All Things 2022 Minnesota Vikings Off-Season Thread

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LakevilleBro said:
I hope that Cousins improves under new leadership. Maybe Zimmer was bad for Cousins, we will soon find out.
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Zimmer didn't call plays on offense. And he wasn't wrong about:

Zimmer complained openly in coaching meetings about Cousins, and some of Zimmer’s top lieutenants echoed the sentiment. Zimmer didn’t feel the quarterback made enough “winning plays,” that he didn’t take the necessary shots to help lead the Vikings to victory, and that he didn’t elevate his teammates.


Maybe the new system and playcalling fixes it. We'll see. Obviously we all hope that JJ is the new Kupp.

But the offense played best when Theilen was at full health and getting plenty of targets.

Irv Smith Jr will be an important wildcard. Really hope he can come through next year.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
My take - I think Kwesi and KOC decided that the "QB of the future" is not coming out of the '22 draft class. And even if they are able to get the QOTF in the '23 draft class, they probably don't want to throw the kid into the fire immediately.
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But you're not going to find a QOTF in the 23 class at the spots we'll be drafting from: solidly in the middle, after another year of not winning the North and certainly not going to beat Brady in Tampa either.
 


Bad Gopher said:
The pressure from ownership to not "rebuild" and have a down year must be strong. OR the new bosses truly believe that they can execute their plan with Kirk's big salary still on the books. One way or another, he's probably the best QB they could have arranged for the coming year.
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(not shooting you on this)

So?? Won't be good enough to win the North. Won't be good enough to win a playoff game on the road against Brady. So it doesn't freakin matter.
 



Gophers_4life said:
(not shooting you on this)

So?? Won't be good enough to win the North. Won't be good enough to win a playoff game on the road against Brady. So it doesn't freakin matter.
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While it won't be likely the Vikings win the NFC North, it's far from being impossible. Still can beat up on the Bears/Lions, if the Packers (with the 1st Place Schedule) recede just a bit, it's at least within the realm of possibility.

Without having any idea what's going to happen in Free Agency and the Draft just writing it off in the middle of March seems premature. For all we know the new brain trust could be absolute wizards. Could also blow up completely in their face, it's all possible.
 

Nax5 said:
Interested to see if Cousins can take it to the next level under the new HC. More than 1 playoff win would be nice.
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I'm an optimistic sort, but I think there's something to this potential. I'm admittedly a Zim fan, but damn, I can see how he would be hell to play for being the QB and him as a HC. Then factor in the revolving door at OC while Cousins has been the starter in Minnesota. Cousins has the tools, and he has some weapons around him (don't forget Irv Smith missed all of last year and that was a BIG loss). And honestly, the OL should be better than average this season with the bookend Tackles and adding 1-2 pieces on the interior. The offense will not be the problem this year.

GopherWeatherGuy said:
I was against a Cousins extension, but I am happy it's only for one additional year.
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This was probably the best deal any Vikings fan could have hoped for, whether you were a Cousins fan or not; Only a 2-year commitment while significantly reducing the cap number? That's about the best you could ask for.

I wonder what the plan is for backup QB this year?
 

Ope3 said:
While it won't be likely the Vikings win the NFC North, it's far from being impossible. Still can beat up on the Bears/Lions, if the Packers (with the 1st Place Schedule) recede just a bit, it's at least within the realm of possibility.

Without having any idea what's going to happen in Free Agency and the Draft just writing it off in the middle of March seems premature. For all we know the new brain trust could be absolute wizards. Could also blow up completely in their face, it's all possible.
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It all comes back to the QB in the NFL, and we just shot our load on a guy who isn't a winner, for two more years. Disappointing, to say the least.
 

Ogee Oglethorpe said:
This was probably the best deal any Vikings fan could have hoped for, whether you were a Cousins fan or not; Only a 2-year commitment while significantly reducing the cap number? That's about the best you could ask for.

I wonder what the plan is for backup QB this year?
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From MSN: "According to a league source, Cousins will get a $25 million signing bonus and a total of $35 million in new money, all of which is guaranteed. He again has a no-trade clause — as he did when he signed his first deal with the Vikings in 2018 — and will make $40 million in cash this year."

So Cousins will make $40M in cash this year. He'll get a $25M in signing bonus money and an additional year on his contract.

And his salary cap hit went down.

Anywhere outside of the NFL does that make sense?
 






Iceland12 said:
So Cousins will make $40M in cash this year. He'll get a $25M in signing bonus money and an additional year on his contract.

And his salary cap hit went down.

Anywhere outside of the NFL does that make sense?
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It's because of the cheating void years, plainly.

Would like to see those made illegal per NFL rules.
 



Bad Gopher said:
Yes. I don't blame Kirk for not wanting to end up in some purgatory or hell at this stage of his career.
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It really is this simple, I think:

with how badly teams were looking for QB's (still are), that we weren't able to get a great deal "too good to refuse" for him, tells you all you need to know about what other teams thought of him and his stats.
 





Isn't that what the Packers do?

I'm not sure if we could afford ZS and keep Hunter, or if that would even be a thing to try to do.
 




Well, Kwesi and KOC have been saying all along that they like Cousins and were looking forward to working with Cousins.

This brings up an amazing thought"

what if the Vikings actually had a GM and HC who..............tell the truth???????

What a concept!

seriously, after 12 years of Spielman saying nothing, it would be a shock to have a GM who actually means what he says.

(to be sure, I suspect the Wilfs played a major role in this. I suspect they simply refused to go into a "rebuild" mode and told the GM and HC that they, the owners, expect to win right away. They could be wrong, but they have the money and they sign the checks, so they get what they want.)
 

short ornery norwegian said:
(to be sure, I suspect the Wilfs played a major role in this. I suspect they simply refused to go into a "rebuild" mode and told the GM and HC that they, the owners, expect to win right away. They could be wrong, but they have the money and they sign the checks, so they get what they want.)
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Wouldn't be surprised if this was 1/3rd of it.

Another 1/3rd for: teams know exactly what Cousins is, at this point, and no one wanted to touch him with a 10 foot pole for his cost and/or the extension that would be required to bring him down to reasonable cap it.

Last 1/3rd: genuinely think KOC liked working with him in Washington and wants to give it a go.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
The Vikings already have a Pro Bowl pass rusher with a 26.1 million cap hit this season. But maybe they move on from Hunter and go after Smith.
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Yeah it probably doesn't make sense but it would be nice. Lots of other needs also though.
 



Ogee Oglethorpe said:
This draft is about as deep at Edge rusher as any draft in recent memory. You can strike gold on Day Two in the draft at that position. Here's hoping the Vikings are able to do just that
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That probably makes a lot more sense.
 


Ogee Oglethorpe said:
This draft is about as deep at Edge rusher as any draft in recent memory. You can strike gold on Day Two in the draft at that position. Here's hoping the Vikings are able to do just that
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Stud DB first round.
Mafe in the second.
 

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