Vikings' most important decisions this offseason continues to be focused on quarterback and the trenches
The Minnesota Vikings saw their season end on Monday night against the Los Angeles Rams, which shifted the focus to the offseason. There are a lot of different questions that the Vikings will need to answer from the top down and said decisions could lead to a Super Bowl or multiple people losing their jobs. […]
The Minnesota Vikings saw their season end on Monday night against the Los Angeles Rams, which shifted the focus to the offseason.
There are a lot of different questions that the Vikings will need to answer from the top down and said decisions could lead to a Super Bowl or multiple people losing their jobs. It's going to be paramount that they get these decisions right.
Despite winning 14 games, there are still a lot of holes on the team and they need to find a way to grow their roster to take the next step.
1. Sam Darnold, J.J. McCarthy, or both
Once again, the quarterback position is going to dominate the offseason for the Vikings. Nobody thought that Darnold was going to tear up the league this season and enter the Most Valuable Player discussion. Yes, it was for a very short time, but entering it at all was impressive.
The tough part to parse out for the Vikings is the final two games. He was great for 14 of the first 16 games, including 13 of them with a passer rating over 100, which only had been accomplished by Aaron Rodgers. However, the final two games were the most important for the Vikings' season, and he did not play well. While the losses aren't completely on him, it's noteworthy.
What will the Vikings do here? It's very similar to the 2004 San Diego Chargers who saw Drew Brees emerge in year four right after they took Phillip Rivers in that April's NFL Draft.
"I want to relate it to a scenario that happened with the Chargers 2001 NFL draft. They had the first overall pick and hey weren't 100% sold on Michael Vick. Now, in today's day and age, I think everybody would have been sold on Michael Vick the player, but 2001 it was a very, very different league so they traded back to fifth overall and they got a decent package and then they took LaDanian Tomlinson and with the first pick in the second round, they took Drew Brees. And Brees we know and he's going to end up being in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but at that point, Brees his first couple years he was okay and very up and down. And in the 2004 NFL Draft, they had the first overall pick again they took Eli Manning, traded for Philip Rivers, got extra draft capital from the Giants and the rest is history. So 2004 Drew Brees is in a contract year, balls out and I believe he made the Pro Bowl so now the Chargers are looking at themselves okay. We've got essentially the first overall pick here because that's the pick they had Rivers was taken for do we go with Rivers or do we keep Drew Brees after he just absolutely balled out and he looks to be like a legitimate quarterback. What do we do? And I think that scenario is something that you can kind of look at for a comparison point if darnold just all of the sudden takes off because he just turned 27 years old."
In this scenario, Darnold is Brees and McCarthy is Rivers. What will they end up doing? Right now, the loss hurts a little extra because the wound is fresh, but after a few more days, we can start to think a little more clearly and make a rational decision, something the Vikings will end up doing.
The most likely options right now are: franchise tagging Darnold and moving on from him, with a long-term contract likely off the table right now. What will the Vikings choose? Time will tell, with the date of March 4th looming large, as it's the last day for franchise tagging players.
2. Extend Kevin O'Connell and Kwesi Adofo-Mensah
This one is very simple and it needs to get done. The job that O'Connell and Adofo-Mensah have done is nothing short of spectacular. They are 34-19 overall with a 0.667 winning percentage in the regular season. Considering the state of the roster and salary cap when they got here, that's quite an impressive mark.
There have been rumors about O'Connell potentially getting traded, something that he shot down quickly. It's also a moot point because this is just how the Wilf's operate. Mark Wilf said that there won't be any discussions until after the season, something that Ben Goessling of The Star Tribune re-iterated earlier this month.
The team had given Mike Zimmer his first contract extension after two seasons as head coach in 2016, but the Vikings’ standard practice has been to wait until the final year of a coach’s or GM’s deal before finalizing extensions, as they did for Zimmer and Rick Spielman before giving the former coach and GM one-year extensions in 2019 and three-year extensions in 2020.
My expectations are that these extensions get done by the beginning of free agency, likely earlier.
3. Find an interior pass rusher
The Vikings' pass rush was excellent all season. They had 48 sacks, with two players, Jonathan Greenard (12.0) and Andrew Van Ginkel (11.5), over 10 sacks. The biggest issue is that the Vikings don't have anyone who can rush the passer from the interior.
It's one of the main reasons the defense couldn't get pressure quickly at the end. The quickest path to the quarterback is straight ahead and they couldn't make it happen.
Where do they go? Most of the great defensive tackles ended up signing extensions, leaving good, but not elite, players in free agency. The Vikings need to find a way to sign one of these guys, along with potentially taking one in the first round.
- Osa Odighizuwa, Dallas Cowboys
- Levi Onwuzurike, Detroit Lions
- Milton Williams, Philadelphia Eagles
4. Upgrade both guard spots
There will be people calling for Garrett Bradbury to be replaced. Sure, he's not a great player, but he's more than solid enough in his role, especially when he's making just $5.25 million AAV.
The guard spots were brutal down the stretch. Ed Ingram got benched for Dalton Risner and he wasn't exactly better and Blake Brandel's performance cratered once Christian Darrisaw got hurt. Now, will that pick up when he returns? That remains to be seen, but it's not something you want to count on.
Who could the Vikings bring in during free agency? Unfortunately, some of the best options are in their mid-30s like Kevin Zeitler and Zack Martin. However, there are some really intriguing ones.
- Trey Smith, Kansas City Chiefs
- Will Fries, Indianapolis Colts
- Teven Jenkins, Chicago Bears
- Brady Christensen, Carolina Panthers
- Austin Corbett, Carolina Panthers
- James Daniels, Pittsburgh Steelers
- Aaron Banks, San Francisco 49ers
5. Fortify the secondary
The secondary is likely going to look a hell of a lot different than it did last year. Right now, only Josh Metellus is under contract for 2025 among the top six players who received the most snaps.
Shaquill Griffin and Stephon Gilmore likely won't be retained, Harrison Smith might retire, and Camryn Bynum could leave via free agency. I would be surprised if the Vikings let Byron Murphy Jr. walk, Mekhi Blackmon will return from the torn ACL he suffered on the first day of training camp, and Theo Jackson looks ready to step into a starting role.
If the Vikings do bring back Murphy and elevate both Blackmon and Jackson, they will still need to add pieces in the secondary. Dwight McGlothern could be in for an increased role, but you don't want him as your CB3 going into the year. There are multiple intriguing options set to be free agents with Jaire Alexander of the Green Bay Packers potentially set to be cut as well.
- Carvarius Ward, San Francisco 49ers
- D.J. Reed, New York Jets
- Jonathan Jones, New England Patriots
- Emmanuel Moseley, Detroit Lions
- Asante Samuel Jr., Los Angeles Chargers
- Benjamin St. Juste, Washington commanders
- Paulson Adebo, New Orleans Saints
Safety also has some intriguing names.
- Marcus Williams, Baltimore Ravens
- Ar'Darius Washington, Baltimore Ravens (Restricted)
- Justin Reid, Kansas City Chiefs
- Jeremy Chinn, Washington Commanders
- Julian Blackmon, Indianapolis Colts
- Jevon Holland, Miami Dolphins
- Trevon Moehrig, Las Vegas Raiders
- Andre Cisco, Jacksonville Jaguars
- Talanoa Hufanga, San Francisco 49ers
6. Long-term plan for running back
Aaron Jones was great for the Vikings this season. He rushed for over 1,000 yards, but injuries kept piling up at the end of the year and hindered him. His running mate, Cam Akers, was better than we could have expected, but the Vikings need to improve their running back room and find a future 1a.
Luckily for the Vikings, this class is loaded with talented running backs. Boise State's Ashton Jeanty and North Carolina's Omarion Hampton are going to be the prizes in this draft class, but there will be high-end starters available in the third and fourth rounds in this draft. This class is loaded with talent and the Vikings can take advantage.
The free-agent running back class isn't very strong either, especially after last year's additions of Saquon Barkley, Derrick Henry, and Josh Jacobs.
- Najee Harris, Pittsburgh Steelers
- A.J. Dillon, Green Bay Packers
- Nick Chubb, Cleveland Browns
- Javonte Williams, Denver Broncos
- J.K. Dobbins, Los Angeles Chargers
- Rico Dowdle, Dallas Cowboys
7. Three-down linebacker next to Blake Cashman
The Vikings struck gold this offseason with their free-agent haul. Greenard, Darnold, Van Ginkel, and inside linebacker Blake Cashman. The latter of those four was arguably the biggest addition, as his presence on defense was huge in the Vikings, which was one of the best defenses in the National Football League.
While Ivan Pace Jr. is a talented player who does a really good job in multiple areas, one thing he's not is a true three-down linebacker. It showed in a major way when Cashman was out, especially in the first game against the Rams when Kyren Williams cooked him on an option route for a touchdown.
Getting a three-down linebacker next to Cashman so Pace can do his pass-rushing and blitzing things could be a huge impact on what the Vikings can do from a versatility standpoint.
- Dre Greenlaw, San Francisco 49ers
- Kyzir White, Arizona Cardinals
- Zack Baun, Philadelphia Eagles
- Willie Gay Jr., New Orleans Saints
- Nick Bolton, Kansas City Chiefs
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