Let Everyone Leave? That’s 1 Bold Offeason Prediction for Vikings.
The Minnesota Vikings finished 13-4 in 2022, a record considered fools good by some because the club won so many close games and didn’t blow anyone out.
The Vikings leadership twosome, general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and head coach Kevin O’Connell, has affirmed all offseason its desire to build on the 13-4 record while effectuating their popularly-coined “championship standard.”
Let Everyone Leave? That’s 1 Bold Offeason Prediction for Vikings.
But not everyone believes in the club’s ambitious Super Bowl goal and would instead prefer the Vikings let all the veteran players go. The theory was advanced by Football Outsiders this week.
“Let’s face it: The 2022 Vikings weren’t actually any good — they were 27th overall in DVOA. The Vikings also face a salary-cap quagmire: They’re $24 million in the red, with much of the dough tied up in 30ish-year-old veterans,” Football Outsiders opined.
It continued with the recommendation, “The boldest move general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah could make is to reverse course, repair the cap situation, and usher in a youth movement.”
“Release Eric Kendricks (probably gone anyway), Jordan Hicks (same), Harrison Smith (still good, but fading) and aging role players such as C.J. Ham. Trade Adam Thielen while he still has some market value. Let Patrick Peterson and Garrett Bradbury walk as free agents. Tell Kirk Cousins to update his LinkedIn for 2024. Make Justin Jefferson the highest-paid wide receiver and let the pre-rebuild commence,” FO concluded.
So, there you have it. Compete for a championship — a mindset the Vikings have pounded home since the arrival of Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell — without veterans or a QB1. It seems the elixir here is merely having Justin Jefferson on the roster. Somehow, he will take the franchise to the Promised Land with several anonymous young players at an undetermined time.
Interestingly, in this same spirit, Adofo-Mensah talked this week at the NFL Combine about his opinion on tanking in the NFL, “People always talk about, ‘Just tank,’ and in this sport, I think it’s kind of unconscionable to do it for what these players put on the line for our sport.”
While a mass exodus of aging veterans from a football team doesn’t have to fully resemble a ‘tank’ for the following NFL draft, cutting ties with everyone except Jefferson would strongly insinuate an upcoming tankfest.
The Vikings are expected to cut ties with a handful of veterans, for example, Jordan Hicks and C.J. Ham. But releasing everyone who is not young to intentionally play poorly and hence rebuild doesn’t align with Adofo-Mensah’s credo. Adofo-Mensah routinely endorses his “competitive rebuild” philosophy, which is the opposite of the Football Outsiders’ recommendation.
NFL free agency begins in eight days.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sal Spice. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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