Seahawks GM John Schneider's true statement sends firm message that will impact the Vikings' free agency strategy

There is an epidemic in the National Football League and we saw it on full display in the playoffs. High-end offensive linemen are a scarce resource. After Super Bowl LIX, it's more obvious than ever that even the best teams struggle on the offensive line. This is the second Super Bowl loss by the Kansas […]

Tyler Forness — NFL & College Football News Writer

Feb 15, 2025 9:00 AM EST

Oct 6, 2024; London, United Kingdom; Helmets at the line of scrimmage as Minnesota Vikings center Garrett Bradbury (56) snaps the ball against the New York Jets at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

There is an epidemic in the National Football League and we saw it on full display in the playoffs.

High-end offensive linemen are a scarce resource.

After Super Bowl LIX, it's more obvious than ever that even the best teams struggle on the offensive line. This is the second Super Bowl loss by the Kansas City Chiefs that resulted from a poor offensive line. It's not like the Chiefs haven't tried either. They have spent numerous resources on the offensive line, including multiple second round picks and millions in free agent dollars to only have the unit crumble in the biggest spot of the year.

Vikings fixing the offensive line isn't that simple

With the amount of teams that have issues on the offensive line, it's not quite that simple. The Minnesota Vikings have had issues on the interior of the offensive line for years and the fanbase is begging general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah to fix it.

It's a smart bet that the Vikings will try to fix it, but how they will go about it is still up in the air. Adofo-Mensah essentially said that improvement isn't linear.

"I think having studied it, I would agree with what he said. What I would say is though, I think a lot of times everybody hears that and thinks the answer is kind of simple. And the answer can come from different ways. It can come from a different player. It could come from a player year over year improving. It could come from how we do things from a pass protection standpoint. Those two games revealed some issues in there that were tougher to overcome. How do you overcome them? And that's what's beautiful about football. It's this complex sport. If you want to run the football, there's a lot of ways to do it. You could maybe get better at receiver and make them play you a certain way. We’ll approach this off-season trying to fix the team with that creativity, that mindset in place. We'll collaborate with Kevin, but yeah, we want to be in a place where we're still playing football. And to win these last games, any potential places where teams can attack, you've got to be ready for, not just from your starting lineup, but from your two deep. And so we want to set ourselves up to be in that position and going from there."

The idea of fixing the offensive line not being linear is something that appears to be felt across the league. During an interview, Seattle Seahawks general manager John Schneider spoke to the epidemic of the offensive line.

“Everyone’s on a constant quest for developing offensive linemen. There’s always a dearth of talent at the position. You can’t just throw money at something to fix a perceived need.”

– John Schneider on @SeattleSports
— Brian Nemhauser (@hawkblogger) February 15, 2025

Schneider is right. We can talk about fixing the offensive line until we are blue in the face, but it's not as simple as it seems.

While Schneider is right about just throwing money at the position, that is what free agency essentially is. Like the NFL Draft, you have to spend your assets wisely. Adofo-Mensah did a great job with it last year by signing three Pro Bowl players with the Vikings free agency class.

However, we've seen numerous instances of free agent contracts not working out. Heck, the Vikings have had a few of them over the years. Throwing assets at the problem won't solve it. Like selections in the NFL Draft, the moves have to be calculated, well researched, and the asset needs to be available.

There is a major scarcity of good offensive linemen and every team needs them. Simply throwing money at the problem won't fix it. You need to use your assets in a smart way like the Philadelphia Eagles have. Sure, they are paying three of their offensive linemen top-of-the-market deals, but they drafted all three of them, and that doesn't include starting center Cam Jurgens who is set to get his own top-of-the-market contract.

Every Vikings fan wants improvement, but the reality is it's likely to come in ways that you don't necessarily want. Just getting Christian Darrisaw back is going to fix so much for the Vikings. Want proof? Go watch how dominant the line was the first six games before he got injured.

Fixing the line won't be an easy task, but there will be an effort to get it fixed. It'll just be difficult due to the scarcity of talent at the position.