2023 Vikings

The Vikings are still reportedly $7M over the cap so there will be more moves. Sounds like Harrison and Z’Darius too!

Thielen is a hard one to watch go because he is a small town, small college local boy who made the show with his home-state team.

That said, Adam had lost a step and his ability to separate had diminished. Aging in the NFL is not easy and it was more that likely that his “step” would only decline further next year.

What Does Z’D bring to the new DC’s game plan ?

The Vikings cannot hold onto who has been good if not the best, they must make decisions on where the dollars are best spent in 2023.

haleysgold wrote:

The slaughter continues.

Cam Danzler was just cut.
Saves about 3 mill in cap space.
This one is weird. I thought he was decent and 3 mill for a CB isn’t that bad.
Doesn’t seem like a good move but I’m sure they have a master plan in mind.

WOW, that surprises me

Some of these good Viking veterans getting cut … just hope they hook onto a championship caliber team … Viking’s let go Birk a little early and he won a ring with the Ravens.

Be sweet to see someone like Thielen win a ring too with his swan song team.

they will continue playing and we can follow them around and cheer for them. A former Viking usually does with the super bowl. There were 2+ on the chiefs roster this year.

RIP Bud Grant!

Brings a tear to my eye

Didn’t realize he was 96. Still remember when he ran out on to the field years ago against Seattle before that playoff game in short sleeves and it was below zero out.

Yeah he was a legend.

Bud’s life is one hell of a story.

Bud had a big lesson he liked to repeat … do not hesitate buying land even if you can’t afford it.

LB Eric Kendricks, WR Adam Thielen and CB Cam Dantzler so far.

Kendricks just signed a 2 year deal with the Chargers.

Patrick Peterson says he will be a Steeler shortly. He said the negotiation process is moving as a business.

Very interesting off-season so far in trying to interpret what their moves (or lack thereof) are telling us. They’ve got an awful combination going with plenty of holes to fill, little to no cap space, and a very low amount of draft picks.

The QB situation is one of the many dominoes to fall. Even for Cousins supporters like me it’s got to be acknowledged that they need some sort of QB for the future. Some of the KFAN personalities keep talking about how this is the year to draft the replacement, but I doubt any of the top 4 QB’s are available at 23 and they don’t have the draft capital to really move up unless they throw in some of next year’s picks and I personally don’t like that. The more and more it seems like a roster reset I think they need to keep those picks.

So personally I think they’re doing some sort of reset. I’m guessing the mentality is show improvement and be back at it in 2024. It can’t be a full-on rebuild because I doubt JJ wants to sit through that and you didn’t lure Brian Flores away from head coaching jobs for that. But if the rumors are true they’re not going out of their way to do an extension with Cousins. That doesn’t mean he’s not the QB in 2024, but they might be waiting to see how all the other cards play out and how well he plays in 2023. If he does play well he’s going to be up for a contract and cost even more money, so maybe there’s a way this year or next year’s draft to somehow grab that QB.

The Davenport (defensive end, 1 year, $13 million) is interesting to me as well and fits the theme of “kind of trying but more so seeing what we can do/audition in 2023.” He fills a spot but they’re not committed to him for more than a year.

^Agree completely.

The Vikings are in a unique spot with a roster that is “good enough” to win the putrid NFC North as is but unlikely to make much of a playoff push. There’s still a big gap between the talent levels on this squad and say the Eagles, 49ers, or even the Cowboys. They can’t signal “full rebuild” because they don’t have the QB for that yet + they have an all pro young WR who I am sure they want to lock up. Right now it looks like they’re going with a full rebuild on defense and leaving the offensive contributors mostly as is. If they trade Cook, players and fans will start to question how badly they are trying to win now versus building a roster that the front office likes.

My Early Prediction: Vikings go 11-6 or 10-7 and win the NFC North, before getting ousted in the first round of the playoffs.

readd an article on the net, so take it for what its worth, but the content of the article basically stated that they are going to balance the checkbook per say, for the 2023 season. it could be a tough season for fans, but they said with this reset they could be headed the right direction again after the 2023 season.

who knows??? it sounded like Tomlinson is close to the door also and joining Peterson in Pittsburg????

I dont think trading COok signals a rebuild. THey could do just fine with Mattison I think or any other host of RBs. Yeah Cook has been good, but RB is just one of those positions you dont invest heavily in any more.

CaptainMusky wrote:

I dont think trading COok signals a rebuild. THey could do just fine with Mattison I think or any other host of RBs. Yeah Cook has been good, but RB is just one of those positions you dont invest heavily in any more.

thats if they keep Mattison???

been hearing he wants to start somewhere else????

True, but either way I think they could roll out a parade of other running backs and be just fine.

This offseason was by design, they either could take their medicine on the contracts last year and go full rebuild, or sort it out year over year aka “competitive rebuild”. They need to get the cap in order asap to resign JJ and likely Hockenson, as well as figure out what to do with Kirk. And honestly our defense has been so bad for so many consecutive years, I don’t care who they get rid of. I hope they get rid of Cook, and keep Mattison or just go RB committee with some young hungry guys. I would not be surprised if Thielen finds a pretty cool market for his talents and decides to come back here.

BigWerm wrote:

This offseason was by design, they either could take their medicine on the contracts last year and go full rebuild, or sort it out year over year aka “competitive rebuild”. They need to get the cap in order asap to resign JJ and likely Hockenson, as well as figure out what to do with Kirk. And honestly our defense has been so bad for so many consecutive years, I don’t care who they get rid of. I hope they get rid of Cook, and keep Mattison or just go RB committee with some young hungry guys. I would not be surprised if Thielen finds a pretty cool market for his talents and decides to come back here.

If I were Mahommes/Reid I would be recruiting Thielen to help with another Championship. Sure he lost a step or two but is still elusive as a red-zone TD threat.

Will A-A Ron close out his career in purple?

I don’t know that Thielen lost a step, he just isn’t getting targeted nearly as much as he was in 17/18. Last 3 years he’s been around 100 targets, in 17/18 he was around 150 targets. Sometimes it is just that simple, especially for a guy who’s game was never built around speed.

Just saw a report saying Cook is most likely staying. I’m not convinced. Good player, but this roster cannot fix what it needs to fix with a RB making that much money. He needs to be moved.

They kicked the can down the road for some of Cousins money now too. Sounds like they lowered his cap hit by $16M this year, and added 2 additional void years (on top of 2 that already existed) onto the end, which basically means he’s only under contract to play next year, but we are on the hook to pay him for 4 more years.

I want to work just one year and get paid for 4.

weedis wrote:

I want to work just one year and get paid for 4.

Some would say you already do bud! But I’m looking for that Bobby Bonilla deal that keeps paying for decades…

Also Bradbury is back 3 years $15.75M, which is a good value imo. Thought he was slightly above average last year, and hopefully continues to improve.