Vikings Owner: “We Have a Plan”
Following the departures of franchise staples Kirk Cousins and Danielle Hunter, the Minnesota Vikings are once again in a transformational phase. Replacing the outstanding pass-rusher wasn’t easy, but general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has invested in free agency, luring Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel to Minnesota. Both are coming off excellent seasons. Finding a successor at the vital QB spot is not easy.
Vikings Owner: “We Have a Plan”
Sam Darnold, a former third-round pick who has struggled in his NFL career, was signed in free agency. The good news is that he isn’t entirely to blame for those problems, as he was put in disastrous circumstances. Nobody has survived with the Jets or the Panthers in years. The weapons around him, the offensive lines, and the coaching hardly helped him develop into the best version of himself.
While Darnold showed some growth in his final few games in Carolina in 2022 and played well in his only start as a 49er, though in a meaningless Week 18 contest, he is not viewed as the long-term solution. That guy would join after Adofo-Mensah made the gutsy call in the draft.
His boss, Mark Wilf, owner of the Minnesota Vikings, talked to NFL Network during the annual league meetings. He voiced his confidence in the guys he put in charge of and the plan.
We love Sam Darnold, but when it comes to the quarterback position, it’s certainly critical, and Kwesi (Adofo-Mensah) and coach (Kevin O’Connell are working hard. We’ve got a plan, and Sam Darnold is part of it. We’re excited he’s in the building, and we’re excited we have two first-round picks, so we’ll see where it all goes. We have a lot of flexibility, and we’ll see what happens.
We’re certainly engaged all the time with Kwesi, coach, and Rob Bresinsky, the whole football operations, but we have a lot of confidence that they know what they’re doing, that they got the right ideas, and we’re behind them to the extend that if they want further involvement from us, we’re there to help but we know what we know and we know what they know. They’ll get it right.
Mark Wilf
What exactly is that plan? We’ll likely have to wait another month to find out. However, the Vikings would be foolish not to be in trade talks with other franchises, and if one move can secure them a future franchise quarterback, they will surely pull the trigger. Wilf didn’t quite say it out loud, but it sounded a lot like the new passer would arrive in Minnesota soon.
The Vikings acquired another first-round choice, pick 23, to be exact. They are now widely expected to package that and the 11th overall pick to move into the top five of the draft to land one of Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye, or J.J. McCarthy.
It seems that whoever joins the Vikings organization will have a great opportunity. The team has strong offensive weapons, including Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, and T.J. Hockenson. It is hard to find a better arsenal league-wide.
Additionally, the team employs former NFL quarterbacks O’Connell and QB coach Josh McCown, who can help the new quarterback improve his mechanics and other areas of his game. It’s also helpful that the prospect can sit behind Darnold for a while and learn from him. This is a great advantage since many quarterbacks are forced to play too early in their careers, which can negatively impact their growth. An example is Darnold, who could not develop his skills and improve as expected because he was thrown into the lineup in a bad situation.
The guys in charge have a plan, and it will be exciting to watch it unfold.
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Janik Eckardt is a football fan who likes numbers and stats. The Vikings became his favorite team despite their quarterback at the time, Christian Ponder. He is a walking soccer encyclopedia, loves watching sitcoms, and Classic rock is his music genre of choice. Follow him on Twitter if you like the Vikings: @JanikEckardt
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