Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Vikings will host the 2028 NFL draft! (Part 2)

Episode Date: May 19, 2026

Matthew Coller talks about two interesting news items regarding the Minnesota Vikings. First that they will host the NFL Draft in 2028 and that they will play host to the Baltimore Ravens for joint practices. Do you like that Minneapolis is going to host the draft? Will joint practices determine the QB competition or will it be over by then? Also, Matthew ranks the Vikings toughest QBs on the schedule. The Purple Insider podcast is brought to you by FanDuel. Also, check out our sponsor HIMS at https://hims.com/purpleinsider Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This episode of Purple Insider is presented by Fandul. Jeremiah, they drop the ball not keeping Sam and having JJ have a full year of learning behind a vet where he can actually practice. I think this year would be a perfect year to do that. That's how I view it. I don't feel it. It's like what Rach was talking about just from my viewpoint, not saying either one of us is right because we don't know what they're thinking behind the scenes. But my viewpoint is much more, I think they want to see just how it. looks when he's had a healthy off season, a totally healthy off season, and he's been able to

work on the things that they've told them to work on, and how do you come back? Are you more accurate in practice? Because that was the thing. You know, we talked about how you had a good training camp. It wasn't Sam Bradford's training camp. It was okay. And that was about our expectation for where he was in his career. But there was a lot of inaccuracy throughout last summer. If that happens again, then you're probably talking about, you know, a rough situation. But if he is improving in his accuracy and he has time to be behind the veteran, then he could put them in a position where they're still having him in consideration long term and seeing where it goes long term with J.J. McCarthy because you don't know what's going to happen

with Kyler Murray. And the other thing is with Kyler Murray, man, that guy could win 10 games and play really well and then be like, yep, sign him with the highest bidder, do not care about the Minnesota Vikings. It could happen. That, I'm just, he might be that way. He might say, I'm just going to sign to the highest bidder and then you're looking around going now what, right? So, um, I think that's why you want to keep him in the mix and see where he's at through another year. Um, by the way, the, uh, Fandul question of the day, if you missed that earlier or you're just joining is

that the Fandul has released odds on the vice. Vikings quarterback competition and Kyler Murray is minus 1,000 and J.J. McCarthy is plus 600. So do you either, A, feel like you're excited about Kyler Murray and you've kind of gone too far with that, you're all in on Murray, or do you really want a true competition for this summer? That's the fan dual question of the day. Joker, the only quarterback competition benefit is for K.O. and the coaches to evaluate themselves. do they actually know what they're looking at because there's a big gap in skill. Can they see that in camp?

Well, I don't have any doubt that, you know, they're able to evaluate their quarterbacks and their execution during training camp. I think that the only concern with the Vikings coaches with KOC, even to some extent, Brian Flores, is that they really believe in themselves. And sometimes you can believe in yourself too much. I was having a conversation with someone in the league, not that long ago. And we're just, you know, sort of banding some stuff about. And I said, you always need to make sure that you never believe it's you. And I think that the Vikings thought with Sam Darnold that it was them. And it was Sam, as he proved with the Seattle Seahawks.

And it was a perfect situation. And things fell their way. And they had to have good breaks to win the Super Bowl, as everyone does. but it's Sam Darnel. He's a franchise quarterback. He is a phenomenal, phenomenal NFL quarterback. And he continued where he left off with Minnesota, which is not perfect. And he'll have his bad days.

But man, I don't know who doesn't these days. Mahomes has bad days. Alan has bad days. But when it was Darnold, he was seeing ghosts and he was a loser. When these other guys who are top draft picks and everything else, it's, well, he'll bounce back next week. And that's, that's true. track record, but, you know, I think the Vikings believed our environment, our coaching,

our receivers, that's what made Sam Darnold what he was. And it turned out that not everyone can just be dropped into that situation, especially when they're inexperienced. So with Kyler Murray, I don't know that they're taking that approach. Like, I think that there's motivation from the coaching staff to have success with Murray to wash out the bad taste of letting go the Super Bowl winning quarterback. But there also needs to. be, you know, some humility with that as they make a future decision too, like, how much can you

really boost a quarterback or, you know, are they all kind of versions of what they are? And it depends on the situation, but also where they are in their career as well, which, you know, Darnold was ready to take that next big step. So managing, because I mean, of course a head coach is going to believe in themselves. Of course, Brian Flores is going to believe in his evaluations. That's how these guys get there. They are psychotically competitive. and confident and all that stuff. But you also need to draw a line with that of, hey, it's the players and not the plays, which is what, you know, Pat Schumer would always say.

So it's, uh, it's an interesting dynamic there of how they manage that and, um, you know, how do they approach Kyler and J.J. McCarthy from that perspective. But yeah, I mean, they're like, they're going to see that Kyler is, is more accurate. There's no doubt that Kyler is going to be more accurate. You couldn't suddenly come in as J.J. McCarthy. can fix it all. It's about how much progress, I think. Jeremiah, do I, uh, I do agree on seeing if, uh, he's made improvement from last year, but fine with Kyler starting this year until things start to fall off with him or he gets

hurt, uh, which could or might not happen. Uh, Parker, do you see, uh, the Twitter account saying that Jay, uh, Jefferson was bad last year for JJ. L.M.A. Oh, well, you know, Jefferson and his drop rate's funny because it turned out to be exactly the same what is, It's always been, but usually the quarterback got the ball within the general vicinity of him, which didn't always happen. And so some of the drops were really memorable and notable in games, which does matter. And there were times last year where Jefferson was clearly very frustrated and didn't have, it seemed the same level of intensity or concentration or whatever it was that we have seen from him.

But there was so many throws that just went flying right over his. head. It's kind of like I was saying earlier. I mean, what people do in May, and this, this, I'll give you a good example of this. Every single year that I covered Kirk Cousins, there was someone in the media, whether it's here or elsewhere, who would predict that Kirk Cousins would win the MVP. And Kirk is good. And we all know that. And he, I think, got the short end of the stick in some ways because the Vikings didn't draft well enough to sustain around him. And I also think that he caused that because of the contracts that he signed and the

structure and his general shortcomings. I mean, the, the games that were no shows, the, um, the times he stood in the pocket for too long, the strip sacks, the interceptions, all that stuff, a flawed, but very, very good quarterback for sure, Kirk Cousins. But in May, he would be Peyton Manning to some people. I mean, they would clip together a bunch of Kirk's best throws. and if you clip together Kirk's best throws, oh my gosh. I mean, because he's accurate and he downfield was very good at dropping it in the bucket

and all that stuff. Like, he's a, he was out there throwing 30 touchdowns a year with 100 quarterback rating. Like, there's a lot to like, right? But that wasn't the whole story with Kirk Cousins. And it's the same way with stuff like that. In May, people can be whatever you want them to be. J.J. McCarthy just completely rewrite what happened last year because it's too far separated for people to remember and you can blame whoever the heck you want to blame and everything else.

I mean, yeah, Rach says Vikings fans turning on Jefferson before they turn on McCarthy. But it's not really. It's not really. It's, you know, I'm sure it's a couple people who online are looking for a way to get people riled up, get some attention, whatever. It clearly was not just to Jefferson. But there were moments last year where Jefferson was not as good as we would have expected him to be and didn't catch balls that we would have expected him to catch.

And so he does need, and he's acknowledged that himself, like, he does need a better season. But was it just in Jefferson's fault? I mean, absolutely not. The timing was brutal. The accuracy was way off. I mean, it, yeah, it's, that's not on, um, on Jefferson in any way. And, like, I think there's the, the thing is that you can be, the problem with social media is that we think that everyone is insane.

Because online, being insane gets you a lot of attention. So saying stuff like that gets you attention. If I wrote a tweet and said, you know what? I think that Jefferson definitely was partly responsible for what happened, but also the inaccuracy and an experience of the quarterback caused his downturn. That gets two likes. If I say it was all Jefferson's fault, that gets so much more, so many responses. And online engagement, no one cares if it's possible.

or negative or if it's 10,000 people calling you a dope. So we get convinced because the people get the most attention are often saying the stupidest stuff that TV can be like that too. So we often get convinced that everyone's insane, but not really. I think that 95% of Vikings fans know what happened last year. I also think that 75% of Vikings fans don't want J.J. McCarthy gone. They don't want the team to give up on him. they want them to see what happens this summer, see where he's at.

Like most more people are rational than you think about sports. It just doesn't seem that way because we look at our phones too much. Joker, I love that Rogers is coming back, having a rival to hate watch that consistently gets clobbered in the playoffs, really puts a smile on my face, most overrated quarterback of all time. So you had me until the end there. I don't think he's the most overrated quarterback of all time. I think that at his peak of his career, he is as great as any quarterback that's ever played.

His MVP seasons are mind-blowing. He is unreal, like in terms of his arm talent, his accuracy, very close to having multiple Super Bowl wins if this goes right or that goes right. Instead, meltdowns by things around him, an onside kick or a punt block or, you know, whatever, have kind of kept him from getting there. but I think that there are to every single quarterback, there are things that get them at times. And with Aaron Rogers,

his propensity to kind of just like throw the ball away or get frustrated or, you know, whatever, I think that that has held them back a little at times. Manning got super nervous in the playoffs when he went in to those big games early in his career. You could see it all over his face. Brady, if you got in his face with pressure at times, would fall apart. There's an early Brady career game against Baltimore where he's just not just

completely no shows because of how much pressure they put on him. I mean, no one is perfect. No quarterback has ever been perfect. Elway lost a bunch of Super Bowls before he finally broke through and won. Steve Young was a backup forever, right? Like before getting in and playing some of the best football of all time. Every quarterback has some flaws. But there's an air of like these guys are the all time of the all time and farv is there and i think rogers is very close if you're doing the all time tiers list and it's like johnny unites right at peyton manning and tom brady it's pretty hard not to put aaron rogers right there on that list if not maybe one section down but he's pretty darn close so i don't know what i now who is the most overrated quarterback of all time is an

interesting question i mean it's probably joe nameth honestly like production versus like the legend of Joe Namath doesn't really match up even for the era. He's probably, but he's also super fun to watch when he's at his best, the knees. That's not really his fault. But if you just went overrated versus who people think are the best quarterbacks and then look at his actual performance, I mean, in the in the Super Bowl that they won, the credit deserves mostly to Matt Snell, actually, in that Super Bowl, the running back for the new. York Jets.

But, you know, right? So the legend, I think. If it's not him, I don't know. I'd be curious what you guys think, the most overrated quarterback of all time. Matt Verick, I would rather have played out how it did than if Rogers had played here, knowing how far away that McCarthy is and that we got Kyler for super cheap. I think I agree with you. Yep.

Yep. I think I agree with you on that. That it is ultimately better the way that it played out rather than us today. because of the timeline. They would have, if they went nine and eight or 10 and 7, they probably go 10 and 7. I mean, the quarterback play was so brutal. I mean, you get one more win in there somewhere.

But if they went 10 and 7 and got stomped in the first round, and then we were talking about, well, now it's JJ's time. He would have been a lot better prepared for it. I will say that. But still, he never would have played before. And we would still be talking about going through some of the same learning. curve, even if he was much better prepared for it. And this is really the last year of this roster together with the age of some of these

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million to 60 million if he has a good year, then what? He's not getting paid 60 million if he has a good year. JJ will develop and has big potential at 23. Go with the kid. I just don't, I don't see how you can do that. Like, go with the kid doesn't feel like it's any sort of option at all. But, you know, when it comes to, you know, the 60 million, that's not happening. If Kyler Murray goes 11 and 6 with the Vikings and they win a playoff game, he's not getting

$60 million. It's not happening. Sam Darnold won 14 games with the Vikings, and he got 30 something. Was it 30? I mean, it was announced as a three-year $110 million contract, but it really wasn't. So it was closer to like $33 million a year. That's not 60. And they would do it in a way.

Look at Daniel Jones's contract that he just got. It was $44 million per year, but I think his cap hit this year is $17. Like, it's just not working that way. these days. Now, when it comes to developing, we don't know if he will develop. And we really don't know if he has big potential. And 23, weirdly enough, you're starting to get toward, like, yeah, I mean, it's, it's time you need to show something. We don't know if you will or not. But in terms of, like, your confidence, if he will develop, we have no idea. We have no idea how that's going to turn out. So just saying, oh, yeah, go with him. I can, no, you can't do that.

You can't do that to Aaron Jones to T.J. Hawkinson to Justin Jefferson to KOC's career to just say, yeah, roll the dice. Yeah, was he one of the bottom five quarterbacks in the league last year? Sure, but why not? Let's just give it a try because we don't want to pay Kyler next year, even though the Super Bowl team paid a quarterback. And who was the NFC runner up? The Los Angeles Rams who paid a quarterback? I mean, it is so much more possible.

Wait, who won the Super Bowl in 2024? a team that, say it with me, paid a quarterback in Jalen Hertz. I mean, it's not, wait, who won this Super Bowl before? Was it Kansas City who paid a quarterback? It's changed. Stuff changes. And yes, you have to be able to build around it with some more constrictions, but it is not like what it used to be.

Not when, and the reason why Kirk was so constricting is because it was always short term and it was always fully guaranteed. That was the problem. problem. Joker says through these twilight years have maybe dropped his overratedness a bit. You mean Rogers? There are recently some people brave enough to question his Justin Herbert-like, unblameable status.

Yeah, I mean, I definitely don't think that you, like, any Vikings fan has any right to hate Aaron Rogers as much as you want to hate him. the peaks of Aaron Rogers' career are as good as anybody who's ever played. So if you're saying that peak Aaron Rogers was as good as anyone, and the fact that he won an MVP in the middle of his career, won it later in his career, pretty hard to knock the guy too much. But I do think that what's happened toward the end of his career,

especially the jet stuff, the way he was out there talking and everything else, I think it heard his just general status for sure. and the way that he managed some of the stuff with the end of Green Bay and everything. But time tends to heal that wound as it did with, you know, Brett Farv, who got himself in the news for other reasons later on. But in terms of with Farv and Green Bay and what a circus he put them through at the end of his career in Green Bay, it all smooths out over his career. I mean, when you add up Aaron Rogers versus any of the great, it's pretty close.

But yeah, I mean, right, some of those playoff games, he wasn't good enough. And he did make mistakes that caused them to lose. And he doesn't have, you know, a million Super Bowls like Tom Brady, he doesn't have multiple Super Bowls like Peyton Manning. I don't think you can quite put them in their air who are the best of the best. But I also think that we, we, I think society places Aaron Rogers pretty well. He is one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history, clearly, but he's not the greatest. Moral Jones over Young.

Absolutely, Daniel Jones over Bryce Young, 100%. You know, Daniel Jones. You're funny, Joker. QB rankings and power rankings is the right YouTube channel. That's what I'm all about it now. I think it's fun. I'm having some fun with ranking stuff and I'm trying to bring it to the show. It's not the only thing we bring to the show.

There's going to be OTA reporting too. But, you know, I'm live streaming more than I ever had before. So I feel like this is a good way to engage the conversation. Daniel Jones was a lot better than Bryce Young last year. Bryce Young needs to average seven yards a pass attempt before I start saying that he's a quarterback I'd be concerned about. 6.3 yards per attempt last year. I mean, they squeaked into the playoffs. The Vikings had a better record than them.

And they end up in the postseason because the NFC South is a joke. I think the Panthers are in a really good place with their roster. But they're going to be in a hard spot if Bryce Young does this again. If they win nine games and get into the playoffs and they have a good defense and a well-stocked, group of weapons and a good line, which I think they do have a good offensive line. And Dave Canales, I think does a good job as their coach. So if they get there and they lose in the playoffs because Bryce Young is just not that good, like what do you do?

Because he kind of looks like a backup quarterback to me with his talent that he can get you through and win games and go 500. But I don't know that he's ever shown he can play at a high level where at very least, Daniel Jones, we've seen it a couple times and stretches. and Jones has a bigger arm. He's a bigger guy. Yeah, I'd have him about, but I had him in the same ballpark. It's not like I had him way different.

Rache Rogers was a bottom 10 quarterback in the league last year by a lot of different metrics. I don't think the season is demonstrably different with him than it would be with McCarthy. What game, oh, that's a good one. So what game do they win, Chicago and maybe Baltimore? Baltimore is a little tricky, but man, kind of just threw it. that one away. Chicago at home is the game that they win if they even get anything. But sure, you know, you're right, though, is they might have ended up getting some good

quarterback play in games that they won and had it not be a heck of a lot different. Maybe Philadelphia, they win that game. That was, you know, Carson Wentz, but he struggled to get the ball in the end. So you might be right, though. Like, if they, because, man, if they had gone nine and eight with Aaron Rogers, and and missed the playoffs, it would have felt like what a freaking waste. We would have torn them apart if they had done that and missed the playoffs for sure and said this was a massive waste.

So you're right. It's better that they didn't go with Aaron Rogers long term. SWAT says I'd rather have Kyler Murray than Rogers based on our scheme. If we threw more short passes, I'd take Rogers. But most of our plays take forever to develop, which is why you need a mobile quarterback. and I think that they're going to try to adjust that. I really do. And maybe, I mean, this is the test, right?

So I think that Kevin O'Connell being on the younger side as a head coach, the really younger side as a head coach, has room to learn and make adjustments and look in the mirror truly. And we've seen some of that with the adaptations to the coaching staff and the run game, maybe the drafting of Claiborne, trying to get more offensive line debunk, like some of the things that have gotten them in the past, you could see an awareness of it, right? Maybe not being physically imposing enough at the defensive tackle position.

You could see awareness there of some things. And getting Joanne Jennings, I think also shows an awareness of you need some physical toughness at that receiver position. You need some possession at that receiver position. You can't just have three deep guys, even though it's a catchy name and it's awesome. And I saw those guys were fishing the other day.

I don't know if it's a competition or what or just fishing. Moss, Carter and Jake Reed, Jake Reid tweeted that out. But this is not 1998. I mean, the quick passing game is really important in the NFL today. And it feels like they've not had an answer when they've needed that in certain games. And now, I mean, they needed. And I think they got it from Joanne Jennings. So I mean, but overall, yes.

I mean, a mobile quarterback is worth its weight in gold. I mean, when you look at Kyler Murray, so this is the thing about Murray, right? You look at his passing stats. and you go like, okay, that's all right for his career. But when you look at the expected points added by his running, he is one of the top five quarterbacks since he came into the league. And the other guys are Jalen Hertz and Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson. He's right there with them for how much value he's added to his team as a running quarterback.

That's a big deal versus someone who, I mean, in Rogers case, can't run at all, can't move at all. but it's not really Murray versus Rogers. It's kind of like if they had gone Rogers, you would have been, it's, here's what it is. It's year three of J.J. McCarthy and he's never played yet. Or Kyler Murray. That's kind of the comparison because if Rogers had played for the Vikings, you wouldn't have seen J.J. McCarthy last year.

Paul's going A all day with the Fandul question of the day, all in on Kyler Murray. So it's kind of moved past the idea of a competition. Tyler says, Is it just me or does the longer it goes, it feels like it's Rob's job for the general manager position? But it's not. I mean, the thing about this GM search is, how long was it supposed to go? I have no idea because no GMs ever get hired in May.

Is this how long may GM, you know, hires go? I honestly have no idea. I know how long they go when it's January. It's usually a couple of weeks and then bang, you got yourself a GM, but that's not generally how it goes in May because we have no idea. There is a holiday coming up. There is the owners, another owner's meetings. I know the Star Tribune sent Emily Liker.

Usually I don't go to this one. But there's, you know, because the coaches aren't there. So, you know, we usually don't go. But at least I don't think so. Anyway, the point is that there's an owner's meetings. There's a Memorial Day. I don't know if they're flying people in like until another week or two. so it may be the reason why it's kind of like taking a little bit longer to do all these interviews

and find a general manager. But it might be, they might decide. They might interview these guys and decide, you know what? We feel like we're good. I will continue to say that I think the best possible structure is Rob in charge at the very top and the GM and the head coach. They answer to him and he answers to ownership. And that's the structure.

That's my favorite idea for this. but it might be a little hard to get certain GMs to agree to that. If they're got, and that might be the reason Chad Alexander's not going for it. I don't know. That's fully speculation. That is not a report. But just maybe, right?

If that's what they want to do, then getting the structure worked out with the candidates is kind of a big deal. But I think it also might just be the way the schedule plays out. That's why it's also taking a while. Moral, any concerns about the GM and head coach being on different schedules? Yes. Yep. That's one of the reasons I like.

the idea of having Rob be at the top because Rob is on no schedule. Rob is a Viking for life and he has the trust of the Wilfs. And I think he really showed this year this summer while spring, winter, why he deserved it to have that trust, why he does, because he managed a minefield of an offseason. A really, really bad salary cap situation with needs to be addressed on the team and played the wide receiver spot really well to end up with Joanne Jennings. I think operated the draft in a way that got the coaches what they needed and wanted,

which is the right way to approach it for this draft. And then you want maybe in the future to have a general manager be the one that's leading the way. But, you know, Rob showed why the Wilfs have had so much trust in him. And if he's at the top, then it isn't. It's like he's the guy. And then the GM, yeah, they're on different schedules. overall, but that's mitigated as opposed to one guy, maybe wanting one thing, longer term,

another shorter term's like, no, we're doing it Rob's way, which is always going to be an eye on longer term, as we learned this year. So that's why I like that. But if it's just the GM and Rob is kicked back to his old position and the GM has the final say and everything else, then yes, yes, that is, is it concerning or is it just interesting? Concerning is probably it, but I, I am leaning toward when you have a good coach, you should let that person continue to get better and better. Because there have been a lot of coaches who've been around for a while. And it doesn't always happen right when they get there. And then eventually it does.

So that's kind of how I see KOC. But if you hire a GM who's completely in command, they could evaluate KOC this year. And they go eight and nine. And then it's out and you're having a coaching search. So it does work that way sometimes. I'm very interested in. It's a great question. I just don't know how it's going to play out.

Jay, I think Murray will have over 3,500 yards passing. 35 touchdown passes 10 picks. I think you will play in 15 out of the 17 games. 35 touchdown passes is very high. I mean, there's, I don't know how many guys had 35 all of last year, which I know it should be in your head. Hey, I remember when Darnold had, yeah, I know. But it doesn't, that doesn't happen a ton.

I mean, what's his career high? Is it maybe 20, So that would be a lot. He'll run for a couple touchdowns probably. But if you said total touchdowns, if he plays 15 games, is pushing 30 and that he'll play in most of the games. I mean, it's one of the best cases scenario situations that you could come up with. And if he had the season you're talking about, then, yeah, you're signing him to a $45 million contract for sure. Joker in a vacuum, does having the best asset management guy above the scouting guy in the hierarchy makes sense?

Or is it Viking-specific reference to the idea of Rob as a president? Yeah, I mean, in other places, I don't know like what every background is. In Atlanta's case, it's Matt Ryan, so it's a former player. It's not asset management or scouting necessarily. Personally, yes. I think, of course, scouting and the execution of the draft and finding players that you can develop and all that other stuff, it's super valuable. And it's not a huge shock that the teams that are good at it have some of the better long-term evaluators. And John Schneider is coming to mind.

He's had some bad drafts. But in general, John Schneider has been really good at evaluating what his team needs and how to build a winner and stuff like that. but this is a game now where you don't have like back in the day you might have had a team that had this really bare bones small scouting staff and you might have had another team that had a huge scouting staff you might have had people who were great at the Raiders way back in the day under Al Davis they were great at beating the bushes and finding players that nobody else had heard of and stuff like that and drafting them and making them stars does not happen in today's world you have people making.

and big boards with 250 players. Like, we know who the players are. We're rarely surprised even on day three by the draft. Every team, not just because it's public, but also because they've made a ton of money and they've built up these scouting staffs and they've invested in the data and analytics. I saw the Ravens are hiring another data person. You know, lots of teams have built up data set. These are huge front offices.

These are machines now when it comes to player evaluation. So you're not saying, wow, our scout went to, you know, this random game in Kansas and he found this kid and he's going to be like that just doesn't happen. So I think what it comes down to is fit is a huge deal, fit with your culture, fit with your scheme, all that sort of stuff. Identifying the right fit players is really big. And I think asset management is where things are won and lost. If you can have more draft picks, you get more shots. if you can have more salary cap space, you can have more flexibility in free agency to solve problems and you don't have to just leave it to undrafted free agents, for example.

That's the cheat code of the NFL. Not that I don't think some teams are better than an evaluation than others. I do. It still exists. But it's not this wide gap that it used to be because everybody has kind of the same information. Who manages their assets better? And who gets good quarterback play? Purple Kool-A, not only do you have KOC, but also Flores, with a large say on their side of the ball,

puts the new GM in a tough spot. That is 100% true. And if you are in the interviews, you have to understand that this is a head coach and a general manager that have had a lot of power here. And how are you going to manage that and work with them to get where you need to go? And that's where Rob did a really good job. that, you know, Rob has more credibility with the Wilfs than anybody else in that building. And you saw it, I think, this year, because they could have done stupid stuff with contracts. They could have made overreactionary signings and they didn't.

And I'm praising him for that because, as I said, like, asset management is king. And if you just put it all to win now, it's, yeah, that's great. And last summer was really fun. Like, look at all these new toys that the Vikings got. And it should have mattered more than it. did, but that's the risk of doing it is like when Quacy said you never go full Rams, like then he did. And it's like, okay, well, you didn't get Matthew Stafford though.

That's the problem. That's the difference when you were spending all that money to get Hargrave and Allen and keep, you know, keep everybody together. So I think having an asset management person is the best thing you can have. But with, to your question or point, the fact that you're coming into a situation with two guys that have established themselves within that front office, it's a very unique dynamic where you kind of need to fit right in with them. You need to see things the way they see things.

You need to understand the way they think. Can the new person do that will determine their success or failure? And that's why I think a lot of the people that they've looked at, Ray Agnew from the Lions, who have heard very good reviews on, or Dave Ziegler from the Raiders. These guys have backgrounds in the same places as, O'Connell and Flores, and I don't think that that's just by accident. Steven, who's the GM that will be making the picks in 2028?

So it's a really good question. It's a really good question, Stephen. I don't know. I don't have like a favorite. They're also similar. I think Nolan Teasley from Seattle is probably the one that most people think will be at the front of the line. Team won the Super Bowl.

He's been on the radar as a candidate for quite some time to become a general manager, kind of rising star. category. But that's the question. Like Ray Agnew is an older guy who played in the NFL, but was with the Rams, was with the rebuild of the Detroit Lions and the rebuild of the Rams, two teams that became highly competitive. It's kind of what you're going to have to do after that. So there's very different ends of the spectrum, but I guess Teasley would probably be my favorite for it. But, you know, I'm, I mean, who knows? Because they all have such similar backgrounds. And they did go back to the well and have more candidates come in after that first run.

So I don't know if they just wanted to see what else is out there or didn't love what they heard or, you know, I don't know. Skull Shadow, Wilf's want another player management collaboration. Hasn't worked with the triangle of authority or whatever. Quasi, K.O.C. Flores, Grixon, Miller was need a Howie Roseman type. So that's the thing, Skull Shadow is I just don't see it being that way, at least for right now. because there's some pretty clear buy-in by the whiffs to Kevin O'Connell and Brian Flores that buy-in has come in the form of many dollars that they have invested in both of those guys.

I mean, COC with the long-term extension, Flores becoming the highest paid defensive coordinator in the league. They believe in those guys. So, yeah, I mean, I think that's what they want. I think they want their leadership to collaborate. And I think that you need a figure over the top of all that collaboration to make. sure that it operates the right way and to play, well, referee a little bit, but also liaison to the ownership.

I think that's important. But I'm not in total disagreement with you that when you have a Howie Roseman type and that person is the dude in the front office and they call the shots, it was a little bit like that with Rick and he worked with Zimmer very closely, but Rick was the one that at the end of the day called shots. And, you know, it worked for a while until they ran into. salary cap issues and missed draft picks and then all of a sudden it didn't um but you know i think it i think it can work if the coaches and the GM are on the same page but when i did a story with

doug waley a few weeks ago he said you got to know who the guy is you have to know who everyone should in the building in the media who is the one that's calling the shots on the roster um SWAT uh oh you're talking about the draft i was like When we bounce around sometimes, I get confused. Would like the draft outside near the Viking ship. That would make sense. Maybe the fairgrounds. Yeah, I could see that.

Jay says, lucky to have Murray this year. I think he'll be working hard to prove everyone wrong. 12 and 5 is my thought on the season record. Is the armory building too small? I don't know. I have never been inside the armory. They have concerts there. Maybe I should go sometime.

But I don't know in terms of its size. The fairgrounds does make sense. Justin, did we just butterfly affect ourselves into our first Super Bowl winning season? Speaking of Aaron Rogers, not signing with the Vikings for 2025. Maybe, yeah, maybe, Justin. Yeah, 15 and 2 went, yeah, sure. That, hey, right? Could be if Kyler Murray takes the Vikings to the Super Bowl.

I don't know. Sam Darnal won it last year. If he does that, then it will be traced back to them not signing Aaron Rogers. How funny. Purple Kool-Aid, can we be the city who finally breaks the idiotic tradition of booing the commissioner? I think that booing the commissioner is generally fun. And I also think that Roger Goodell at one time was a little on the annoying side. Like when he was doing the whole, I'm the tough guy.

I'm going to suspend everybody who got pulled over with an ounce of weed or whatever. Like that was kind of over the top when Roger first took over. This is the greatest commissioner in pro sports history. I don't even know if it's close. Like the elevation of the National Football League to the point where it is now just running laps around every other league. And people, you know, fans and so forth have pushed back against, oh, you're taking games overseas and everything else.

The expansion worldwide of the National Football League is insane under Roger Goodell. And the functionality of the league. I mean, it's not a circus. The teams are on the same page, large. There's not a lot of drama within the NFL, not with the players and the coaches and inside buildings, but is in ownership. How many teams have been forced to move right now? There have been, you know, you had St. Louis and that whole thing and whatever else,

but it has not been chaos within the National Football League. And, I mean, you could say the referees, but I mean, referees are a discussion in every single sport all the time. So there's that. I mean, there are blemishes for sure. But the expansion of the league, look at where the salary cap. was even 10, 15 years ago and how much this league has exploded in its popularity. Yeah, Rod, I mean, Raj doesn't deserve boo.

And in fact, that's actually the funny thing is like, who would, what cycle would even think to have the draft outdoors in different cities, especially cold weather cities? And yet, there you are with how many of her thousand people showing up. Like, you're there showing up because Raj had this idea. Can't boo Raj. Doesn't make sense. Also, Minnesota nice. You know, purple purgatory.

My heart says full-on competition. However, Kyler starts week one. Yeah, somebody brought this up is like, just because it is a competition doesn't mean it's like an even competition. Just because it's a competition doesn't mean they both start at 50-50 and then the percentages move either way. It might start at 90-10, but it's still a competition. So, yeah.

Joker, more or less people than the state fair. I would say probably less. Those numbers are always ridiculous. gold skull did I meet any listeners at joint practice every once in a while someone will send me a note when I am at training camp and I'll say hello it does happen we stand in a different spot though than the fans we have our little perch so we can be on the sideline or there's a there's a little perch kind of thing that's between some of the stands so we kind of go in there and we huddle underneath it because it's got a little shade so that may be

why you didn't see any of us because we were there. But sometimes, you know, I'm around. The BD 97, are we sure the Ravens faxed the paperwork to the league office for joint practices? That's funny, right? Yeah, that's funny. Unlike what the Max Crosby trade. Purple Kool-Aid, we didn't have an offensive line between KOC and our O line.

They got Wentz permanently disabled. Well, he looked fine when I saw him the other day. We were there for something and Wentz was around. I don't think he's permanently. disabled. He just had shoulder surgery. But that was a memory to forget, say, with what happened that night against the Los Angeles Chargers, yes. But you're right, the offensive line last year, health was a big factor for sure. Stephen would like to have the new GM name before June 1st. Well, right. I mean, because if you get to June 1st, that's when you get a little more cap space and maybe

an opportunity. There's still a good number of free agents who are out there that could help you potentially. Maybe you add one or two more players, but I think you're probably at the point where you don't want, Joanne Jennings was easy. And I'm sure that when that's one you might have to be going to ownership and talking about like, should we sign this guy and so forth, even though there's no GM. But it's such a good deal. Yeah, sign him. Like that's a backup offensive lineman price that you got Joanne Jennings for. But I think anyone else you like to have your GM there. You don't want, and you want him to get a full evaluation.

Start with mini camp, really take in what you have, meet everybody. I agree with you. Purple Kool-Aid couldn't get the Jim Klein saucer comp. Are we talking about Max Bredison? I like it if it's Max Bredison, yeah. Purple Kool-Aid with the timing you could see him throwing behind receivers constantly because he was waiting. So Mike Renner put it like really well, is he said that he,

would not see it quick enough or pull the trigger quick enough and then try to make up for it with velocity. So, oh, I'm late. I have to throw it as hard as I can. And that's a perfect way to describe it because that's exactly what happened a lot. So if you could get that timing down, then a lot of things will improve. Stephen, JJ may be a viable starting quarterback in the NFL, but the million dollar question is, will it be for the Vikings or another team? Darnold Mayfield, Gino did it with another team. And so did Ryan Tannihill, who I think is actually the comp for a J.J. McCarthy considering his issues early, playing early. Tanyhill had athleticism, but he wasn't running for 800 yards, right? But you're right. A lot of

these do happen in a different city. My thing is just you don't know what's going to happen. So if Murray comes in and by week three, he ends up getting hurt and you go to McCarthy, like, who knows? He could take the reins and then off you go, right? So we have no idea how that's going to play out. But historically speaking, and this is the thing to keep in mind, all the data and everything else from the recent history of the NFL is if you're not drafted in the top five, they don't give you a lot of time. They don't give you a lot of starts in the NFL to show something. Teams move on pretty quick if you're not drafted high because if you're drafted high, those teams have forever. You can wait forever to find out if Cam Ward is good. You can wait this year.

You can wait next year. That team sucks. But when you, you are, you. are not in a rebuilding type of mode, you need to win. And that puts a lot more pressure on that quarterback, which is ironic because those are usually the quarterbacks that need more development that are not picked in the top five. Just love losing. That's quite a name. Wence is the break glass QB3. Just give JJ one more chance, but a QB2. Great show. Thank you. I think that in a perfect world, that's exactly the situation that they're looking for. McCarthy proves that he belongs is QB2. He's mobile like Kyla Murray.

You don't have to change the offense a ton when Murray comes out. You're good to go. And you don't feel bad about where McCarthy is, even if you're unsure about how good he can be. But if Carson Wentz is the backup for week one, oh man, that means it went bad. That means training camp just was a nightmare. And that's where the odds of McCarthy making it anywhere go down quite a bit if that ends up being the case because that means he didn't master the offense.

And that's what COC is going to be most focused on. Rach, the world where McCarthy becomes a bona fide franchise quarterback, the way someone like Drake May has no longer exists, the most we can hope is that he salvages things, but will never be elite. You know, that's probably, probably fair based on history. And every bit of history has its own circumstances. so you never know. But what you're saying is normally if a team decides to bail on a quarterback,

the chances that it works out anywhere are pretty darn low. The chances that they reach an actual high high are pretty darn low. And that's even for guys drafted in the top five. So, you know, even like Sam Darnold reached the high of being at least in the top 10 with the Vikings and was probably a top 12 quarterback last year and wins the Super Bowl, that is such a crazy outlier. Even Baker Mayfield reinvigorating himself. He was really good to start his career, by the way.

Baker was. So that's not really a comp for this. Darnold played poorly. I mean, Josh Allen didn't throw the ball well, but was a prolific runner. And then it kind of came along. Like, there's, it's really hard to find someone who played like this.

And then reached the peak of someone like what Drake made did last year. I do agree with that. becoming a reasonably good quarterback is very much on the table, but becoming that, the physical tools were never really there for that. If it was going to be McCarthy becoming great, it was going to be like a Brock Purdy type of situation where he becomes great in part with the group that he has around him in the coaching. I think it's fair point.

Thanks for the chat engagement. Dude, thanks, thank you. Thank you guys. This is what makes the live streaming possible. Otherwise, I just be, what would I be? what would I be ranking by now if you guys didn't have interesting things to say maybe we need an NFL fullbacks ranking but there's not that many left i don't know what i kickers punters i'd be spending a lot of time on the punting competition like uh you guys thoughts is what drives

the show man so i appreciate you showing up and doing it uh purple kool-cad i think if you were to trade j j it would have to be because someone else lost their starter and was over willing to overpay yeah that's that's what i was kind of thinking or it just got ugly. I mean, it's just hard to see with JJ as a person that it would get ugly. But, I mean, with Anthony Richardson, he might demand a trade. And if they put it out there and got a really good offer, or as you said, there's some team that's really low on their situation. I mean, if, I don't know, like, Jacoby Percette is pulling a holdout. Have you guys seen that? How funny is that? Dude, you went 1-11 last year. Stop. Come on. Just play out your contract,

man. But like Arizona is a good example. Let's say that they are just vomiting in their mouth watching Carson Beck and Gardner Minshu and Jacoby Brissette battle it out. And they get to the end of camp. They're like, our team's not even that bad. We just, we need something. We need some glimmer of hope.

And it's not going well for McCarthy and Vikings camp. Second round, third round pick. I mean, maybe you do it at that point. Jay, what's a team in the NFC? North would be the biggest competition to win the North. Detroit is the favorite to win the NFC North on Fanduil right now. And I feel like they deserve to be on paper. I think they have the strongest roster on paper until their entire defense and

offensive line gets hurt again, as it seems to with the Lions every year. But, you know, they're deserving of that. But I think when I did my power rank last time I had Green Bay by a whisker, because I feel a little more confident in projecting what Green Bay can be like did Detroit just miss their window or could they still be really good um so i mean look the you know fan duel odds are the fan duel knows all and and them going with detroit is extremely reasonable but i think green bay is the most stable of the group so i don't know all the teams man you can make a case for all four teams friends of tas i do not agree with your take that the most

overrated quarterback by vikings fans is teddy don't agree with that um Teddy was on a really good trajectory. Yeah, so I see that pop up every once in a while and I just don't understand it. He played in an environment where Mike Zimmer wanted to run the ball and play defense and game manage. And he came through when they needed him to a lot. It was very good on third downs. Made his share of plays with also an offense that was kind of antiquated. I don't think that anyone thought that this is where when it comes to overrated.

I don't think anyone thought Teddy Bridgewater was Aaron Rogers. I think they liked Teddy Bridgewater a lot. So you might be mistaking, Teddy with liking Teddy, that they won a lot of games with him, and they really turned around the franchise. I mean, you've got to remember the context. They were in a dark place when Mike Zimmer came in,

and they drafted a very likable quarterback who, hey, if he's the quarterback in 2017, and he gets a chance to rewrite history there instead of injuring his knee, then it might have been very different. I also thought he was making a ton of progress in 2016. So, yeah, I think that being, like, disappointed at what happened and really liking him and thinking that you could have won with them are all very rational thoughts because Sam Bradford won a fair number of games in 16 despite everything that happened.

And then Case Keenum, who's not as good as Teddy Bridgewater or wasn't at the time, he ends up winning 13 games. So I don't know. I don't see that. I think fans liking Teddy. is not fans thinking that he was Peyton Manning. Joker, Joe Namath is the argument for the most overrated quarterback of all time. Counter is that Namath took the pressure, all the pressure on himself,

where Rogers put the pressure on his teammates. Yeah, I mean, I think from a, like, teammate perspective and certainly cool guy perspective, Joe Namath was a lot, lot, lot better than Aaron Rogers. But multiple MVP's, Super Bowl, the numbers he put up, it's just undeniable. I mean, he was for a period of time in his career, unstoppable. And then he had some regression. And then it became unstoppable again. I have a tough time arguing that he's anything but one of the greatest of all time.

In fact, I've always thought that made it way better when he was playing against the Vikings. Like, you know, you're going against the best here. So when you'd get him, it was when Zimmer would have a good day against Rogers. It meant so much more because he was so good. It's not quite the same as Tom Brady with all the postseason. winning for sure. Purple Kool-Aid Rogers is the biggest thing, although he's got all-time great arm. Yeah, definitely.

He's incredibly unlikable, yes. And yeah, but see, I think that that's what everybody thinks, right? He's like he's super, super talented and Vikings fans love to hate him and, you know, so forth. So I think that's great. 1-216 Vivek. Did Jim Harbaugh have anything to do with Chad Alexander withdrawn? Jim was interviewed in 2022, so he knows the power structure the Wolf's Wants want. I mean, that's, I would have to be purely speculating on that.

I don't know why Chad Alexander decided not to, um, and decided to stay with the Chargers organization. Maybe there was some discussion there about his role and increasing that or whatever it might be or I don't know. It's really hard to say because he's not going to announce it or tweet it. So he's going to keep that to himself. But I don't think that Jim Harbaugh would have a lot to do. with it. I don't know. Jim ended up in a good place for him and the Vikings ended up in a good place,

I think, too, with their coach. Rache found the draft to be underwhelming overall in the Grenard trade to be terrible in terms of value. Bringing back Rob would be disappointing to me. So I don't see it in the same way because, one, I mean, underwhelming is fair. We don't know how the draft is going to play out, but we can say this, that it very clearly met the desires of what the coaching staff wanted. And one thing that we have not seen from the coaching staff in the draft is them buy into Quasi's players. We did not see that.

So with them having more of their hands on what they wanted, that to me is more pouring into these players to make it work out as opposed to the minute they don't feel like the guys got it. They just get rid of him, which they've done for years now. So I think playing to what the coaches wanted was important. We never know how a draft is going to go. But I think it's fair to look at, you know, the. Caleb Banks and A, was it a reach and that kind of thing and be disappointed.

The Grinard trade, I just don't see it that way because you get $34 million in cap space, a couple of third round draft picks. I mean, and like not having someone in front of Dallas Turner. So now the Dallas Turner free path to playing every snap at his rightful position. I think you do get more back in return. Now, is it an amazing return? Is it a first round draft pick? No.

But I think that the Grenard trade is pretty defensible based on what you get for cap space and not having to pay Jonathan Granard long term. So I see, I just look at the way that they handled this off seas. I think it was good. I really do. It was not exciting. It was not flashy.

But it was the right way to go about it because you're going to be a team long term. And if you want to have cap space in the future and spending free agency and possibly sign a quarterback and all those things. But also, they didn't chop it all down and have us standing here going, well, why did they get Kyler Murray in the first place? So for the record, I don't love trading Jonathan Granard. I never loved it.

You know, if you go back and look at what I said, I was like, maybe you should just keep him because he's really good. But then when you see the gap in how much cap space they get and multiple top 100 picks, which I talk about all the time, like that's, those are the things that matter. They moved the needle. So I was okay with what they ended up with. Don't love giving it to Philly. Don't love having to do it.

But you can see the vision of why they did. Purple Kool-Aid, not saying that he'll turn into Andy Reed or turn into him. But Andy Reid was known for years as the guy who couldn't get over the hump. He got his guy and made magic. Yeah, that's, I mean, you're going to coach for a really long time if you're Kevin O'Connell. And there are mistakes that we have picked apart in many different ways that doesn't mean you need to make him again.

And his ability to self-evaluate, his ability to take the next step himself as a coach will be what determines whether he gets to a different place or not. I mean, yeah, okay, like, yes, you're playing this game of quarterback bouncing around all the time. But with someone like Murray, and it was his draft pick of J.J. McCarthy, so you got to make it work. That's number one. But I think that some of those other things, lessons learned along the way can be

applied. And I felt at times last year, there were similar mistakes that had been made in previous years. And then toward the end of the season, it was almost like a light bulb went on of, you can win a game by just grinding somebody to death. Like, you're allowed to do that. And Gary Kubiak was great at it. Sthansky was great at it. Like that whole tree, Clint Kubiak. And it felt like I think he's sort of understanding that, which is not what you want to do every week. You want to throw for 500 yards and score 50 points, but sometimes you have to win the game that's in front of you and taking the responsibility to kind of change offensive line coach, bring in somebody who might know more than you, like that, that's about the run game. And like, that's,

that's good stuff. Like, that's stuff that is a little bit showing progress. Friends of Taz preseason will be fun. We'll get to watch three first round quarterbacks play in Brosmer. Taz, I don't know, man. I don't know. The way that Kevin O'Connell handles the preseason, I'm not sure you're going to see much of, whoa. That was some crazy, huge lightning. I don't know if you guys, or Thunder, I didn't see the lightning, but I don't know if you guys heard that.

That was crazy. That came out of nowhere. So if I lose power or something, I apologize. But it's been a long stream. It scared me. Anyway, I think you're going to see a lot of brosper. I don't know how much. I don't know how much.

Well, really, in my opinion, J.J. McCarthy should be playing the first. first two quarters of every game. Like, that's, I think that he needs that and I think he should be doing that. But will we see Murray? We might know everything we need to know about a quarterback competition by how much Kyler Murray plays. Skull Shadow says, I think that the choice will be, McKay will be the choice. John McKay of the Rams.

Why not try NFL bloodlines at GM? Yeah, I mean, I wouldn't be too concerned about who his dad is. John McKay, though, coming from a premier franchise, like the premier franchise in the NFL, the Los Angeles Rams. That's, I mean, bring a lot of what they do over here is a pretty good logic. And I think the same goes for Nolan Teasley from Seattle. Hunter, what do I think the Rob's chances are at GM? I think they're okay.

Okay. I'm sorry. Sometimes, so I get behind because I'm trying to answer questions. then I'm missing something that you guys are saying that's very funny like 20 minutes later. So hold on. Let me compose myself because you guys are extremely funny. What do I think of Rob's chances at GM?

I think that he has a very high percentage chance of staying at the top in terms of decision maker in one way or the other, whether it's being named GM or whether it's being above the GM. Because of the way he handled this offseason, I think he got very high marks from everybody in the building and even, you know, from someone like myself. I get, like, I'm not in total disagreement with the comment about, you know, Jonathan Grenard.

That's a hard one to take on. But you kind of have Joanne Jennings because of Jonathan Granard and you have Jacoby Thomas and you have someone for next year and you have other free agents for next year. And then you go, oh, I kind of get it. So then it's, it's Jonathan Grenard for like five people, which makes it a little bit different. I think Rob is a very good chance to be at the top of the food chain. So I, when I was talking about Roger Goodell and I was talking about him being overly litigious early in his life as the commissioner. And I said like, oh, you know, he used to suspend everybody for an ounce of weed or whatever.

And I'm being informed by the chat that that's a lot. So look, I've switched over recently to start drinking some Sprite Zero, trying to reduce a little bit of how much caffeine I drink at night, trying to sleep a little better. It's all about self-improvement in the off season. this is as intense as it gets around here. So, sorry. Sorry to you, officiados of the weed game. Clearly, clearly I know about football and not other things. Steven says the Steelers had Sticks Renegade song playing during their picks this past year.

What song will be playing? for the Vikings 2028. Purple Rain is a little emotional. Purple Rain is like a really, you know, moving tune. So I don't know if they'll be playing Purple Rain. I mean, let's go crazy is probably the most obvious. But that would be great. Someone to come on with, it's got to be Prince.

It has to be Prince. I would love to see them mix and match, though, because there's, let's get some Husker do in there. Like, there's a great history that's not just Prince. And all the teams play Prince all the time, which is great. but I would love to see like take the hell's bells just all the teams take like the ACDC and Metallica and crazy train like get that stuff out of there and have just all Minneapolis music because in LA that's kind of what they do the LA teams usually have

I mean they've got a huge catalog but so does Minnesota like get in some deep cuts like getting some cool stuff um skull shadow haven't had a good collar rant lately, choose a topic and go off. I don't think that's how the rants. See, that's the thing. Like, if there's a rant, you know it's authentic. You know that's where it came from. The reason that there hasn't been a rant lately is because it's the offseason.

And usually in the off season, they don't do anything that makes me go insane. So in the regular season, it's different. Everyone is exhausted. It's super intense. It's pretty crazy. And you guys have been pretty rational about this offseat. I got to tell you the truth. It's really, it's a lot on you.

When you guys are pretty rational about the offseason, then I'm usually pretty calm over here too. Okay, now, now we're into, now we're into weed prices. That's just, it's not my game. It's not my game. Top 25 long snappers and holders. Yeah, that's where I would be if you guys weren't in the chat. Kit, who other than Jefferson should be assumed to be untouchable

by the new GM. They got rid of Gernard already. I know they won't tank, but that doesn't mean they won't trim fat. Well, there's no one that they're going to get rid of right now. Like, the roster is what it is. The new GM's not going to come in and be like, I don't like Todd.

Get rid of like, that's just not going to happen. But in terms of next year, oh, I mean, a lot. A lot could change. And where we're really going to see that play out is not necessarily getting rid of people, but who they extend. O'Neill, Cashman, Van Ginkle,

Isaiah Rogers. like there's a lot of guys whose contracts are coming up that, I mean, they could give extensions to now or they could just let it play out. And I think if you're the new GM, you want to let it play out. It also kind of gives you plausible deniability to kick it down the road when you're talking to their agent and like, hey, the GM just got here. He's not going to sign people to huge extensions. But you could see a big overhaul in the way the roster looks, depending on how things go if they don't sign people to big contract extensions. but in terms of untouchable, it probably is only Jefferson is untouchable. They won't be getting rid of Dallas Turner.

He's on his rookie contract or Donovan Jackson. That wouldn't make any sense either. But like Jefferson is the one that you wouldn't trade and you're not going to cut and you're going to try to extend as soon as you can for sure. Joker, my NFC North Wind projections, Bears 9, Packers 10, Lions 11, Vikings 13. This is maybe a slightly biased, you know, take there. But 13 seems a little, a little high for me, even in the best case scenario for the Vikings looking at their schedule.

I mean, but the rest, everyone could be right there. Yeah. Purple Kool-Aid in Teddy's preseason prior to the knee exploding. It looked like he was finally dialing in the deep ball. Oh, I had the San Diego game. Yeah, I mean, I remember that quite well. I was not here yet. I was actually studying to come here to cover the Vikings when that happened.

So I was watching that game. And I was like, man, exactly what you're talking about. Like, Teddy, he's on the way. So, yeah, I think what you're getting at talking about him overrated is that he was really, really well liked. But when I got here, I mean, most people's take on Teddy was that he was a really good game manager that was a great leader and had kind of a clutch gene to him came through late in that game against Seattle with a big throw to Kyle Rudolph and played exactly the way Mike Zimmer wanted a quarterback to play. That was the thing about Teddy is that with the scenario with Adrian Peterson

running more times than anyone else in the NFL that year, Zimmer having an elite defense 2015, like that's how they wanted to win. They wanted Teddy to throw for 160 yards, convert a few third downs, don't make a mistake, kick a field goal and win, right? Like, and it worked then. I think as time went by, it wouldn't have worked forever. And he would have needed to grow. He looked like he was on that trajectory.

But he is from everything that I've ever learned about Teddy Bridgewater as great of a leader as you'll ever find anywhere. The entire locker room was totally bought into Teddy Bridgewater. And that matters. Right. Right. So he didn't have the physical gifts that was going to take him. over the top, though. And he wasn't going to be Drew Breeze with his accuracy.

He could wobble the ball a little bit, right? But I do think he was on a very good trajectory, and so was the roster. That was another thing is like, that roster in 2017, they reached that well paying Sam Darnel, or not Sam Darnold, Sam Bradford. They reached that while paying Sam Bradford. If they didn't have that, they could have added even more talent to 2017 by the time Teddy got there. So that's always going to be a crazy one to think.

about. I'm not sure what you mean, Dr. Smug. Anyone else think involving KOC and the GM search is kind of bass backwards? Yeah, ass backwards. You mean? Yeah.

I think that with KOC involved in the GM search, it's a pretty clear message that ownership is bought into the coaching staff. And they want KOC and Flores to lead this coaching staff for years to come. And they want the GM to be locked in with the coaching staff and pulling in the same direction. That's what it says to me when it means, and you got to see how the, you know, conversations go with GM candidates in KOC. You have to understand, like, do they kind of gel? Do they see things the same way? Because they're going to work together a lot. Rache, my issue with the Packers is that their defense is completely different in a bad way without

Michael Parsons, and they're unlikely to start the season with it. Right. So if you start the season with without Parsons and you end up being mediocre, that probably prevents them from having a super high ceiling. And then does he come back and is Mike of Parsons from day one and just sacks the heck out of everybody or does it take a little while to ramp up? Tucker Kraft, the same sort of story. I think that that does add some volatility to them. I look at Jordan Love is someone who always gets you a certain amount of wins, kind of like Kirk Cousins would always get you a certain amount of wins, Matt Lafleur is the same way, but that's a fair point. Joe says, Grinard only having one healthy season has to make trading him look smarter too.

I would agree with that, that, you know, when you do all the math, that it has to be factored in that he didn't have a lot of sacks and has been banged up throughout his career history. And they gave him 50 million guaranteed, 100 million overall. That's a lot. That's a lot for someone who's sort of standing in the way of the guy that you want to be in that position. That's why it made sense to me. Purple Kool-Aid, maybe Sprite Zero will step up where Dr. Pepper did.

I know, right? Give me somebody. Give me somebody. I didn't know the song Closing Time was done by a Minneapolis band. Is that true? The replacements would be cool. Yeah, that's what I'm saying, man. We could use a lot more Minneapolis music.

I'm not like an aficionado of Minneapolis music. I just know there's a lot more great stuff than just Prince, who obviously is the best. Adam McCarthy needed the practice last year as well, yet he didn't play a single snap in preseason. He did play a couple snaps, but it wasn't many. I think he threw like seven passes in preseason in one game. But I was saying going into that game, I think that he needs at least the first half. Now, does that change anything? I don't know. And they really couldn't afford to get him hurt, but now he should be playing a lot this year. Stephen, we'll have to start thinking about Mr. Mancato candidates. Yeah, that's true. I got to see him at least in minicamp first. Give me a chance

to see that. Joker. Teddy was ice cold under pressure and everyone loved him. It was going to work here. Even narcissistic Zimmer loved him. Yeah, well, Zimmer loved Sam Bradford too. I interviewed Bradford in 2018 or 2019 on the radio. I don't know if he's done any interviews since that. And he said that him and Zimmer really saw football a lot of the same way and got

along really good. Like they texted a lot and so forth. So it was, you know what? I think it was two things. I think that Teddy had that dog in him. And I think that Sam Bradford had that dog in him. And Kirk never projected that. Like, Kirk is really tough and took a ton of hits.

But he's a different kind of guy. Like, he's just not, he doesn't have that, that bully jock to him, you know, which a lot of NFL players do. And I'm not saying that they are bullies necessarily, but that it's in there, right? Like, even when I have Jeremiah Searle's on the show, like you see that glimmer in his eye. Like, he wants to stuff me in a lot. soccer sometimes. We're going back and forth. And that's just not Kirk. Like he is very kind of comfortable with him being like nerd dad guy and that kind of, you know, that's who he is. And he got more comfortable with that as he went along in Minnesota because KOC was like, that's fine,

that that's who you are. Like you could be kind of quirky and funny. But I think what Zimmer wanted, Zimmer came up with like Troy Aikman as his quarterback when he was in Dallas. And then it was what, would it have been, well, Andy Dalton, you know, he didn't really have, he didn't really have that. Was he there for Carson? No, I don't think he was there for Carson Palmer in Cincinnati. But, you know, Zimmer, like, he's a psycho in a competitive way. And just like in general, yes. But I mean, like, he is one of the most competitive people you will ever find in your entire life.

And that behavior does not translate to normal world. Like being a psycho competitor. It translates in football. and Kirk just doesn't project that. So I think that that always rubbed in the wrong way. But realistically, what annoyed Zimmer about Kirk was the contract. That was really what it was about. I think if he had signed for like this run-of-the-mill contract that was small and malleable

and Zimmer could keep his defense, he would have been much more on board with Kirk. Oh, thank you for the game seven update. All right. I will have to, yeah, I want to watch that. So I'm going to probably sign off here in just a second. I appreciate that. Dr. Smug, how did everyone like the schedule release?

I thought it was really good. I thought it was creative. It looked good. It was fun using Will Reichard. I mean, people want, people want sass, people want aggressiveness.

They want to start stuff and, you know, all that. That's not who the Vikings are with their social team. So they didn't do that. But I thought they executed it really nicely. Rache, I do think the Packers have a relatively high floor.

Love is the best QB in the division IMO with respect to LaFleur and golf, uh, respect to golf and LaFleur is a good coach. Yep. So I agree with you. And that's why I had them as higher in my NFC power rankings is because I just think they're more reliable, less volatile. Yeah, Chris Jericho showing up in the schedule release. It was good.

I, I liked it. I thought they put a lot of work into it. It looked great. I mean, the way that they filmed it looked like a movie or something. It was, it was well done. So anyway. all right well i'm gonna i'm gonna i'm gonna i'm gonna bounce and catch the rest of this hockey game and really great really energetic conversation guys that was great so the plan is to have eric edholm on

the show he power rank the vikings really not good after the draft so we are gonna hold some nfl dot com friends of the show accountable tomorrow and then wednesday another chat and planning on thursday manny hill has agreed to pick the schedule on thursday so we'll get him out in for some a discussion as well. Appreciate all of you stopping by and really appreciate all of you in the chat keeping it energetic, keeping it fun and having a really good conversation again tonight. So hoping to have many, many more throughout the offseason. Again, OTAs, mini camp will have reports and stuff like that on the way. But I also really enjoy these nights where we're just having fun talking ball. So thanks everybody for that. And we'll talk to you again very soon. Football.