All Things 2026 Minnesota Vikings Off-Season Thread

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GopherWeatherGuy said:
I think there's zero chance Kyler Murray ends up a Viking.

I would bet a lot of money on Derek Carr coming here to compete with JJ. The second option would be Cousins.
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Ogie Ogilthorpe said:
I think the Vikings could have their pick between Carr, Cousins, or even Murray if they want. All 3 of those guys would probably put the Vikings 10 spots higher on their list than any other team looking for a QB. Carr has made it pretty clear he's not interested in playing for anyone that can't be a very strong postseason threat.

Barring any bridges burned on either side that we haven't heard about, I still think it's probably Cousins. And I wouldn't hate that at all. Don't have to love it, it just has to be a viable option
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FWIW

Someone on The Athletic projected Carr’s salary, if he comes back, to be similar to Rodgers’ this year, which was $14.5M.
 



I don’t understand why Carr wouldn’t just sign a super cheap deal to be on a contender. He’s playing for a Super Bowl chance. There’s really no other reason
 

Gopher_In_NYC said:
Someone on The Athletic projected Carr’s salary, if he comes back, to be similar to Rodgers’ this year, which was $14.5M.
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upnorthkid said:
I don’t understand why Carr wouldn’t just sign a super cheap deal to be on a contender. He’s playing for a Super Bowl chance. There’s really no other reason
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For someone with Carr's resume, something around $14M WOULD really be a cheap deal. He may take less, but I doubt it's a lot less
 


Ogie Ogilthorpe said:
For someone with Carr's resume, something around $14M WOULD really be a cheap deal. He may take less, but I doubt it's a lot less
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He didn’t play last year. Youre not coming out of retirement to make money (I’d assume). I get what you’re saying, but that has always been a curiosity to me for guys who have never won one who claim that’s the only reason they’re still trying/going for it

More a general comment than something specific to Carr
 



Ogie Ogilthorpe said:
Pretty high marks across the board, not surprisingly.

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The GM got an "A". Canned. Worthless data point.

GFBfan said:
So much for them not being public!
Good to see the Vikings near the top. Would be nice if that translated to on field playoff performance.
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Pats Owner got a B-. Went to the Super Bowl.

Gimme that instead.
 



one would be thinking we'd be winning super bowls left and right with all these top notch things
 

upnorthkid said:
one would be thinking we'd be winning super bowls left and right with all these top notch things
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Grade inflation. 17 of the NFL Owners got a Grade of A- or higher.

Only 2 can make the Super Bowl. All 4 of the NFC North Teams got at least an A-.
 





KoC is blameless. He simply let Kwesi do everything. What a clown show
 



GopherWeatherGuy said:
That will get them down to 'only' 26 million over the cap
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As covered as nauseam on here repeatedly 🤦‍♂️ and specifically by Lewis in The Athletic ( spend some of that meteorological moola on the a subscription), they will simply convert JJ’s contract, extend others and restructure others to get under the 🧢.

It not rocket science🤷‍♂️
 

Gopher_In_NYC said:
As covered as nauseam on here repeatedly 🤦‍♂️ and specifically by Lewis in The Athletic ( spend some of that meteorological moola on the a subscription), they will simply convert JJ’s contract, extend others and restructure others to get under the 🧢.

It not rocket science🤷‍♂️
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Yeah to get under the cap, no one's worried about that. They will still have holes to fill and little money to spend.

Just pushing everything down the road puts us in the same cap hell we allegedly just got out of.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
Yeah to get under the cap, no one's worried about that. They will still have holes to fill and little money to spend.
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Every team has wholes holes.

Lewis also isn’t worried about it being a doomsday scenario like you bro, and he gets paid for his Vikings opinions, while the rest of us don’t.
GopherWeatherGuy said:
Just pushing everything down the road puts us in the same cap hell we allegedly just got out of.
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The roster is built to win now and as I turn 60 this year and have chronic health conditions, I’m personally more focused on the here and now. Maybe when you get a little older, wiser (?) it’ll make more sense to you or you can keep rocking your Eeyore vibes🤷‍♂.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
Yeah to get under the cap, no one's worried about that. They will still have holes to fill and little money to spend.

Just pushing everything down the road puts us in the same cap hell we allegedly just got out of.
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This is not the same. This has also been covered ad nauseam here. The contract of Jefferson and a few others like it were structured specifically for this offseason. The Vikings have the second most cap flexibility in the NFL, behind only the Chiefs.

They could create $100M in cap space this offseason if they really wanted to. Not all contract restructures are created equally. There's not a person in that building that's worried about the salary cap

Gopher_In_NYC said:
Lewis also isn’t worried about it being a doomsday scenario like you bro, and he gets paid for his Vikings opinions, while the rest of us don’t.
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It's not just Lewis either (he's fantastic on the Vikings); Luke Braun who has the Locked on Vikings podcast is a bit of a cap nerd and he's been on this for over a year. Nobody in the Vikings FO is sweating this out.

I mean, are there really any Vikings fans losing sleep over losing Hargrave, J. Allen, Ryan Kelly and/or A. Jones (although his leadership would be missed). That and even the slightest Hockenson restructure gets them under the number right there, without doing anything else.
 

Yee Haw

sports.yahoo.com

Lions reportedly trade veteran RB David Montgomery to Texans

The Texans have found the next key to their backfield.
sports.yahoo.com sports.yahoo.com

The Texans will send their 2026 fourth-round pick, offensive lineman Juice Scruggs and a seventh-round pick for Montgomery, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reports. The deal won't officially go through until the start of the new league year on March 11.

The news comes just one day after Montgomery denied reports that he "wanted out" of Detroit, refuting a report from ESPN's Jeremy Fowler that he was seeking a fresh start, also noting that the Lions would want "possibly a fifth-rounder" in return for the vet.

Montgomery was originally drafted by the Chicago Bears as a third-round pick out of the 2019 NFL Draft class. After four years in Chicago as the team's lead running back, he signed a three-year, $18 million contract with the Lions in free agency in 2023, following that up with a two-year, $18.25 million contract extension in Oct. 2024.

Montgomery is scheduled to become a free agent again in 2028, barring a new deal with Houston.

Houston offers Montgomery a fresh start and the chance to boost his carries after a career-low season. Montgomery gives the Texans a reliable veteran option in the backfield. Last season, the Texans relied on rookie running back Woody Marks and Nick Chubb in the backfield. The Texans were 22nd in rushing yards per game and 31st in rushing touchdowns last season, despite being 13th in rushing attempts
With Chubb set to hit free agency and Joe Mixon still recovering from a foot injury, Montgomery and Marks are expected to be the team's leading rushers next season.
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The Texans have also continued to shift their offensive line, trading Tytus Howard and Scruggs.
For the Lions, trading Montgomery frees up more touches for leading rusher Jahmyr Gibbs. He also frees up cap space, allowing the Lions to extend players such as Gibbs, Jack Campbell and Brian Branch.
Scruggs, a 2023 second-round pick, adds depth to the Lions' offensive line after the team struggled last season. While the newly acquired picks will help fill other team needs.
 

Ogie Ogilthorpe said:
This is not the same. This has also been covered ad nauseam here. The contract of Jefferson and a few others like it were structured specifically for this offseason. The Vikings have the second most cap flexibility in the NFL, behind only the Chiefs.

They could create $100M in cap space this offseason if they really wanted to. Not all contract restructures are created equally. There's not a person in that building that's worried about the salary cap



It's not just Lewis either (he's fantastic on the Vikings); Luke Braun who has the Locked on Vikings podcast is a bit of a cap nerd and he's been on this for over a year. Nobody in the Vikings FO is sweating this out.

I mean, are there really any Vikings fans losing sleep over losing Hargrave, J. Allen, Ryan Kelly and/or A. Jones (although his leadership would be missed). That and even the slightest Hockenson restructure gets them under the number right there, without doing anything else.
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Of course, the Vikings are 'never worried about the salary cap' for this year. They will have to pay for it at some point though, the money just doesn't disappear.

The Vikings are always content on kicking the can down the road to field another mediocre roster. That's what this roster is, and an aging/injury prone one at that. The roster currently sits with no proven QB, a career backup at RB, holes on the OL, S, CB, and potentially at WR/TE too.

The Vikings should be putting their energy into developing JJ and building for the future. Instead they'll probably give up on JJ, bring in another washed up QB, and lose in the 1st round of the playoffs, if they make it.

This is what mediocre franchises do.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
Of course, the Vikings are 'never worried about the salary cap' for this year. They will have to pay for it at some point though, the money just doesn't disappear.

The Vikings are always content on kicking the can down the road to field another mediocre roster. That's what this roster is, and an aging/injury prone one at that. The roster currently sits with no proven QB, a career backup at RB, holes on the OL, S, CB, and potentially at WR/TE too.

The Vikings should be putting their energy into developing JJ and building for the future. Instead they'll probably give up on JJ, bring in another washed up QB, and lose in the 1st round of the playoffs, if they make it.

This is what mediocre franchises do.
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☁️ with drizzle
 

And now Alec Lewis is dropping dime on JJM not meeting the mark off the field. I knew something was wrong with FO last spring and it seems that nothing had changed. Slop.
 

gasp, guys who are trying to save their jobs are feeling uncomfortable with an unproven player at QB 2 years after being fine taking a guy who had just over 700 career passing attempts in college over 3 seasons (Drake Maye threw it over 950 times by comparison, Caleb Williams almost 1100) in a run heavy offense behind a coach who won't change his offense. Can't imagine where these rumors are coming from.

There's a reason Williams looked better this year (Ben Johnson changed the offense). There's a reason Drake Maye looked better this year (Josh McDaniels is pretty good at his job). Bo Nix gets Payton. Tbh it's just as much an indictment on KOC as it is on JJM who I didn't love when they drafted him, but ffs if you're not going to even try help the kid with the system, that's a staff problem too. He made Max look embarrassingly incompetent as well.

It's kind of interesting to look back. Even some vets really struggled their first year in the system (Cousins who was historically pretty TO averse threw 14 picks his first year and noted feeling way more comfortable in the system in year 2 where he was on an MVP trajectory, other experienced QBs threw more picks than TDs). Kind of what KOC reflected on how rare it was for Darnold to have had the year he did.

I'm not expecting JJM to be the QB nor do I really think he's going to hit, but my goodness play to the kids strengths rather than try fit a square peg into a round hole instead of just blaming him for being the problem.
 

I’ve been told, ad-nauseam, that the Vikings don’t have any cap issues though.


 


Slim Tubby said:
Any chance he'd get us a FRP in return? I'd feel comfortable moving him with Van Ginkle and Turner under contract.
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Not sure if they could get a 1st, probably at least a 2nd though.

The problem with trading Greenard is then you have no depth. Van Ginkel is also 2 years older than Greenard.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
I’ve been told, ad-nauseam, that the Vikings don’t have any cap issues though.
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I saw this earlier too.

This could be interesting, I have to admit. Turner's more natural spot in the Flores offense is Greenard's spot, not so much Van Ginkel's spot. Turner was substantially more impactful when filling in for Greenard than he was filling in for Gink early in the year.

GopherWeatherGuy said:
Not sure if they could get a 1st, probably at least a 2nd though.

The problem with trading Greenard is then you have no depth. Van Ginkel is also 2 years older than Greenard.
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This is really the only issue, the depth. Kinda depends on what they think of guys like Batty or Gabe Murphy or someone they can bring in via FA or the draft.

Turner primarily as a backup is a luxury that almost no team has.
 


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