those guys. They're going to play man on the outside. The Vikings guys didn't, I think they want to a little bit more than that. So let me circle back to, I was, I think I started to make a Jimmy Garoppolo point, but the thing, if you're, if you're just joining, it's our Vikings free agency special, we're having a, a good time here.

I'm told Dane Mizutani, the pioneer press is going to drop in. He's grown impatient at the beginning of the show. I said, Hey, come on, join. He's like, well, you know, things might happen and things are starting to happen elsewhere, but since nothing has happened yet for the Vikings, but here's what we do know there is progress. So just to recap, there is progress. The progress is in the prices to sound like some sort of Kevin O'Connell saying

like the progress is in the prices. some sort of Kevin O'Connell saying like the progress is in the prices. We now know after the first hour, what the top guys are going to get paid for the Vikings, what they need to spend. So they've allowed, or I don't know if they were in on some of these guys, but what's happened is these other players have signed in other places, which allows us to be able to take a good guess. So if you want Byron Murphy back, it's going to cost $20 million a year. Do you want to do it?

I don't think it's insane, but I think it's a lot. Now, if you structure it a certain way, if you structure it to be a little bit cheaper on the early side, it's not a huge problem, but if you got 20 million, do you spend it on Murphy or DJ Reed? DJ Reed is probably the answer to that question. And we also know that if they are getting a defensive tackle that Javon Kinlaw has set that pretty high, I have not seen the Milton Williams numbers. If you guys see the Milton Williams numbers, I am very curious about that, but I don't think anyone else is going to the Milton Williams numbers. If you guys see the Milton Williams numbers, I am very curious about that,

but I don't think anyone else is going to approach Milton Williams. The remaining defensive tackles though, if you're having to give up for a pass rushing defensive tackle, like Jovan Kinlaw, who's very limited 15 million. That's where I'm thinking more about the draft. The offensive line tackle price was insane. I don't know what it's going to be for guards. We did see a center get signed for three years, 42 million and drew Dolman. It's not exactly the same as a guard.

And the Chicago bears are another one of the early kind of winners of this free agency off season period, because they have signed or traded for three offensive linemen, which is. Exactly what you figured that Ben Johnson was going to do. He's going to come in and he was going to build up that offensive line because that's how he succeeded with the Detroit Lions. So they are kind of in the early lead for a team that has made the most progress around Caleb Williams. But is that going to actually help Caleb Williams? I don't know.

It's going to help their run game for sure. They're going to be a lot better run game. Okay. I'm checking with, uh, checking with Dane, seeing if he's going to pop in here. Who do you want to overspend on now? Now that you guys know the prices and that's what we were talking about earlier in the comment section. We were talking about earlier, who would you, what position would you overspend on?

Well, now we know some of the names that are off the board. So who would you overspend on? This whole day is being dominated by people talking about how Twitter is broken or whether Twitter is back. It seems to be, it seems to be twitching like it's it's dead. And it's sort of like, no, I'm not because I'm getting I can't get Twitter to come up on my actual computer here. But I have been able to get the updates from Adam Schefter.

Now you guys are saying it's back. Let's see. OK, now it looks like it actually is back. What a time for blue sky. All right. Let's uh, where is I'm trying to bring in a Dane here. Dane, I hear you, but for some reason I don't see you. Why would that be?

Oh, here you go. Okay. I don't see your camera, but I know you're there. Hi, Dane. Hey, caller. Let me X out and try again. Okay. I don't know why that would be, but at least we can hear them.

Oh, okay. Read and Patrick McCarrey. Yeah. Patrick McCarrey is an interesting one. Does McCarrey, because he has not been like this locked in big time player, is McCarrey somebody who's going to slip through the cracks a little bit, or is it impossible at this point for anybody to slip through the cracks who is an offensive lineman?

Um, if you don't, if you're not familiar with Patrick McCarrey, how dare you, but I'll help. Uh, because he hasn't been a big name. That's really been talked about a lot. So Patrick McCurry is six foot four, three Oh five. He's been with Baltimore since 2019 and he's played every position for them. Literally. He started out as a center and he was a part-time center. And then he went to right tackle in 2021 and this is

400, 500, 700 snaps. Then he went to left tackle in 2022 and 2023. And this last year he played left guard. So he has played at least 200 and something snaps at every single position and he's at every single position. And he's always been pretty good. But the one area that he does not have huge grades, he's got good grades and pass blocking, but is not a run blocker so much. And they kind of had that with Dalton Reiser.

I think that McCarrey is better, but they kind of had that with Dalton Reiser. OK, now we've got Dane. Dane, where are you? I was looking for a place in my apartment to do this wonderful free agency special. Okay. Worked from home with the girlfriend and me. It's just, you know, I wasn't going to live pot in the apartment. So we're in a community room in the apartment.

Okay. Let's do it. Well, yeah. All right. So let're in a community room in the apartment. OK, let's do well. Yeah. All right. So let's start off here, Dan. Dan Mazzatani, Pioneer Press, everyone. Well known, very famous for, I should say, post game podcasts with me all year long. I think that since right now, all we have is other people signing players. We have gained knowledge about what these things cost. So what is your assessment of what things cost in free agency?

I thought we would have like one player that gave you the sticker shock that was like, okay, that team might just be willing to overpay for this guy. Let's not read too much into that. I think we see that sometimes. I saw Mina Kimes today was referencing the Christian Kirk deal. It seems like every year there's a deal that makes you go, what? And then the market kind of levels off. It hasn't leveled off this year. Anything from Jevon Kinlaw getting three years, 45 million dollars for, was it a four and a half sacks with the Jets last year after looking like a bust with the Niners? To Jordan Lewis, three years, 30 million dollars. I mean even Drew

Dahlman, I think that's a pretty good signing. That's $14 million per year for a guy like that who doesn't excel at pass bucking. All these numbers are indicative of it's expensive right now. The market is high. I don't know if it's fair to say it reminds me of that year in the NBA where the Shabazz Mohammeds of the world... Actually, I think Shabazz Mohammed was the the world. Actually, I think Shabazz Mohammed was a guy who missed out, but Alan Krabs signed for like $22 million and he's not in the NBA anymore. I say that to say like, are we trending towards that where a lot of the contracts

signed this year are going to be viewed in two or three years as like holy overpay? Or is this just a case of the cap's going to continue to go up? So these numbers that might surprise us now might not look so bad later. But I think what, what, what it shows right now, at least an hour and a half into free agency is that whatever number of the Viking signed, whatever player at it's probably going to make a lot of people upset, but that's just the going right at this point. Yeah. My biggest takeaway is that the prices being crazy high was kind of what was reported

going into this and that has come to fruition. And the fact that you have the cap going up as much as it has, and we'll continue to go up. This is something that we talked with people at the combine about where there is two ways to look at it. It's man, if you play in free agency, you are overpaying like crazy for these players. But then if you go sign last year, a Jonathan Grenard for 22 million dollars a year, there might have been some people said, oh, he's only got one good year of past rushing. But you end up. Oh, Evan Turner is a one good year of pass rushing, but you end up.

Oh, Evan Turner is a great reference there. Well done. Hero killer. That's exactly Evan Turner. But, but then Jonathan Granard one year later, it's like, Oh, well that, that contract looks brilliant now at this point. And so which side are you going to be on with some of these signings? And I think there's ways to kind of risk assess there with the corners

That's where I've really noticed it because there was so much discussion about Byron Murphy Jr Were they gonna be able to bring him back? They move back his void date and then we start this and all of a sudden Paul Senedibo gets 18 million Which I think I would have done for him because I think he's young and he's really good. Carlton Davis at 20, I would not have done. Carlton Davis at 20 is too much for me, but it also says that Byron Murphy is going to sign somewhere for that type of money if the league actually values him as much as some of these other corners.

And that's what I'm interested in too, because some of these other corners either have now Murphy what I'm interested in, too, because some of these other corners either have now Murphy had interceptions last year, but they have like a longer reputation for playmakers. Or Carlton Davis is known as a lockdown type of guy. Whereas Byron Murphy is not really got that reputation as more of a zone corner who got six picks. So this one could go the other way. It could go like, Oh, actually his market wasn't what he thought it was.

That's fair too. But I did look at that Carlton Davis number as probably something that would be indicative of what Byron Murphy Jr. was going to get. Maybe you're right. Maybe his market isn't what he thought it was, but if he ends up signing below $20 million annually, would be kind of the first domino of, okay, the market is kind of leveled out. So I'm anticipating whenever the Byron Murphy News comes out, I expect him to clear Carlton Davis. Just because it just seems like every deal that comes in at this point, it's not necessarily you're going to be the next highest paid player, but I think there is a world where people

viewed Byron Murphy Jr. as the number one corner ahead of Carlton Davis, ahead of DJ Reidie. ahead of DJ Reid. So if Byron Murphy Jr. comes in below 20, I would be surprised just because it seems like the market is trending towards him being one of the highest paid cornerbacks in the league. And I thought it was going to be right around 20. And if Carlton Davis is making that, then I can only assume Byron Murphy Jr. is going to go higher than that. I wrote an article yesterday in the Pioneer Press though, which now looks a little silly, but I pitched five free agents they should sign. I had Paulson and Debo on there too, because I thought there was a world where, okay, Byron

Murphy Jr. might cost you $21 million a year. Maybe you can take that money and turn it into DJ Reed and Pulse in a Depot. Well, you can't do that. You can't do that. It's not how it's going to work this year. I mean, that's pretty clear right now. I haven't seen numbers on Pulse in a Depot yet. So I'm curious. It's 18. Okay. So yeah, I mean, it's just, the market is what it is now. I think when you're trying to guess heading into, to this point, Yeah, I mean, it's just the market is what it is now. I think when you're trying to guess heading into this point,

you often undervalue what these guys are gonna make when the bidding war begins. I think in a way it's smart of the Vikings to kind of let this thing figure itself out rather than, you know, there is an argument, should you be the first person to strike and then people are working off of the number you paid rather than you working off the number other teams paid. But I think when you kind of just take a step back and realize what's going on here, it'll give you just more knowledge on what to do.

I know Viking fans don't want to hear that. I think people think the off season is ruined 90 minutes into free agency because the bear signed drew a Dalman and the Vikings haven't made an offer on anybody yet. But I caution you. It's not. But yeah, I understand wanting a splash and not getting one yet. I think that the chat has been very patient and I've been impressed.

The chat. We did get one attempt to trade Jonathan Grenard. But other than that, we're doing fine. And I'm just making fun of whoever that was. I'm just picking on you. But we have not we have not lost our minds yet an hour and a half in. But I need to run down some things. And William mentions Malik Collins.

I like that idea for Malik Collins, by the way. But Jonathan Allen visiting the Vikings so far, aside from the punter resigning, is the biggest news of the day. And we also have, you know, a few players that I thought might be interesting for the Vikings come off the board at defensive tackle. Kinlaw. I was sitting here thinking, hey, you know, like maybe they could get Kinloch for like five million bucks or something. And nope, that was way wrong. And then BJ Hill, BJ Hill, like is he.

I know you liked him. What's what's this? What's the skyline chili that like does he like the skyline? Because he got underpaid, I think, for BJ Hill. But OK, now this is interesting. Diana Rossini says the Milton Williams deal is not done with Carolina. OK, did he? Did something come out with him signing from Carolina

and then other teams went, wait, wait, wait, we've got one more offer for you. That's interesting. That's like an Anthony Barr signing with the Jets and then not signing with the Jets. This is why we live stream folks because the drama just never ends. But how do you feel about Jonathan Allen visiting the Vikings? I like it if it's not the only thing they do at Defensive Tackle. Like if you sign Jonathan Allen, he is visiting today. If you sign him tomorrow or if you sign him tonight even and you just say, we're good, we don't need to address that problem

anymore, then I don't like it. I do like it if you, depending on the number, I will say too, I'm not paying Jonathan Allen. I mean, you might have to pay him $15 million if J-Bank, Kin Law is getting that, but I don't know if I want to go that high on him. So the number matters, but what matters more to me is like, if you sign Jonathan Allen, and it kind of seems like it might be trending in that direction. He visits here sometimes, oftentimes when guys visit, they don't get to leave because the team just makes sure everything's in order

and then they sign them. If he signs here and they decide that's a reason not to target defensive tackle in the first round of the draft or with your first pick if you trade back, then I do not like the signing because I think at 30 there is data to support that's about the decline. I think it happens more with edge rushers. But I think when you look at a guy who has generated interior pressure throughout his career based on all of his skill sets, once you hit 30, oftentimes that declines. So I think if you sign Jonathan Allen as a part of a greater solution solution then I like I think if you sign him as a cure all to fix all of the issues that you have had with interior defensive line then I don't so it's an intriguing thing to me I like him probably more than

Grady Jarrett just because I mean maybe I'm just paying for past performance, but like first round pick, Grady Jarrett's kind of undersized. I know Jonathan Allen's not huge, but it did seem like Grady Jarrett won with speed. They just need like a mauler and Jonathan Allen kind of fits that mold. In my opinion more coming off a torn peck. So maybe you get him at a slight discount, but I like that, that thought process of kicking the tires with him. I like that, that thought process of kicking the tires with him.

I like that you didn't trade for him. You let his market kind of play itself out and now you maybe you strike there, but I would still very much so target interior defensive line with my first pick in the draft whenever that is. So now Aaron is saying in the comments that there's conflicting reports on Paul Sanadivo that I had initially seen 18 million per year, but now he says that it's 30 million over three, which would be a great number for Paul Sanadivo. And I was curious about that because he was injured last year and he kind of has

one of those one good year type of guys. Now he's younger and that's why I like it. Just to respond to your Jonathan Allen point, they'll totally agree that it should be a addition to go along with other stuff at that position. I still have Derek Harmon from Oregon as my top target on the draft. If we were making like, who's your favorite 10 players who were mocked from 20 to 40, I think he's probably my favorite because he is an all around three down 750 snap a year type of pass rusher gets into the

backfield, like all that sort of stuff. Uh, with someone like Jonathan Allen, you have to probably plan on five to 600 snaps from him. And you're looking for 40 to 45 pressures in a situational role. And it is interesting that you mention Alan's size, because I thought just from seeing Jonathan Allen play the Vikings, I don't know, four or five times over the years, I thought he was actually huge. I was like, yeah, he's a big, giant, huge dude. And I'm like, oh, he's only six, three, 300 something,

but he plays with such strength. I think that's a big thing. Technique like he's, he's just a very, very good talent and has been elite over the years. I think Grady Jarrett fell off harder than he did, but I also would not be willing to just throw all the money at Jonathan Allen. I think it could actually work out for both sides though.

If Alan came to the Vikings and sign like, let's just say a one-year $10 million deal. I like that something like that. Yeah. And then next year he gets eight sacks, 47 pressures or something for his perspective. He can then go out and get some huge deal because even at 34 years old, we just saw Khalil Mack, who had dipped a little bit and then sort of come back. He got 18 million on a one year deal for Khalil Mack who had a good year last year.

But if you're one of those guys that has an injury, you're down kind of at the worst time, and then you sign and have one big year, that would benefit both sides because the Vikings need that. And also probably don't want to sign him to a long term deal. He gets a chance to play a lot in an interior that throws a lot at other teams too. Uh, and I think causes a lot of confusion. If you have this guy, he'd be a really good addition. So I like that a lot. Although now, who even knows what's happening with Milton Williams? Cause it seems like that's being pulled back off the table. Uh, let's talk about other, uh, here's a good question from infamous. What does a successful free agency look like for quasi dot Fomenta? That's a great question. Infamous. What do you think,

Dane? I think it starts and stops frankly with the interior, the trenches on both sides of the ball. Um, I know people want corner. And I think if you, whatever happens with buyer Murphy Jr, you do need to address that. Um, cause you can't go into next year with Mackay Blackman and parts as what you're going to do or Mackay Blackman and whoever you take in the first round. So I think you need to address cornerback. But I think they will. So I think for me, like a successful free agency looks like one for sure, maybe even two guards.

I want two new guards, whether it's Will Fries and Patrick McCarrey, Will Fries and Tevin Jenkins, Tevin Jenkins and Kevin Zeidler. I don't really care, frankly, who they are as long as they address it because the band-aids that they've been putting on this thing in the interior of the offensive line for a decade, it just hasn't worked. And if you really want to be serious about contending next year and giving J.J. McCarthy or Ann Rogers, whoever the quarterback is, time to throw and Kevin O'Connell time to operate the offense. He wants to operate. You need interior protection.

So I think it starts there for me. But I also like I think a guy like Jonathan Allen would help make this a successful free agency. I want them to address something. We've got some news here. DJ Reed to the Lions. Twenty five million. Twenty five million dollars per year. For DJ Reed to the Detroit Lions. Now, I don't think that that's much different than Carlton Davis

for them as far as the style of the player and the talent of the player. But when they had him last year, this is this is coming from the chat. I haven't seen this pop up yet. Are you seeing it? I'm seeing Jordan Schultz. OK, Jordan Schultz. OK. All right. OK. Three years, 48. I do trust you guys. Actually, the chat has been incredibly good at like not playing games with the reports.

So thank you for doing that. Three. Wait. So what is the show? Does he have the numbers on three years? Forty eight includes 32 million guaranteed. So that would. Oh, OK. OK. So the initial. Yeah. OK. So the chat did miss on this one for the number. So OK. So that's much more reasonable than three years.

Forty eight million dollars. Now it's not to have the Bears and the Lions winning free agency early on is not great for the Vikings. But OK, let me let me correct that number. Three years, 48 million, 32 guarantee. That's what you said. I got that right here now. He replaces Carlton Davis. That's not bad. All of a sudden, Dane, that's not bad.

If Byron Murphy Jr. wants to come back to the Vikings for 16 million dollars a year. I mean, that is completely fine with me. Let's see. We got Isaiah Rogers. Oh, look at this. We got our we got a signing. We got a signing, Dane. Yeah, the first signing of the day. All right.

Isaiah Rogers, cornerback, formerly of the Philadelphia Eagles, a two year, $15 million contract with the Vikings. Now let me tell you, Dane, I don't know if your Isaiah Rogers take was updated, but mine was this was a guy that was on the list for me as an under the radar signing, which his number is certainly proving that Rogers is a 27 year old corner who is undersized. He's only 170 pounds, but he has been a part time corner for the Coltsts and the Eagles and every time he plays he plays well

So he's only had one real year as a 500 plus snap guy and was kind of a rotational player for the Eagles But two years 15 million dollars to bring him in He is always graded extremely well just to real quick read his grades when he's played over 300 snaps 70.7 82 82.1, 76 and career 86.6 quarterback rating when thrown into his coverage looks to me like a nickel guy. No, he's actually played outside just from his size. That usually looks like a nickel guy. If you're telling me that they can get someone who's, this is more of the Jonathan Grenard type of, and I know it's not the type of money, but it's 27 years old, Dane. I think this is important.

Somebody who in their sample size of playing has done well, but is not on the older side. And if Byron Murphy were to come back with Isaiah Rogers, Mackay Blackman, Dwight Maclothern, all of a sudden that might look pretty good. Yeah, I don't hate that. It would be one thing if they signed Isaiah Rogers, who I will admit I'm not super familiar with, I didn't deep dive like you did,

to a sticker shock number that was like, what, are you kidding me? But I mean, with the money we've seen being thrown around in free agency, getting a guy like that with some experience, two years, $15 million, I could get behind that. It falls in line to me a little bit with the thought process of Jonathan Allen rhetoric

we were just talking about. If this is their only move then I Don't love it. But if if they're doing Isaiah Rogers at 2 for 15 which equates out to 7.5 a year math and they're able to bring back Byron Murphy jr. And or Go out and sign a terbarious ward or I don't know. Then I like it. I don't like it if he's the only one. But this is like when you talk about winning

on the margins in free agency. This is a guy who we could look back on as, wow, that was a really good signing that maybe we didn't love at first because it wasn't the sexy name, but a guy who has proven himself throughout his career and probably is just looking for that next jump in his career as far as playing time, opportunity, things of that nature.

So he has a Super Bowl, he comes from Philly and the pedigree there, the experience learning in that room. Yeah, 27 years old, probably projecting to be like entering, if not in his prime, probably in his prime. Yeah, I like the move. It really doesn't bother me at all. I think there's really low, low, little to low risk. He played in the middle of the season, a lot of significant snaps for the Philadelphia

Eagles and including in the divisional round, 57 snaps only played eight in the super bowl, but 57 snaps and divisional round for the Philadelphia Eagles. But a guy who does not have a crazy amount of playing time, uh, in his career, he is at the highest, uh, in terms of snap count, 525 snaps a couple of years ago with the Indianapolis Colts, but this to me was when I looked over all of the potential corners for them, of course, the top names stood out to me. Um, but Rogers was somebody that I have to look at my top 60 list. I think I listed just outside of the top players for free agency because I thought this is somebody that they might actually be able to get a pretty good deal on. Let me see. Where did I have Isaiah Rogers? So I had kind of a top 10 and then I had him

somewhere around here. Yeah. Just outside of that, I think anyway. So he was somebody that that I had identified as a potential good deal and in a universe where we're talking about everybody getting overpaid huge dollar figures being thrown out there to get somebody for seven and a half that can play. starter who is maybe even just average above average. Oh yeah. He was the guy who was suspended for gambling. Great call. Uh, nano Joe. I wondered what happened there. I assumed just on his numbers. It was an injury. I forgot that he was suspended for gambling, but you know, so, uh, okay. I can't help myself. It's a good bet for the Vikings to make though. Am I right? Everybody come on. We got to do that. No, I think that this is what you want to do

in free agency rather than spend on the highest guy, Carlton Davis, $20 million a year. Now where the difference in the middle is DJ Reed at $16 million a year for DJ Reed. That would have been something I would have liked this. The Vikings to do all people are pointing out how funny it is that also his name is Rogers and it's Rogers to the Vikings. I don't think this is Channing Sullivan. I think that this is this is a guy who's better than Channing Sullivan, but he's not someone who's going to be wow.

They got DJ Reed. He's going to play every single snap. He's going to be, wow, they got DJ Reed. He's going to play every single snap. He's going to shut people down. I think it's more of a, a quality value signing in a day where everybody is going crazy and overspending, but I also think Dane that if the plan is to get one more corner and I'm going to have to go look now and see what we got for corners with DJ Reed and with Carlton Davis off the list. But if you're talking about adding one more corner to go along with

Mackay Blackman and now Isaiah Rogers, I think that that's pretty good. And yeah, Matthew points out that he's played so much more on the outside. He's not a slot corner. I expected based on his size, he was going to be a slot corner, but it's very clear that. So now there's some reporting. I don't know who Caden Steele is, that the Vikings could be interested. Is that a real person or is that some like rando

that there could be some some Milton Williams? I don't know. We'll see on that guys. Uh, but cause the Williams thing is weird. He goes to Carolina. Then he doesn't go to Carolina, but just sticking, sticking with the actual signing that just happened. If that's their plan to develop Dwight McClothern have McKay Blackman come back,

bring in Isaiah Rogers, and then one other player, and then maybe draft one in the middle or late round. That to me is a good overall plan for free agency rather than asking one guy to do it all and sort of save the defensive backfield because I don't think the defensive backfield works that way. I think it works on its weakest links. And we've seen this Patrick Peterson played great in 2022 and they attacked Chandon Sullivan all day long and it didn't matter at all. And I think it's better to spread out.

Oh, he's a beat reporter in Philly. Okay. I'm sorry. I didn't. Kayden steel sounds fake. I'm sorry to him, but if the Vikings all of a sudden are interested in Milton Williams, we could have some. And now some of the posts are being deleted earlier reports of him going to Carolina. This is what we came for. Mr. Mizutani. Kayden Steele. He covers the Philadelphia Eagles

for NJ.com. Okay. It's a real person. He's a real person. And I'm not going to discredit him on this podcast. So we will see. Certainly if the Vikings are in on Milton Williams. I don't know. I don't know what the numbers are going to look like. But he was a freaking superstar in the playoffs for Philadelphia. So that would probably change my thought on Jonathan Allen. We'll see, I don't want to dive too deep down this rabbit hole right now.

But certainly something to keep an eye on with Milton Williams. Going back to your point about Rogers though, I think the one you made about, you attack the weakest link and oftentimes that can make or break a secondary is a good one. Because if they've now gone into this free agency, probably still talking to Byron Murphy, but at least finding someone with value that has the ability to play and is shown in his albeit limited snaps that he can. Like that is something I think probably helps you more than just throwing the bag at Carlton Davis and saying you're our guy. I think if you can walk away with two guys rather than one big guy.

Now if there was like a legitimate shutdown down number one corner, I know Carlton Davis has proven himself or proved himself last year with Aaron Glenn, but he doesn't to me strike as a guy like a JC Horn who just got paid Patrick. Like if there was a guy like that, sure throw the bag at them. I don't care. But I think there is some value in finding someone like Isaiah Rogers and pairing him with someone else or bringing back Byron Murphy. And I think if you're able to do both things, your collective secondary looks better because of it. So I can't stress, like, I don't want to treat this move like it's going to win the Vikings and Super Bowl. But if it's the first move of the day, I'm in a day where a lot of

people are getting overpaid. I'm good with it. Yeah. And for me, I'm always going to try to do the best with the numbers on something like this. And if you can find a player who is consistently over his career, let me get his snap count, how many snaps he's had, he's had 1300 snaps over his career and his 27 years old in his prime and has always performed at a pretty high level playing outside corner. The reason I'm guessing that the guy doesn't get a ton of love is because of his size. But we even saw this from Brian Flores last year with or was it?

Yeah. 23, 20, 23 with drafting McKay Blackman, where there were a lot of people who were asking like, hey, you know, why are they drafting this guy's undersized that he doesn't weigh that much? But he was kind of a monster for somebody at his size where he was a good tackler and tackling doesn't always have to do as everyone knows fromler. And tackling doesn't always have to do, as everyone knows, from Antoine Winfield, doesn't always have to do with your exact height and weight. And so Rogers has been an above average tackler, an above average coverage player, over 1300 snaps, which is a good sample size.

The upside is probably a little limited for him being some sort of shutdown freak. Our friend Alec Lewis is saying Jeff Acuta is somebody to watch for the Vikings, maybe a reclamation project type of player there. But I think we do have to go just to put a bow on the Isaiah Rogers. I like it a lot. I mean, this is one of those where it's not quite I don't want to quite compare it to somebody like like Cashman last year. but when they signed Cashman, I think we all went, okay, that's a Minnesota guy. Like that's a, that's a linebacker.

And then he ended up playing really, really well on a very reasonable deal. Uh, and Sean asks, are you getting a discount because he got caught gambling? Probably, probably are. Yeah. And I'm going to have to look more into that exact thing, but he played last year for Philly and played a good number of snaps, played in the Superbowl. So I don't know, um, what exactly the details were on the gambling issue with Isaiah Rogers.

It is a hundred percent concerning if somebody was suspended for an entire year for gambling for sure. Uh, at the same time, if you did get a deal for that, then, well, you can't apologize for it. So I think this is versus spending 20 million on Carlton Davis, a better value type of decision, but it cannot be the only decision they make. We have to talk about Milton Williams though, because all the reports came out, which would insinuate Dane that Milton Williams is agent told someone that he was going to sign with the Carolina

Panthers. And then all of a sudden now we we're getting, what is his name? Clayton Steele. When I write a novel, lead guy is going to be named Clayton Steele, 100%. We're getting, was it Clayton? Kayden? Kayden Steele? It doesn't matter. Kayden Steele. I love that. Anyway, so when Kayden Steele isn't fighting crime or whatever, he's reporting that the Vikings are interested in Milton Williams here. And all of a sudden we have kind of chaos a little bit because if Milton Williams comes here, we are very likely talking over $20 million per year.

And with him last year, he was excellent, but he also played next to Jalen Carter. He also only played 500 snaps, Dane. And that's what would be worrisome to me about spending 20 plus million dollars. At the same time, this is the thing that I have demanded for so long that the Vikings do. Please just go out and spend all the money on a defensive tackle, get after the passer.

Can you imagine this defense with a guy who could create 40 pressures last year on 300 pass rush snaps? Like that is an incredible rate. So I think that going after Milton Williams is something I was concerned a little bit about price tag But if it happens, I'm gonna say okay like this defense is now looking completely stacked on the front seven Yeah For sure and just a quick note Twitter's back down. So oh

That's all right. We got we're blue sky in it up here I made an account months ago and haven't done a thing with it and today that is paying off. Yeah back on blue sky. Um who who knew? Okay, big day according to daniel the cardinal panthers and Vikings are all working Toward trying to get Milton Williams in the running So now it seems like there's kind of a battle there and and they were in On Christian Wilkins last year. They were in that discussion, but then the Raiders went nuts. Maybe it is Milton Williams agent trying to pump it up.

Like, we'll sign, we'll do it. But I don't know, usually you don't see this. You don't see it announced. Okay, he's gonna do it. My only thought was that it came out so quick and early that maybe some teams hadn't been told by the agent yet. And we're like, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Or he got, I don't know, did he get cold feet that fast? I'm not

sure. But I've always been of the mind talking about Milton Williams, like, look, there's some concern there with the lack of snaps. And there's some concern there with the lack of snaps and there's some concern with the production of only one year, but in this defense with what they need, that would be a monster home run for them on the first day of free agency. It would. I've been hesitant because I think he's going to cost a ton of money. I think if Carlton Davis

is getting $20 million, I know it's a different position, but generally speaking, I think Milton Williams is probably going to clear that because I think he's been widely regarded as, to some, the best player available right now. So I've been hesitant because I don't know if I want to spend that much money, commit that much money to a guy like him. But all I gotta do to kind of quell those feelings of apprehension, I guess, is flip on the NFC Championship game, flip on the Super Bowl, and watch the best player on the field. I get it, he was playing alongside two monsters inside,

Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis, the whole Philadelphia, Josh Sweatt, the entire front of the Philadelphia Eagles, no doubt contributed to his effectiveness. But you still gotta make the plays. And there was one guy making more plays than everybody down the stretch this season, and his name was Milton Williams.

So if he is a guy that they go out and swing big for, I could get behind that because I think one thing this defense has lacked, and we've talked a lot about this, everyone's talked a lot about this, is the ability to generate with just the four man rush or just the guys up front. The ability to generate pressure without Brian Flores having to send a bunch of exotics, a bunch of stunts. If you can just have a guy who can line up across from the other guy and just beat him, that unlocks so many things in your defense. Is he a guy that with a bigger role would flourish and turn into an even bigger star? Maybe. a bigger role would flourish and turn into an even bigger star. Maybe is he a guy who, if he's given a bigger role would be easier to take away from other teams. Maybe.

I think it's worth the swing though. Oh, when, when you're looking at what this defense needs and what, frankly, what you maybe have missed out on so far, just across the board. Um, do you need to check out to write about Isaiah Rogers? Because if you do just, you know, like I, I, I didn't, you know, I didn't want you to be Minnesota nice and like be sitting here. I got, you know, okay. I'm just making sure around with it here and there.

If they sign Mill Williams, I will need to check out. So I thought that's what I thought. That's what I thought. I don't know how quickly this thing is going to come to fruition as far as whether Milton Williams is going to just suddenly sign or not. But where we are right now, jump in the chat. Let me know what you want for the Vikings in free agency, knowing what's off the board now that we have a good sense for what's off the board. What I've noticed, Dane, let me just take stock

of kind of what we got here. And let me, let me do like a bullet points. Here's what we got going on. The first thing is that none of the big offensive linemen have fallen outside of Drew Duhlman. I think just rapid fire here. I think that they overpaid Drew Duhlman and he's not a major impact player, but he's kind of like a slightly better Garrett Bradbury.

So I don't know if that changes what Chicago has done, but none of the other guards have fallen.