For Vikings, the Term ‘Rebuild’ Should Be Nowhere near Your Vocabulary
Dustin Baker
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VikingsTerritory has written ad nauseam about the 2021 Minnesota Vikings season as a tell-all year for the current regime.
Based on the way the season is playing out – the team is decent, the quarterback has played wonderful, the playmakers are still fantastic – the tell-all mantra should only apply to head coach Mike Zimmer.
Before, during, and after the 2021 season, the Vikings still possess a roster capable of contending for Super Bowls, assuming the front office doesn’t blow up the depth chart. Gradually, Kirk Cousins is changing minds on the efficacy of his performance. Folks who perceived him as a checkdown, stat-padding son of a gun are beginning to see the light. Not only does the Michigan State alumnus toss 4,000 passing yards and 30 passing touchdowns onto the statistical ledger like clockwork, he’s also quite clutch in close-game situations. And that’s really all the naysayers wanted from Cousins – the ability to close out football games. In 2021, Cousins is putting his team in the position to do exactly that. Over and over.
Ergo, unless he cliffdives for production – he won’t – in Weeks 8 through 18, it is in the best interest of the Vikings to extend his contract, alleviating the infamous $45 million cap hit on the books for 2022.
He’s not the only good player on the Vikings. The franchise showcases talents like Dalvin Cook, Justin Jefferson, Adam Thielen, Danielle Hunter, Harrison Smith, Eric Kendricks, and Irv Smith Jr.
Listen very carefully: That is a nucleus for a winning football team. Period.
Should Minnesota somehow bumble to an 8-9 record or so, missing out on the postseason, it should be Mike Zimmer – and only him – who depart the franchise. Hire a coach with the necessary wherewithal to cultivate the talent already on the roster. Leading into 2021, folks speculated perhaps the trio of Zimmer, Cousins, and general manager Rick Spielman would need to vamoose if the 2021 season was underwhelming. There is enough evidence through six weeks to affirm Zimmer as the only swappable figure if the season ends in disappointment.
The idea would be this: The Vikings have Justin Jefferson for three more years on a rookie deal after this season – 2022, 2023, 2024. Then, the organization will have to pay him in rubies. Don’t squander it. If Zimmer is not the guy, hire a coach who can bring out the best of the existing core. In fact, throwing in the towel on Cook, Kendricks, Hunter, etc. simply because a “rebuild” is in order would be malfeasance. The Vikings would fundamentally waste the fruits of apt draft scouting. Keep the playmaking dudes everyone knows and loves while employing a new bossman with a different perspective. That can be the oft-mentioned Eric Bieniemy, Joe Brady, Byron Leftwich, or whoever.
Ripping it down to the studs would only be a ceremonial solution. That is – the Vikings would be doing it just because other sports franchises have done it in the past. Does it work? Sometimes. But not always.
Minnesota has enough young talent – the offense was the youngest group in the NFL before the season started – to thrive as is. Renowned franchises – the Pittsburgh Steelers, New England Patriots, New Orleans Saints – rarely concede a few awful seasons to get back on top. With the current group of players, the Vikings can rebuild on the fly, and it won’t even be a rebuild. The scenario would merely put a new person in charge of a roster already stocked with playmakers.
And, of course, all of this will be moot if the Vikings just get hot this season and win a Super Bowl. So, let’s plan on that instead.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sally from Minneapolis. His Viking fandom dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).
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