All Things 2025 Minnesota Vikings Off-Season Thread

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Darnold made Kwesi's decision very easy, if there was a decision at all. Thanks for the 14 wins Sam, pack your bags.

I'm sure we'll sign Jones as the backup and hope McCarthy is healthy.

Need to spend big on the offensive line, secondary is aging and Smith is retiring I think. Should have a lot of cap space, we have a 1st round pick, gotta shore up the O-line badly.

Skol Vikes!!
 

The 1 rule change that need to happen and no i'm not blaming the NFL for this or the Rams. But no division winner should be allow to host a playoff game if there record is worst then there Opponent. Yes we loss the game fair and square..

Again the Rams were the better team tonight and won fair and square.

I think Jones is not coming back. I see him going to another team.
 

gophersfan said:
The 1 rule change that need to happen and no i'm not blaming the NFL for this or the Rams. But no division winner should be allow to host a playoff game if there record is worst then there Opponent. Yes we loss the game fair and square..

Again the Rams were the better team tonight and won fair and square.
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I disagree. The rule is fine. Go and win the Division. Problem solved.

2nd Place = 1st Loser or Wild Card on the Road if their overall record merits.

Vikings didn't beat the Lions in Minneapolis. Vikings didn't beat the Lions in Detroit. Win either and they would have earned the #1 Seed and Home field.

The Vikings didn't beat the Rams in Los Angeles. The Vikings didn't beat the Rams in Glendale. I highly doubt that they could have beat the Rams in Minneapolis either this evening. It was a beat down.

It makes the Regular Season more meaningful. Teams don't play equal schedules.

No change necessary, nor will it even seriously be considered, in my opinion.
 

Good season.

Go have a great offseason.

Upgrade the interior lines, get a new RB, dump Darnold, improve the secondary, give the keys to McCarthy.
 


gophersfan said:
The 1 rule change that need to happen and no i'm not blaming the NFL for this or the Rams. But no division winner should be allow to host a playoff game if there record is worst then there Opponent. Yes we loss the game fair and square..

Again the Rams were the better team tonight and won fair and square.

I think Jones is not coming back. I see him going to another team.
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The rule is fine. The Rams proved twice this season that they are better than the Vikings despite having a worse record. They deserved the home game, even though they didn't really get one.

The Vikings were a fraud this year just like they were in 2022.
 

Imagine if Vikes hadnt drafted JJ last year where we'd be at right now 😬
 

TruthSeeker said:
Good season.

Go have a great offseason.

Upgrade the interior lines, get a new RB, dump Darnold, improve the secondary, give the keys to McCarthy.
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That pretty much sums it up. Was such a fun season. Improvements needed for next season.
 

They will pick 24th in the first round.

We don't really have any other draft. That f------g sucks. Not feeling good about giving up all that we did for Dallas Turner.
 



GopherWeatherGuy said:
The rule is fine. The Rams proved twice this season that they are better than the Vikings despite having a worse record. They deserved the home game, even though they didn't really get one.

The Vikings were a fraud this year just like they were in 2022.
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You do know this was a rebuilding/reset year when we finally decided to eat Cousins' dead cap, along with several others, for a total of $71M in dead cap, right? The Vikings were projected to win 6 games?
 

kg21 said:
They will pick 24th in the first round.

We don't really have any other draft. That f------g sucks. Not feeling good about giving up all that we did for Dallas Turner.
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Won't the Vikings get compensatory picks for losing Hunter & Cousins last year?
 


Ogee Ogilthorpe said:
I think just one for Cousins, but I'm not 100% sure. The signings we made offset Hunter at least, if I'm not mistaken
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I believe it's one third round pick, also. We signed some free agents, too. Van Ginkel for examples.
 



This is from Tankathon:

Minnesota Vikings projected 2025 NFL Draft picks​

  • Round 1, pick 24
  • Round 3, pick 97 (compensatory)
  • Round 5, pick 138
  • Round 5, pick 159
The Vikings packaged their second-round pick for this year in a deal with Houston to acquire the No. 23 overall pick in 2024. They then used that pick, as well as their third- and fourth-round picks for 2025, to move up and draft Turner inside the top 20.

Minnesota’s third-round pick is a projection, as the team is expected to land a compensatory pick for losing Kirk Cousins to the Atlanta Falcons in free agency.

This doesn’t figure to be a big draft class for the Vikings, unless GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah decides to trade back to acquire more picks, a strategy he used multiple times while making 10 total selections in 2022.

With 25 impending free agents and an abundance of cap space, the Vikings have a busy offseason ahead of them.

​

 

kg21 said:
I believe it's one third round pick, also. We signed some free agents, too. Van Ginkel for examples.
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Ok, thanks. Hopefully the abundance of Cap space mitigates the lack of 2025 Draft Capital.

The small Draft Class might make it attractive for a diamond or two in the rough Undrafted Free Agents to help fill out the roster.
 

kg21 said:
They will pick 24th in the first round.

We don't really have any other draft. That f------g sucks. Not feeling good about giving up all that we did for Dallas Turner.
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He's been playing well on punt blocking.

I'm mostly joking as he's still very young. However, he seems tailor made for Flores' defensive scheme, so I am a bit concerned he didn't flash a bit more this year.
 

to be clear, I still expect O'Connell to receive a contract extension from the Wilfs.

but after the last two weeks, I think it's fair to wonder if that extension is going to be for fewer years and fewer dollars than it might have been two weeks ago.

this was a collapse of epic proportions. Zygi and Mark can't ignore that. and O'Connell bears a lot of the responsibility - he's the head coach, the play-caller, and the QB guru - and all of those areas fell apart during the two biggest games of the season.
 

For everybody clamoring for IOL help, pickings are likely to be a bit slim. If they want to take a guard at 24, there are only two highly ranked guards in the draft. As far as free agents, there are a couple of bigger names that are old, and then a bunch of Dalton Risner-level guys.

Will Hernandez PFF of 69.3 (60 is average), James Daniels PFF of 92.9. Both were injured in 2024. The rest are mid-60ish grades or below.

For reference, Dalton Risner had a PFF of 67.

2025 IOL Free Agent list:

Screenshot 2025-01-14 095056.png

2025 Draft Rankings, at or above where the Vikes are picking at #138:

Screenshot 2025-01-14 095600.png
 

Regular season overachieved since they were picked to finish 4th in the division, with an O/U6.5 total wins. Darnold also overachieved as a bridge quarterback, and compared to his career trajectory.

Turner isn't a bust, they took a shot to move up to get the type of guy that typically would go top 10 (but didn't last year due to run on QBs) and he got mid playing time due to the success of the other veterans.

They should absolutely trade back this year from the 1st rd and stock up on the positions of need- OL, DL, CB
 

saintpauljeff said:
Regular season overachieved since they were picked to finish 4th in the division, with an O/U6.5 total wins. Darnold also overachieved as a bridge quarterback, and compared to his career trajectory.

Turner isn't a bust, they took a shot to move up to get the type of guy that typically would go top 10 (but didn't last year due to run on QBs) and he got mid playing time due to the success of the other veterans.

They should absolutely trade back this year from the 1st rd and stock up on the positions of need- OL, DL, CB
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but when you watch Turner.........does he have the burst?
 



Well...we now have roughly $35-40M more to spend in 2025 free agency than we did Monday morning.

I can't think of another player in the NFL that earned their contract more than Sam did this season. It was a great run with a predictably disappointing finish.

Get it done again this offseason, Kwesi.
 

Ogee Ogilthorpe said:
You do know this was a rebuilding/reset year when we finally decided to eat Cousins' dead cap, along with several others, for a total of $71M in dead cap, right? The Vikings were projected to win 6 games?
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Expected wins coming into the season doesn't matter to anyone except gamblers. If that matters, then PJ Fleck is the greatest football coach in the B1G because he beats vegas win expectations every year. The 2017 Vikings weren't supposed to be a 13-3 team and make it to the NFC championship either.

This team looked like it could and should be a championship contender most of the season as it played out, that's all that matters. Then they were thoroughly out played and out coached in the games that mattered most.

I'm tired of empty regular seasons that look great but still result in zero chance of winning a championship.
 



saintpauljeff said:
Regular season overachieved since they were picked to finish 4th in the division, with an O/U6.5 total wins. Darnold also overachieved as a bridge quarterback, and compared to his career trajectory.

Turner isn't a bust, they took a shot to move up to get the type of guy that typically would go top 10 (but didn't last year due to run on QBs) and he got mid playing time due to the success of the other veterans.

They should absolutely trade back this year from the 1st rd and stock up on the positions of need- OL, DL, CB
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You can get a prime caliber OG, C, or RB at that spot. I'm normally against RBs in Round 1, but Jeanty is an exception for me. I doubt he'd be available, but put hum behind a rebuilt interior OL, and now you have the running game that will take pressure off of McCarthy.
 


TruthSeeker said:
You can get a prime caliber OG, C, or RB at that spot. I'm normally against RBs in Round 1, but Jeanty is an exception for me. I doubt he'd be available, but put hum behind a rebuilt interior OL, and now you have the running game that will take pressure off of McCarthy.
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Jeanty will never get past the Cowboys IMO. Hampton also getting 1st Round grades but I'd put OG, DT and CB as much bigger needs, especially when quality RBs can be found later in the Draft.
 

TruthSeeker said:
You can get a prime caliber OG, C, or RB at that spot. I'm normally against RBs in Round 1, but Jeanty is an exception for me. I doubt he'd be available, but put hum behind a rebuilt interior OL, and now you have the running game that will take pressure off of McCarthy.
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I don't think Jones was among our major problems. He's ok. Replace 2 of 3 interior offensive linemen, add a couple DB's so we can play man and maybe an interior defensive run stopper and let's go. Getting Darrisaw back will help. If you can find an upgrade at RB in free agency without breaking bank, go ahead.
 

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