Purple Rumor Mill: The London Opponent, the Compensatory Pick Debate, Promising DT
VikingsTerritory’s Purple Rumor Mill is a two-day chronicle each week. All the week’s Vikings rumors are lassoed and plopped in two spots — articles on Saturday and Sunday — for review. Today is the May 11th edition.
Purple Rumor Mill: The London Opponent, the Compensatory Pick Debate, Promising DT
Remember — rumors are rumors. What you read on weekends in these pieces is what the world is talking about pertaining to the Vikings, not necessarily items that will come to fruition.
Here’s the first batch of the week.
Rumor: The Vikings will play an AFC South team in London this year — but it won’t be the Colts.
This one has been the subject of chirping for a few months — Minnesota’s London opponent. For some reason, the rumor mill has ruled out the Indianapolis Colts as the international opponent, leaving the Houston Texans and Jacksonville Jaguars through the process of elimination.
In reality, yes, the Vikings’ opponent in London will likely be the Texans or Jaguars, and the rumor mill is more inclined to predict Houston. That pits Minnesota against Danielle Hunter, Case Keenum, and Stefon Diggs in a game across the ocean.
It’s also worth noting that Minnesota has never lost a game in London, regular season or exhibition.
Rumor: Minnesota dropped the ball on the 2025 compensatory draft pick process.
OvertheCap.com reported this week that Minnesota basically blundered in strategizing for the 2025 compensatory process. You can read the full critique here.
But Star Tribune’s Ben Goessling tweeted Wednesday, “I’m told the team was always expecting one (and only one) third-round pick next year, from losing Kirk Cousins. The Vikings figured Jonathan Greenard’s deal would cancel Danielle Hunter’s contract; they never expected two 3rds. As I understand it, the Shaq Griffin signing on March 19 came after the Vikings had already estimated they’d get only one (not two) 3rd-rounders next year. They’d determined he wouldn’t cost them a second 3rd, because they never expected to have one in the first place.”
It’s unlikely that Kwesi Adofo-Mensah — a numbers guy with a finance background — just forgot or messed up the compensatory formula.
Goessling added, “If Griffin plays enough, it’s possible he’d factor into the calculations for a later-round comp pick. But the Vikings’ projections had already ruled out the possibility of a second 3rd before they signed Griffin.”
This one boils down to which source you trust: Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s calculation of the compensatory process of a third-party website. The kicker seems to be the Vikings’ interpretation that signing Jonathan Greenard canceled out Danielle Hunter’s departure, per compensatory value.
Rumor: Minnesota’s front office passed on a trade up the board during the draft so it could be sure to select DT Levi Drake Wallace.
After deals with the New York Jets and Jacksonville Jaguars to draft J.J. McCarthy and Dallas Turner, respectively, it was crickets for Vikings draft trades.
But Adofo-Mensah later revealed that he could’ve packaged some picks and moved up the board between Rounds 4 and 7. He told reporters following the draft, “We had a chance to maybe trade up and lose a pick. and we were thinking, ‘Well, we want to get both of our targets.’ And we ended up getting both of them, and the person was like, ‘Well, we can’t lose out on Levi Drake’ […] We think he’s a talented player, growth mindset player, I can’t wait to get him in this building.”
Minnesota found Drake Rodriguez in Round 7, a spot usually known for lottery-ticket-like selections. Most 7th-Rounders don’t stick around too long. The Vikings will hope Drake Rodriguez is different.
The club, indeed, prioritized Drake Rodriguez.
Former Viking Named One of NFL’s Top Signings of 2024
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 MIN obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band).
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
You must be logged in to post a comment.