2018 Minnesota Vikings Off-Season Thread

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Looks like we got Sheldon Richardson on a one year deal. Excellent move.
 

Sure Red, sure....

per Shooter:

I asked billionaire Red McCombs, who sold the Vikings to Wilf for $600 million in 2005, if he would have been willing to guarantee Cousins $84 million had he still owned the team.

“I would have done it,” McCombs said from his San Antonio, Texas, office. “I would have done it if it were $150 million if that was the market and I had a chance to get one of the three best quarterbacks in the league. I’d say yeah — you’d get your money back on that.

“I think it’s the right thing. Whether it’s the right kind of money, it’s what the market is out there. The quarterback is at least 85 percent of the team. The real prize is winning, because if you win, you get a big payback from sponsors and everything else.”

McCombs said Vikings fans deserve a winner.

“Purple Pride, Purple Pride,” he said.

https://www.twincities.com/2018/03/...s-rick-spielman-gambling-big-on-kirk-cousins/

Skol Vikes!!
 

This from a guy who probably made his employees use dial up when he was owner.
 


per STrib:

The Vikings’ last game of the 2017 season was in Philadelphia, where they’ll return to kick off the 2018 regular season, according to a report from 94WIP radio in Philadelphia.

There’s little surprise the NFL would want to air the rematch of the NFC Conference Championship in a marquee spot — the 2018 opener on Thursday, Sept. 6 — after the Vikings added this offseason’s top free agency prize in quarterback Kirk Cousins. The Vikings were shellacked by the eventual Super Bowl-champion Eagles, losing 38-7 in January, but now have a 4,000-yard thrower in the fold.

The Vikings also added defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson on a one-year, $8 million contract last week. The move helps Minnesota keep up in the defensive line arms race with the Eagles, who added Michael Bennett and Haloti Ngata to its defensive line after free agency opened last week.

The Eagles will also return quarterback Carson Wentz to the lineup after he suffered a torn ACL late last season.

Additional storylines will come off the field after Vikings fans and family of players reported harassment from Eagles fans during the previous trip to Philadelphia. Six people were arrested that day, according to local media reports; three for selling fake tickets and one for punching a police horse.

http://www.startribune.com/report-v...eason-with-rematch-in-philadelphia/477278593/

Skol Vikes!!
 

ESPN: Vikings re-signing kicker Kai Forbath after clutch kicks

Kai Forbath is re-signing with the Minnesota Vikings on a one-year deal, a league source confirmed to ESPN.

The veteran kicker became a free agent last week after booting a career-high 32 field goals in 2017, which included six from 50 yards or farther. The 30-year-old scored 130 points for the Vikings during the regular season while attempting a career-high 38 field goals. He ranks as the eighth-most accurate kicker in NFL history with an 85.9 percent success rate on field goals.

Forbath came through on a handful of pressure kicks this past season -- such as the game winner in Chicago, six field goals against Baltimore, a 53-yarder in Washington and an impressive 49-yard field goal in the freezing temperatures against Green Bay in Week 15.

Overshadowed in the Vikings' "Minneapolis Miracle" win over the Saints in the NFC divisional playoffs was Forbath's poise under pressure, going 3-of-4 on field goals, including a 49- and 53-yarder in the fourth quarter as both teams wrestled the lead back and forth.

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/22846597/minnesota-vikings-re-signing-kicker-kai-forbath

Skol Vikes!!
 

With Jarius Wright gone, I'd like to see them take a look at Eric Decker. He should come pretty cheap and would probably take a discount to play at home.
 

howeda7 said:
With Jarius Wright gone, I'd like to see them take a look at Eric Decker. He should come pretty cheap and would probably take a discount to play at home.
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My thoughts exactly! I've been trying to find meaning in dropping Wright; it only makes sense if you've got another guy in mind.
 



Is this idiot insinuating Cousins is a top 3 qb in the league?

BleedGopher said:
Sure Red, sure....

per Shooter:

“I would have done it,” McCombs said from his San Antonio, Texas, office. “I would have done it if it were $150 million if that was the market and I had a chance to get one of the three best quarterbacks in the league. I’d say yeah — you’d get your money back on that.

“Purple Pride, Purple Pride,” he said.

https://www.twincities.com/2018/03/...s-rick-spielman-gambling-big-on-kirk-cousins/

Skol Vikes!!
Click to expand...
 

Every time Red's name comes up, I think of that promo where he was talking (or yelling) about "The Noisiest Stadium in the N-F-L."
 





Ogee Oglethorpe said:
Looking forward to a few weeks from now when Sid tells us what a great signing it was for the Vikings to land Kevin Cousins.
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And here you go Ogee!!

Per Sid: Vikings invested wisely in landing Kirk Cousins for their long-term quarterback

For all the talk of the Vikings giving Kirk Cousins a three-year guaranteed $84 million contract, with $24 million for 2018, it’s worth noting that the Vikings will be spending only $4 million more on quarterbacks in 2018 than in 2017.

That total doesn’t include a potential $2 million bonus he could earn if the Vikings reach the Super Bowl.

The cap hit for the quarterback position will land somewhere around $26.5 million between Cousins, newly traded backup Trevor Siemian and third stringer Kyle Sloter.

In 2017 the Vikings entered the season with $22.5 million in payroll at the quarterback position with $18 million for Sam Bradford, $2.2 million for Teddy Bridgewater, $1.9 million for Case Keenum and $438,000 for Sloter.

That means that for the Vikings to secure Cousins, who they believe can become a foundational quarterback, their cap hit will be just $4 million more for quarterbacks in 2018.

General Manager Rick Spielman said that the Vikings knew they had great options at quarterback, and great cap flexibility, which allowed them to chase the player they wanted.

http://www.startribune.com/vikings-...ns-for-their-long-term-quarterback/477829983/

Skol Vikes!!
 

per Shooter:

It’s become highly questionable, after signing QB Kirk Cousins for a guaranteed $84 million for three years, whether the Vikings will be able to afford all four of their potential core free agents next year. And there’s a chance that they might be able to afford just two of the group that consists of Anthony Barr, Danielle Hunter, Eric Kendricks and Stefon Diggs.

Barr and Hunter would seem priorities, potentially leaving Kendricks and Diggs expendable. Hunter, because he plays a premium position — defensive line — probably is even more a priority than Barr.

Kendricks is a fine player, but defensively the NFL has become more about rushing the passer, less about middle linebacker.

https://www.twincities.com/2018/03/24/charley-walters-former-twins-aces-like-18-pitching-staff/

Skol Vikes!!
 

BleedGopher said:
per Shooter:

It’s become highly questionable, after signing QB Kirk Cousins for a guaranteed $84 million for three years, whether the Vikings will be able to afford all four of their potential core free agents next year. And there’s a chance that they might be able to afford just two of the group that consists of Anthony Barr, Danielle Hunter, Eric Kendricks and Stefon Diggs.

Barr and Hunter would seem priorities, potentially leaving Kendricks and Diggs expendable. Hunter, because he plays a premium position — defensive line — probably is even more a priority than Barr.

Kendricks is a fine player, but defensively the NFL has become more about rushing the passer, less about middle linebacker.

https://www.twincities.com/2018/03/24/charley-walters-former-twins-aces-like-18-pitching-staff/

Skol Vikes!!
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Hunter and Diggs should be the priorities. Barr is overrated and I agree that Kendricks is the most expendable.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
Hunter and Diggs should be the priorities. Barr is overrated and I agree that Kendricks is the most expendable.
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Which of these positions they target in the draft will probably tell us a fair amount about who they are planning on keeping. If they look at LB more than DE, it probably wouldn’t bode well for Kendricks, although I like Kendricks a lot.

I have a tendency to think WR is a fairly replaceable position but with Diggs there’s probably no way they can let him go, even if from just a PR standpoint. Hopefully he doesn’t command TOO big a price tag.
 

Ogee Oglethorpe said:
Which of these positions they target in the draft will probably tell us a fair amount about who they are planning on keeping. If they look at LB more than DE, it probably wouldn’t bode well for Kendricks, although I like Kendricks a lot.

I have a tendency to think WR is a fairly replaceable position but with Diggs there’s probably no way they can let him go, even if from just a PR standpoint. Hopefully he doesn’t command TOO big a price tag.
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How long has it taken us to find a competent group of WRs since the departure of Moss/Carter/Reed?? I think WRs are more difficult to find.
 


Am I the only one who'd prefer to keep Kendricks over Barr?

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
 

stocker08 said:
Am I the only one who'd prefer to keep Kendricks over Barr?

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
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No, I'd absolutely agree with you. I think barr is over rated and the rumors are he's hard to keep motivated. I don't want someone like that on the team. I would love kendricks to have a very long career in purple.
 


Kendricks is not the guy to keep. He isn't great in coverage, which is more important every year. Also, he doesn't force many turnovers. He can tackle, but lots of MLBs can tackle. He is easily the most replaceable player of Hunter, Barr, Waynes, and Kendricks.
 


Gopherguy0723 said:
Kendricks is not the guy to keep. He isn't great in coverage, which is more important every year. Also, he doesn't force many turnovers. He can tackle, but lots of MLBs can tackle. He is easily the most replaceable player of Hunter, Barr, Waynes, and Kendricks.
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Isn't he considered one of the better cover MLB in the league?
 

Hunter's sacks dipped last season, I can imagine if he has a strong start to the season they get his extension done asap.

Hendricks is known as a very good coverage linebacker. Middle linebackers are rarely sexy. Barr is seen as sexier but I don't know if he actually makes more plays.
 



Sid: Return of Marcus Sherels is another good move for the Vikings

One of the best stories in Minnesota football history got another season this week when the Vikings signed Marcus Sherels to a one-year deal.

Sherels will enter his ninth season with the Vikings, tying him as the second-longest-tenured player on the roster with defensive lineman Everson Griffen and behind defensive lineman Brian Robison, who will enter his 12th season with the Vikings.

What makes Sherels’ story so fantastic is that the former University of Minnesota walk-on and Rochester John Marshall graduate never seemed like a potential NFL player.

Nobody really wanted Sherels in college, or in the NFL, where he went undrafted in 2009 and then came to the Vikings’ rookie minicamp. He made the team but didn’t stick for long and was released, then he was brought back onto the practice squad and finally got called up for the final game of the 2010 regular season.

“I always try to stay positive and I stayed in shape and ready to go and they brought me back and I was happy,” Sherels said. “At the rookie minicamp I wasn’t even on the punt return list and I had to ask the coach and tell them, the special teams coordinator at the time, that I could return punts. He said, ‘Let’s see what you got.’ ”

To this day a lot of people in the Sherels family get nervous when Marcus gets ready to return a punt or a kick. His sister Kanysha Sherels told City Pages in 2015 that whenever a punt goes to Marcus that, “I close my eyes and I get really nervous.”

http://www.startribune.com/return-of-marcus-sherels-is-another-good-move-for-the-vikings/478464963/

Skol Vikes!!
 

STrib: Vikings' Kendall Wright hopes he's found a career partner in Kirk Cousins

In his six-year NFL career, Kendall Wright has caught passes from 10 different quarterbacks. He’s been targeted with passes from 12 different QBs (or 13, if you count the pass Bears running back Tarik Cohen threw his way last year).

The Vikings hope, during Wright’s 2018 season in Minnesota, that they’ll only add one more quarterback’s name to that list.

Wright, the latest addition to the Vikings’ offense, comes to Minnesota after six years of what’s amounted to speed dating with different passers in Tennessee and Chicago. Beyond the team’s new practice facility in Eagan — which the receiver called “the best I’ve ever seen” — the main draw to signing a one-year deal with the Vikings was the chance to play with quarterback Kirk Cousins, in what both likely hope can become a long-term relationship.

“I’ve played with countless quarterbacks in my career,” Wright said in a conference call with Twin Cities reporters on Monday. “I’ve never played with one of Kirk Cousins’ caliber. I’ve never played with a quarterback who threw for 4,000 yards, so that was definitely a big reason.”

“I’ve heard a lot about him, just from Robert [Griffin III, Wright’s quarterback at Baylor and Cousins’ former teammate in Washington],” Wright said. “Robert talked about him a lot, talked good about him a lot. That was a big part of the decision.”

http://www.startribune.com/vikings-...d-a-career-partner-in-kirk-cousins/478556383/

Skol Vikes!!
 

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