Vikings free agency: Calm down, Rick's got this

I just don't get people. 

We all knew this was going to be a different kind of offseason for the Vikings. The combination of an aging roster and a lack of cap space guaranteed this was going to be an offseason that featured more goings than comings. 

But the response by so many has been ridiculous, suggesting that this whole team is falling apart, that they have no direction, and that they will have a terrible 2020 season.

Fucking calm the fuck down!

I knew the Cousins extension and the Diggs trade were going to be controversial. But in both cases we came out on the good end of the deal. We secured one of the NFL's best quarterbacks for a few more years, while helping the cap. And we dealt a receiver who did not want to be here and play with said quarterback, and had burned bridges with Zimmer too, and we got a haul of draft picks for him.

This front office knows what it is doing. 

For so long I kept being told that the Vikings were in cap distress. No we weren't. Just a handful of moves cleared about $40 million off. The Cousins extension, the Diggs trade, restructuring Hunter, and cuts(Rhodes, Joseph, Morgan, Kline).

That money was re-invested to bring in Michael Pierce from Baltimore to replace Joseph, to extend CJ Ham, and to resign Bailey, Colquitt, Mannion and Rashod Hill, as well as tag Anthony Harris. Now, it looks like Harris will either be untagged or traded, so there's another $10 million or so. 

Yes, this means there has been a major exodus off the roster. Trae Waynes and Mackensie Alexander went to the Bengals. The Chargers signed Joseph. The Browns signed Andrew Sendejo. Carolina signed Stephen Weatherly. Jayron Kearse went to Detroit. And saddest of all, Everson Griffen will not be back.

Almost across the board, the decisions made by this front office are either understandable or at least arguable.

You're not paying Waynes what he got. Rhodes had to go (although I'm starting to think he may get resigned). You swapped Joseph for Pierce and got younger and cheaper. I would have brought Alexander back at the price he signed for, but the fact he only got a 1 year deal for cheap tells me something is up with his injury. Griffen will be a loss but if you remove the sentiment it makes sense to let a 32 year old pass rusher walk (and this franchise always finds pass rushers). Sendejo, Kearse and Weatherly are all replaceable. Morgan was always hurt.

You kept your kicking game intact. You locked up the valuable Ham and Hill. You took an old roster and made it younger. 

Only move I full on disagree with is cutting Kline. It saves a little money but now you need 2 starting guards. 

But they have the draft picks to do it. 2 in the first, and 6 in the first 4 rounds. Yeah it's highly unlikely you hit on all 6, but I trust this front office to hit on at least 3, and we always nab a gem or two in the late rounds or from the UDFAs.

And have we forgotten the talent still on this team? Cousins, Cook, Thielen, Rudolph, Irv Smith (who is primed to be a star), O'Neill and Bradbury, Hunter, Kendricks and Barr, the Hitman. And if Zimmer, who knows more about defense than anyone trashing him daily, thinks guys like Ifeadi Odenigbo, Jaleel Johnson, Kris Boyd and Holton Hill are ready to take on larger roles, I won't doubt it.

Between now and the draft I still expect the Vikings to make a few smaller moves. Hopefully one or 2 cheap veteran d'backs. Possibly a guard. Maybe even a receiver. I think Pierce was their one and only splash move. Rumors persist of a Cook extension, but I think after the Todd Gurley and Melvin Gordon debacles, the Vikings should be very wary.