All Things 2026 Minnesota Vikings Off-Season Thread

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Dan is going off the rails trying to pretend, if not outright lie, that writers are saying something like "all blame lies with KAM, everyone else -- especially KOC -- is off the hook!" in order to fabricate justification to talk about something more juicy than what is actually there.

Pretty dishonest.

KAM was fired for the drafts, the failure of the 2025 FA signings, and general lack of work ethic and experience in being a GM. Nothing else there to be said.
 

GopherGrit said:
Dan is going off the rails trying to pretend, if not outright lie, that writers are saying something like "all blame lies with KAM, everyone else -- especially KOC -- is off the hook!" in order to fabricate justification to talk about something more juicy than what is actually there.

Pretty dishonest.

KAM was fired for the drafts, the failure of the 2025 FA signings, and general lack of work ethic and experience in being a GM. Nothing else there to be said.
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Dan has it correct. Kwesi cannot be both the decision maker for everything and at the same time spineless. Think about it while you are touching and then smoking grass.
 

coolhandgopher said:
I came across this article yesterday and found it quite enjoyable and coalesced many of my thoughts about NFL owners. The Wilfs' aren't specifically mentioned (Woody Johnson, Jerry Jones, Dan Snyder, David Tepper get most of the print) and while Vikings' ownership has been stable since their arrival and they have been savvier PR-wise than the likes of Tepper and Johnson, a lot of your thoughts do align with the current ownership class--owning a NFL team is a cash cow and on field success is a secondary consideration.
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It’s a little depressing that our beloved teams are but the playthings of unqualified billionaires. But then again, what in our American lives is not dependent on the whims of unqualified billionaires? At least with football, we can boo them.

That's it in a nutshell.

I'm guessing because the Wilfs are terminally mediocre they are not called out in the article. Whoopee.
 





Spaulding!No! said:
Dan has it correct. Kwesi cannot be both the decision maker for everything and at the same time spineless. Think about it while you are touching and then smoking grass.
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What spineless are you and Dan making up???

Kwesi was fired for: being the decision maker on some terrible drafts, being the decision maker on a terrible 2025 FA class, for not getting Dan Jones signed, for being disconnected with the rest of the building, and for just in general not having much football experience and knowledge.

It was a swing and miss hire. There is nothing else there.
 

It was an absolute treat to listen to Seifert debunk Dan's fake attempts to stir up crap that isn't there in the slightest.

Dan: "I read it somewhere, I can't remember now, someone national not local ... but isn't that true?"

Seifert: "No, no ... I certainly don't think it was like that. I don't have anything that would point to that.

😂😂😂

Over and over again, bitchslapping down Dan's fake angles. Love it!


Compared to Lewis the day before, playing along with the nonsense, probably to get in Dan's good graces and on the radio more.
 




Spaulding!No! said:
Got it. KOC blameless.
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I don't think anyone with half a functioning brain believes this and you've definitely been critical from the beginning of the bogus PR being put out by the Vikings about their QB situation.

KOC most certainly had some input on the selection of JJM, his play calling is suspect at times and his clock management skills are questionable. He's also a "player's coach" and that doesn't always equate to winning.

If the rumors are true that he told KAM that JJM wasn't ready to lead a "win now" roster and was overruled, then he deserves some credit for that. I would have no problem dumping him if next season is poor but the Vikings definitely fired the right guy this offseason.
 

Troy Aikman talking about Sam Darnold. He has an interesting perspective on Darnold; I found his closing comments on giving up on young QBs and moving on too quickly particularly thoughtful.

www.youtube.com

HOF'er Troy Aikman On Sam Darnold's Impressive NFL Journey

ESPN ‘Monday Night Football’ Analyst Troy Aikman and Rich Eisen discuss the keys to who wins Super Bowl LX between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seaha...
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
 


Spaulding!No! said:
Got it. KOC blameless.
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Every person in the building and front office has more than zero blame.

Flores has more than zero blame, for the shortcomings of defensive FA and draft picks since he's been here.

KAM's share of the blame on the things he was fired for (I listed above ... note the lack of specifically mentioning anything about McCarthy) is 90% or higher.

Should we fire KAM 90% of the way, fire KOC 7% of the way, and fire Flores 3%?

Brilliant 🙄
 



The hiring of KAM was the same attempt at thing like in the movie "Moneyball".

That's exactly what it was.

It just didn't work. That's OK.


Massive credit goes to the Wilfs for recognizing that it wasn't working, and correcting course.

Easily some of the top owners in the league, by any reasonable, non-contrived measure.
 

GopherGrit said:
Every person in the building and front office has more than zero blame.

Flores has more than zero blame, for the shortcomings of defensive FA and draft picks since he's been here.

KAM's share of the blame on the things he was fired for (I listed above ... note the lack of specifically mentioning anything about McCarthy) is 90% or higher.

Should we fire KAM 90% of the way, fire KOC 7% of the way, and fire Flores 3%?

Brilliant 🙄
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I laughed at the JJ photographer silliness but now it is embarrassing for KAM.
 

Alec Lewis at The Athletic, with a pretty good road map for the Vikings offseason. May not agree with all of his ideas, but it's a great article. Hard to summarize much of it without just cut and pasting the whole thing but here are at least the bullet points;

1. Cut Hargrave, Kelly, A. Jones, and Hockenson; Saves about $35M. (I can see them keeping Hock if they get him to take a pay cut)

2. Extend O'Neill and Redmond; I agree with both of these, extending O'Neill reduces his cap hit

3. Convert some big salaries to signing bonuses; yes, kicking the can down the road but not as bad as it sounds. Lists Jefferson, Greenard, Van Ginkel, Fries, B. Murphy JR, and Josh Oliver

4. Trade Addison for a 2nd round pick and sign Nailor; I like this, if they can get that kind of value. They seem to have confidence that Tai Felton can absolutely step into the Nailor role

5. Trade a 3rd round pick for Kyler Murray; not the craziest idea in the world but some would hate it. Depends on the draft capital and the amount of money each team is taking on

6. Sign Cade Mays, Center, to a FA deal. To me, doesn't have to be Mays, there are a lot of good Centers coming up in FA actually. Take your pick, some will be kept by their current teams

7. Sign Cardinals S Jalen Thompson to a long contract. Thompson is legit, the Cardinals may try to keep him but I know the Cardinals have drafted a lot of DBs in recent drafts and they already pay Budda Baker a big number at Safety

After that, it's basically keep Rob Brzezinski for GM, prioritize CB, DL, OT and RB in the draft.

Solid article, I liked it a lot
 

This Vikings Front Office hire kinda flew under the radar but I agree with the take when I heard it; this probably frees up Rob B to handle more duties than just his cap mgmt responsibilities. Sounds like a very solid addition

 


So, Flores will deep six the team until KOC is canned by week 15 so Flores may take the HC job. Whatta mess.
 

Shame on the mn sports media for the 2025 JJM hype train. Now we hear PA and KoC saying they knew JJM wasn’t ready? I am 100 % the sports media in the tc area spews what they are told they can spew. Explains why Reusse stands out.
 



howeda7 said:
:unsure:

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I don't know if the money and hassle would be worth it but honestly, if you're a team with either a developing rookie or no QB at all, having someone like Carr in your QB room would be a pretty big benefit.

He's a high character person who has been in a lot of battles, he's only 34 yrs old. Shit, the Vikings would have very likely made the playoffs last year if Carr had started all of the games that JJ McCarthy did NOT.

I doubt it happens but I can think of a shitload of guys on NFL rosters right now (either QB1 or QB2) that would be worse options than Carr.
 

Ogie Ogilthorpe said:
I don't know if the money and hassle would be worth it but honestly, if you're a team with either a developing rookie or no QB at all, having someone like Carr in your QB room would be a pretty big benefit.

He's a high character person who has been in a lot of battles, he's only 34 yrs old. Shit, the Vikings would have very likely made the playoffs last year if Carr had started all of the games that JJ McCarthy did NOT.

I doubt it happens but I can think of a shitload of guys on NFL rosters right now (either QB1 or QB2) that would be worse options than Carr.
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Has never actually been on the active roster of a playoff team
Maybe that’s a 🥕 to entice him
 

You guys just gotta do what you need to do to prepare your head for the fact that it's going to be Cousins.



KOC is in survival mode. There will be no QB reasonably available, for whatever we can afford and given our situation, that has more familiarity with his offense and him as a coach.

As long as the money/terms make sense ... done deal. :)
 


Ope3 said:
I'm not pretending anything.

22 franchises have won a playoff game more recently than the Vikings. Fact.

That's on Ownership. Rudderless.
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Since they started taking 14 teams in the 2020 season (the season immediately after the Vikings last won a playoff games), 6-8 franchises win playoff games every year, depending on if the #1 seeds win or lose in the divisional in each conference.

Therefore, your 22 stat is actually nothing special at all. It's not really meaningful.
 

This is what they refer to as "building value":

Sources: 49ers not planning to trade QB Mac Jones this offseason​

Despite continued speculation, the San Francisco 49ers have no plans to trade quarterback Mac Jones this offseason and fully intend to bring him back as Brock Purdy's backup, sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter on Sunday.

Jones is under contract with the 49ers for the 2026 season after signing a two-year contract in free agency last year.

www.espn.com

Sources: 49ers not planning to trade QB Mac Jones this offseason

The 49ers have no plans to trade quarterback Mac Jones this offseason and fully intend to bring him back as Brock Purdy's backup, sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter.
www.espn.com www.espn.com
 

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN

WE HAVE NOW OFFICIALLY ENTERED THE 2026 NFL OFFSEASON!!

Let the games and trades and player movement begin!
 

Ogie Ogilthorpe said:
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN

WE HAVE NOW OFFICIALLY ENTERED THE 2026 NFL OFFSEASON!!

Let the games and trades and player movement begin!
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Nope. We still have a month left before the new year begin. March 11 is when the new year begin.
 

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