All Things 2022 Minnesota Vikings Off-Season Thread

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Gophers_4life said:
Cousins seems like a pretty down to Earth guy. Not a multiple houses, multiple sports cars kinda guy.

So I would guess he already has all the money he needs to live happily for the rest of his life.

Forcing the Vikings to pay him out for 22 guts the roster, as you both agree.


Why would he then essentially want to "waste" next year, on a team with practically no chance to do well, just to get that pay day?

That doesn't make sense, to me.
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He hits the open market so all teams can bid on him.
 

Ope3 said:
Yeah, 2 or 3 wins improved would be my guess each year with a solid chance they would still be alive heading into this Divisional play-off weekend.
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That's essentially the 2019 team. They went 10-6, finished 2nd in the division, and were fortunate to escape the Saints in the first round. They were then blown out by the 49ers in round 2.

That is pretty much the ceiling for Cousins, and not good enough to make it to a Super Bowl.
 

I think we will have a difficult time trading him. Very likely he plays on his full contract next year for us and then moves on.
 

He'll be 34 years old for the 2022 season. Obviously Brady and Rodgers show there could still be years left for him, but playing for the Vikings in 22, without a new contract, feels like a wasted year out of a finite number of them left, for Cousins.
 



Gophers_4life said:
Cousins seems like a pretty down to Earth guy. Not a multiple houses, multiple sports cars kinda guy.

So I would guess he already has all the money he needs to live happily for the rest of his life.

Forcing the Vikings to pay him out for 22 guts the roster, as you both agree.


Why would he then essentially want to "waste" next year, on a team with practically no chance to do well, just to get that pay day?

That doesn't make sense, to me.
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Agreed. Especially since he's 34 already.
 

TruthSeeker said:
He hits the open market so all teams can bid on him.
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The teams in the market for him 1 year from now aren't going to be that different from the teams that would trade for him right now. I'm not sure hitting the FA market at 35 coming off 3 losing seasons is really a huge boon to him.
 

Be “UnMinnesitan” and trade him to the Texans for Watson.
 




Gopher_In_NYC said:
Be “UnMinnesitan” and trade him to the Texans for Watson.
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The Star Tribune and co. will need extra pearls to clutch and a fainting couch if we acquire Watson. On the other hand, Ben Johnson can probably leave the rental car gas tank empty every time and no one will care.
 

GophersInIowa said:
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People need to get over Daniel Carlson. It's a kicker. He was close to breaking down in tears by that 3rd FG in Green Bay. They had to cut him. It saved his career, IMO.

It's Speilman's fault for drafting him when he knew what Zim does to kickers. Baily was mostly serviceable. Joseph seems decent. Hopefully we leave well enough alone for a couple years.
 

howeda7 said:
People need to get over Daniel Carlson. It's a kicker. He was close to breaking down in tears by that 3rd FG in Green Bay. They had to cut him. It saved his career, IMO.

It's Speilman's fault for drafting him when he knew what Zim does to kickers. Baily was mostly serviceable. Joseph seems decent. Hopefully we leave well enough alone for a couple years.
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It's Speilman's fault for cutting him, not drafting him. Could have brought in another guy for a few weeks to let Carlson work through it on the inactive list.
 

Ope3 said:
It's Speilman's fault for cutting him, not drafting him. Could have brought in another guy for a few weeks to let Carlson work through it on the inactive list.
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How often do teams do that for a kicker though? I can't think of any examples.
 



howeda7 said:
How often do teams do that for a kicker though? I can't think of any examples.
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It happens more for injuries, but agree it's rare. This would have been different because Carlson was a rookie (not a veteran with more of a sample size), casting him adrift after 2 weeks was just stupid. Should have let it play out. He was solid with Oakland now Vegas from the get go.
 


Ope3 said:
It happens more for injuries, but agree it's rare. This would have been different because Carlson was a rookie (not a veteran with more of a sample size), casting him adrift after 2 weeks was just stupid. Should have let it play out. He was solid with Oakland now Vegas from the get go.
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Tons of credit to Carlson for doing his homework and figuring out what went wrong. The Athletic did a great piece on him not long after he was signed by the Raiders. Carlson wasn't immediately signed by the Raiders; he went home after the Vikings cut him, spent a few weeks looking at his old Auburn tape, self-diagnosed, and figured his shit out. Great story, and kudos to him for doing the work to get himself right.
 

The biggest issue with Daniel Carlson was whoever decided we needed to change kickers to a rookie after an NFC Championship run and a new free agent QB.

If you are making a run, and you have history of kickers that we did, you find your veteran kicker, or keep the guy who delivered in the last playoff for you.

Once you bring in a rookie, you need to give a year long leash to the kid. They did not do it, but I blame it on the decision to go that route during a playoff year.
 

Face The Facts said:
The biggest issue with Daniel Carlson was whoever decided we needed to change kickers to a rookie after an NFC Championship run and a new free agent QB.

If you are making a run, and you have history of kickers that we did, you find your veteran kicker, or keep the guy who delivered in the last playoff for you.

Once you bring in a rookie, you need to give a year long leash to the kid. They did not do it, but I blame it on the decision to go that route during a playoff year.
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This. It's on Spielman. Forbath was fine. You don't put a rookie kicker on a team with Super Bowl aspirations.
 



I wonder if this means that Daboll will be the front runner for HC in NY.
 

I would imagine we'll hear of several GM and HC hirings next Monday and Tuesday. There won't be shit announced between now and then, the NFL will have obviously told the teams not to make any announcements so as not to pull attention from the weekend's slate of playoff games.

I think we'll see the first couple dominoes fall early next week for sure.
 

Ogee Oglethorpe said:
I would imagine we'll hear of several GM and HC hirings next Monday and Tuesday. There won't be shit announced between now and then, the NFL will have obviously told the teams not to make any announcements so as not to pull attention from the weekend's slate of playoff games.

I think we'll see the first couple dominoes fall early next week for sure.
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Spot on. Schefter probably has the goods, but it's on embargo until the games are played.
 

PA out did Schefter on the Arodg move this past summer. It was a talking point for multiple days ….wait….brb
 



I'm on board with Poles. :)

https://www.si.com/nfl/vikings/news/meet-vikings-gm-candidate-ryan-poles-impressive-interview-chiefs

I do want to highlight one name, and that's Ryan Poles from the Chiefs. He had an "impressive" interview with the Vikings on Wednesday, according to longtime NFL reporter Aaron Wilson. That's the only rumor or report I've seen emerge from the Vikings' GM interviews thus far.

Poles was a finalist for the Panthers' GM job last year. He's one of three finalists for the Giants' job this year (update: the Giants hired Bills assistant GM Joe Schoen, so Poles is still available). And based on that report, he might end up as a finalist for the Vikings' opening as well, potentially getting a second interview soon.

...

Poles, 36, blocked for Matt Ryan as a Boston College offensive lineman in the mid-2000s. He's been with the Chiefs for the past 13 seasons, working in front offices led by GMs Scott Pioli, John Dorsey, and now Brett Veach. You don't survive two regime changes if you're not outstanding at your job. Poles' No. 1 area of expertise is college scouting and the draft, but he's broadened his responsibilities over the years to include pro scouting, contracts, and much more.

It's no secret that the offensive line has been an issue for the Vikings for much of the last decade, and Poles might be the most qualified person to address that weakness out of any of the eight candidates. Not only is he a former OL himself, he's proven to be an excellent evaluator of OL talent. This past offseason, the Chiefs revamped their entire offensive line. They signed free agent guard Joe Thuney, traded for tackle Orlando Brown Jr, and landed two starters in the draft. Second-round pick Creed Humphrey was arguably the best center in the NFL this year as a rookie. Sixth-round pick Trey Smith started every game at guard and played very well. Thuney and Brown were great, and the combination of Andrew Wylie and Lucas Niang at right tackle held up fine.

The Vikings appear to have three long-term building blocks on their offensive line in Brian O'Neill, Ezra Cleveland, and Christian Darrisaw. Poles could be the guy to find two other quality players to round out the line.

But don't focus too much on the O-line. Poles is a strong GM candidate for many more reasons than his expertise in that area. He's experienced, has an impressive scouting track record across numerous position groups, and places an emphasis on communication and collaboration, which the Vikings are looking for.

"It's communication, it's being on the same page with the coaching staff," Poles said when asked what has worked so well for the Chiefs. "I truly believe when your coaching staff and your personnel are walking together and making decisions together, they can have in-depth discussions and identify what they want not only for a position group, but for the culture that Coach Reid wants, I think you're on the right path. And I think you can do damage in terms of acquiring players that represent what you want to be as an organization."
 

GophersInIowa said:
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Was just going to post this; sounds confirmed, the two finalists are Poles and Adofo-Mensah.

They're definitely going young in this search, judging from these two. Hope it works out!

EDIT: Reading the bios and everything I've heard, I like Adofo-Mensah over Poles
 
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Gophers_4life said:
I'm on board with Poles. :)

https://www.si.com/nfl/vikings/news/meet-vikings-gm-candidate-ryan-poles-impressive-interview-chiefs

I do want to highlight one name, and that's Ryan Poles from the Chiefs. He had an "impressive" interview with the Vikings on Wednesday, according to longtime NFL reporter Aaron Wilson. That's the only rumor or report I've seen emerge from the Vikings' GM interviews thus far.

Poles was a finalist for the Panthers' GM job last year. He's one of three finalists for the Giants' job this year (update: the Giants hired Bills assistant GM Joe Schoen, so Poles is still available). And based on that report, he might end up as a finalist for the Vikings' opening as well, potentially getting a second interview soon.

...

Poles, 36, blocked for Matt Ryan as a Boston College offensive lineman in the mid-2000s. He's been with the Chiefs for the past 13 seasons, working in front offices led by GMs Scott Pioli, John Dorsey, and now Brett Veach. You don't survive two regime changes if you're not outstanding at your job. Poles' No. 1 area of expertise is college scouting and the draft, but he's broadened his responsibilities over the years to include pro scouting, contracts, and much more.

It's no secret that the offensive line has been an issue for the Vikings for much of the last decade, and Poles might be the most qualified person to address that weakness out of any of the eight candidates. Not only is he a former OL himself, he's proven to be an excellent evaluator of OL talent. This past offseason, the Chiefs revamped their entire offensive line. They signed free agent guard Joe Thuney, traded for tackle Orlando Brown Jr, and landed two starters in the draft. Second-round pick Creed Humphrey was arguably the best center in the NFL this year as a rookie. Sixth-round pick Trey Smith started every game at guard and played very well. Thuney and Brown were great, and the combination of Andrew Wylie and Lucas Niang at right tackle held up fine.

The Vikings appear to have three long-term building blocks on their offensive line in Brian O'Neill, Ezra Cleveland, and Christian Darrisaw. Poles could be the guy to find two other quality players to round out the line.

But don't focus too much on the O-line. Poles is a strong GM candidate for many more reasons than his expertise in that area. He's experienced, has an impressive scouting track record across numerous position groups, and places an emphasis on communication and collaboration, which the Vikings are looking for.

"It's communication, it's being on the same page with the coaching staff," Poles said when asked what has worked so well for the Chiefs. "I truly believe when your coaching staff and your personnel are walking together and making decisions together, they can have in-depth discussions and identify what they want not only for a position group, but for the culture that Coach Reid wants, I think you're on the right path. And I think you can do damage in terms of acquiring players that represent what you want to be as an organization."
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I'm down with Poles and Morris.
 

I'm onboard with Poles as well, but I do not understand the Morris love. He was the interim HC in Atlanta just last season, and they did not hire him long term. He failed at Tampa, and the Rams defense has taken a big step backwards this season.
 

I wonder if Poles would have any sway with Bieniemy and/or want to bring him along.
 

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