It’s Cold, But the Offseason Better Heat Up for Minnesota
Joe Oberle
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Vikings Territory Breakdown
The season is over for the Minnesota Vikings and their fans, but that doesn’t mean the dread has dissipated. As the Super Wild Card playoffs commenced this past weekend, the wailing and gnashing of teeth for those of Purple Nation began in earnest as they watched both the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions move on in the post-season tournament. The Packers beat up the Dallas Cowboys in Big D, while the Lions outlasted the Los Angeles Rams with their former QB Matt Stafford at the helm, and both teams demonstrated who is currently in power in the NFC North and may be for the foreseeable future.
It is a tough pill to swallow that these teams are young and formidable (as we folks have to wash that pill down with the knowledge that the Vikings GM assisted them a bit through trades), so the offseason work starts now for the Purple. The Vikings need to settle their quarterback situation (either by signing Kirk Cousins and drafting the QB of the future or moving on from Kirk’s contract and drafting the QB of the future). These are weighty decisions and only just the initial steps in a long offseason slog for Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and his head coach Kevin O’Connell.
That pair no longer has the luxury to whiff in free agency (Marcus Davenport) or outplay themselves in the draft (trading down with divisional opponents for Lewis Cine and Andrew Booth, Jr.). Those mistakes magnify each succeeding season, and Kwesi has to grab back the reins and move the franchise forward with big wins and great choices on tough decisions this offseason. Or else darkness may settle over TCO Performance Center and U.S. Bank Stadium like the cold spell currently enshrouding this state. The fans are restless and the stakes couldn’t be higher as the rest of the division (don’t forget the Bears and their multitude of early draft picks) moves past them thanks to many good decisions on younger players.
Free agency is long off, and the NFL Draft even longer, but the discussion begins now. And the fellas at the Vikings Territory Breakdown podcast (Joe Oberle, senior writer at vikingsterritory and purplePTSD and Mark Craig, NFL and Vikings writer for the Star Tribune and startribune.com) are here to hammer it all out. Tune into the podcast and check it out.
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