Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - What kind of power will the next Vikings GM have?

Episode Date: May 4, 2026

Matthew Coller answers Vikings fan questions about the draft and the general manager search. Will the next Vikings GM be able to evaluate the head coach? What should their long-term philosophy be? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hey, everybody, welcome to another episode of Purple Insider presented by Fandul. Matthew Collar here, and I have a full mailbag of great questions and takes from Vikings fans regarding the general manager situation and the NFL draft. So I want to dive into those. Those are messages that have been emailed to me or sent to me through DM by people that couldn't necessarily join the live show. So I want to break these down in just a second. But let me say real quick before we dive into it, there's something out there about the

wills potentially selling the team. And no, that's not going to happen. They're not selling the team. And just because they had a lighter offseason to get right with the salary cap in the future after they've been spending like crazy and they needed an adjustment in their spending in order to get right with the salary cap does not mean that they want to get rid of the entire franchise. So it's been confirmed by Ben Gessling and Alec Lewis with sources that that's not even beginning

to be any sort of conversation. So just to clear that up in case you saw it somewhere on the inner webs, that's not a thing. So, okay, we begin from the mailbag here with Dan says, I hope the next general manager has a high level of discipline to keep the future in mind. And I think that it would be a great fit with the owner's desire to be relevant every year. The goal should be to keep O'Connell in place for a long time. Steelers style, and he's got four things that he wants from the new GM. Number one is don't do void year.

Number two is get deals on future draft capital instead of trading away the year's present picks. Number three is be trade sharks that steal away good players for less than market value when other teams get in a salary cap bind instead of always being the chumps that have to send good players packing. And number four is actually draft best player available, particularly with early picks. So let me just say of the fourth one that every year, every team says, you know, we're just going to take the best person on our board. And oddly enough, that person ends up fitting either a short term or a long-term need for that franchise. I'm not saying the teams don't ever do this, but it's hard to do in a 32-team league where you're always losing players with the salary cap and guys get older and you just

end up with openings on your team. It's almost impossible not to draft a defensive tackle if he was high on your board because you have a desperate need at defensive tackle. So if future GMX, whoever that might be, we're going to have to come up with a nickname for the future GM until he arrives. But the general manager who eventually will be running the Minnesota Vikings, that person will probably also draft for need and it is what it is. I know that it's something that theoretically it would make a lot of sense to never do. Just draft the top player on your board every single time.

But, you know, the Vikings needed a wide receiver when they drafted Jefferson. They needed a tackle when they drafted Derisaw. Sometimes those things intersect. But I don't know that there's many GMs in the league that are just saying, hey, we have three linebackers, but we're going to take another one because that's the best player on the board. But I don't think that's what you mean. I think you mean in general not to reach for things that are just of need, which did seem to happen.

lot, especially during the Spielman era. So I get that. The other stuff, I mean, void years are not something that you should totally avoid. You can use them. And it can actually be a very effective strategy under the right circumstances. Now, under the wrong circumstances would be we're desperate. We need to fit this guy under the cap. We need that one more signing that's going to get us over the top.

Throw some void years on that thing. Who cares if we all get fired? later, that's the next GM's problem. No, you don't want to do it like that. But the Philadelphia Eagles have become the void year kings now that New Orleans stopped doing it so much, but they've done it in a window where they expect to be competing for a Super Bowl every single year. And I think that what you're getting at with that is to just be realistic about where you're

at. Because if J.J. McCarthy had been really good and the Vikings went into this year's free agency and said, you know what, man? McCarthy's taking his big step into year three, rookie quarterback contract, let's sign five players, do anything you can to give them lower cap hits, because now is the time that you push the chips to the middle of the table.

Well, then I would be in support of that, even if there were long-term implications, because you have to take advantage when you get your shot. Again, there's a lot of football teams out there that are always rising and falling. and if you have that golden ticket of the rookie quarterback contract, then you should do that. Or if you have the golden ticket of your team, your roster,

with your quarterback in Jalen Hertz's case, is good enough to win a Super Bowl. They already did it. So why not take as many shots as you possibly can until the wheels come off? The Saints did it with Drew Breeze. For many years, they squeezed every contract they could. And you wouldn't do it any other way when Drew Brees was 35, 36,

37, there has to be context. But I think what you're thinking is that this is going to be a multi-year thing after 2006, where you're trying to once again rebuild on the fly with a lot of players that are headed out and you're going to have to replace those players somehow. So drafting the best players available, not giving out void years in contracts that can hurt you down the road, trying to be the trade sharks that you mentioned of, you know, taking advantage of other teams that are in Capel and you're the one that's acquiring Jonathan Grenard as opposed to giving him away.

I think these are all really good ideas, Dan, within the context of where the Vikings are right now. They may reach a point where it's a little bit different, where all the sudden, hey, you are in Super Bowl contention mode and, well, last offseason turned into a horror show, a long term for the Vikings. I think with what we believed going into it about the readiness of Jay, J. McCarthy, I would defend a lot of it. I wouldn't defend all of it, but I would defend at least a good percentage of overspending around the rookie quarterback contract because, you know, had

JJ McCarthy worked out last year, they were strong enough to win nine games even without very good quarterback play at all. In fact, you know, atrocious quarterback play that was, I think, 28th out of 32 in quarterback rating at the end of the year and they still won nine games. So imagine if they had been 10th. Like they would have been a legit Super Bowl contender going into the playoffs, or at very least they would have been dangerous once they got completely healthy. And we do forget a lot of the things that went sideways in terms of health last season with the defense and Cashman got hurt and Harrison Smith took half the year to get back

and all those things. But if they were going into the playoffs, look what they did to that Lions offense at the end of the year. They would have been a dangerous team. So it's not like we need to look at. everything they did before and say it was all bad, it was all mistakes. There was a big mistake that turned into a total catastrophe, which is letting Sam Darnold go.

And there were some micro mistakes where this defensive tackle didn't really fit with how you wanted to play. Aaron Jones didn't produce how he did in 2024. You know, maybe the same thing goes for someone like Byron Murphy Jr. Although I think he's going to bounce back and be fine this year. but last year was a moment that you build toward to make a lot of these types of moves that you're talking about not doing. That moment will not be in 2007.

In 2007, it's going to be much more of a stockpile, stockpile, stockpile, which is what you're really getting at when it comes to assets. So you can maybe if you are signing Kyler Murray to a bigger contract, then you've got other cap space to work with. you've got assets in the draft, you've taken advantage of somebody else's situation because you manage your salary cap pretty well. So I think that these are all very good ideas. And I tend to agree with that being something that fits with how the Wills want to manage.

And with O'Connell, I think it's better off to go with a coach that you know can run a culture and who can when he has a starting quarterback, win a lot of games and put together a good passing game we are going to see about the run game this year, but at least there was a self awareness from O'Connell to go hire Frank Smith from Miami to now draft a fullback, maybe slight over correction, but I actually think Bretteson is going to be really good. Some people questioned in the fifth round or whatever, but day three, just go get your guys. So I think that's going to be tested a little bit, like that self-awareness of investing, changing out offensive line coaches to go with someone who is going to.

to be better in terms of designing a run game. So trying to shore up that weakness that they've had for years. If you have a coach who is willing to make adjustments, which has been a criticism of O'Connell that I think is a little bit on the unfair side, because I think he has adjusted the offense several different times. But last year, the quarterback play, there was not a whole lot you could do. And I think we're going to see it again for Kyler Murray. But why not maybe one more year and then we kind of see where we're at with the new GM?

if the new GM is going to be someone who's in a position to evaluate O'Connell. But I think it's much more favorable to have a long-term head coach that you get frustrated by their weaknesses, but you know they're much stronger than a lot of the guys who cycle in and out that get hired and fired, hired and fired, which is going on around the NFL. How hard is it when you're doing that to build a consistent offense, consistent defense, consistent culture when you're making those changes all the time. So, you know, the evaluation process should always be happening in the NFL with coaches. But if you're saying, hey, it's much better to stick with the long term of someone who's won in the regular season and will eventually get there than it is to bring in a new GM.

Hey, if they go eight and nine, everybody's fired. Like, that's probably not the best way to go about it. Okay, next question. That's a good one. Really appreciate that. Here is John, who said, I firmly believe the next general manager, if he is a new candidate, will just be a yes man to how the Wilf's want to do business. And I think that includes the Vikings' current temporary GM, Rob Brzezinski.

I'd like to see somewhat of a football guy like Spielman, but not someone that has to trade back to accumulate 10 to 13 picks every draft. I also want him to be given the authority to evaluate the entire team and coaching staff this season. and make changes as he sees it. If that means a head coaching change at the end of the year, then so be it. And if that means tearing it down to the studs, so be it. I think ownership is too caught up in the thought process of collaboration. And that doesn't necessarily work. So a lot of layers to this thing.

Just starting with the very beginning, I mean, the Vikings ownership is, I think, been a punching bag a little bit recently after the firing of Quasi Adafo Menta, because I will admit, it's odd timing. It's not something that I expected. And any time you do something like that, where you have a 14-win season and everybody seems kumbaya, and then a nine-win season, but this major embarrassment of the quarterback you let go goes in Wednesday,

Super Bowl is somebody is going to be scapegoated. And then once the firing happens, of course, everybody empties the notebook and everything else. But it does make the Wilf's look a little bit like wait, are you guys like dialed in or what's going on here for this stuff to have been going on behind the scenes? And then you wait till he goes to the senior bowl and starts talking to other GMs and prospects. And then you fire him like that all that looks strange. It certainly does.

But I also think when you're talking about like being a yes man to ownership, I mean, every general manager in the league works for someone. They all work for the ownership. And the way that it generally works with singular owners like this, a single family, not like Walmart owning the Denver Broncos or whatever, when it's a single family, it's like they have a way that they want to approach the leadership of their team. And the general manager works within those parameters. As we know, one of those parameters, as you said, tear it all down, has been to stay competitive. And I think if it wasn't, then in 2023, they might have just traded away,

Kirk Cousins along with the rest of the group that left. I don't think they're terrified of letting good players go. We have seen that in 2023. We saw it in 2019 to 2020, that they eventually, everyone in the NFL has to re-up their roster and refresh their roster when players get older and expensive. But you can never criticize the amount of assets that the Wulfs give to their leaders. I mean, they give their coaching staff the best possible facility. They've got one of the biggest, if not the biggest coaching staff of the entire NFL.

They have endless dollars to spend on free agents, which they have spent more cast overcap than anybody else before this year. So it's reasonable that they didn't go crazy. And Rob kept them on the tracks for this year. But when you talk about like, oh, they're just going to be a yes man. I mean, that's everybody. That's every job who has an owner, has a boss, has a CEO that they're going to give you what the directives are. have to follow them. Your point about the collaboration is interesting because every GM also has to collaborate,

but there's a feeling in some buildings that, and I've used the phrase the buck stops with them, that the final decision maker is this person and everybody knows that. So even if you feel heard as the scouting department or the pro personnel or the coaching staff or whatever, that GM is going to call the shots. and it's much more of a, that's the guy right there. And I don't think the Vikings wanted that from Quasi Adafo Mensa. And then when he didn't do it and they made mistakes, then it was, well, let's all point the finger at that guy.

And it was all his fault that Sam Darnold left. And it's all his fault that they messed up a draft and everything else, as if he was doing it all alone. Yet he was following the directives of a collaboration. And there was headbutting within that collaboration. and so forth. But there's no building where you're not collaborating, where it's just one guy who says, I'm in my office, I'm calling the shots, these are my decisions, everybody else, I don't know

why you work here. I don't think that there's a GM in the league that is like that. So they're going to still have that as part of the next general manager. It just could there be someone that feels like when something goes right or wrong, when it goes right, you praise everybody else. When it goes wrong, you put it on your shoulders. When there's, you know, a difference of opinion between the pro personnel people and the coaching staff, the GM says, I'm calling this shot. This is on this is on me if it goes wrong.

It hasn't felt like there's been that with the Vikings since Rick Spielman. And that also resulted to some extent in Spielman and Zimmer battling, right, where they were drafting players Zimmer didn't want in 2021. And then they're angry at each other. So it's football. It's super competitive. hard. All these people are the, you know, alphas or whatever. So there's going to be, you know, power struggles and push and pull all the time with no matter who you have. What you want is, I think, a steady leader who is willing to take responsibility and is also willing to hear people out,

but is also the person who says, all right, I hear you, but I'm making this final decision. That's mine. In terms of getting more draft picks, that was good, but not the way that Rick did it. Like, more draft picks is great, but not more seventh round draft picks because you just picked four or five players that have like a three percent chance of actually succeeding. You might as well just have no players in the seventh and get undrafted free agents, which I think was a little more of a quesia daffal-mensa thing. But the other part that you said, though, that is interesting is the head coaching part. And will the new general manager have the ear of the willves to evaluate the head coach or is the general manager being told Kevin O'Connell is your coach and that is entirely

on us. And I think that that's the case. I think the Wilfs, they have full control of that. It is their call 100%. A GM is not barging into their office in New Jersey and saying, I want this coach fired. The Wilfs would say, we're making that call. And if we and if we want it one way, then that's how we're going to do it. But would that person, be maybe relied upon in that decision. Would you bring in a GM and then the will say to that GM, what do you think of the way Kevin O'Connell coached the team this year? I don't know if that's going to be the case or not.

I have never gotten the sense that there's anything but support for Kevin O'Connell, but this ownership, obviously, when things go wrong, there is a reactionary nature sometimes, even not giving O'Connell a contract extension after 2003. they clearly did not lose in 2003. There's some game management stuff in there and so forth, but they didn't miss the playoffs because of Kevin O'Connell. They missed the playoffs because Kirk Cousins tore his Achilles that year. And still, they decided to wait and see on him.

So I actually don't have a great sense for are they completely good and totally locked in with this coaching staff, O'Connell Flores, which I think would be a good idea because they're good at their jobs, but, or are they bringing in a new GM to ask that person at the end of the year, what do you think of the job that Kevin O'Connell did? And of course, if they want a playoff game, then there won't be much of a conversation, right?

So that is a very interesting element of this GM search. Next question comes from Matthew B. Says, the draft pick that confuses me most is Caleb Tiernan in the third round. Why take a backup guard slash tackle prospect? When starting level centers were available, I support getting more offensive line help, but I feel like backups could be found later in the drafts. A couple things on this, the two centers that it seems the NFL had way above the rest were Logan Jones and Jake Slaughter and they were off the board.

And the gap between them and the next group of centers is enormous. So when you say there were starting level centers on the board, I think anybody who's waiting until the fourth round or the fifth round to take them is basically saying, no, there weren't. And I know that there were some analysts who were big on Sam Hect. It's, I don't know. I like Jake Slaughter the best of the group. I think we talked about that many times. But, you know, Slaughter was 6 foot 5, over 300 pounds, really good athlete, great experience.

I don't know if the league saw Hacked as the same level as Jones and Slaughter because of where they were drafted. So if the Vikings only had two guys that they thought were starting caliber centers, and they maybe believed, because Eric DeCosta, the GM of the Ravens, he said on a podcast that they were going to draft one of those guys in the third. But they didn't think that they were going to be taken in the second round. And then when they were, they were like, okay, well, there's no other guys to take here. So if the Ravens evaluators were saying, nah, that's all the centers that could start, that probably means that the Vikings came to the same conclusion. When it comes to Tiernan, though, it does take putting your, maybe not tinfoil hat on, but maybe your thinking cap a little bit to get it with Tiernan. I mean, from one perspective, they have not signed Brian O'Neill to a contract extension.

I mean, that's pretty important that you're talking about a guy who has the physical traits to play offensive tackle in the NFL. Yes, he has short arms. And yes, he's going to have to figure out some ways to work around that. but if you watch this guy, he's got explosiveness to him that you see and size. I mean, he is 6'7 plus and he is 315 pounds. Like, that's a dude that is NFL offensive tackle sized for starters. And I would guess, based on his tape and his numbers, his data was really good in the big

tent over the last two years. So this is a player who has shown legit possibilities of playing tackle. And if O'Neill ends up not signing an extension, which is possible because Darrasaw is very expensive and right tackles are going for 25 plus these days. So you might be talking about spending 60 million between your two tackles as much as everyone appreciates Brian O'Neill. That's just hard to figure out how you're going to fit that in if you are maybe, you know, planning on a Kyler Murray extension down the road or something like that. And then there's the right tag or the right guard where Will Fromm. is owed $10 million on the third day of the league year in 2007. And that's just not going to happen.

His cap hit is about to go up to $21 million in 2007. Not going to happen. So either they're going to completely rework that deal if they love Will Fries or more likely than not, they will probably end up cutting Will Fries or trading him if they can. If I'm another team, I'm kind of curious maybe right now. Are you thinking about like what you're going to do there with Tiernan? But if you are thinking extend Brian O'Neill, then you cannot have a $25 to $27 million right tackle,

$21 million cap hit, which is even higher than the average annual value for your right guard. And then at left tackle, a guy who's making 35. And there's not much flexibility on Christian Derisaw's deal. So I think that one of those positions is going to be open, and they'll probably cross-trained Tiernan at both of them and see what happens. for him at right guard or tackle. It's also, and once you get to kind of the third round, I think that you should take players that you just really like.

Like, we were just talking about best player available. I mean, if you think this guy has starting potential a tackle, you should take him because players get hurt constantly. Contracts come up constantly. And even if you had to wait two years and then this guy becomes really good at tackle, oh man, I mean, that's like found money for several years of a cheap offensive tackle. So that was actually a move. that when it first happened, because of the available wide receivers and so forth,

I was like, really a tackle, huh? But the more that I've watched him, number one, I just like, go watch. It's okay. Like Kyle Shanahan said he watches highlight real. So it's, you're not breaking the law by going to YouTube and typing in Caleb Tiernan in a highlight tape or whatever. Go watch him. I mean, he has tackle movement skills.

And I think that's one that on draft night, you kind of go, okay, but then two years later, you go, oh, that's, that's why they drafted Caleb Tiernan, right there, or even, heck, it could be week seven, week five that you go, oh, that's why they drafted Caleb Tiernan because now he's playing guard or something like that. So it's an interesting pick and it doesn't jump off the page, but it's one that could kind of quietly end up working out for them. All right. Next question comes from Howie.

Howie says, you may have discussed this, but I was a big fan. of DeAngelo Ponds in this draft, the Vikings traded down to get Jake Goulde and missed out on Ponds. Did you like the trade of the pick drafting Goulde? Would you have liked them to stick and draft Ponds? So, well, the thing about Jake Goulde was he was also on my list for guys that I really liked

for the Minnesota Vikings in this draft. So when they traded down and missed one guy that I liked and then drafted another guy that I liked, I was like, well, okay. I mean, this works for me. And I watch a lot of Goldaie. And he, I think the Andrew Van Ginkle thing is obvious. But even if he doesn't become Andrew Van Ginkle, is he a Blake Cashman, but a little bit bigger and a little bit longer?

I mean, if you can have a linebacker, you're like a traditional linebacker who goes at six foot four and 240 pounds and moves like that and has good instincts, he is really good when he goes back in coverage at understanding space, understanding route. combinations behind him. You can see it. Like he's very good with, you know, watching the quarterback eyes and breaking up passes and getting in throwing lanes and stuff like that. Like, this guy's kind of uniquely talented. And then he can rush the passer. If you watch his game against Nebraska, he had a big sack in that game where he just kind of ducks the shoulder and gets by and sacks their quarterback. So, like, he's such a unique player that I feel like even if he doesn't become Andrew Van Ginkle, which is an incredibly high bar to set, Van Ginkle, is so unique and he's so talented.

But if he becomes a Blake Cashman, taller, bigger, can get downhill and stick his nose in it, you know, that kind of thing. I mean, that could still end up turning out just as valuable. But I did like DeAngelo Pons a lot. And I thought, you know, hey, getting a little bit, even the tiniest bit of extra draft capital by moving down, it's all good if you can still end up getting your player. And admittedly, Pons is more risky. because of his size.

There are not very many guys in the NFL, and I don't really believe in doing things this way because ball players are ball players, right? But there is some history there of corners that are that size. So if they decided they didn't really want to take the risk, and a lot of these teams also have very specific things that they look for. So just for example, the Vikings might look for corners. And Chuck Demings is like this,

who have played in some at least zone systems. And Deming's talked about on draft day, how he had played, you know, different types of systems, which they might like. They might have certain specs for what the guy has done before, what type of size or length or quickness or whatever it is that you need. And he might not have exactly fit that with his size.

But I'll be keeping an eye on that one because that was certainly a player that I thought, throw the size conversation away. this guy is very good at football. So you should be going for that. But overall, the fact that they got Jake Golda, I was perfectly fine with that. But you're certainly right that I liked what they had in Ponds. Let's take a real quick break to take a look at the Fandul question of the day, my friends.

There are some props already out. Heck, it's May, folks. It's time to start thinking about 2026 season. And here's the interesting one to me, which is quarterback competitions. So the Vikings are allegedly in the group of teams having quarterback competitions, but two teams that we know are already all in is the Cleveland Browns and the Arizona Cardinals. They are having quarterback competitions.

And on Fandul right now, Deshaun Watson is the favorite to be the Cleveland Browns quarterback at minus 136. And Jacoby Brissette at minus 3.30 to be the Arizona Cardinals quarterback. My question for you is which team's quarterback situation in the NFL is the most interesting in the entire league, the most fascinating quarterback situation. I think there's probably an argument for the Pittsburgh Steelers just based on, wait, is Aaron Rogers like coming back or is he not coming back or what's going to happen there? and the other thing that I think is pretty interesting is just will Shadur Sanders make it interesting? I mean, Shadur didn't play that well when he got his chance last year, but they got some receivers, they got an offensive coach. Is there a chance that Shadur pushes Deshaun Watson?

I mean, Watson hasn't been good in a really long time. So those are the most interesting quarterback situations to me. I'm curious about what you guys think. All right, let's get back to it. Okay, the next question comes from Bant. He says, I was wondering if the plan for Banks, at least early on, is as a defensive tackle and a three-four front. Lance Zerline suggests this in his write-up. Flores sounded to me like he wants Banks to simplify and focus on excelling what he already does.

Drafting Big Citrus also makes me wonder if part of the way that you mitigate Banks' run defense issues is to give him single blockers, while Orange sucks up two blockers on the running downs. That's right. orange, uh, suck it up the blockers. I think that you are onto something here, Beren't, and I had the same thought myself. I actually think that's exactly how they're going to use, uh, Caleb Banks is from the three technique out to the five. So that means in between the guard and the tackle or over the tackle, basically.

And I think he can do both giving him a little bit more space to work with there, because the thing about defensive tackles on the interior that I think people don't fully realize is the wheels that have to turn to be good at that. So Linvall Joseph would never come out after a game and tell you, yeah, the reason that I stuffed that run, and Linval's a very bright guy, the reason I stuffed that run was I identified that they, in the backfield had this sort of set up with the, you know, running back is leaning forward when he's going to get. the ball and the offensive line was in this sort of set. And when they do this, their tendencies say that.

So I knew it was going to be this run. And that's how I exploded off the ball. But a lot of get-off and explosiveness on the interior. This is why Tom Johnson was so good is intelligence. It's preparation. It's understanding every little detail of the opposing team's offense. This is how Harrison Smith, and I know it's a very different position, still plays in the NFL until last year. we'll see if he keeps playing because identifying that stuff allows you to play way faster.

It's one of the reasons that Lewis Seen didn't make it despite the fact that he ran a 4-3 and why 40 times is probably the most overrated thing in the entire NFL because a lot of it is how fast can you see it? How quick can you identify it? So right now, I think the answer from watching Caleb Banks and I watched him more since he's been drafted is I don't, I just don't think that that's a thing for him right now. and a lot of guys come out of college without a ton of knowledge about this stuff. I think he's going to have to slowly learn and then get to that point where he is seeing it and he's been taught and he's studied the film and everything else. And the reason they draft him is they believe in his character and him as a person to be able to do this and his intelligence as a person to be able to pick up on this stuff.

So I think that maybe in Florida it was kind of like, okay, big guy, just do your thing. whereas in the NFL you can't do it that way. So I wouldn't be surprised if they kind of get him a little bit away. And you do need this at 3 tech. And you do need this at the 5 or the 4i or whatever it's going to be on the front line. But I think it gives him a little bit more of like he can make a quick move. He can get an extra step to overpower somebody. He can move a tackle for Van Ginkle to sweep in or for Dallas Turner to sweep in,

something like that because he's going to be a body mover. he's going to be strong and he can take on offensive tackles. He is that big. Most three techniques are like $2.95 and them taking on an offensive tackle is kind of like the tackle is going to win that battle. Usually the edge rushers, they win with being quicker than the offensive tackles, right? So Caleb Banks can overpower those guys, push them back, move bodies. And we're going to keep an eye on that since it's been talked about a lot of how many

plays is he just doing his job correctly or what it looks like his job is to move this guy or to get into the backfield. And I totally agree with you about Orange. They're going to put him right over that football and they're going to have him pushing people back, throwing bodies, doing stuff like that that they're not going to ask Caleb Banks to do right away. Will he be over the guard sometimes? Probably yeah. But I mean, I think you're exactly right. If you could just give him a little more room than he could cut inside, use that quick first step and just go after the passer. And maybe it's a little simplified early on. But I think that that's the type of thing that Pittsburgh would do back in the day.

We saw, gosh, they had this big guy. Was it Aaron Smith or something like that? I mean, they had, they had guys who would play these three, four defensive ends that were big dudes. But it was much more of a DE than it was a DT, except for. this guy is, he's on a completely different level of huge when it comes to that. So it is, it is a little bit traditionally three, four, but I actually think that that's what the Vikings are going to do.

And the fact that they have these kind of unique players like Josh Mattelis can allow them to, or Eric Wilson to play in like a three, four look, but it's not a three, four personnel. And then you switch in and mix and match coverages from there. And it's an absolute nightmare for opposing teams. So I do think that that's what we. will see him doing right away. Next question comes from Matt. I did not mean intentionally to load up this show with Matt and Matthews,

but, you know, they may get a tad bit of preference. Matt says, put me in the camp that is pretty disappointed to see a first round reach. I remember Brzezinski saying something like if a special talent falls to us, and if he becomes the GM, I hope this doesn't mean the definition of special talent is impressive traits rather than actual proven skill. I think a big challenge for Brzezinski or any other GM right now is do you let Flores be Flores and just get Flores players? Or do you try to moderate that so your defense is more well-rounded and if Flores moves on next year and you're not left with not flow being as being lost as to how to piece together the group? Okay, yeah, I get I get your point.

The second part. So the first part is interesting because like traits are. what these NFL people often look at. And especially coaches, I think, lean this direction where it's, you cannot invent this out of nowhere. There is no other place that you get 6'4.330 pounds and a 5040. Like, it just doesn't exist. And that's not his only good number.

It's just the one that's easiest to stand out. His entire combine was sick. So, okay, that's something that this ball of clay that you don't get handed to you very often as a coach. If you go into free agency and try to find Caleb Banks, you ain't going to find it. Like, you're going to find just, you know, 290 pound guys, you know, run stuffers that can't get after the passer because they're not quick enough. They run a 5.3 or whatever. And so I think they look at it as this is a impossible thing to get anywhere else than the draft. We have been pretty weak at this position and cobbled it all together for years. How about we just go for it and take

the big swing on Caleb Banks. Now, I feel like it's a little too rich for my blood as well. I feel like there's a riskiness there, risk factor that you go, who, okay, I guess we'll see. That is kind of the part of the draft where you have to do it. It's not top 10 where it's just locked in. These are the top players. So you have to do it.

But the numbers are what they are in terms of reaching. It's risky to do. The only other thing in terms of a reach that I will go back to is that Caleb Banks was completely in this area of the draft before the foot injury at the combine. So that changed everything for a lot of analysts. That comes from not my just making it up, but Benjamin Robinson of grinding the mocks had him at 23rd before the combine when he got hurt. And he had a great combine, so it really has to do with that injury.

But anyway, put that aside, sometimes you have to do that. Sometimes you have to look at the traits and go for it. generally though, I lean toward production more than anything. So this pick is a little more scary to me and a little more scary to you. We'll just have to see how it works out. I would have, if I'm in that seat, I would have preferred to go with somebody that had proven college production because that is the thing that correlates the most. But also, since there are so few people of Caleb Banks's size, it's not like we have a sample size to look at and go, oh yeah, there's a bunch of. there's a bunch of these guys and here's how they turned out he's he is different he is his own

unique case adding the injury to that and to tell you how bad people are on the outside of knowing injuries jermad mccoy was mocked by everyone as a first round draft pick and drops to the fourth so the outside world is not very good at knowing the injuries that's just a little bit of the the counterpoint i guess in terms of flow players uh i get what you're saying like Jacobi Thomas, for example, is totally a Brian Flores player. This is a read and react safety who is not the quickest, fastest, whatever, but IQ. They're identifying stuff. His reaction times on tape rather than what he did in the underwear Olympics was something

they clearly liked about Jacoby Thomas. But if you draft all players for this system, are they going to fit with the next system? The way I look at that, though, is I don't think is a job. GM, you could tell your coaches to not draft for fit with their team. Now, do you have to draft every player that fits with them? Probably not. But if you have someone who's as good at this is Brian Flores, who has had so much success at identifying the types of players that work for him, I think this is a little bit of an

exception to that. Normally, I would say, just draft talent, tell your coaches to figure it out. And I think that Flores is sharp enough to be able to figure it out a lot of times. but if we're talking about the third round or, I mean, the second round goal day is definitely a player for Brian Flores. But even if he doesn't work out to be Van Ginkle, there's other elements to his game. I think he'll be okay.

I guess my point is you can't try to like build your team for the possibility that someone leaves and leaves you kind of holding the bag. And a lot of times too, you would be if you love the guy trying to replace a similar system. Like I can't imagine Seattle. losing Clint Kubiak and then being like, we should get a completely different offense, right? Like, they're probably going to keep the same offense. So if Flores did leave,

then my guess would be they would try to bring in someone who at least run similar principles that fit what they have. And, you know, then you might have to overhaul some of the roster. But I don't know. I don't know. How else should they do it, though? Like, you can't be drafting with just, well, you know, he might leave sometimes.

So we don't know when that's going to be. be. We don't know how long this contract is. We know how much it's for, but we don't know how long it is. I think it's an interest, a very interesting question. If I'm in that seat, I'm trying to get Flores as many players that he wants because I think he can maximize those talents as well as anybody. And if we end up having some guys that maybe don't fit and then for the next DC, okay, I mean, I guess we'll just have to work on it then. So I don't know. I'm a little conflicted on that because theoretically you could certainly say, dude, just draft good players to tell Flores to figure it out.

But if those talented players don't fit from a mental perspective or versatility perspective, they also might not end up on the field. And then you're drafting players out of fear that you're going to change D.C. eventually, but they're not getting on the field with your current D.C. So it's a, it's a bit of a, yeah, it's a bit of a conundrum, I guess. Good question. Next one comes from Jason, says, for the salary caps, for 2027, then Kevin Sefer had estimated $71 million.

Do you think that there is any chance that this could be meant for Joe Burrow? Regardless, I do hope the team takes another crack at a first round quarterback. This is how you ultimately solve the quarterback dilemma. You have to take shots in the first round. So the first part of that, yeah, I mean, it might be like 71, but there's adjustments that can be made probably to create even more space. I think flexibility is the reason that they've done all of this is if they felt like this right here, 2026, there is a crater coming toward the earth.

And there is, there might not be a 2027 NFL season because it's going to blow us all into eternity. Well, then you would probably be like, well, we're going to spend every dollar then. We, like, let's go for it. But since there's a future and there is a quarterback question into the, future. It doesn't have to be Joe Burrow. It could also be Kyler Murray. It could also be quarterback X that we don't even know right now. It could be Baker Mayfield. It could be Jared Gough. Like, I have no idea, right? I mean, I just throw that name out there. Not like there's a real scenario where golf could become the quarterback. But I mean, I don't know. Like Matthew Stafford got

traded and Tom Brady joined a new team and Peyton Manning joined a new team. And did anyone see those thing's happening a year out, like usually not, right? So we don't know what's going to happen in the NFL and what the Vikings have done with their salary cap situation and the quarterback position is they're ready for it. If Kyler Murray gets hurt in week two and J.J. McCarthy wins 12 games, then problem solved. And that would be wonderful because now you can spend it on, I don't know, safety, but at least for now, when you have quarterback uncertainty, the best thing you can do is be ready to be able to, hey, Kyler won 12 and a playoff game. We believe in him.

We're locking him in. He, you know, Jefferson had 1,500 yards. Bang, Kyler, there's 40 million bucks. I mean, that's how I think you want to do it. Um, if you're a franchise without certainty at the quarterback position. And then also, you know, you should be ready with a first round draft pick. If that's the way you got to do it. Because imagine a world where Kyler plays like 12 games.

he's banged up he's six and six in those games he's just okay and think about like war and moon at the end i mean what what do you what do you do with that like you're not signing him to a 50 million a year contract after going six and six and six and ranking 17th in the league or whatever and not staying healthy okay like it was fine it helped you get into contention but it wasn't something you want to pay for well you got to be ready to be able to spend and with joe burrow from some of the reporting i don't know i don't think that joe burrow tells anybody anything uh but i mean we can all read the tea leaves right with burrow the man is not look very happy and if this is kind of a big prove it year to joe burrow that that team can be serious by going to get dexter lawrence i mean that that

was some of the reporting coming out of the dexter lawrence thing was like yeah these these are related these are related events then if borough comes available this is where you want to you want to be able to do it, right? You don't want to have to shift a whole bunch of cash and move everything around. You'd rather just be like, yeah, we got the cap space. Let's make it happen. Let's trade two firsts or whatever it is for Joe Burrow. So keeping yourself flexible, I think, I've said this once. I'll probably say it 50 times. Rob Brzynski, whoever the next GM is, he did a great job of setting that person up for the future. And the salary cap being available that if Joe Burrow did say, I'm demanding a trade to Minnesota and only Minnesota.

Well, you can actually do it. Okay, last question here. This comes from another Matt. Matt D says, do you have a breakdown on the actual impact that a Grenard extension would have had? It feels like everybody just points to the over-the-cap number and declares that they either did or didn't have enough money to keep the player around. I know it's tough to nail down with all the void years and other levers you can

pull, but assuming that they handed out normal contracts to players, what did this trade actually buy them cap wise? Sure. So the Philadelphia Eagles, they love void years. They're going full saints. I mean, look, their roster is in a position to compete with a franchise quarterback who's won a Super Bowl. And regardless of what your favorite quarterback ranker says about Jalen Hertz, that's the spot that they're in because he's got a ring and he's proven he can do it. So they're trying to every single possible thing that you can do to get more talent and whatever happens after that.

I'm sure that Howie Roseman has a plan to eventually move on from Jalen Hertz after this thing runs out. When it gets to the end of its tape and there's no roster left because and you've got 200 million dead cap or whatever to probably tear it all down like the dolphins are doing and did with Tua. Like that's probably the plan for Howie Roseman. I wouldn't be surprised if it is. So they were willing to add these void years to Jonathan Grenard that will hurt them eventually, but makes his cap hits very low. The Vikings certainly could have done that had they really wanted to. But what I don't think they wanted to do was lock in $50 million in guarantees and block Dallas Turner.

I think that was also part of it is, okay, he got like a four-year extension. You'd be talking about this guy is a part of your team. forward, which means at least for now, he's in front of Dallas Turner. And maybe when Van Ginkle, if Van Ginkle is gone, then Turner could slide into that role. But it was shown that it wasn't really effective. So I think they had the wheels turning there. There's been some injuries. The production wasn't as good last year.

And they just decided this isn't really worth it. Could they have done it? Absolutely. They could have. Yes. They could have figured out a bad contract to stuff into. this year's salary cap to make it work, to lower his cap hit now, to push it down the road, if they really wanted to do that. And I kind of actually thought that they would, based on some of

the stuff they did with DeNeil Hunter, not trading him in the past. This is a diversion from some of the stuff that Rick Spielman had done and even some of the stuff Quasi Adafo Menza had done to fit certain players into the cap. Now, the benefit that they get is right away, they get $12 million in cap space and then into the future they get 22 for next year's a 22 yeah it's 12 and 22 so that is 34 million total over two years but 22 toward next year when they're going after Joe burrow right uh or they're signing kiler murray or whatever else they might need to do when you have a bunch of players that whose contracts are up they're going to have to decide who they're going to extend and they will be able to put that money toward those players where

Yes, you could have made it work for two years, for sure. But the bill comes to eventually. And if you're paying for Jonathan Grenard and he's blocking your first round draft pick from getting on the field as much, and you feel like the bang is not necessarily worth the buck if he's got injuries or whatever else, then you prefer to just take the cap space, the draft capital, sign some players with it and move forward with your life. That's what they chose to do. but if there's a question of could they have yeah yeah they could have and would it have been okay for probably 2026 and 2027 sure and maybe there's a part of you that says well then you should just keep him anyway but i think when you start to add up those other things including the draft capital as well including a potentially strong pick in 2027 i mean now you're looking a year

down the road and getting multiple third round draft picks what have i been like pounding the table before top hundred picks top hundred picks so this will be a top hundred pick that they get added to it um but i mean that's really what it is it's like you have to you have to use that scale you have to go well if you move on from grenard and it's maybe a receiver that you need in free agency could be a depth defensive end who you need to rush the passer could be a depth corner if someone gets hurt that you can it could be a trade that you make and that's for right now in the next two years, but even down the road, if you get to a point where you extended Murray or traded for Joe Burrow or whatever and you're looking, oh, yeah, that's right.

We've got that huge amount of dead cap space because we had to sign this guy thinking that it was the difference between us winning the Super Bowl and not. So these are hard decisions. These are very hard decisions because, I mean, I kind of thought as we went through this, that once they got Kyler Murray, they should keep Jonathan Granard and just, hey, just go for it, man. like this is your year you've got a ton of talent on this team like fire it up just give them the money and let's move forward don't give them to the eagles but uh you know ultimately that's that's what they did so um you could see the benefit of it you could see why there might have been at least some people going

oh really we're moving on for jonathan grenard they would not have done that during the spielman era i think during the spielman era they would have a hundred percent just gave him some extra cash to keep them around for another year and then a bit the bullet later on. And this is probably the best argument for Rob Brzezinski is the GM. Like those numbers are getting managed. And you know, that might seem like, oh, well, is that, who cares, right? Like, oh, good at the salary cap. Congratulations.

I can restructure contracts on over the cap.com. But it's an advantage. It's a real advantage. If you are the best team at managing your dead cap, that means more flexibility. to extend your own players, more flexibility to sign free agents and deal with potentially a big contract to quarterback. And if you can deal with a big contract to quarterback, that's also worth a lot too, because that's a veteran who can actually play.

And then you could still build around it. They didn't do a great job at that under Spielman. They gave out extensions to Kyle Rudolph and Anthony Barr and just everybody who had their handout. So that was not what they did this offseason. It's an interesting approach. again sets up the future GM, whether it's Rob or someone else, pretty well. Great questions, great comments.

Really appreciate all the thoughtfulness in these. And we'll be back with a ton of good guests this week. Got at least three people for you that I think are going to be really, really good guests for the show. So looking forward to that. And we'll talk to you all again very soon. Football.