All Things 2022 Minnesota Vikings Off-Season Thread

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Ogee Oglethorpe said:
Again, I just don't get the argument; do you or anyone else honestly believe that the Vikings being a Super Bowl contender hinges on Cousins signing an extension for $37M/year or for $33-34M/year? You can't possibly believe that.
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I think the Vikings being a Super Bowl contender hinges on improving the roster. If the QB - or any 1 player - is taking up 20% of the salary cap, that makes it harder to improve the roster.

in my opinion - and yes, it is an opinion - Cousins is not a good enough QB to lead this current roster to a Super Bowl. He needs better players around him especially on defense.

To be clear - I think Cousins could win a Super Bowl IF he had the right roster around him.

But, given the state of the Vikings' roster, especially on defense, this team has to make a lot of improvements. Given the realities of the salary cap, I just do not see how they make those improvements WHILE at the same time paying Cousins 20% of the salary cap.

I see it as a pretty simple issue --

you can pay Cousins a butt-load of money, OR you can make major improvements to the roster. You can't do both. and without major improvements to the roster, this team is not winning a Super Bowl.
 

I listened to a Broncos podcast yesterday where they discussed the non-Aaron Rogers trade options. All 3 on the panel pretty much said "no thanks" on Cousins. Puts up "star wars" #'s, but doesn't win big games and pees down his leg in prime time, etc. They all agreed they'd rather have Baker Mayfield or Jimmy G at $25-30 million than Cousins at $35-40 million.

Hard to argue. We might be stuck letting him play out 2022 and walk away. Would be a shame.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
I think the Vikings being a Super Bowl contender hinges on improving the roster. If the QB - or any 1 player - is taking up 20% of the salary cap, that makes it harder to improve the roster.

in my opinion - and yes, it is an opinion - Cousins is not a good enough QB to lead this current roster to a Super Bowl. He needs better players around him especially on defense.

To be clear - I think Cousins could win a Super Bowl IF he had the right roster around him.

But, given the state of the Vikings' roster, especially on defense, this team has to make a lot of improvements. Given the realities of the salary cap, I just do not see how they make those improvements WHILE at the same time paying Cousins 20% of the salary cap.

I see it as a pretty simple issue --

you can pay Cousins a butt-load of money, OR you can make major improvements to the roster. You can't do both. and without major improvements to the roster, this team is not winning a Super Bowl.
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So you don't like paying Cousins 20% of the cap, but 18-19% is okay? This is what I keep getting at here. What do people honestly think you are going to pay a QB that statistically is among the top 6-8 in the league?

If they want to trade him, and get a good return, I think that would be fantastic. I can 100% get behind that. But the people who want to continuously say that he should take some stupid low number for a salary, what in the hell are you thinking?

The Cowboys danced with Dak for years on his contract extension, people argued for years that he "deserved" the big money, and they finally gave it to him. Which I thought was stupid and I think it's a contract the Cowboys will regret probably.

Cousins has done nothing but produce while he's been in Minnesota while he's watched the Defense erode miserably year after year; Vikings D finished among the worst in the league in most major categories this year.

Hey, want to trade him for a good return and start over? I can totally get behind that. Cousins has limitations. But stop saying he should sign for some stupid ridiculous low contract. You're just being idiotic (not you specifically SON). Cousins has earned what he's going to get paid for the next couple years, whether it's with the Vikings or a team he is traded to, like it or not. Might as well deal with that idea.
 

howeda7 said:
I listened to a Broncos podcast yesterday where they discussed the non-Aaron Rogers trade options. All 3 on the panel pretty much said "no thanks" on Cousins. Puts up "star wars" #'s, but doesn't win big games and pees down his leg in prime time, etc. They all agreed they'd rather have Baker Mayfield or Jimmy G at $25-30 million than Cousins at $35-40 million.

Hard to argue. We might be stuck letting him play out 2022 and walk away. Would be a shame.
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Didn't Carolina want him?

Only way I agree to extension is if it then helps him get traded.

Otherwise, absolutely no F'ing way. 2022 as is, we won't be competitive, F you Cousins, see ya.
 

Ogee Oglethorpe said:
What do people honestly think you are going to pay a QB that statistically is among the top 6-8 in the league?
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If it really was so simple, so obvious, so cut-and-dried like you're trying to make it seem ..... then lots of teams would be beating down our door to get Cousins.

That they're not, is telling of what teams actually think of those "stats".
 


Gophers_4life said:
If it really was so simple, so obvious, so cut-and-dried like you're trying to make it seem ..... then lots of teams would be beating down our door to get Cousins.

That they're not, is telling of what teams actually think of those "stats".
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That's not the point. Cousins believes he's worth that based on those stats. You can't fault him for that and not wanting to take a pay-cut.

The new Vikings regime may feel he's not worth that as well, but the only way to cut his salary for this season is to extend him for what he wants longer term. That may not be in the best interest for the Vikings.

If that's the case the only real option is to let this season play out. Cousins may be forced to take a pay cut with the Vikings or another team next season if the open market proves he's not worth that much.
 

Gophers_4life said:
If it really was so simple, so obvious, so cut-and-dried like you're trying to make it seem ..... then lots of teams would be beating down our door to get Cousins.

That they're not, is telling of what teams actually think of those "stats".
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I'm just telling you what's likely to happen. You don't have to like it. Cousins is going to be playing somewhere next year for probably about $38M/yr on a multi-year deal. If y'all want to keep thinking you know infinitely more than KAM and KOC, by all means, run with it.
 

Gophers_4life said:
Didn't Carolina want him?

Only way I agree to extension is if it then helps him get traded.

Otherwise, absolutely no F'ing way. 2022 as is, we won't be competitive, F you Cousins, see ya.
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They inquired. I don't know what they offered if anything. If he won't sign a reasonable extension, they can still probably get a 3rd or 4th round pick for him. I'd take it and run. The only other option is to add a "void year" for 2023 and move $10-15 of his 2022 cap # into 2023. I'd rather not do that.
 

howeda7 said:
They inquired. I don't know what they offered if anything. If he won't sign a reasonable extension, they can still probably get a 3rd or 4th round pick for him. I'd take it and run. The only other option is to add a "void year" for 2023 and move $10-15 of his 2022 cap # into 2023. I'd rather not do that.
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If he really plays here next year just because we're forced to pay his $35M base and no other team will touch that, since they know his "stats" are bunk where it matters, then I hope karma bites him in the ass.
 




I'm not talking about Cousins taking a pay cut. I'm talking about re-working the contract to lower the cap hit.

those are two different things.

Cousins will get his money. the question is how he gets the money. if it's mostly in salary, that means a bigger cap hit. if part of the contract is converted to a roster bonus or signing bonus, that reduces the cap hit, whether it's for a one-year deal or a longer deal.

Cap space matters.

As of today, to the best of my knowledge. the Vikings are roughly $12 to $14-million over the cap.

Under league rules, they have to be at or under the cap to start the new league year. then they have to create more cap space to sign draft picks. and then, if they want to try and sign any free agents, they have to create more cap space.

so again - management to Kirk: "we are asking you to rework your deal to lower the cap hit, so that we can sign some other players and make the team better."

If Kirk's answer is "No," then that is the same as Kirk saying "bleep you" to the team. That is not a leader.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
I’m in

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I will fully admit that was impressive. With that said, an impressive deep ball with no rush and no decision as to where to go with the ball doesn’t mean a ton. But GMs will drool, and this dude just made himself a bunch of money. I stand be the fact this has almost zero bearing on whether he will be a successful NFL QB.
 

I still think the best thing to do is trade Cousins for whatever you can get, play a meh QB and try to get as high in the draft order for 2023 as you can.

This seems less and less likely to happen, and maybe that will be for the best.
 



short ornery norwegian said:
I'm not talking about Cousins taking a pay cut. I'm talking about re-working the contract to lower the cap hit.
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This was always what was going to happen. I didn't think we were talking about anything else? Cousins is going to sign a multi-year extension, IMO anyway, for less than the $45M/yr that he's scheduled to make for this coming season. I never expected anything else to happen.

I suspect the number will be around $37-$38M/yr, always have thought that and still do
 


short ornery norwegian said:
I think the Vikings being a Super Bowl contender hinges on improving the roster. If the QB - or any 1 player - is taking up 20% of the salary cap, that makes it harder to improve the roster.

in my opinion - and yes, it is an opinion - Cousins is not a good enough QB to lead this current roster to a Super Bowl. He needs better players around him especially on defense.

To be clear - I think Cousins could win a Super Bowl IF he had the right roster around him.

But, given the state of the Vikings' roster, especially on defense, this team has to make a lot of improvements. Given the realities of the salary cap, I just do not see how they make those improvements WHILE at the same time paying Cousins 20% of the salary cap.

I see it as a pretty simple issue --

you can pay Cousins a butt-load of money, OR you can make major improvements to the roster. You can't do both. and without major improvements to the roster, this team is not winning a Super Bowl.
Click to expand...
I'm with you and with this guy.

 

Ogee Oglethorpe said:
This was always what was going to happen. I didn't think we were talking about anything else? Cousins is going to sign a multi-year extension, IMO anyway, for less than the $45M/yr that he's scheduled to make for this coming season. I never expected anything else to happen.

I suspect the number will be around $37-$38M/yr, always have thought that and still do
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He's scheduled to make $35M in 2022. The cap hit is $45M though, currently.
 


per Shooter:

Pass rusher Danielle Hunter has an $18 million roster bonus due in two weeks. The Vikings aren’t going to cut him; they’re either going to pay him or trade him.

What makes this interesting is that Hunter, 27, has a nice relationship with departed Vikings co-defensive coordinator Andre Patterson, now defensive line coach for the Giants, who could be interested in trading for him.

The Vikings led the NFL with 11 players with contracts of $10 million or more last season.

www.twincities.com

Charley Walters: It’s been 60 years since Eric Magdanz set a Gophers’ record

It was 60 years ago Saturday that Eric Magdanz set a University of Minnesota men’s basketball single-game scoring record with 42 points at Michigan. “I could have kicked it and it would have gone i…
www.twincities.com www.twincities.com

Skol Vikes!!
 

Either a terrible move or a genius move.

If he never physically returns to form, it was a genius move. If he becomes a HOF player, then it's just another chapter in Minnesota sports.


If we keep him, he probably will not return to form. If we trade him to the Giants, he probably becomes the next Lawrence Taylor. We can't win.
 

BleedGopher said:
per Shooter:

Pass rusher Danielle Hunter has an $18 million roster bonus due in two weeks. The Vikings aren’t going to cut him; they’re either going to pay him or trade him.

What makes this interesting is that Hunter, 27, has a nice relationship with departed Vikings co-defensive coordinator Andre Patterson, now defensive line coach for the Giants, who could be interested in trading for him.

The Vikings led the NFL with 11 players with contracts of $10 million or more last season.

www.twincities.com

Charley Walters: It’s been 60 years since Eric Magdanz set a Gophers’ record

It was 60 years ago Saturday that Eric Magdanz set a University of Minnesota men’s basketball single-game scoring record with 42 points at Michigan. “I could have kicked it and it would have gone i…
www.twincities.com www.twincities.com

Skol Vikes!!
Click to expand...
This is another example how bad Spielman was at this job.
 

Gophers_4life said:
Either a terrible move or a genius move.

If he never physically returns to form, it was a genius move. If he becomes a HOF player, then it's just another chapter in Minnesota sports.


If we keep him, he probably will not return to form. If we trade him to the Giants, he probably becomes the next Lawrence Taylor. We can't win.
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I actually think it will turn out OK. Hunter basically put all of his chips in the 2021 basket with the deal he agreed to. He could have refused a deal and sat out. But he agreed to deal that would pya him less in 2021, but theoretically pay him big starting in 2022. But then when he got injured and lost a bit of his leverage. Now, because of his position, and how starved teams are for rush ends, he still has some leverage, but not as much as he did. If the Vikes want to sign him, they should get a better deal now than they would have gotten in the 2021 offseason.

I am more than OK with the Vikes cutting/trading him and "rebuilding" in 2022. But with a little discount compared to 2021, I am also more than OK with them resigning him, as he is the most important player on their defense.
 

Since it seems more likely every day that Rodgers is back in GB, push the button on the rebuild. Trade Cousins, Hunter, Smith and Kendricks if you can. Get a 2023 1st rounder and lower picks for this year. Sign Mariota, a center and load up on defense in the draft.
 

BleedGopher said:
per Shooter:

Pass rusher Danielle Hunter has an $18 million roster bonus due in two weeks. The Vikings aren’t going to cut him; they’re either going to pay him or trade him.

What makes this interesting is that Hunter, 27, has a nice relationship with departed Vikings co-defensive coordinator Andre Patterson, now defensive line coach for the Giants, who could be interested in trading for him.

The Vikings led the NFL with 11 players with contracts of $10 million or more last season.

www.twincities.com

Charley Walters: It’s been 60 years since Eric Magdanz set a Gophers’ record

It was 60 years ago Saturday that Eric Magdanz set a University of Minnesota men’s basketball single-game scoring record with 42 points at Michigan. “I could have kicked it and it would have gone i…
www.twincities.com www.twincities.com

Skol Vikes!!
Click to expand...

Trade Hunter and either trade Cousins or let him ride out his last year without an extension.

This years draft is loaded with rush ends. Next year's draft will be a much better QB draft.
 

it still gets back to this - what does ownership want?

Mark Wilf, at one of the press conferences, said he expects the Vikes to be "super competitive" next year.

So, do the new GM and HC have the freedom to make moves for the long-term, or do they have to make some short-term decisions in order to keep ownership happy?

I would hope that the GM and HC are able to tell ownership, "look, we might take a step backwards in '22, but we need to be able to make moves to set up the team to contend in future years."
 

Zero chance the 2022 Vikings can be the 2021 Rams, even with everyone back at full health.

I don't believe it for a second.


And if that is the case, then there is just no reason not to start the rebuild in 22.
 



I feel like Hunter can still have the impact that a guy like Richard Dent did with the Bears. Now would not be the time to part with him.
 


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