Minnesota Vikings offseason preview

Okay, I figured I had better get to one of these eventually. And the Vikings have yet to make any moves aside from coaching, so I still have time.

I'll just go position by position.

QB: 

Much to the chagrin of the ignorant haters, Kirk stays. The few QBs who may be available that are an upgrade on Kirk are going to be far too pricey to get. And the ones who aren't as good as Kirk, well, aren't as good as Kirk. Why get them? The odds are far greater that the front office tries to do another rework of the Kirk deal to lower that 2022 cap number.

Backup QB could hold a little more interest. I really wish we could just move on from Sean Mannion. He's useless on the field. Nate Stanley and Jake Browning are nothing. Drafting a QB of the future is not entirely impossible but again we have a really good QB with prime years left. It's not like we have a Brees or Roethlisberger who is at the end. It's possible that Teddy Bridgewater could become available. I'd take him back as a backup for sure. Some other interesting backup candidates could be out there (Ryan Fitzpatrick, Blake Bortles, Tyrod Taylor). Basically I just want to have that roster spot taken up by a legitimate player again.

RB:

No major moves expected here. Dalvin is locked in. Mattison is still on his rookie deal. Ham is set. Abdullah is a free agent but I suppose he could be back cheap. Mike Boone is an RFA but I'm not sure how urgent it is to bring back a third string back and give a raise when your overall RB expenses are going up with the Cook extension kicking in.

WR:

At the top, we got Jefferson locked in. Thielen too. Beyond that it's a question. Bisi Johnson likely sticks around cause he's cheap. Beebe is an RFA and is likely back unless someone swoops in with a big deal. This area seems like a place to look for a decent veteran option (hopefully better than Tajae Sharpe). There are also some mocks that have us going receiver early. I don't see it.

TE:

Kyle Rudolph has to be gone. Age and cost demand it. He has already come out and said he isn't going to do a restructuring again. 

And we don't need him. Irv Smith didn't have quite the breakout 2020 I expected, but he's ready. Tyler Conklin really looked formidable late in the season. They have a few dirt cheap guys after them.

OL:

Well here we go again with another offseason of the OL needing attention. The big question is what to do with Riley Reiff. They gave Reiff his playing time bonus recently as a good faith gesture, even though he didn't quite reach it. Why do that if the plan isn't to bring him back? I'd keep him around. He's still pretty good. You don't have a replacement lined up, unless they still plan for Ezra Cleveland to move to LT. Brian O'Neill stays, and is a likely extension candidate. People are down on Bradbury, but I really think he has been let down by the play around him.

Right guard is set if Reiff stays. That will be Cleveland. Left guard will have to be new. I think if any position might be a free agency target this is it. You just can't chance it with another unknown.

Dozier is a free agent and you gladly let him go. Rashod Hill maybe stays as a good backup. I suppose you keep Brett Jones again. Cut Dru Samia.

This will again be a major area of draft need.

I think better play calling can help too. Gary Kubiak routinely put this OL in a position to fail. Klint hopefully learned what not to do 

DL:

There may not be 2 better additions to the 2021 roster than Danielle Hunter and Michael Pierce. 2020 would have been a very different result if we had those two guys available. Hopefully rust isn't a huge factor, and you can never know for sure how neck injuries go but Hunter is a beast and should be ready.

Beyond that it's a lot of change. Shamar Stephen is an obvious cap cut. Jaleel Johnson is gone. Odenigbo is an RFA and is probably worth keeping around even after a disappointing 2020. Young guys like Wonnum, Watts, Holmes and Lynch stay.

This will be another major focus of the draft. And while I don't mean to keep bringing up former Vikings, both Everson Griffen and Stephen Weatherly will be available and likely on the cheap.

LB:

This unit was the Vikings most depleted by the end of 2020.

Eric Kendricks will be back. Assuming he is not a cap cut, Anthony Barr also returns.

Eric Wilson is one of our more notable free agents and I think it's an easy call to let him go. You just aren't going to pay significant money for 3 linebackers. Wilson gets replaced by either Troy Dye or possibly a draft pick. Or you could maybe bring back Todd Davis to be in the mix.

CB:

This won't have quite the amount of change as last offseason. 

Gladney and Dantzler can both clearly play. They just need experience and a competent pass rush. At this point you just take whatever you can get from Mike Hughes. Harrison Hand looked like he could play a little.

After that, you gleefully let Chris Jones go. I would just cut Kris Boyd.

The Zimmer drafting corners joke is tired, but they may go there again. Not in the 1st round though. And I again think bringing in 1 or 2 legit veterans on the cheap is a smart idea.

S:

Harrison Smith must never leave the Vikings. This would seem to be a great time to extend him.

Anthony Harris is a dodged bullet. You take that rare bit of good fortune and let him walk. 

The roster is very thin after them. I think safety is a draft need. And here I go again with the reunions, but you could bring back somebody like Andrew Sendejo as a bridge.

ST:

A new special teams coach inherits maybe the NFL's worst unit. It seems that Dan Bailey is out. Colquitt could be too. I wouldn't get rid of either, frankly. Look, I was as down on Bailey as anybody, but if you're changing the coach you obviously think that he had something to do with the struggles. I certainly think you give both specialists competition in camp.

The return games stunk in 2020. You hope better coaching improves that. You give KJ Osborn one more chance, or, y'know, Cordarrelle Patterson is a free agent.

Get the band back together!