All Things 2022 Minnesota Vikings Off-Season Thread

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So, I caught the first 30 minutes of the KOC press conference.

He thanked everyone in the Western hemisphere.

Praised the Vikings' fans, culture, etc, etc. Lot of talk about collaboration, cooperation, etc.

As far as anything newsy, he said he "anticipates" that Cousins will be the QB and thinks Cousins can be productive in his system.

KOC said he will call the plays on offense. Expects to use a lot of the same principles and schemes that the Rams used.

On Defense, said the goal is to be aggressive and force more turnovers. Said they may play some 3-man fronts, but the defense will use multiple fronts and alignments. thinks the Vikes have solid players on defense - mentioned Hunter, Smith, Kendricks, Barr, etc.

I did not hear any salary cap questions in the part of the presser I heard.
 


Gopher_In_NYC said:
Obviously I was referring that YOUR viewpoint representing all Vikings fans that was the clear implied subject of my reply, get it???

I bet you’re a Dakota Kid and have no true clue as how a born and breed Minnesotans think, Kristi.

Sturgis ain’t Highland Park kiddo
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You couldn't be more wrong, but I have definitely dated a few Dakota girls.

I notice you struggle quite a bit here with the concept of the civility of this board with the sometimes hostile/argumentative nature of the other board. Might want to ponder that for a bit
 

He won't be maximizing anything with a $45M cap hit.

Kirk deserves no more than Stafford accepted! $20-25M per year, for say 3 years.

If he can't get it done under the McVay/KOC system in the next three years, hit the road.
 
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With all due respect to that press conference yesterday, the answer is still no: you can't be immediately competitive with Cousins at his current cap hit. And does anyone think that a guy who's been that stubborn about throwing downfield and COVID vaccination is going to readily agree to a restructuring? I know the way he thinks: "That's the contract both parties signed."

And you hear it again from Mark Wilf: they think they can have sustained success. Well, buddy, how about one year of success before you start talking about sustaining it. Either he's delusional about how rare what he's talking about is, or he has a different concept of success than I do. I was alive for four Super Bowls in eight years. That's success to me...and still fell short of fans' hopes...and still wasn't sustained beyond the decade of the 70s.
 


Bad Gopher said:
With all due respect to that press conference yesterday, the answer is still no: you can't be immediately competitive with Cousins at his current cap hit. And does anyone think that a guy who's been that stubborn about throwing downfield and COVID vaccination is going to readily agree to a restructuring? I know the way he thinks: "That's the contract both parties signed."

And you hear it again from Mark Wilf: they think they can have sustained success. Well, buddy, how about one year of success before you start talking about sustaining it. Either he's delusional about how rare what he's talking about is, or he has a different concept of success than I do. I was alive for four Super Bowls in eight years. That's success to me...and still fell short of fans' hopes...and still wasn't sustained beyond the decade of the 70s.
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KAM needs to set up a meeting with Cousins and bring all the advanced analytics he can muster. Basically prove to him "Kirk, we can't win with your current cap hit, it's basically impossible."

If he won't budge, then try your best to trade him.

If it's a $45M cap hit either way (he stays as is or cut him), then obviously having him as the QB is the better option.
 

Gophers_4life said:
KAM needs to set up a meeting with Cousins and bring all the advanced analytics he can muster. Basically prove to him "Kirk, we can't win with your current cap hit, it's basically impossible."

If he won't budge, then try your best to trade him.

If it's a $45M cap hit either way (he stays as is or cut him), then obviously having him as the QB is the better option.
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Gophers_4life said:
KAM needs to set up a meeting with Cousins and bring all the advanced analytics he can muster. Basically prove to him "Kirk, we can't win with your current cap hit, it's basically impossible."

If he won't budge, then try your best to trade him.

If it's a $45M cap hit either way (he stays as is or cut him), then obviously having him as the QB is the better option.
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People are sure bent up about this, and for no reason. There is, and has always been, zero chance that Cousins plays this season under his current contract for the Vikings. Never, nada, zippo. For the life of me I can't figure out why people are so bent about this. Makes no sense. He's either getting traded or restructured, or both, and that has always been the case.
 

Well, I'm guessing all eyes are on Aaron Rodgers first. If he moves or not. There might not be clear direction there for a bit, so teams like the Broncos probably need to decide early if they want to trade for a veteran QB.

But problem is, I don't think many teams are sold on Kirk as the answer. Trading for Kirk is a way to get yourself fired as a GM.
 



Of course, this could all be gamesmanship by the new brain trust. If they want to trade Cousins, they want his perceived value to be as high as possible - hence all the glowing comments.

If they come out and say "H*ll yes, we're trading him," other teams know that and will not offer as much in compensation.

Having said that, I'm hearing more pundits and writers saying they now believe Cousins will be the Vikes' QB in 2022.

reckless speculation--
this could be a one-year "all in" approach with the current roster to see if they can do better with new coaching, schemes, etc. if it doesn't work, then they could go for the big revamp the following year - when the QB draft class is expected to be stronger.
 

OK but therein lies a conundrum: how do go "one year all in" on trying to win next year with the players we have, when Cousin's cap hit is $45M?

Restructuring means that you're saying he will be the QB here for more than just next year.

So ... which is it?
 

If they run it back without restructuring they will have trade/release multiple of Hunter/Smith/Kendricks/Theilen which they also claim they don't want to do. I just can't see them doing that. I'd say it's 40% he's traded, 50% he's extended and 10% they just stand pat and play out his contract.
 

Gophers_4life said:
OK but therein lies a conundrum: how do go "one year all in" on trying to win next year with the players we have, when Cousin's cap hit is $45M?

Restructuring means that you're saying he will be the QB here for more than just next year.

So ... which is it?
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let me try again.

The Wilfs have said they expect the team to compete in 2022. They sign the checks. So - speculating here - the Wilfs say 'we expect to win in 2022." Kwesi and KOC say, "OK, we'll try it your way," and they try to work with the cap to bring back as many of the veterans as possible, with one-year deals, etc.

give it one last shot to win with the current core group. like one of those western movies where they round up the old gang for one more job. if it works, great. If it doesn't work, then Kwesi and KOC say "we tried, it didn't work" and they start a major revamp of the roster. that would be when Cousins, Smith, Kendricks, Barr, Thielen, etc may move out.

to repeat - I do not want to see a restructuring deal that ties the Vikes to 3 more years of Cousins. I am saying live with the cap hit for one year and see what it looks like under the new coaching staff and systems.

Who knows - maybe KOC can find something in Cousins that we didn't think was there. basically give Cousins a "prove-it" year.
 



short ornery norwegian said:
let me try again.

The Wilfs have said they expect the team to compete in 2022. They sign the checks. So - speculating here - the Wilfs say 'we expect to win in 2022." Kwesi and KOC say, "OK, we'll try it your way," and they try to work with the cap to bring back as many of the veterans as possible, with one-year deals, etc.

give it one last shot to win with the current core group. like one of those western movies where they round up the old gang for one more job. if it works, great. If it doesn't work, then Kwesi and KOC say "we tried, it didn't work" and they start a major revamp of the roster. that would be when Cousins, Smith, Kendricks, Barr, Thielen, etc may move out.

to repeat - I do not want to see a restructuring deal that ties the Vikes to 3 more years of Cousins. I am saying live with the cap hit for one year and see what it looks like under the new coaching staff and systems.

Who knows - maybe KOC can find something in Cousins that we didn't think was there. basically give Cousins a "prove-it" year.
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I don't think living with Cousins at $45M is even in the realm of physically possible, though, is the point.

They'd have to get rid of a bunch of expensive vets, for 2022, to accommodate that. So right that, that's a contradiction to the assumption of the hypothesis.
 


Ogee Oglethorpe said:
People are sure bent up about this, and for no reason. There is, and has always been, zero chance that Cousins plays this season under his current contract for the Vikings. Never, nada, zippo. For the life of me I can't figure out why people are so bent about this. Makes no sense. He's either getting traded or restructured, or both, and that has always been the case.
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You might be right, but I could see them riding out the last year with the new coaching staff and seeing how it goes. There are other QBs in this league with similar cap hits next season, so it's not like the Vikings are the only one paying a QB this much.

Cousins said that he won't take a pay-cut, and why would he? If they extend him, they will maybe save some money next season, but will be in this same position again in the future. I don't want to keep pushing this ball down the road.

So then their options are trading him and still eating 10 million, and likely be terrible next season, or just ride out the last year of his contract as is. Hunter's cap hit is massive this year too at 27 million, but it's very friendly after this season at only 8 million for next season, as long as he's healthy.

The more I think about it, I'd rather have them see what they can do with the current roster next season, draft heavily on defense, and figure out what they can do with some of the other higher cap hits on the roster, Smith, Pierce, etc. Then they will be in a much better position in 2023.
 




TruthSeeker said:
Take the medicine now! Eat his salary and let him play his last season or trade him.

An extension would be the worst option.
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He cost Zim and Rick their jobs and he's going to ruin the new regime's honeymoon. However, the Vikes will take their medicine this year and then he's gone. They will go 6-11 in 2022 and build from there.
 

jamiche said:
He cost Zim and Rick their jobs and he's going to ruin the new regime's honeymoon. However, the Vikes will take their medicine this year and then he's gone. They will go 6-11 in 2022 and build from there.
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I'm always reminded of a funny story that ends with the line, "You knew I had a drinking problem when you hired me."

The new guys knew they had a Cousins contract problem when they signed on. I'm sure they're of the mindset to embrace the challenge.
 



jamiche said:
He cost Zim and Rick their jobs and he's going to ruin the new regime's honeymoon. However, the Vikes will take their medicine this year and then he's gone. They will go 6-11 in 2022 and build from there.
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Zim and Rick have no one to blame but themselves.
 

Reusse has a a column talking to Bud Grant about the Vikes' coaching change. Grant volunteered that he likes Cousins because of his durability - he plays every game.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
Reusse has a a column talking to Bud Grant about the Vikes' coaching change. Grant volunteered that he likes Cousins because of his durability - he plays every game.
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That's one thing you can say about Cousins, he answers the bell. At the end of the day, availability/durability is an ability. Look at players like Lamar Jackson or Kyler Murray or Baker Mayfield or Dak Prescott or Carson Wentz, have all missed a number of games in recent years, or at least been banged up.
Bad Gopher said:
This is going to be a sticky wicket.

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I mean, $40M isn't a great number, but did anyone honestly think it was going to be a lot less? The salary cap is projected to go up dramatically in each of the next several years, the league is just printing money; if you thought the number for Cousins was going to be less than $38/yr or so, you've been living under a rock.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
Reusse has a a column talking to Bud Grant about the Vikes' coaching change. Grant volunteered that he likes Cousins because of his durability - he plays every game.
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That's very on-brand for Grant...and he's not wrong.

BUT, the quarterback situations during his tenure were characterized by collaborative relationships between the QBs and the coaches. It was a partnership. Cousins' relationship with Zimmer was certainly not a partnership, and it wasn't all Zimmer's fault.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
Reusse has a a column talking to Bud Grant about the Vikes' coaching change. Grant volunteered that he likes Cousins because of his durability - he plays every game.
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Kirk at the right price is not a problem. He's not at the right price. He's nowhere close to the right price. And he isn't going to be. Hence they have no good choice but to trade him.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
You might be right, but I could see them riding out the last year with the new coaching staff and seeing how it goes. There are other QBs in this league with similar cap hits next season, so it's not like the Vikings are the only one paying a QB this much.

Cousins said that he won't take a pay-cut, and why would he? If they extend him, they will maybe save some money next season, but will be in this same position again in the future. I don't want to keep pushing this ball down the road.

So then their options are trading him and still eating 10 million, and likely be terrible next season, or just ride out the last year of his contract as is. Hunter's cap hit is massive this year too at 27 million, but it's very friendly after this season at only 8 million for next season, as long as he's healthy.

The more I think about it, I'd rather have them see what they can do with the current roster next season, draft heavily on defense, and figure out what they can do with some of the other higher cap hits on the roster, Smith, Pierce, etc. Then they will be in a much better position in 2023.
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So let's say they sign him for $38/yr for 3 years...

$38M for 2022 will be a lot, but not catastrophic.

$38M for 2023, with a projected healthy increase in the league salary cap, will be probably a decent number for him if he keeps playing at the same level

$38M for 2024, if he's still around, will be a bargain in light of where the salary cap is projected to be

I'm not saying I like it or it's what I would do, I'm just saying what's probably going to happen. It probably sounds like I'm a major Cousins proponent but honestly, it's just that I'm not the absolute hater that a good chunk of the fans seem to be.

As it's been since Cousins arrived in MN, he is almost half a dozen notches down the list of the Vikings' issues
 

jamiche said:
He cost Zim and Rick their jobs and he's going to ruin the new regime's honeymoon. However, the Vikes will take their medicine this year and then he's gone. They will go 6-11 in 2022 and build from there.
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So ... if it costs $45M either way ..... and keeping Cousins gets you 6-11 ... while cutting him gets you 3-14 and a much higher pick ..... WTF is the difference in those records???

Cut. His. Ass.
 

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