Kevin O'Connell sheds light on Vikings' free agency process with one major area that shows Kwesi Adofo-Mensah's brilliance
Free agency for the Minnesota Vikings was an excellent one on paper thanks to the brilliant work from general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah. The high and low-profile signings have built the roster to a point where the Super Bowl is in discussion. The Vikings used a ton of salary cap space and overall cash to fortify […]
Free agency for the Minnesota Vikings was an excellent one on paper thanks to the brilliant work from general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah. The high and low-profile signings have built the roster to a point where the Super Bowl is in discussion.
The Vikings used a ton of salary cap space and overall cash to fortify the roster in free agency. However, it was their maneuvering in signing certain types of free agents that really set them apart.
Kevin O'Connell talks free agency approach with compensatory formula
When you look at the different elements of the Vikings' process this offseason, it was focused mainly on two things:
- Fortifying the roster with high-end talent
- Maximize the compensatory pick formula
The latter is a very interesting strategy. It's one that the Baltimore Ravens have utilize to build their rosters for years, leading the NFL with 60 compensatory picks. The Vikings made that a focus this offseason due to the losses of higher-end players in quarterback Sam Darnold, quarterback Daniel Jones, left tackle Cam Robinson, and safety Camryn Bynum.
At the NFL owners meetings, Kevin O'Connell was asked about how they used the compensatory formula to their advantage.
"It's probably one of the number one things I've had to learn about, which, if you know anything about the layers to it, just make sure you got some Tylenol or Advil or something, because it's time consuming. And then right when you feel like you've learned it, then they throw in this play time thing, and they throw in this and it could change, and it's this range, but when you look at it like we're inside of a month away from the draft, and I know how people will treat third and fourth round picks, especially in their mock drafts over their back the idea of creating one of those things from Sam Darnold, or Daniel Jones, or Cam Robinson, as players that you're not going to have back, but you poured into it.
"Really is something you have to take a mindset with to try to maximize, and we've tried to do that. And that's where I think Kwesi (Adofo-Mensah), he deserves so much credit for his staff and him working with us as coaches to really identify ways of kind of doing the things that we felt were mandates to improve our team throughout the off season, but doing it in a way where we can still be plus two or potentially three even high level comp picks. So great question."
O'Connell is right that you should probably have some tylenol when it comes to the compensatory pick formula. Your average annual value on the contract, paired with playing time and certain postseason awards can impact what picks you end up with. That ended up hurting the Vikings from a third round to a fourth round pick.
It also likely impacted who the Vikings signed, as Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave without impacting the compensatory formula than going harder after a player like Milton Williams.
This could be a path the Vikings prioritize moving forward, as it gives them better draft capital to work with.
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