Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - We talked with KOC and Mark Wilf about JJ McCarthy at the owners meetings

Episode Date: March 31, 2025

Live from the NFL owners meetings, Matthew Coller and the Pioneer Press' Dane Mizutani react to their conversations with Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell and owner Mark Wilf about J.J. McCarthy.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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[♪ Music Plays And Ends [♪ Music Plays And Ends [♪ Music Plays And Ends [♪ Music Plays And Ends [♪ Music Plays And Ends to Kevin O'Connell and Minnesota Vikings owner, Mark Wilf. So I want to start with Mark Wilf and the conversation we just had with the Vikings owner because I think he gave us a very valuable update on something that has been discussed quite a bit within the media and fans recently. And that is the contract situation of Kwesi Adafo-Mensa, the Vikings general manager. Mark Wilf made it very clear how happy he is with the culture of the Vikings, the decision making, the distribution of power even, as far as decision making goes, and was very clear with us that he wants Quasiadapho Mensa to continue to go forward

as the Vikings general manager. You know, Dane, I wasn't sure that we were going to get something very definitive for Mark Wilf on the contract situation. But he sounded extremely confident that the Vikings ownership and the general manager will get a contract done. And I'll just throw out there that there have been so many things recently where we've said, what's going on there? Can they figure out a way to figure this out? And is there something going on behind the scenes?

And at least according to the owner, there's not. And they're going to work through it. And he did not make much of the fact that Kevin O'Connell already has his contract done. So is that a fair interpretation, Dane, to you of what Mark Wilf told us? Yeah, I think so. And that was my main takeaway is that we got a definitive answer. It was, yes, we intend to sign Quasi to a contract extension at some point.

He did not say when, he did not say how long, he did not say for how long that contract will be, but he made a pretty definitive, clear statement of, yes, we're happy with Kwesi Adolfo Mensah and we intend for him to continue to be the GM of the Vikings moving forward which I think is news it's it's important and in an off season that has kind of been defined by some unknowns and well Kevin O'Connell got his contract extension early and Kwesi Adolfo Mensah still waiting for his I do think having the owner come out and say like no we're gonna get this O'Connell got his contract extension early and Quasi-Dolpamensa still waiting for his. I do think having the owner come out and say like, no, we're going to get this done. Is enough for us to stand down and just believe that they're going to get it done. I think if he came out today

and said something cagey to the sense of, well, we don't know, we're still working through that, that might put your antennas up to like, okay, maybe they won't get something done Not the case at all. I think Going back to what quasi Duffa Mensah told us a week and a half ago at TCO Performance Center These things take time. It's a process and I think the fact that Kevin O'Connell's got done so quickly was dictated by Certain things that popped up towards the end of last season. Maybe someone was going to trade for him.

Maybe there was things in flux there. Clearly they wanted to get that done with some, you know, and in a way that urgency, urgency, that's the word I'm looking for. Florida sun, man, takes that out of you. But with Quasi, I don't think the lack of urgency necessarily means lack of interest. I think it's just a contract negotiation That's taking some time Well, I think that what mark was extremely clear about was just how happy the ownership is with The way that this offseason is handled and I asked mark wolf about something that we discuss all the time

Which is the Vikings timeline since hiring Quasiadaphal Mensah. And I think they always kind of make fun of us a little bit for using competitive rebuild, but we did not invent that. That was actually the general manager who told us that. So I think that the execution from the time that Quasiadaphal Mensah and Kevin O'Connell got here to this point, to drafting JJ McCarthy McCarthy to spending a bunch of money in free agency. And even I asked Mark Wilf about the salary cap going up. And he said that they now feel a little bit more like free agency

as a team building option, when a lot of times in the past, it was looked at by franchises as where you might want to supplement some talent or maybe bring in one big fish, but it wasn't really looked at as a way to build a team. And I think that if you look at the way that this franchise has been built, even with the likes of Blake Cashman or Jonathan Grenard, and then they go out and get players in free agency this year, even Byron Murphy Jr., who we just think of as a Minnesota Viking at this point, but he at one time was a free agent that they brought in from the Arizona Cardinals. It has been a serious way for Quasiadah-Felmenza to build through the free agency and the fact

that the salary cap is going up all the time and that they have really handled it extremely well has allowed them to do that. So when you have all of the ducks in the row as this franchise seems to have they're coming off a great season they're coming off of a free agency where players consistently cited the ownership the coaching and The NFL PA survey is a reason they showed up here you have the tenth overall draft pick quarterback who the franchise seems to be quite sold on and I mean at least from them it all sounds like Kumbaya. Now we'll see when we actually get that press release that Quasidafel Mensah has signed his extension

but I think if you own this franchise you couldn't be happier at this point and Mark did say like it doesn't guarantee us anything that we're doing it this way because there's schedules and injuries and you never know what can happen in the NFL. But he seemed about as pleased as an owner would be with a situation right now. And again, that points to why would you want any type of change at the general manager position? So I think there will be effort to get that set up. And then once they do, everything will be locked in place. The quarterback, the general manager, the coach,

the ownership is extremely stable. And the people in the front office who have built this franchise have pillars to work with. Justin Jefferson, Christian Derisaw, Jonathan Grenard. I mean, all of that is lined up very nicely. And I think it becomes extremely important to make sure that you have this decision-making group going forward. Yeah and I think a goal of all NFL teams and certainly NFL ownership owning the teams itself should be to try to find a

way to mitigate dysfunction in any way shape or form. The Vikings have done a pretty good job of that over the course of the Wilfs being in charge of this team, owning this team. It has not been one of the franchises you look at across the league and say like, ah, it's a dysfunctional bunch. But you know a way to invent dysfunction out of nowhere would be to take a team that is positioned to kind of take off on a rocket ship towards success and then just to not bring back the GM. So it makes sense that they're going to do this and it makes sense in a vacuum that they

want to, that they intend to. But I think it's another kind of perfect example of the Wilfs ownership as a whole that they're not overthinking this thing. Obviously they're thinking, they're thinking a lot. They care deeply about getting this team over the hump that it hasn't gotten over in its franchise's existence, but they're not galaxy-braining this thing in a way that forces them to make knee-jerk reactions. And I think signing Quasid Alphamensa to that contract extension whenever it comes is just yet another way that shows that they do know what they're doing.

It doesn't always equal the Super Bowl, but I think the ownership group that's in place has done everything you've asked for from the time they took over to the time they built TCO Performance Center. They give this franchise all of the things that they need to be successful and behind the scenes they're making decisions that just make sense. So this organization is highly functional, not dysfunctional at all. And I think the Wilfs have a lot to do with that. Quasidopim and so whenever that contract extension comes will be another example of that. And I'm reminded of our conversation at the Combine where we were headed to Indianapolis

to try to get a real sense for what was coming next at the Combine where we were headed to Indianapolis to try to get a real sense for what was coming next to the quarterback position. You and I both did a podcast where we talked about, yeah, I think it's J.J. McCarthy time. We were reading the tea leaves on that situation and saying, I think Sam Darnold will eventually be moving on. I feel the same way about this where we wanted to really read the tea leaves on it. We don't really have to considering how direct Mark Wolf was that they want to continue to go forward with Quasi Adolfo-Mensa.

But if you are trying to read the tea leaves, that's exactly my takeaway is that they are really happy with the direction. They've executed all the things that they laid out when Quasi Adolfo-Mensa got here and now they're doing them. They sort of fought their way through the older group, the Kirk cousins, the expensive quarterback contract to get to this point. And now they have JJ McCarthy. And that was another question of mine to Mark Wilf. I said, you know, since you guys have owned this team, it's sort of been going out to get somebody else's quarterback all the time. And we got a pretty, I think a pretty

big smile for Mark Wilf about that with JJ McCarthy which of course we will soon transition into what Kevin O'Connell had to say about Aaron Rodgers but it seemed to me like the owner of this football team is as excited to see JJ McCarthy as you guys are because the way that he talked about finally having that franchise quarterback and he even mentioned moving up that one spot to make sure that they got them and going on that long journey with KOC to go meet with all the quarterbacks and land JJ McCarthy. This is a huge moment for the Wilfs ownership

right now. And it doesn't just mean 2025. I think it's just in general, if you get that guy into place and he talked about, hey, we're also, we hired Kevin O'Connell in part to be the quarterback guy and he proved that he could be the quarterback guy and you've sort of set everything up to come to this point as an ownership to have that quarterback to build around. And then he talked about how important it was to get all the pieces around him to set him up from the coaching to the offensive line to everything that they've added this off season.

And of course, paying Justin Jefferson goes in that category as well. But it is significant for them because I think we all know that as much as quarterback is dictated by coaches and by roster and everything else, if you lock that player in, I mean, you have something that's worth its weight in gold that they have not had.

I think probably the last time they really felt like there was no potential for being in flux or anything else was really when Teddy Bridgewater was drafted. And when Blair Walsh misses that field goal wide left, that was probably the last time they felt like, wow, we've got our guy. And now it seems that they do in JJ McCarthy. Yeah.

And I think when you have been around the block as long as the Wilfs have, and you've owned a team for as long as they have, you see other franchises have that piece and you want that piece. And you brought this up in your question to Mark Wilf was you really haven't had it since like you said Teddy Bridgewater what is it like to have that now I mean it's clear he's pretty excited to have that which to kind of close the loop on this whole thing a big reason you have that is because of quasi Adolfa Mensa a big reason you have been able to kind of usher in this new era kind of divorce yourself from the cap hell you were in

towards the end of the Rick Spielman regime. Yes, Kevin O'Connell plays a big role in that, a hugely important role in that. But Kwasi Adolfa Mensah is the one behind the scenes, making all of this happen, looking at what age curves and what projections make sense and which ones don't make sense. And the foundation, say what you want about the 2022 draft, I know everyone will, but the foundation this team has laid for itself with now JJ McCarthy stepping into the spotlight or ready to do that is largely because of the man who is sitting in the general manager's seat. So Mark Wilf is excited about the quarterback they have in place and I think he's excited about

the entire leadership structure, the entirety of the leadership structure that helped that quarterback kind of be in the place it's in right now. Well that's a very good point that and I don't know if I said it already or not but when Mark Wilf was asked about the power structure if if he sees it being any different, and now, look, I mean, they're going to sign real contracts that will exist that they won't show to us. So you can always be skeptical on whether this is true or not. But he was very dismissive of that idea.

He said, well, we really like the structure that got us here. And we feel like we've been able to come to a consensus when we've had things that we're talking through. And I think that's the right direction to go. I think there is a yin and yang element to Queciedad Fulmenza and Kevin O'Connell. I think we also know that when it comes to public speaking, Queciedad Fulmenza is less polished than Kevin O'Connell

and will answer all the questions, no matter how many times you ask about Aaron Rodgers or whatever it might be and I think to his detriment sometimes he is a little too earnest in front of those podiums to the point where you can draw a lot of different conclusions and you could say well did he really mean this or did he really mean that and when it comes down to it this team has been undramatic and I think from the outside or from people who want it to be more dramatic,

you know, they've been trying really hard, but it just ultimately at the end of the day, it really hasn't been. So I expect a contract to be done soon enough. If it's not, then we will go back to this moment and say, well, the owner said he wanted it. So what the heck happened there? But at least for all intents and purposes, as of right now,

I'm expecting that to happen at some point with the way that Mark Wolf talked. And I think maybe Quacey, when he gave us that housing analogy, had said that, well, it's like building a house, 90% is done, and then the 10% takes the longest time. I guess that might be what's happening here. And again, we'll change as the information changes. But I think this is a significant shift

in how we were talking about this before. Now let's go over to our sit down with Kevin O'Connell here at the owner's meetings. He, it was a huge tell all about Rogers. He cried, we cried, it was very emotional. We hugged at the end. No, there wasn't much Oprah to the discussion with Kevin O'Connell. And once again, I think sometimes things are just what they say they are.

He talked about having conversations with Rogers. Now, importantly, he said that Rogers reached out to them or reached out to him. So our idea that Rogers wanted to be a Minnesota Viking, I think, was dead on. And he did not dance around the fact that they had conversations. And I asked Kevin O'Connell, I was like, how does J.J. McCarthy feel about your conversations with Aaron Rodgers?

And in very typical Kevin O'Connell-like fashion, he said, well, I told him. And he said, it is a core belief of Kevin O'Connell to communicate. And so he said, it is a core belief of Kevin O'Connell to communicate. And so he said that the entire time that they had had discussions with Aaron Rodgers, that he had kept JJ McCarthy in the loop on those discussions. And I also feel like we're very close to this potentially being not a thing. If Rodgers signs with another team, I saw there was a report that he was throwing with DK Metcalf but I would say that Kevin O'Connell talked about it as in the very

similar way to Quasi Adolfo Mensah maybe with less detail and less follow-ups about that but it seems that what happened was he talked to Aaron Rogers extensively on multiple occasions maybe over a period of time. And then they decided, thanks, but we're going to go forward with JJ McCarthy. And with someone like Aaron Rogers, because injuries can always happen and whatever else that you are not going to come out and publicly say, Aaron Rogers, screw off. And plus, Aaron probably wouldn't like that. And it might be disrespecting one of the best quarterbacks of all time. I think we've

got our answer and the only thing that's maybe left to mystery is exactly how close was some people say 50-50 some people say it was nowhere close to that or whatever else as of right now their plan I think is very clearly to go forward with JJ McCarthy as was the plan the entire time. Yeah and he talked about that plan. Kevin O'Connell talked about that plan to us and basically said guys we had a quarterback plan in place and the plan was JJ McCarthy. Now part of that conversation was directly related to you having conversations with Aaron Rogers. So this wasn't made up out of thin air, but I do think at its core, whether there was

a ton of interest or a little bit of interest or medium interest, like they were just conversations being had about what would this look like, what could this look like, I don't get the sense that it really escalated towards, well if you were to come here, like, how are we going to make this thing work? I think it was just the idea of like maybe we shouldn't just not unturn this stone. Which I think also goes back to why neither Quasidof Amento or Kevin O'Connell will 100% say Aaron Rodgers will never be the quarterback of the Vikings because things happen and you want to probably leave a sliver of that option open. But right now, it is abundantly clear that their primary focus is on the development of JJ McCarthy and I think

when we go back to last summer and how how really good he looked over the course of that training camp and how much he improved over the course of that training camp and how dynamic he looked in that preseason game like we saw it you saw it they saw it and I saw it, they saw it. And I think that's why, like, it's easy to kind of shift your mind to like, no, this was the plan in place. Let's not overthink this thing. Let's see what we have in the guy that we invested two years in the evaluation process. And the number 10

overall pick in the 2024 draft, let's see what we have in him. And let's not blow up this whole plan for a 41 year old. I think it's pretty clear that that's the direction they're going in and that should be the direction they're going in. It's what has kind of been, you know, rolling down the tracks ever since Sam Darnold walked out of that door. We had some twists and turns with Aaron Rodgers' rumors, but it was JJ McCarthy all along. There's no doubt about that and that's why it never felt super likely that it was going to happen. I think it was more just the longer we waited and the fewer

free agents we spoke to and the less public Kevin O'Connell was, the more it left open to the imagination and you And this is one of those things where we just can't. I mean, if you're Kevin O'Connell, I could see why he would not just walk out and say, no, we don't want Aaron Rodgers. But at the same time, on the outside, you have a lot of different reports. And clearly, you had people inside the building telling

people outside the building that there were certain things going on and certain percentages of certain things happening and it just adds to The mystery and we had to kind of wait for the mystery to be resolved which I feel like it more or less is now And hey, it's exactly where we expected we were going to be with JJ McCarthy Now that said we did ask Kevin O'Connell a number of questions about JJ McCarthy. Something that stood out to me was about his recovery and what he's been able to do, because the coaches cannot go down. Now, I think this is interesting. Like, is there video cameras?

Or they shut the cameras off? Like, when KOC accidentally bumps into him and says, oh, maybe you could try this. Oh, I didn't say that. They're in the same building working out every day, but they can't technically coach him. They talked about sort of pitch counts with him throwing and the fact that JJ McCarthy already knows the offense and knows the

things that he is going to have to work on in order to be the Vikings quarterback. And so he can sort of do his rehab in a way that also benefits him preparing for the spring and preparing to be the Vikings quarterback. Now it is a lot to go through for JJ McCarthy over this last year and there is a lot of strain on the body to recover and then prepare himself and all those sorts of things. But it seemed to me like that JJ McCarthy was going to be ready to go with the spring and he sort of joked about how like McCarthy's gonna be real ready to go when they could get guys back in the building. But it's really just kind of a team meeting and a little bit of a workout when they first do their off season workouts as part of the whole off season program with OTAs and mini camps and all that sort of thing. program with OTAs and mini camps and all that sort of thing. But the way it sounded was that JJ McCarthy will be ready to go and that they are going

to lean heavily on all the information that they gathered from last year. And I'm sure that there's going to have to be some patience involved with him re-learning those things. But it also sounds like they've been able to tailor him doing his recovery to what he needs to know with the playbook, the protections, the footwork, the depth of targets and all sorts of different things that he would have learned last year. Yeah. And we're talking about all the things that he learned last year and the plan that he's

put in place from the fundamentals that existed last year. And stay with me for a second. But like the only way Aaron Rogers was going to go away, the rumors were going to go away was one, if he signed elsewhere or two, if the Vikings shot it down. Now I thought of a third way it'll go away. When we see JJ McCarthy on the field. A big reason like this unknown has become so amplified is because we're still talking about JJ McCarthy in like the past tense of like well remember what he did last year as soon as that man steps foot on the field

as soon as he starts playing in the ball around like we saw him with that cannon arm like people aren't gonna be thinking about Aaron Rodgers they're gonna be thinking about the present which is JJ McCarthy in the future where this thing could go. But until they're back on the field working out together, like this kind of invention of things that are happening is probably going to just kind of persist because we don't have anything tangible to really talk about but JJ McCarthy except for like a development curve that existed mostly off the field last season. So all of that is me saying I cannot wait for OTAs and I generally don't say that. Like I don't really don't say like can't wait to get back out and watch like guys that we know what they have continue to show us what they have. Like

we don't really know and I think that's why this offseason is so exciting on top of the 300 million dollar spending spree they went on like it's all with the backdrop of Like man, this guy's gonna get back on the field relatively soon He said on you know up in Adams with K Adams that like he feels he's at a hundred percent Like that's good news as well. Like all of these things we will finally get to see here this month, probably next month when we're actually there on the field and we're there looking at it. But I just think we are finally kind of at the light at the end of the tunnel with this entire situation.

One which will be fully resolved, I think, when he's taking those first team reps, when he's on the field with his teammates, when he's unquestionably, like, the guy, because we see it with our own two eyes on the practice field at TCO Performance Center. I look forward to that day for sure. Now, how do you feel about Kevin O'Connell's answer?

And I promised we did ask him about other stuff, but he had a lot of great information on J.J. McCarthy. He was asked about the whole QB1 thing and that he has not been given that official title. Now, Quasi-Dalfa-Mensa joked around with us about like, well, you know, has anybody ever named QB1? I was, I think so? I don't think there's usually often a whole lot of gray area about who the starting quarterback is.

And if you have gray area, then maybe you have a problem at the starting quarterback. He did not say, oh, I've told JJ, he's the guy and there's no chance it can ever change. I think we just know that and coaches don't want to do that. Like they always want players competing for their jobs. They always want players feeling like they got to look over their shoulder and bring their best every day. And that may just be like an old timey type of coach thing because I mean Brett Rippon got another shout out today but aside from that they did talk about other options in terms of backup quarterbacks and I would imagine that after the whole comp pick thing is off the table after what May 1st that we will see not only a backup quarterback but I'm guessing that several free agents will sign after that because the Vikings have handled the comp formula pretty well and they're in line to get what a third and two fourths or something like that.

It's going to be good for them unless they spend a lot of money right now on a backup quarterback and then it will be less good for them. So that's going to happen at some point. But I just can't make a whole lot out of him not being named the starting quarterback. That might be a thing that it's like the week of the season and you know he's taken every first team rep all the way through and Carson Wentz is his backup or something. And KOC comes out and says, you know what guys,

I'm finally gonna make it official. But I remember, I mean, Mike Zimmer, I wouldn't name whether Sean Hill or Sam Bradford was his quarterback in 2016 when we all knew it was Sam Bradford. So it may just be one of those coach things and they want to make sure that they're still putting pressure on JJ McCarthy.

Like you have to earn it every single day. But it feels like everybody knows this was the plan. Everybody knows how important this is. It really doesn't need to be said. It would only need to be said because the Rogers stuff was out there. If it wasn't, we wouldn't even have ever have any question about whether he was the starting quarterback.

Yeah. I think sometimes like the simplest answer is the right answer. And like JJ McCarthy is QB1. Whether he's been told that, whether KOC talks to us and tells us that, whether he goes on NFL Network and proclaims, JJ McCarthy is my starting quarterback like everything that Exists within the build of this roster is that JJ McCarthy is gonna be QB one next season But I don't read too much into it either that he hasn't been named the starter now

It would have made a headline if and it certainly would have made a headline for all, you know, the writers purposes, like if Kevin O'Connell came out today and said, J.J. McCarthy's my starter. But that he didn't doesn't really matter to me. Like he is clearly invested in the development of this kid more than the semantics of where he is on this depth chart. And that frankly matters more to me than whether with definitive wording JJ McCarthy is named QB1. I think all of the reps that he's going to benefit from are going to be examples that yeah he's the he's the number one quarterback on the depth chart. I think where he kind of fits into the leadership structure of this team

is gonna be reflective of, yeah, Jajamacarthy is the number one quarterback on the depth chart. There's gonna be everything that is kind of just screaming the answer in our face and it already has been. So I don't really read too much into the fact that he won't come out and say it. It would in some ways be a little strange if he did because

The kid still hasn't taken a snap. He's thrown like I think you have the number like 700 ish passes since high school Like it would almost be weirder if you if the head coach is like, yeah, that's the guy like we're not gonna make him earn it There is something very old-timey old-school about football at its core and it's like earning your stripes. I think as new school as an approach can get, there is still going to be that like fundamental nature of like having to and wanting to earn your spot on this team. And I think that's really all they're making him do here. He's, he's the quarterback of the future. He's the quarterback of the future.

He's the quarterback of the present. But I don't think we'll get that definitive. He's my QB1, maybe ever, maybe until week one when he's under center, when he's taking snaps from Ryan Kelly. But until then, just pay attention and everything will kind of be presented to you through facts that just kind of play out in front of you. So at one point during our discussion with Kevin O'Connell, I said, you know, you want to talk about some free agents,

some other free agents, you want to talk about something that's not the quarterback position. And but I still framed it through the quarterback position. And I said to him, how do you feel like you've set up J.J. McCarthy through what you've done in free agency? And his answer was interesting because I think he regretted what he said when Mark Craig asked him about where do you feel like the offensive line is and he said after the game

he was so frustrated, disappointed, and it was an honest answer. He said, we've got to get better in the interior. And we brought that up exactly one billion times in trying to guess what they were going to do. And we were right. We were completely right. And so he acknowledged that. I think he would have taken it back

because he expressed his respect for Garrett Bradbury and so forth. But it was extremely clear how important it was to him to go get Ryan Kelly. I really got that impression from Kevin O'Connell today that that was something he saw the violence of Ryan Kelly, for one, the size of Ryan Kelly. This guy is an enormous pass blocker

who has been through the ringer in the NFL. He has dealt with a lot of different quarterbacks. He's a great leader there. And I don't think that Garrett Bradbury lacked leadership. I think what Garrett Bradbury didn't have was edge and size. I mean, he might have been a nasty player, but it was hard to make that show up at 200 and I'm going to say 280 pounds by the end of the season where Ryan Kelly is bigger and I think a nastier player with more of an edge to him, where I think he will take full command

of that offensive line pretty fast. My impression of him was that, this guy's gonna be in charge, and he's gonna be in charge quickly. But that was the biggest thing that stood out to me is that he also pointed to the interior of the D-line and how good they are on the edges and just looking at needing to get better

in the middle of the field based on what happened to them last year. But that was the biggest thing that stood out to me is I think just how important he viewed it to get Ryan Kelly. Yeah, and it totally makes sense. You're already going to be putting a lot on J.J. McCarthy's plate with him stepping into the spotlight with a team that is locked, loaded, ready to go and try and compete for a Super Bowl. Like it would benefit him immensely to have a guy with Ryan Kelly's experience to help him at the line of scrimmage, to help him in protection calls, to help

guide him along until there will come a day when when J.J. McCarthy can probably do all of that by himself and he probably could do it right now but man it's gonna help to have a guy with You know 140 star. I don't even know how many Brian Kelly, but he's been around forever That leadership in the middle of the offensive line with two book and tackles that are among the best in the game Right guards sitting next to Ryan Kelly who he's played with now for a few seasons I to Ryan Kelly who he's played with now for a few seasons. I didn't think too much of it at the time when they signed Ryan Kelly other than like, Gary Bradbury's career with the Vikings is done. But now as you kind of play out the offseason, you really think about

it. Like that might be the biggest signing because of just everything it means not only for the offensive nine, not only for the interior of the trenches that that was clearly something that they wanted to enhance, but just for what it can mean for JJ McCarthy as it kind of, you know, he moves forward into his career. I think you're right. Like that is a huge thing that Kevin O'Connell didn't shy away from either. I think he's right. Like that is a huge thing that Kevin O'Connell didn't shy away from either. I think he's very clearly excited about what Ryan Kelly can bring to the team

and how he can kind of help bring J.J. McCarthy along himself. I also felt like the way he was talking about Ryan Kelly is that that's one of the reasons Will Fries is here. It seemed like from when we talked to Will that Ryan Kelly was really important to him and then I just got that feeling from Kevin O'Connell's answer that I don't know

that Will Fries comes here with all the interests that would have existed around the league for a top guard if there was a chance that he was going to be a Minnesota Viking without Ryan Kelly. So it could be a domino falling. That was just kind of a feeling I got. Now there's some other people we've talked to down here because it's kind of weird.

Just to describe the scene, we're at this humongous, freakish mansion hotel, and all the richest people in the universe are wandering around us. And there's also coaches, GMs, PR people, and tons of media jammed in a tent where they gave us Mike, Jersey Mike subs and that was delicious so shout out to them for that. But you know you bump into a lot of people and have a lot of conversations and one of

the discussions that I had with someone in the league. There it is. Was that when it comes to the draft it's a really interesting conversation about this year of the strengths of the draft and how there aren't that many top notch talent players, but there's a lot of, hey, this guy could be good. And does that guarantee that the Vikings want to be a team that moves down?

And we both think that they will move down from number 24 overall. But I also got a little bit of the idea that if somebody in that next tier who could be a serious impact player for them were to fall to number 24, that they would not necessarily want to move away from that player just to get more draft picks.

Like to them, I think anyone who knows the analytics of the draft would say, well, Quacey must just want more picks. And Rick Spielman, who I don't know how analytically was about the draft, always wanted more picks. So, I mean, I don't know if it's an analytics thing. I don't know that they think that way. And last year with Dallas Turner, it kind of showed that more picks isn't always

the way that they look at it. Might be more talent is what they're looking for. So I just got a little bit of the impression in talking to people. In the league. That it's just not a lock. It's just not a guarantee that the Vikings will move down because they'll probably have top grades on guys. And if one of them ends up there at number 24,

they'll just take them. Yeah, and like that makes sense in a vacuum. Like if you just think critically about it and it is hard to separate the forest from the trees that this part in the offseason when we've all done a million draft sims and traded down 50 times and acquired 15 picks in the process and it's like well duh like do this and you get all the picks like it's easy to lose sight of the fact that the draft is about getting the best players, too. So, yeah, maybe it is cool that I put together a draft somewhere where the Vikings ended up with nine picks

and I drafted a bunch of players, but if they have a high grade on somebody and that guy is slipping, falling, and it happens every year, there is a guy, sometimes multiple guys, that you thought, oh, according to all these mock drafts that I looked at during my drafts, and this guy should have been taken already. Well, that's going to probably happen at some point. And I think that's why this offseason was so big for the Vikings. They have afforded themselves the ability to, if a very talented player that they love, insert player X here,

that they love, that they think has a very high grade, that has just kind of fallen through the cracks over the course of the draft, if that guy falls to them at 24 and he's staring them into the face, because of what they've done in free agency because they have managed to address every single one of their needs and then some you are in the position to just take the best player available then and I know if they do that like there are draft nerds out there that will say like this is stupid they should have traded back But it is about getting the best player. And sometimes one player that you have a high grade on at 24 is better than two players at 42 and 75. Like it's, that's how it works sometimes. And we have, you know, it's a three year process, sometimes four before you can determine whether a draft was successful or not. And I know the grades are gonna come out

on that Friday of the first round. Here's what I graded the Vikings at. But I think the way that they've set up their off season is they've given themselves the optionality of like, yeah, like this guy's great. We all love him. Let's take him at 24. If that guy's not there, like, yeah, trade back.

Get more picks. I think that's what we would both do. But if a guy that I was in love with was there, I would be pretty, pretty interested and inclined to just pull the trigger and turn the card in. I just think it speaks to a little bit more of the philosophy of this team that it might not be the traditional analytical way to think of it. They might look at it. And last year when Quacey came on this very podcast podcast if you want to search that and listen to that conversation still very much applies to

their team building and JJ McCarthy honestly I should repost it but you know Quacey said to me last year on the show that you know they kind of looked at and I filled in the blanks with Dallas Turner but they kind of look at things as who's really moving the needle. Like what type of players, what premium positions are really moving the needle. Because when you look at the way they approach free agency, there's things you can find and there's things

that you can't and when they believe in the idea that they can bring in anybody at any position because of the NFLPA survey, the place that the Wilfs have built there, TCO Performance Center, the coach and his reputation. When you believe that you can land your Eric Willsons, your Rondale Moores, your depth players, and even significant role players, which is what I'm calling someone like Javon Hargrave or Jordan Mason, I would call them significant role players like Jefferson and Gennard are driving the bus

here. You probably can't find bus drivers outside of the draft, but you can certainly find significant role players. And if that's part of their philosophy, and that means taking Malachi Starks at number 24 or whoever it might be, their favorite corner, their favorite defensive tackle, Derek Harmon gets thrown out all the time because we've heard that they like him and that they've talked to him. So you know, things like that. I think that that philosophy is sort of a little bit of the anti, the little zig when everyone zags, but we've also seen them do that. Like they've done that when it comes to the free agents

and getting players with injury histories and believing in themselves and betting on the things that they can do as a franchise. So we're about to completely melt. It is extremely hot. And I know no one in Minnesota has any bad, you know, any sympathy for us because we're here in Florida, but it is very hot where we're sitting right now. So we're gonna wrap up, but I just wanna guess your opinion real quick. Mark Wilf

did not feel like the league needs to change the structure of the playoffs even though they got screwed by it last year. I would love to see it changed. I think it's totally unfair. Why would you have a better record and not get a better seed? But I don't think that one's going anywhere. Do you? No, I don't.

And I think that goes back to the old timey football thing of you should be rewarded for getting out of your division. Your reward for getting out of the division would be you make the playoffs still. But I am all for seeding one through seven. It does not sound like that is going to happen. Not all too surprising considering the owners vote on these things, but I wish it would. I wish the best teams played the worst teams and it just was like it should be in a seeding system.

But it doesn't seem like that's going anywhere. Okay, that's it for us here from West Palm Beach. Also have a conversation with Ben Gessling coming up tomorrow after we sit down again with Kevin O'Connell. This was the first we get to do it again tomorrow around a very busy breakfast table for about a half an hour to 45 minutes, so we will recap that one as well. Thank you very much to everybody for taking the time to watch slash listen and we'll talk to you all very soon. Football. Football.