[OC] Analyzing Vikings QBs and the Last Decade of Offseasons
As one reflects on the situation the Vikings are currently in coming into the 2019 season, you may stop and think - where have we gone wrong, or what might have gone differently with another QB at the helm? Well, folks, we're going to take a little trip down memory lane to examine what realistic options the Vikings had to improve their QB situation. And since I can't help myself, I've included other positions, but the focus here is on QBs.
Funkytown posed me these questions about our QB situation since 2010: Was there a realistic option in the draft that we missed? Was there a realistic option in free agency? Who was at least available and the Vikings ended up passing on? What conclusions can we draw from this?
And if you know me, I went down the rabbit hole with this question. Yup, I'm going to go through every Vikings' offseason from 2011 to 2018! Grab some coffee or prepare to take a nap midway through, 'cause this is going to be a long one!
I've split the years up into spoiler tags so this article doesn't take up so much bandwidth. You can thank me later.
Vikings 2011 Offseason
The 2010 season was a complete disaster, with the roster falling apart at the seams (and even the Metrodome falling apart too!). I'll discuss each season's QB situation, talk about the team needs, and then look over all of the biggest signings, trades, and draftees that happened in the offseason. Whew, this could take a while with the way I do things...
2011 QB Situation
The Vikings had nothing, with Brett Favre finally retiring and T-Jack moving on to a starting job in Seattle. Here were the potential QB moves that were available out there:
Alex Smith actually hit free agency this year, but this was before Jim Harbaugh fixed him. Smith had a 19-31 record with an awful 9399/51/53 6.2 Y/A 57.1% stat line. He re-signed with the 49ers for a 1 year $5M deal... the Vikings were in no position to fix Alex Smith.
Matt Hasselbeck hit free agency after 10 years serving as the Seahawks starting QB. He was coming off a very rough stretch the past 3 years, but despite that, the Titans landed him with a 3/$21M deal. He went 9-7 with the Titans, but quickly lost his job in 2012, so signing the 36 year old QB wasn't going to be a franchise-saver for the Vikes.
Acquiring Carson Palmer in a trade was an option, but the Raiders paid the Bengals the unbelievably high price of 2 1st round picks and a 2nd rounder. This was a horrendously terrible trade for Oakland, as Palmer wasn't good until he left for Arizona.
Remember Kevin Kolb? Well, many NFL people believed he was the next young backup QB who would go on to be a starting QB. The Cardinals acquired him for a 2nd round pick and a really good CB in Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. Kolb was immediately exposed as a mediocre QB and was promptly replaced by John Skelton and Ryan Lindley... this was another terrible QB move.
So what did the Vikings do? They shipped a 6th rounder off to Washington for a washed-up Donovan McNabb who played about as expected... he was terrible. The plan was never to actually win any games with him, as he was just holding the QB spot until you-know-who was ready... yes, Christian Ponder.
I'm not going to cover free agency this year, as the Vikings basically did nothing but add mediocre players like LT Charlie Johnson, DT Remi Ayodele, and WR Michael Jenkins. They were preparing to tank for a good draft pick... if only they could have gotten Andrew Luck the next year. Ugh.
-- 2011 Draft --
The Vikings made the disastrous decision of making a massive reach for Christian Ponder... even though he likely would have been available for their 2nd round pick. I was not much of a draftnik as I am now at the time, but even then I was wondering "who the heck is that?!". Pre-draft media had plenty of speculation about Newton and Gabbert being the top QBs and few to none considered Ponder to be a 1st round talent. Key players they missed out on were:
DE Robert Quinn
C Mike Pouncey
DE Ryan Kerrigan
LT Nate Solder
And if we're going to talk QBs, Ponder was the fourth taken after Newton, Locker, and Gabbert. Dalton and Kaepernick were taken 7-8 picks before the Vikings 2nd round pick. With hindsight at my side, it seemed if the Vikings were so desperate to find their franchise QB this year, they should have at least traded down.
The Vikings then selected TE Kyle Rudolph, which was a surprise at the time with Visanthe Shiancoe still on the roster, but it was a very good move. There are few players taken in the 2nd round who have panned out as well as Rudy has.
The rest of the draft didn't bring anything else to the Vikings outside of 6th rounder Brandon Fusco, who would eventually emerge as the team's starting RG.
Oh, and I have to include this quote from Walterfootball.com regarding the Vikings' 2011 season:
2011 QB Situation
The Vikings had nothing, with Brett Favre finally retiring and T-Jack moving on to a starting job in Seattle. Here were the potential QB moves that were available out there:
Alex Smith actually hit free agency this year, but this was before Jim Harbaugh fixed him. Smith had a 19-31 record with an awful 9399/51/53 6.2 Y/A 57.1% stat line. He re-signed with the 49ers for a 1 year $5M deal... the Vikings were in no position to fix Alex Smith.
Matt Hasselbeck hit free agency after 10 years serving as the Seahawks starting QB. He was coming off a very rough stretch the past 3 years, but despite that, the Titans landed him with a 3/$21M deal. He went 9-7 with the Titans, but quickly lost his job in 2012, so signing the 36 year old QB wasn't going to be a franchise-saver for the Vikes.
Acquiring Carson Palmer in a trade was an option, but the Raiders paid the Bengals the unbelievably high price of 2 1st round picks and a 2nd rounder. This was a horrendously terrible trade for Oakland, as Palmer wasn't good until he left for Arizona.
Remember Kevin Kolb? Well, many NFL people believed he was the next young backup QB who would go on to be a starting QB. The Cardinals acquired him for a 2nd round pick and a really good CB in Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. Kolb was immediately exposed as a mediocre QB and was promptly replaced by John Skelton and Ryan Lindley... this was another terrible QB move.
So what did the Vikings do? They shipped a 6th rounder off to Washington for a washed-up Donovan McNabb who played about as expected... he was terrible. The plan was never to actually win any games with him, as he was just holding the QB spot until you-know-who was ready... yes, Christian Ponder.
I'm not going to cover free agency this year, as the Vikings basically did nothing but add mediocre players like LT Charlie Johnson, DT Remi Ayodele, and WR Michael Jenkins. They were preparing to tank for a good draft pick... if only they could have gotten Andrew Luck the next year. Ugh.
-- 2011 Draft --
The Vikings made the disastrous decision of making a massive reach for Christian Ponder... even though he likely would have been available for their 2nd round pick. I was not much of a draftnik as I am now at the time, but even then I was wondering "who the heck is that?!". Pre-draft media had plenty of speculation about Newton and Gabbert being the top QBs and few to none considered Ponder to be a 1st round talent. Key players they missed out on were:
DE Robert Quinn
C Mike Pouncey
DE Ryan Kerrigan
LT Nate Solder
And if we're going to talk QBs, Ponder was the fourth taken after Newton, Locker, and Gabbert. Dalton and Kaepernick were taken 7-8 picks before the Vikings 2nd round pick. With hindsight at my side, it seemed if the Vikings were so desperate to find their franchise QB this year, they should have at least traded down.
The Vikings then selected TE Kyle Rudolph, which was a surprise at the time with Visanthe Shiancoe still on the roster, but it was a very good move. There are few players taken in the 2nd round who have panned out as well as Rudy has.
The rest of the draft didn't bring anything else to the Vikings outside of 6th rounder Brandon Fusco, who would eventually emerge as the team's starting RG.
Oh, and I have to include this quote from Walterfootball.com regarding the Vikings' 2011 season:
This is a throw-away season for Minnesota. The ideal strategy would be to win the Matt Kalil sweepstakes so Ponder will actually have some solid pass protection when he's ushered into lineup.
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Vikings 2012 Offseason
2012 QB Situation
There isn't much to talk about here - the Vikings handed Christian Ponder the starting job after he notched 10 starts in 2011. While his play in 2011 was rough and statistically terrible, there was no reason why Rick Spielman, in his second year as the GM, would give up on his franchise QB so quickly. But let's still look at the alternatives, shall we?
There was this QB you might recognize by the name of Peyton Manning who hit free agency... yup, this was THAT offseason. Manning, coming off a missed season due to neck surgery, hit free agency and basically got to pick where he could play. He inked a 5/$96M deal with Denver and won a Super Bowl there.
Another option in free agency was Matt Flynn, the popular Packers backup QB who was expected to be hot item on the free agent market. He got himself a 3/$26M deal with Seattle and promptly fell behind rookie Russell Wilson, and Flynn quickly fizzled out of the league.
Alex Smith hit free agency again, after a solid year (they went 13-3!) in San Fran. It seemed the 49ers made a bid for Peyton Manning, failed, and then gave Smith a 3/$24M deal. This turned out to be a wise move as Smith continued to play well, and was eventually traded to the Chiefs under this deal, allowing Kaepernick to become San Fran's QB.
Outside of that, Tim Tebow could be had in a trade, or other veterans available included Jason Campbell and David Garrard.
-- 2012 Free Agency --
The Vikings had a little more money to spend this year. With a lot of the starters from the 2009 squad gone and most of their money cleared, the Vikings had room to spend. So what did they do?
Well, they made one of the most baffling decisions ever by giving TE John Carlson a 5/$25M deal. Carlson was a mediocre TE when he was healthy, and that was rare, as he didn't even play in 2011. Carlson played in 14 games in 2012 and caught a whopping 8 passes, and Kyle Rudolph bloomed into a starting TE.
The Vikings also gave Jerome Simpson a one year deal, but the troublemaker was better at getting suspended than playing wide receiver.
Yup, that was it. The Vikings clearly weren't interested in adding talent in free agency in Spielman's first couple years. The Vikings were clearly interested in adding WRs and TEs, and here are some others who signed in free agency:
WRs
Robert Meachem - Chargers, 4/$26M
Laurent Robinson - Jaguars, 5/$32.5M
Pierre Garcon - Redskins, 5/$42.5M
Reggie Wayne - Colts, 3/$17.5M
DeSean Jackson - Eagles, 5/$51M
Marques Colston - Saints, 5/$36.3M
Steve Johnson - Bills, 5/$36M
Vincent Jackson - Bucs, 5/$55M
TEs
Jermichael Finley - Packers 2/$15M
Fred Davis - Redskins 1/$5.4M
Jacob Tamme - Broncos 3/$9M
Kevin Boss - Raiders, 3/$9M
I don't know what Spielman was smoking when they signed Carlson, that just made zero sense.
---- 2012 Draft ----
This draft is weird, as after its first season, it looked like an unbelievably amazing draft. The Vikings found their franchise left tackle, an amazing safety, a top-tier kicker, and a few solid role players. But as the years went on, things fell apart.
So as you may remember, the Vikings took Matt Kalil 4th overall after moving down a spot with Cleveland, whom was busy having no idea what they were doing. Kalil was a huge upgrade at left tackle and went to the Pro Bowl in his rookie year, but every season after that he declined progressively. Kalil was once known for his durability, but fell apart after a knee scope, hip surgery, and a mysterious knee injury (2018). It's hard to say Kalil was the wrong pick - the next three selections of WR Justin Blackmon, CB Morris Claiborne, and S Mark Barron all ended in failure as well. They did miss out on Luke Kuechly, Fletcher Cox, and Melvin Ingram, but I don't feel like Kalil was the wrong pick.
The Vikings moved up for Harrison Smith with the 29th pick, which was an absolute home run. I have to mention that the next pick after Smith, which was 49ers WR A.J. Jenkins, was one of the biggest busts of all time, as he was so bad he never caught a pass with the 49ers. And the Vikings took the game's best safety one pick before him.
The Vikings would later take CB Josh Robinson, who never played to his full potential (partly Leslie Fraizer's fault), WR Jarius Wright who would be a solid role player, TE Rhett Ellison who did his job as a strong blocker, WR Greg Childs whose career ended due to injuries, and a couple decent backups in S Robert Blanton and LB Audie Cole.
They also spent a 6th rounder on K Blair Walsh, which while this ticked off the fanbase since it meant Ryan Longwell was getting kicked to the curb, it allowed Walsh to have one of the greatest rookie kicking seasons ever, if not NFL kicker seasons ever. Just like Kalil, Walsh became a headcase over time, and eventually cost the team dearly.
Notable picks from the Robinson selection and on are DE Olivier Vernon, QB Russell Wilson (!!), G Brandon Brooks, DL Akiem Hicks, WR T.Y. Hilton, QB Kirk Cousins, DL Mike Daniels, DL Malik Jackson, LB Brandon Marshall, CB Josh Norman, and LB Danny Trevathan.
There isn't much to talk about here - the Vikings handed Christian Ponder the starting job after he notched 10 starts in 2011. While his play in 2011 was rough and statistically terrible, there was no reason why Rick Spielman, in his second year as the GM, would give up on his franchise QB so quickly. But let's still look at the alternatives, shall we?
There was this QB you might recognize by the name of Peyton Manning who hit free agency... yup, this was THAT offseason. Manning, coming off a missed season due to neck surgery, hit free agency and basically got to pick where he could play. He inked a 5/$96M deal with Denver and won a Super Bowl there.
Another option in free agency was Matt Flynn, the popular Packers backup QB who was expected to be hot item on the free agent market. He got himself a 3/$26M deal with Seattle and promptly fell behind rookie Russell Wilson, and Flynn quickly fizzled out of the league.
Alex Smith hit free agency again, after a solid year (they went 13-3!) in San Fran. It seemed the 49ers made a bid for Peyton Manning, failed, and then gave Smith a 3/$24M deal. This turned out to be a wise move as Smith continued to play well, and was eventually traded to the Chiefs under this deal, allowing Kaepernick to become San Fran's QB.
Outside of that, Tim Tebow could be had in a trade, or other veterans available included Jason Campbell and David Garrard.
-- 2012 Free Agency --
The Vikings had a little more money to spend this year. With a lot of the starters from the 2009 squad gone and most of their money cleared, the Vikings had room to spend. So what did they do?
Well, they made one of the most baffling decisions ever by giving TE John Carlson a 5/$25M deal. Carlson was a mediocre TE when he was healthy, and that was rare, as he didn't even play in 2011. Carlson played in 14 games in 2012 and caught a whopping 8 passes, and Kyle Rudolph bloomed into a starting TE.
The Vikings also gave Jerome Simpson a one year deal, but the troublemaker was better at getting suspended than playing wide receiver.
Yup, that was it. The Vikings clearly weren't interested in adding talent in free agency in Spielman's first couple years. The Vikings were clearly interested in adding WRs and TEs, and here are some others who signed in free agency:
WRs
Robert Meachem - Chargers, 4/$26M
Laurent Robinson - Jaguars, 5/$32.5M
Pierre Garcon - Redskins, 5/$42.5M
Reggie Wayne - Colts, 3/$17.5M
DeSean Jackson - Eagles, 5/$51M
Marques Colston - Saints, 5/$36.3M
Steve Johnson - Bills, 5/$36M
Vincent Jackson - Bucs, 5/$55M
TEs
Jermichael Finley - Packers 2/$15M
Fred Davis - Redskins 1/$5.4M
Jacob Tamme - Broncos 3/$9M
Kevin Boss - Raiders, 3/$9M
I don't know what Spielman was smoking when they signed Carlson, that just made zero sense.
---- 2012 Draft ----
This draft is weird, as after its first season, it looked like an unbelievably amazing draft. The Vikings found their franchise left tackle, an amazing safety, a top-tier kicker, and a few solid role players. But as the years went on, things fell apart.
So as you may remember, the Vikings took Matt Kalil 4th overall after moving down a spot with Cleveland, whom was busy having no idea what they were doing. Kalil was a huge upgrade at left tackle and went to the Pro Bowl in his rookie year, but every season after that he declined progressively. Kalil was once known for his durability, but fell apart after a knee scope, hip surgery, and a mysterious knee injury (2018). It's hard to say Kalil was the wrong pick - the next three selections of WR Justin Blackmon, CB Morris Claiborne, and S Mark Barron all ended in failure as well. They did miss out on Luke Kuechly, Fletcher Cox, and Melvin Ingram, but I don't feel like Kalil was the wrong pick.
The Vikings moved up for Harrison Smith with the 29th pick, which was an absolute home run. I have to mention that the next pick after Smith, which was 49ers WR A.J. Jenkins, was one of the biggest busts of all time, as he was so bad he never caught a pass with the 49ers. And the Vikings took the game's best safety one pick before him.
The Vikings would later take CB Josh Robinson, who never played to his full potential (partly Leslie Fraizer's fault), WR Jarius Wright who would be a solid role player, TE Rhett Ellison who did his job as a strong blocker, WR Greg Childs whose career ended due to injuries, and a couple decent backups in S Robert Blanton and LB Audie Cole.
They also spent a 6th rounder on K Blair Walsh, which while this ticked off the fanbase since it meant Ryan Longwell was getting kicked to the curb, it allowed Walsh to have one of the greatest rookie kicking seasons ever, if not NFL kicker seasons ever. Just like Kalil, Walsh became a headcase over time, and eventually cost the team dearly.
Notable picks from the Robinson selection and on are DE Olivier Vernon, QB Russell Wilson (!!), G Brandon Brooks, DL Akiem Hicks, WR T.Y. Hilton, QB Kirk Cousins, DL Mike Daniels, DL Malik Jackson, LB Brandon Marshall, CB Josh Norman, and LB Danny Trevathan.
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Vikings 2013 Offseason
-- 2013 QB Situation --
Ponder was locked in as the starting QB again, but after a middling year 2 that was powered by the Adrian Peterson Offense, there was clearly some doubt about Ponder's ability to be a starting QB. The Vikings opted to sign Matt Cassel to a 2 year deal, which not only put some pressure on Ponder, but also gave the Vikings one of the best backup QBs in the league.
Alternatives in free agency included... um... Kevin Kolb, Tim Tebow, Matt Moore, and Ryan Fitzpatrick. It appears that wasn't an option.
Looking at the trades, Alex Smith was had for two 2nd round selections by the Chiefs. Smith was successful in Kansas City and his talent was maximized, going 50-26 with a 17,608/102/33 line, but he never showed the ability to win games in the playoffs, and his conservative style of play became grating at times. It was a good move by the Chiefs at the time to nab Smith and develop him further, and eventually trade him 5 years later. The Vikings certainly could have stepped in at any point in 2011, 2012, and 2013, but with the general incompetence of the offensive coaching staffs of this years, I doubt the Vikings would have done much with him.
The best under-the-radar move this offseason was the Cardinals getting Carson Palmer for a 7th round pick. Bruce Arians was able to coax out a few more years of solid play out of him.
That was it. Now, mid-season, the Vikings decided to pick up QB Josh Freeman after getting released by Tampa... but you may remember that one going down in infamy.
-- Other Free Agency Options --
Outside of the QB position, the Vikings ended up paying WR Greg Jennings a lot of money, and not much else. The Vikings did make a great decision to trade Percy Harvin for 1st and 3rd round selections that were turned into Xavier Rhodes and Jerick McKinnon. Clearly, the 2010-2013 Vikings did not like to make moves in free agency. Well, for the heck of it, let's see what other WRs signed big deals this year:
Greg Jennings - MIN 5/$47.5M
Mike Wallace - MIA 5/$65M
Wes Welker - DEN 2/$12M
Danny Amendola - NE 5/$31M
-- 2013 NFL Draft --
This was the year the Vikings had 3 first round picks. They went with Sharrif Floyd 23rd. Floyd was seen as a top 5/10 prospect, who fell due to concerns over his arm length. Floyd was a decent player, but a botched knee scope ended his career. The next selections:
#24: IND DE Bjoern Werner
#25: MIN CB Xavier Rhodes
#26: GB DE Datone Jones
#27: HOU WR DeAndre Hopkins
#28: DEN DT Sylvester Williams
#29: MIN WR Cordarrelle Patterson
With Werner, Jones, and Williams all turning out to be busts, the Vikings missed out on DeAndre Hopkins, who's become one of the best WRs in the league. Rhodes was a great pick and doesn't need to be discussed. The Patterson selection, does, however. The Vikings needed to find a second WR to pair with Jennings, and while Patterson was considered very raw, his play-making ability was second to none. Ultimately, neither of the two panned out, so let's say if the Vikings repeated their trade-up to #29, who else was available?
#30: STL LB Alec Ogletree - Average outside linebacker
#31: DAL C Travis Frederick - Became a perennial pro-bowler
#32: BAL S Matt Elam - Major Bust
#33: JAX SS Johnathan Cyprien - Good run defending safety but is bad in coverage
#34: TEN WR Justin Hunter - A tall WR who quickly busted
#35: PHI TE Zach Ertz - Pro-bowl caliber
#36: DET CB Darius Slay - Pro-bowl caliber
#37: CIN HB Giovani Bernard - A decent 3rd down back and not much else
#38: SD LB Manti Te'o - Many connected him to the Vikings, but he only turned out to be a 2-down run stopping LB.
The Vikings also took LB Gerald Hodges in the 4th round, and while he didn't turn out into a starter, there wasn't anybody else in the 4th round who was really worth taking. The 5th-7th round selections didn't turn into much, just a disappointing punter (Jeff Locke) and a good special teams LB (Michael Mauti). Notable selections in rounds 5-7 include WR Kenny Stills, HB Chris Thompson, CB/S Micah Hyde, T Ricky Wagner, HB Latavius Murray, LB Vince Williams, and S Kemal Ishmael.
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Vikings 2014 Offseason
-- 2014 QB Situation --
Things were back in flux - Christian Ponder was exposed as a bust, Matt Cassel opted out of his deal, and Josh Freeman was exiled to a desert island (well, you get the point). Let's go over the options first before we discuss what happened:
Josh McCown was the biggest free agent to sign in 2014. The 35 year old got a 2 year deal with the Bucs, and turned out to be a total and complete flop. McCown went 1-10 and had a equally bad 2206/11/14 line with 6.7 Y/A. That didn't turn out well...
Michael Vick was a free agent, but he was way past his prime at this point. He became a backup for the Jets.
That was it... free agency was barren this year. Even looking at trades, the most you could get was Ryan Mallett, Matt Schaub, and Blaine Gabbert. The Vikings ended up giving Cassel a new 2 year deal worth $10M, which while he barely played for it with the Vikes, I wouldn't call it a poor decision. They ended up trading Cassel in 2015 for a 5th rounder... who became WR Stefon Diggs!
-- Other Free Agency Options --
The Vikings ended up nabbing DT Linval Joseph, DT Tom Johnson, LB Jasper Brinkley, and CB Captain Munnerlyn in free agency. The 5/$31M deal to Joseph was a prudent move, securing a great DT at quite a cheap price. Tom Johnson became a very good rotational pass rusher, Brinkley was pretty bad as a starter, and Munnerlyn was exposed as a bad #2 CB, but was an average nickel corner.
Some other LB deals in free agency:
Wesley Woodyard -> TEN 4/$16M
Daryl Smith -> BAL 4/$16M
Karlos Dansby -> CLE 4/$24M
D'Qwell Jackson -> CLE 4/$22M
Some other CB deals in free agency:
Darrelle Revis -> NE 1/$12M
Alterraun Verner -> TEN 4/$26.5M
Aqib Talib -> DEN 6/$57M
Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie -> NYG 5/$35M
Brandon Browner -> NE 3/$17M
-- 2014 NFL Draft --
The Vikings had the 9th overall pick, and could have taken any QB outside of Blake Bortles, but they opted to go with OLB Anthony Barr. While I'd say he hasn't lived up to being a top-10 selection, he's a good NFL starting LB with some very unique traits. The picks after him went like this:
#10: TE Eric Ebron DET
#11: LT Taylor Lewan TEN
#12: WR Odell Beckham NYG
#13: DT Aaron Donald STL
#14: CB Kyle Fuller CHI
#15: LB Ryan Shazier PIT
#16: G Zack Martin DAL
Well, that's quite a solid list of players. Lewan turned into a steady LT, which would have been nice, but replacing Kalil wasn't on their minds for a couple more seasons. Beckham and Donald would have made absolutely huge differences and are way better players than Barr. Fuller and Shazier are of similar talent levels to Barr (though Shazier is done playing football), and Martin has become a perennial Pro-Bowler. While you could say the Vikings made the right move to not panic and take a QB like they did in 2011, they missed out on some All-Pro caliber players.
The Vikings made their big QB decision this season by trading up to the 32nd pick and selected Teddy Bridgewater. It was reported the Vikings had made calls to try and move up to take Johnny Manziel, but thankfully the Browns took him 22nd after moving up.
By taking Bridgewater, the Vikings missed out on these picks at the top of the 2nd round:
#33: G Xavier Su'a-Filo HOU
#34: DE DeMarcus Lawrence DAL
#35: G Joel Bitonio CLE
#36: QB Derek Carr OAK
#37: DT Ra'shede Hageman ATL
#38: TE Austin Seferian-Jenkins TB
Su'a-Filo, Hageman, and Seferian-Jenkins were all big busts. Lawrence has gone on to be a top 10 edge rusher, Bitonio is a very good guard, and Carr... had one very good season, and has been mediocre the other 4 seasons. The other potential franchise QB still available in this draft, Jimmy Garoppolo, was taken 62nd by New England and is the 49ers' QB right now... but he's only started 10 games and he's only 28. He might just end up as this draft class' best QB.
I should probably go on about Derek Carr for a bit more since he was the other clear alternative at pick #32. Carr has had a 32-46 record in Oakland with a 18739/122/54 line with 62.8% completion and 6.7 Y/A. In his best season, 2016, he went 3937/28/6 with 7.0 Y/A with 7 4th quarter comebacks. He unfortunately broke a bone in his leg and missed the postseason, and the team was doomed with rookie Connor Cook at the helm. After Carr went on the 12-3 run in 2016, his play has declined. Recently his completion percentage has been much higher, but that's a better indication of his tendency to check down too often. This was perhaps due to taking 51 sacks in 2018, which was far more than he'd ever taken (31 was the highest he'd taken before).
While Carr was drafted into a franchise full of incompetency and a lesser group of players around him, I'm not convinced we can deflect all the blame from him. Most damning was seeing top WR Amari Cooper get traded midseason to Dallas... and with Dak Prescott, he absolutely took off (he went 22/280/1 in 6 games with Carr, 53/725/6 in 9 games with Prescott). Carr does not appear to be a QB who can get a team over the hump and would land in the 20-25th best QB in my opinion. Alright, back to the draft review:
The Vikings also landed DE Scott Crichton and HB Jerick McKinnon in the 3rd round. Crichton was a massive bust, but McKinnon was worth the selection as a very good rotational HB. In their 6 selections made between rounds 5-7, the only success was DT Shamar Stephen, who became a decent run stuffer.
Notable players drafted from rounds 3-7 in 2014: G Trai Turner, HB Devonta Freeman, DT DaQuan Jones, CB Aaron Colvin, LB Telvin Smith, LB Avery Williamson, C Zach Fulton, G Laurent Duvernay-turdiff, and C Matt Paradis.
Things were back in flux - Christian Ponder was exposed as a bust, Matt Cassel opted out of his deal, and Josh Freeman was exiled to a desert island (well, you get the point). Let's go over the options first before we discuss what happened:
Josh McCown was the biggest free agent to sign in 2014. The 35 year old got a 2 year deal with the Bucs, and turned out to be a total and complete flop. McCown went 1-10 and had a equally bad 2206/11/14 line with 6.7 Y/A. That didn't turn out well...
Michael Vick was a free agent, but he was way past his prime at this point. He became a backup for the Jets.
That was it... free agency was barren this year. Even looking at trades, the most you could get was Ryan Mallett, Matt Schaub, and Blaine Gabbert. The Vikings ended up giving Cassel a new 2 year deal worth $10M, which while he barely played for it with the Vikes, I wouldn't call it a poor decision. They ended up trading Cassel in 2015 for a 5th rounder... who became WR Stefon Diggs!
-- Other Free Agency Options --
The Vikings ended up nabbing DT Linval Joseph, DT Tom Johnson, LB Jasper Brinkley, and CB Captain Munnerlyn in free agency. The 5/$31M deal to Joseph was a prudent move, securing a great DT at quite a cheap price. Tom Johnson became a very good rotational pass rusher, Brinkley was pretty bad as a starter, and Munnerlyn was exposed as a bad #2 CB, but was an average nickel corner.
Some other LB deals in free agency:
Wesley Woodyard -> TEN 4/$16M
Daryl Smith -> BAL 4/$16M
Karlos Dansby -> CLE 4/$24M
D'Qwell Jackson -> CLE 4/$22M
Some other CB deals in free agency:
Darrelle Revis -> NE 1/$12M
Alterraun Verner -> TEN 4/$26.5M
Aqib Talib -> DEN 6/$57M
Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie -> NYG 5/$35M
Brandon Browner -> NE 3/$17M
-- 2014 NFL Draft --
The Vikings had the 9th overall pick, and could have taken any QB outside of Blake Bortles, but they opted to go with OLB Anthony Barr. While I'd say he hasn't lived up to being a top-10 selection, he's a good NFL starting LB with some very unique traits. The picks after him went like this:
#10: TE Eric Ebron DET
#11: LT Taylor Lewan TEN
#12: WR Odell Beckham NYG
#13: DT Aaron Donald STL
#14: CB Kyle Fuller CHI
#15: LB Ryan Shazier PIT
#16: G Zack Martin DAL
Well, that's quite a solid list of players. Lewan turned into a steady LT, which would have been nice, but replacing Kalil wasn't on their minds for a couple more seasons. Beckham and Donald would have made absolutely huge differences and are way better players than Barr. Fuller and Shazier are of similar talent levels to Barr (though Shazier is done playing football), and Martin has become a perennial Pro-Bowler. While you could say the Vikings made the right move to not panic and take a QB like they did in 2011, they missed out on some All-Pro caliber players.
The Vikings made their big QB decision this season by trading up to the 32nd pick and selected Teddy Bridgewater. It was reported the Vikings had made calls to try and move up to take Johnny Manziel, but thankfully the Browns took him 22nd after moving up.
By taking Bridgewater, the Vikings missed out on these picks at the top of the 2nd round:
#33: G Xavier Su'a-Filo HOU
#34: DE DeMarcus Lawrence DAL
#35: G Joel Bitonio CLE
#36: QB Derek Carr OAK
#37: DT Ra'shede Hageman ATL
#38: TE Austin Seferian-Jenkins TB
Su'a-Filo, Hageman, and Seferian-Jenkins were all big busts. Lawrence has gone on to be a top 10 edge rusher, Bitonio is a very good guard, and Carr... had one very good season, and has been mediocre the other 4 seasons. The other potential franchise QB still available in this draft, Jimmy Garoppolo, was taken 62nd by New England and is the 49ers' QB right now... but he's only started 10 games and he's only 28. He might just end up as this draft class' best QB.
I should probably go on about Derek Carr for a bit more since he was the other clear alternative at pick #32. Carr has had a 32-46 record in Oakland with a 18739/122/54 line with 62.8% completion and 6.7 Y/A. In his best season, 2016, he went 3937/28/6 with 7.0 Y/A with 7 4th quarter comebacks. He unfortunately broke a bone in his leg and missed the postseason, and the team was doomed with rookie Connor Cook at the helm. After Carr went on the 12-3 run in 2016, his play has declined. Recently his completion percentage has been much higher, but that's a better indication of his tendency to check down too often. This was perhaps due to taking 51 sacks in 2018, which was far more than he'd ever taken (31 was the highest he'd taken before).
While Carr was drafted into a franchise full of incompetency and a lesser group of players around him, I'm not convinced we can deflect all the blame from him. Most damning was seeing top WR Amari Cooper get traded midseason to Dallas... and with Dak Prescott, he absolutely took off (he went 22/280/1 in 6 games with Carr, 53/725/6 in 9 games with Prescott). Carr does not appear to be a QB who can get a team over the hump and would land in the 20-25th best QB in my opinion. Alright, back to the draft review:
The Vikings also landed DE Scott Crichton and HB Jerick McKinnon in the 3rd round. Crichton was a massive bust, but McKinnon was worth the selection as a very good rotational HB. In their 6 selections made between rounds 5-7, the only success was DT Shamar Stephen, who became a decent run stuffer.
Notable players drafted from rounds 3-7 in 2014: G Trai Turner, HB Devonta Freeman, DT DaQuan Jones, CB Aaron Colvin, LB Telvin Smith, LB Avery Williamson, C Zach Fulton, G Laurent Duvernay-turdiff, and C Matt Paradis.
-----------
Vikings 2015 Offseason
-- 2015 QB Situation --
The Vikings shipped off Matt Cassel for a 5th round pick and made Teddy Bridgewater the starting QB with no questions asked in 2015, so they weren't looking at any QBs to add for competition. They signed Shaun Hill to a 2 year deal to backup Bridgewater.
In free agency, options were scarce, once again. Ryan Mallett was the biggest option out there, and he ended up taking a 2 year, $7M to return to Houston. Brian Hoyer and Josh McCown were the next best guys available.
There was one big trade involving QBs over this offseason - the Foles-Bradford trade. It felt more like a player-executed trade in Madden, but the Eagles and Rams swapped starting QBs. The Eagles gave the Rams Foles for 2nd & 4th rounders and Foles, with the Rams getting a 5th rounder. Unsurprisingly, neither QB was the solution for either team, with Foles earning a release after one season as the Rams starter, and Bradford was quickly replaced by Carson Wentz, but they were lucky to get something for Sammy Sleeves.
-- 2015 Free Agency --
The Vikings played things very quietly during this period of free agency, with the biggest signing being CB Terence Newman to a one year deal. They also acquired Mike Wallace from Miami for a 5th rounder (who became HB Jay Ajayi, good pick by the Fins) and now had 3 years of control over Wallace if they wanted. Since CB and WR were positions they targeted, let's check out what others were available in free agency:
WRs
Jeremy Maclin -> KC 5/$55M
Torrey Smith -> SF 5/$40M
Andre Johnson -> IND 3/$21M
Eddie Royal -> CHI 3/$15M
Harry Douglas -> TEN 3/$11M
Yeah, there wasn't many good WRs to pick from here. How about the CBs?
CBs
Darrelle Revis -> NYJ 5/$70M
Antonio Cromartie -> NYJ 4/$32M
Byron Maxwell -> PHI 6/$63M
Tramon Williams -> CLE 3/$21M
Chris Culliver -> WAS 4/$32M
Perrish Cox -> TEN 3/$15M
Cary Williams -> SEA 3/$18M
Buster Skrine -> NYJ 4/$25M
Most of these deals backfired, especially those two Jets moves. You gotta love giving heapings of money to old CBs!
-- 2015 NFL Draft --
This draft class doesn't need much examining from the Vikings view, as they came away with Trae Waynes, Eric Kendricks, Danielle Hunter, and Stefon Diggs. It could be argued that we should be getting more from Waynes since he was the 11th overall pick, so let's see who else was available:
#12: DT Danny Shelton CLE
#13: G/T Andrus Peat NO
#14: WR Devante Parker MIA
#15: HB Melvin Gordon SD
#16: CB Kevin Johnson HOU
#17: DE Arik Armstead SF
#18: CB Marcus Peters KC
This group is rather middling... Shelton, Peat, Parker, and Johnson can be considered busts or at least disappointing. Gordon is a very good HB, but the Vikings didn't need to spend a pick on a running back here. Armstead is a good player, but not amazing. Peters is definitely a better CB, but his off-the-field problems were bad enough that the Chiefs couldn't put up with him anymore and shipped him off for a 4th round pick to the Rams, where he had a down season. The Vikings came out pretty well, looking at the rest of these guys.
Notable players drafted in rounds 4-7: DE Trey Flowers, T Daryl Williams, OLB Za'Darius Smith, ILB Kwon Alexander, G Shaq Mason, DT Grady Jarrett, S Adrian Amos, CB/S Quandre Diggs, T Trent Brown, and QB Trevor Siemian.
The Vikings shipped off Matt Cassel for a 5th round pick and made Teddy Bridgewater the starting QB with no questions asked in 2015, so they weren't looking at any QBs to add for competition. They signed Shaun Hill to a 2 year deal to backup Bridgewater.
In free agency, options were scarce, once again. Ryan Mallett was the biggest option out there, and he ended up taking a 2 year, $7M to return to Houston. Brian Hoyer and Josh McCown were the next best guys available.
There was one big trade involving QBs over this offseason - the Foles-Bradford trade. It felt more like a player-executed trade in Madden, but the Eagles and Rams swapped starting QBs. The Eagles gave the Rams Foles for 2nd & 4th rounders and Foles, with the Rams getting a 5th rounder. Unsurprisingly, neither QB was the solution for either team, with Foles earning a release after one season as the Rams starter, and Bradford was quickly replaced by Carson Wentz, but they were lucky to get something for Sammy Sleeves.
-- 2015 Free Agency --
The Vikings played things very quietly during this period of free agency, with the biggest signing being CB Terence Newman to a one year deal. They also acquired Mike Wallace from Miami for a 5th rounder (who became HB Jay Ajayi, good pick by the Fins) and now had 3 years of control over Wallace if they wanted. Since CB and WR were positions they targeted, let's check out what others were available in free agency:
WRs
Jeremy Maclin -> KC 5/$55M
Torrey Smith -> SF 5/$40M
Andre Johnson -> IND 3/$21M
Eddie Royal -> CHI 3/$15M
Harry Douglas -> TEN 3/$11M
Yeah, there wasn't many good WRs to pick from here. How about the CBs?
CBs
Darrelle Revis -> NYJ 5/$70M
Antonio Cromartie -> NYJ 4/$32M
Byron Maxwell -> PHI 6/$63M
Tramon Williams -> CLE 3/$21M
Chris Culliver -> WAS 4/$32M
Perrish Cox -> TEN 3/$15M
Cary Williams -> SEA 3/$18M
Buster Skrine -> NYJ 4/$25M
Most of these deals backfired, especially those two Jets moves. You gotta love giving heapings of money to old CBs!
-- 2015 NFL Draft --
This draft class doesn't need much examining from the Vikings view, as they came away with Trae Waynes, Eric Kendricks, Danielle Hunter, and Stefon Diggs. It could be argued that we should be getting more from Waynes since he was the 11th overall pick, so let's see who else was available:
#12: DT Danny Shelton CLE
#13: G/T Andrus Peat NO
#14: WR Devante Parker MIA
#15: HB Melvin Gordon SD
#16: CB Kevin Johnson HOU
#17: DE Arik Armstead SF
#18: CB Marcus Peters KC
This group is rather middling... Shelton, Peat, Parker, and Johnson can be considered busts or at least disappointing. Gordon is a very good HB, but the Vikings didn't need to spend a pick on a running back here. Armstead is a good player, but not amazing. Peters is definitely a better CB, but his off-the-field problems were bad enough that the Chiefs couldn't put up with him anymore and shipped him off for a 4th round pick to the Rams, where he had a down season. The Vikings came out pretty well, looking at the rest of these guys.
Notable players drafted in rounds 4-7: DE Trey Flowers, T Daryl Williams, OLB Za'Darius Smith, ILB Kwon Alexander, G Shaq Mason, DT Grady Jarrett, S Adrian Amos, CB/S Quandre Diggs, T Trent Brown, and QB Trevor Siemian.
-----------
Vikings 2016 Offseason
-- 2016 QB Situation --
For the second straight offseason, Teddy Bridgewater was locked into the starting job. Having no idea his knee was going to randomly explode 10 days before the season started, the Vikings didn't feel like needing to pick up any major free agent QBs.
I will cover what did happen this offseason regarding QBs, though. Broncos QB Brock Osweiler hit free agency after starting just 7 games in Denver. The bidding for him went to insane levels, as he landed a massive 4 year $72M deal. He was an immediate flop for Houston, posting an awful 2957/15/16 (59%, 5.8 Y/A) line. The rest of the team was so good they went to the playoffs and even won a game, but that was in spite of Brock. They were so desperate to get rid of the contract, they gave Cleveland a 2nd round pick to eat all of the guaranteed money.
Robert Griffin III hit free agency, but he was a shell of his former self at this point. The Browns foolishly gave him a 2 year, $15M deal to start 5 games and lose 4 of them.
The Eagles gave Chase Daniel a 3 year, $21M deal for some bizarre reason, as this came after Sam Bradford's new deal that was given a week earlier (2 years, $36M). The Eagles would go on to draft Carson Wentz, so Daniel lasted just a single season. What an odd move.
In August of 2016, the Chiefs quietly signed Nick Foles to a one year, $1.75M deal to back up Alex Smith. This was after Foles' debacle in St. Louis, but none would have guessed he would go on to be the Super Bowl MVP in 2017.
Of course, the Eagles ended up trading Sam Bradford to the Vikings for a 1st rounder and a 2017 3rd rounder, just after they gave him a new deal over the offseason. That was a desperation trade by the Vikings, and it was the only real option on the table unless they wanted to go with a free agent... from what research I've done, the best free agents available at the time were Dan Orlovsky, Aaron Murray, T.J. Yates, and a crusty Michael Vick. Our forum back in 2016, Vikings Journal, is down now, back I'd like to go back and see who was recommended to be added to our QB group.
The Bradford trade was the only major QB trade made in 2016.
-- 2016 Free Agency --
The Vikings realized they needed to badly add some offensive linemen, and the Vikings quickly inked guard Alex Boone, formerly from the 49ers, to a 4 year $27M deal. While the move came with plenty of praise, Boone was just simply alright in 2016 and was a shocking cut before the 2017 season (only $10M was guaranteed), after he looked atrocious during the 2017 preseason. The Vikings also added T Andre Smith, who played terribly for 4 games and then hit the IR. Meanwhile, here were some other OL deals signed in free agency:
LT Russell Okung -> DEN 5/$53M (included a team opt-out after 1 season)
RT Mitchell Schwartz -> KC 5/$33M
LT Kelvin Beachum -> JAX 5/$45M (included a team opt-out after 1 season)
RT Bobby Massie -> CHI 3/$18M
LG Kelechi Osemele -> OAK 5/$58.5M
G Josh Sitton -> CHI 3/$21M
G Jeff Allen -> HOU 4/$28M
G Brandon Brooks -> PHI 5/$40M
C Alex Mack -> ATL 5/$45M
C Ben Jones -> TEN 4/$17.5M
The Vikings definitely missed out on some solid deals here.
-- 2016 NFL Draft --
The 2016 draft didn't turn out quite as well as the 2015 one for Minnesota - they spent their first pick on WR Laquon Treadwell, who has nearly played his way off the team. With Mike Wallace failing to fit in with this team, the Vikings needed to find someone to pair with Stefon Diggs, but not only was that guy already on the team (Thielen), but they could have found an absolute stud if they looked a little harder. Here's what followed the Treadwell selection:
#24: CB William Jackson III CIN
#25: CB Artie Burns PIT
#26: QB Paxton Lynch DEN
#27: DT Kenny Clark GB
#28: G Joshua Garnett SF
#29: DT Robert Nkemdiche ARZ
#30: DT Vernon Butler CAR
#31: RT Germain Ifedi SEA
Woof, there were some massive busts to accompany Treadwell - I'm looking at Burns, Lynch, Garnett, Nkemdiche, and Ifedi. Clark has become a very good nose tackle for the Packers, Jackson III missed his rookie year but has been very good for the Bengals, and Butler is a middling rotational D-lineman.
Some notable players the Vikings missed:
#36: LB Myles Jack JAX
#37: DT Chris Jones KC
#38: CB Xavien Howard MIA
#47: WR Michael Thomas NO
Jack was on the top of my draft board, and he's gone on to be a good but not great LB - though the Vikings really didn't need another starting LB at the time. Chris Jones has been an absolute beast as an interior rusher - he had an Aaron Donald-esque season in 2018 with 15.5 sacks. Howard was a top 10 CB in 2018 with the Fins, raking in 7 interceptions. Finally, Michael Thomas has made a ridiculous 321 catches in his first 3 seasons with the Saints. These players are team-changers, and it's a shame the Vikings missed out on them.
Later on, the Vikings spent the 54th pick on CB Mackensie Alexander, who just recently broke out as the team's nickel corner. It wasn't a bad pick in current hindsight, but G/C Cody Whitehair and S Kevin Byard were also available there. Legendary draft busts QB Christian Hackenberg and K Roberto Aguayo were taken in this same 2nd round, while they should have been 7th rounders.
The Vikings also blew a 4th rounder on G Willie Beavers, who couldn't even make the team in 2016. They also got Kentrell Brothers in the 5th rounder, who's become a fine special teamer. 6th rounder WR Moritz Bohringer was a great story, but probably needed 2-3 years of college football before attempting the NFL. Blocking TE David Morgan was a good 6th round selection. Quietly, the Vikings had a great 7th round, as they nabbed DE Stephen Weatherly and S Jayron Kearse. Notable names drafted from rounds 4-7 are QB Dak Prescott, HB Jordan Howard, WR Tyreek Hill, NT D.J. Reader, and CB Jalen Mills (these rounds 4-7 appear to be rougher than usual).
For the second straight offseason, Teddy Bridgewater was locked into the starting job. Having no idea his knee was going to randomly explode 10 days before the season started, the Vikings didn't feel like needing to pick up any major free agent QBs.
I will cover what did happen this offseason regarding QBs, though. Broncos QB Brock Osweiler hit free agency after starting just 7 games in Denver. The bidding for him went to insane levels, as he landed a massive 4 year $72M deal. He was an immediate flop for Houston, posting an awful 2957/15/16 (59%, 5.8 Y/A) line. The rest of the team was so good they went to the playoffs and even won a game, but that was in spite of Brock. They were so desperate to get rid of the contract, they gave Cleveland a 2nd round pick to eat all of the guaranteed money.
Robert Griffin III hit free agency, but he was a shell of his former self at this point. The Browns foolishly gave him a 2 year, $15M deal to start 5 games and lose 4 of them.
The Eagles gave Chase Daniel a 3 year, $21M deal for some bizarre reason, as this came after Sam Bradford's new deal that was given a week earlier (2 years, $36M). The Eagles would go on to draft Carson Wentz, so Daniel lasted just a single season. What an odd move.
In August of 2016, the Chiefs quietly signed Nick Foles to a one year, $1.75M deal to back up Alex Smith. This was after Foles' debacle in St. Louis, but none would have guessed he would go on to be the Super Bowl MVP in 2017.
Of course, the Eagles ended up trading Sam Bradford to the Vikings for a 1st rounder and a 2017 3rd rounder, just after they gave him a new deal over the offseason. That was a desperation trade by the Vikings, and it was the only real option on the table unless they wanted to go with a free agent... from what research I've done, the best free agents available at the time were Dan Orlovsky, Aaron Murray, T.J. Yates, and a crusty Michael Vick. Our forum back in 2016, Vikings Journal, is down now, back I'd like to go back and see who was recommended to be added to our QB group.
The Bradford trade was the only major QB trade made in 2016.
-- 2016 Free Agency --
The Vikings realized they needed to badly add some offensive linemen, and the Vikings quickly inked guard Alex Boone, formerly from the 49ers, to a 4 year $27M deal. While the move came with plenty of praise, Boone was just simply alright in 2016 and was a shocking cut before the 2017 season (only $10M was guaranteed), after he looked atrocious during the 2017 preseason. The Vikings also added T Andre Smith, who played terribly for 4 games and then hit the IR. Meanwhile, here were some other OL deals signed in free agency:
LT Russell Okung -> DEN 5/$53M (included a team opt-out after 1 season)
RT Mitchell Schwartz -> KC 5/$33M
LT Kelvin Beachum -> JAX 5/$45M (included a team opt-out after 1 season)
RT Bobby Massie -> CHI 3/$18M
LG Kelechi Osemele -> OAK 5/$58.5M
G Josh Sitton -> CHI 3/$21M
G Jeff Allen -> HOU 4/$28M
G Brandon Brooks -> PHI 5/$40M
C Alex Mack -> ATL 5/$45M
C Ben Jones -> TEN 4/$17.5M
The Vikings definitely missed out on some solid deals here.
-- 2016 NFL Draft --
The 2016 draft didn't turn out quite as well as the 2015 one for Minnesota - they spent their first pick on WR Laquon Treadwell, who has nearly played his way off the team. With Mike Wallace failing to fit in with this team, the Vikings needed to find someone to pair with Stefon Diggs, but not only was that guy already on the team (Thielen), but they could have found an absolute stud if they looked a little harder. Here's what followed the Treadwell selection:
#24: CB William Jackson III CIN
#25: CB Artie Burns PIT
#26: QB Paxton Lynch DEN
#27: DT Kenny Clark GB
#28: G Joshua Garnett SF
#29: DT Robert Nkemdiche ARZ
#30: DT Vernon Butler CAR
#31: RT Germain Ifedi SEA
Woof, there were some massive busts to accompany Treadwell - I'm looking at Burns, Lynch, Garnett, Nkemdiche, and Ifedi. Clark has become a very good nose tackle for the Packers, Jackson III missed his rookie year but has been very good for the Bengals, and Butler is a middling rotational D-lineman.
Some notable players the Vikings missed:
#36: LB Myles Jack JAX
#37: DT Chris Jones KC
#38: CB Xavien Howard MIA
#47: WR Michael Thomas NO
Jack was on the top of my draft board, and he's gone on to be a good but not great LB - though the Vikings really didn't need another starting LB at the time. Chris Jones has been an absolute beast as an interior rusher - he had an Aaron Donald-esque season in 2018 with 15.5 sacks. Howard was a top 10 CB in 2018 with the Fins, raking in 7 interceptions. Finally, Michael Thomas has made a ridiculous 321 catches in his first 3 seasons with the Saints. These players are team-changers, and it's a shame the Vikings missed out on them.
Later on, the Vikings spent the 54th pick on CB Mackensie Alexander, who just recently broke out as the team's nickel corner. It wasn't a bad pick in current hindsight, but G/C Cody Whitehair and S Kevin Byard were also available there. Legendary draft busts QB Christian Hackenberg and K Roberto Aguayo were taken in this same 2nd round, while they should have been 7th rounders.
The Vikings also blew a 4th rounder on G Willie Beavers, who couldn't even make the team in 2016. They also got Kentrell Brothers in the 5th rounder, who's become a fine special teamer. 6th rounder WR Moritz Bohringer was a great story, but probably needed 2-3 years of college football before attempting the NFL. Blocking TE David Morgan was a good 6th round selection. Quietly, the Vikings had a great 7th round, as they nabbed DE Stephen Weatherly and S Jayron Kearse. Notable names drafted from rounds 4-7 are QB Dak Prescott, HB Jordan Howard, WR Tyreek Hill, NT D.J. Reader, and CB Jalen Mills (these rounds 4-7 appear to be rougher than usual).
-------------
Vikings 2017 Offseason
-- 2017 QB Situation --
The Vikings were basically set with Bridgewater not ready for the regular season, and Bradford on the second year of his contract. However, as lucky as the Vikings were to have Bradford healthy for all of 2016, that luck totally caved in this year... and then the team went 13-3. It was all thanks to the relatively minor signing of Case Keenum that the season was saved.
Also available in free agency was Jay Cutler... hooray! He signed a deal with the Dolphins and was bad.
Mike Glennon was the young new QB to hit free agency, so the Bears gave him too much money! They gave him $45M over 3 years... and he was so bad in his first four starts, he was benched! Why would you pay a guy so much money just to give up on him so fast?!
This was the first season Colin Kaepernick was available, but no team has touched him since he opted out of his 49ers deal. Robert Griffin III also sat this season out as a free agent.
Nick Foles was available, and signed a 2 year $11M deal with Philly. He somehow went on to be the Super Bowl MVP.
A sneaky trade happened this offseason - the Patriots shipped former 3rd round QB Jacoby Brissett to the Colts for WR Phillip Dorsett. Dorsett was a bust and hasn't accomplished much in New England, but the Colts now have one of the league's better backup QBs.
The big QB trade happened at the trade deadline - the 49ers acquired QB Jimmy Garoppolo from New England for a 2nd rounder. I can't say much about the trade yet, as Jimmy has still barely played due to an ACL tear. The Patriots turned that 2nd rounder into a billion more picks. No, seriously, I could go on about how complicated all of the moves Belichick made with this pick - including a mind-blowing 5 separate times they traded down with this pick, eventually acquiring CB Duke Dawson and LB Christian Sam in 2018, HB Damien Harris and CB Joejuan Williams in 2019, and even a 4th rounder in 2020!! I could write an entire article about this draft pick!
-- 2017 Free Agency --
The Vikings were fairly aggressive in this year's free agent market. They nabbed a left tackle to replace Matt Kalil in Riley Reiff, giving him a whopping $58.75M over 5 years. Next, they gave Reiff a bookend in Mike Remmers, paying him $30M over a 5 year deal. Finally, they found a starting HB (until the draft happened) in Latavius Murray for $15M over 3 years.
Other OL deals signed:
G Kevin Zeitler -> CLE 5/$60M
G T.J. Lang -> DET 3/$28.5M
G Larry Warford -> NO 4/$34M
LT Andrew Whitworth -> LAR 3/$36M
LT Russell Okung -> DEN 4/$53M
C J.C. Tretter -> CLE 3/$16.75M
RT Ricky Wagner -> DET 5/$47.5M
G Ronald Leary -> DEN 4/$35M
LT Kelvin Beachum -> NYJ 3/$24M
I would cover the other HB signings, but outside of Murray there were only washed-up HBs signing... Eddie Lacy and Jamaal Charles signed one year deals.
-- 2017 Draft Recap --
The Vikings didn't have a first rounder due to the Bradford trade, but they were able to move up in the second round and get a first round talent who fell to them. HB Dalvin Cook was worth the selection talent-wise, but certainly not health-wise. He needs to play more to justify the selection. Here are the selections that happened after him:
#42: NO FS Marcus Williams (the man responsible for the Minneapolis Miracle)
#43: PHI CB Sidney Jones
#44: LAR TE Gerald Everett
#45: CHI TE Adam Shaheen
#46: IND CB Quincy Wilson
#47: BAL ED Tyus Bowser
#48: CIN HB Joe Mixon
#49: WAS ED Ryan Anderson
#50: TB S Justin Evans
Of this group, Mixon is a similar talent level to Cook, but he's been much healthier and thus the better pick. The two TEs were very raw and haven't become starters, and neither have the edge defenders. It's too early to call this.
The Vikings also spent selections on C Pat Elflein in the 3rd round and also nabbed some backups in Jaleel Johnson, Ben Gedeon (part-time starter), G Danny Isidora, and WR Stacy Coley. Players who already fizzled out are WR Rodney Adams, TE Bucky Hodges, CB Jack Tocho, and LB Elijah Lee, though Lee started 5 games for the 49ers in 2018.
Notable players who the Vikings could have drafted: RT Taylor Moton (2nd), LT Dion Dawkins (2nd), DT Larry Ogunjobi (3rd), HB Alvin Kamara (3rd), WR Cooper Kupp (3rd), WR Kenny Golladay (3rd), HB James Conner (3rd), S Eddie Jackson (4th), TE George Kittle (5th), CB Desmond King (5th), LB Jayon Brown (5th), and LB Matt Milano (5th).
----------The Vikings were basically set with Bridgewater not ready for the regular season, and Bradford on the second year of his contract. However, as lucky as the Vikings were to have Bradford healthy for all of 2016, that luck totally caved in this year... and then the team went 13-3. It was all thanks to the relatively minor signing of Case Keenum that the season was saved.
Also available in free agency was Jay Cutler... hooray! He signed a deal with the Dolphins and was bad.
Mike Glennon was the young new QB to hit free agency, so the Bears gave him too much money! They gave him $45M over 3 years... and he was so bad in his first four starts, he was benched! Why would you pay a guy so much money just to give up on him so fast?!
This was the first season Colin Kaepernick was available, but no team has touched him since he opted out of his 49ers deal. Robert Griffin III also sat this season out as a free agent.
Nick Foles was available, and signed a 2 year $11M deal with Philly. He somehow went on to be the Super Bowl MVP.
A sneaky trade happened this offseason - the Patriots shipped former 3rd round QB Jacoby Brissett to the Colts for WR Phillip Dorsett. Dorsett was a bust and hasn't accomplished much in New England, but the Colts now have one of the league's better backup QBs.
The big QB trade happened at the trade deadline - the 49ers acquired QB Jimmy Garoppolo from New England for a 2nd rounder. I can't say much about the trade yet, as Jimmy has still barely played due to an ACL tear. The Patriots turned that 2nd rounder into a billion more picks. No, seriously, I could go on about how complicated all of the moves Belichick made with this pick - including a mind-blowing 5 separate times they traded down with this pick, eventually acquiring CB Duke Dawson and LB Christian Sam in 2018, HB Damien Harris and CB Joejuan Williams in 2019, and even a 4th rounder in 2020!! I could write an entire article about this draft pick!
-- 2017 Free Agency --
The Vikings were fairly aggressive in this year's free agent market. They nabbed a left tackle to replace Matt Kalil in Riley Reiff, giving him a whopping $58.75M over 5 years. Next, they gave Reiff a bookend in Mike Remmers, paying him $30M over a 5 year deal. Finally, they found a starting HB (until the draft happened) in Latavius Murray for $15M over 3 years.
Other OL deals signed:
G Kevin Zeitler -> CLE 5/$60M
G T.J. Lang -> DET 3/$28.5M
G Larry Warford -> NO 4/$34M
LT Andrew Whitworth -> LAR 3/$36M
LT Russell Okung -> DEN 4/$53M
C J.C. Tretter -> CLE 3/$16.75M
RT Ricky Wagner -> DET 5/$47.5M
G Ronald Leary -> DEN 4/$35M
LT Kelvin Beachum -> NYJ 3/$24M
I would cover the other HB signings, but outside of Murray there were only washed-up HBs signing... Eddie Lacy and Jamaal Charles signed one year deals.
-- 2017 Draft Recap --
The Vikings didn't have a first rounder due to the Bradford trade, but they were able to move up in the second round and get a first round talent who fell to them. HB Dalvin Cook was worth the selection talent-wise, but certainly not health-wise. He needs to play more to justify the selection. Here are the selections that happened after him:
#42: NO FS Marcus Williams (the man responsible for the Minneapolis Miracle)
#43: PHI CB Sidney Jones
#44: LAR TE Gerald Everett
#45: CHI TE Adam Shaheen
#46: IND CB Quincy Wilson
#47: BAL ED Tyus Bowser
#48: CIN HB Joe Mixon
#49: WAS ED Ryan Anderson
#50: TB S Justin Evans
Of this group, Mixon is a similar talent level to Cook, but he's been much healthier and thus the better pick. The two TEs were very raw and haven't become starters, and neither have the edge defenders. It's too early to call this.
The Vikings also spent selections on C Pat Elflein in the 3rd round and also nabbed some backups in Jaleel Johnson, Ben Gedeon (part-time starter), G Danny Isidora, and WR Stacy Coley. Players who already fizzled out are WR Rodney Adams, TE Bucky Hodges, CB Jack Tocho, and LB Elijah Lee, though Lee started 5 games for the 49ers in 2018.
Notable players who the Vikings could have drafted: RT Taylor Moton (2nd), LT Dion Dawkins (2nd), DT Larry Ogunjobi (3rd), HB Alvin Kamara (3rd), WR Cooper Kupp (3rd), WR Kenny Golladay (3rd), HB James Conner (3rd), S Eddie Jackson (4th), TE George Kittle (5th), CB Desmond King (5th), LB Jayon Brown (5th), and LB Matt Milano (5th).
Vikings 2018 Offseason
-- 2018 QB Situation --
At this point, the Vikings came to a very unique situation: Sam Bradford, Case Keenum, and Teddy Bridgewater were all about to hit free agency. Bradford was coming off a mysterious knee injury, Bridgewater had recovered from his dislocated knee, and Keenum was coming off of a career year. Spielman, Zimmer, and newly-hired OC DeFilippo came together and made the decision... to let all 3 QBs go! Redskins QB Kirk Cousins finally hit free agency after being franchise-tagged two years in a row, and Spielman was able to woo him over with a fully guaranteed 3/$84M deal. Bradford signed a ridiculous 2/$40M deal in which he lasted 3 games as the starter, Keenum was anointed as Denver's QB with a 2/$36M deal, and Bridgewater competed for the Jets' QB job on a 1/$6M deal. Outside of those four, the only other option out there was Alex Smith, who was acquired in a trade with Kansas City for a good CB (Kendall Fuller) and a 3rd round pick. The Skins immediately gave Smith a 4/$94M deal, and he was mediocre for 10 games until a gruesome injury ended his season and possibly his career.
The Vikings had clear needs on the O-line, but they opted to sign nobody except G Tom Compton. They ended up paying dearly for this, and here's who was available:
G Andrew Norwell -> JAX 5/$66.5M
G Justin Pugh -> ARZ 5/$44.8M
LT Nate Solder -> NYG 4/$62M
G Josh Sitton -> MIA 2/$13.5M
C John Sullivan -> LAR 2/$10.75M
C Weston Richburg -> SF 5/$47.5M
C Mike Pouncey -> LAC 2/$15M
G Josh Kline -> TEN 4/$26.5M
Looking through the list, you could argue every signing was a failure or at least an overpay. Sitton, Sullivan, and Kline didn't even make it to year 2 on their deals, Pugh played just 7 games and was bad when healthy, Norwell and Pugh were both about average despite being the highest paid players at their position, Richburg was among the worst centers in the lead, and Pouncey was a relative success.
I bring this up because many Vikings fans claimed that they should have went in on a cheaper QB and used the extra money to sign an offensive lineman. Alright, which one? Just as Cousins disappointed many as a big free agent pickup, basically all of these guys were not worth the money. It's certainly possible some of these moves might end up paying off, but the Vikings wouldn't be in a better situation if they got Keenum & Norwell instead of just Cousins.
Oh, and the Vikings also nabbed DT Sheldon Richardson in free agency, which was a surprisingly cheap signing, but he was more name than game. He played slightly above the average DT but didn't move the needle much for the defense.
The 2018 draft was too recent, and isn't worth grading yet, in my opinion.
At this point, the Vikings came to a very unique situation: Sam Bradford, Case Keenum, and Teddy Bridgewater were all about to hit free agency. Bradford was coming off a mysterious knee injury, Bridgewater had recovered from his dislocated knee, and Keenum was coming off of a career year. Spielman, Zimmer, and newly-hired OC DeFilippo came together and made the decision... to let all 3 QBs go! Redskins QB Kirk Cousins finally hit free agency after being franchise-tagged two years in a row, and Spielman was able to woo him over with a fully guaranteed 3/$84M deal. Bradford signed a ridiculous 2/$40M deal in which he lasted 3 games as the starter, Keenum was anointed as Denver's QB with a 2/$36M deal, and Bridgewater competed for the Jets' QB job on a 1/$6M deal. Outside of those four, the only other option out there was Alex Smith, who was acquired in a trade with Kansas City for a good CB (Kendall Fuller) and a 3rd round pick. The Skins immediately gave Smith a 4/$94M deal, and he was mediocre for 10 games until a gruesome injury ended his season and possibly his career.
The Vikings had clear needs on the O-line, but they opted to sign nobody except G Tom Compton. They ended up paying dearly for this, and here's who was available:
G Andrew Norwell -> JAX 5/$66.5M
G Justin Pugh -> ARZ 5/$44.8M
LT Nate Solder -> NYG 4/$62M
G Josh Sitton -> MIA 2/$13.5M
C John Sullivan -> LAR 2/$10.75M
C Weston Richburg -> SF 5/$47.5M
C Mike Pouncey -> LAC 2/$15M
G Josh Kline -> TEN 4/$26.5M
Looking through the list, you could argue every signing was a failure or at least an overpay. Sitton, Sullivan, and Kline didn't even make it to year 2 on their deals, Pugh played just 7 games and was bad when healthy, Norwell and Pugh were both about average despite being the highest paid players at their position, Richburg was among the worst centers in the lead, and Pouncey was a relative success.
I bring this up because many Vikings fans claimed that they should have went in on a cheaper QB and used the extra money to sign an offensive lineman. Alright, which one? Just as Cousins disappointed many as a big free agent pickup, basically all of these guys were not worth the money. It's certainly possible some of these moves might end up paying off, but the Vikings wouldn't be in a better situation if they got Keenum & Norwell instead of just Cousins.
Oh, and the Vikings also nabbed DT Sheldon Richardson in free agency, which was a surprisingly cheap signing, but he was more name than game. He played slightly above the average DT but didn't move the needle much for the defense.
The 2018 draft was too recent, and isn't worth grading yet, in my opinion.
------------
FULL RECAP - 2011 --> 2018
This will quickly cover which years had which QBs available, and any borderline franchise QBs will be included.
If the Vikings did not pass on the player in the draft, there will be an X, so you can tell that the Vikings could not have drafted this QB without trading up.
2011
Cam Newton - Draft (1st X)
Andy Dalton - Draft (2nd)
Colin Kaepernick - Draft (2nd)
Alex Smith - Free Agency
Carson Palmer - Trade
2012
Andrew Luck - Draft (1st X)
Russell Wilson - Draft (3rd)
Kirk Cousins - Draft (4th)
Peyton Manning - Free Agency
Alex Smith - Free Agency
2013
Carson Palmer - Trade
Alex Smith - Trade
2014
Derek Carr - Draft (2nd)
Jimmy Garoppolo - Draft (2nd)
2015
Jameis Winston - Draft (1st X)
Marcus Mariota - Draft (1st X)
Nick Foles - Trade
Sam Bradford - Trade
2016
Jared Goff - Draft (1st X)
Carson Wentz - Draft (1st X)
Dak Prescott - Draft (4th)
Nick Foles - Free Agency
2017
Mitchell Trubisky - Draft (1st X)
Patrick Mahomes - Draft (1st X)
DeShaun Watson - Draft (1st X)
Jimmy Garoppolo - Trade
Nick Foles - Free Agency
2018
Baker Mayfield - Draft (1st X)
Sam Darnold - Draft (1st X)
Josh Allen - Draft (1st X)
Lamar Jackson - Draft (1st)
Alex Smith - Trade
Total:
1st round: 13
2nd round: 4
3rd round: 1
4th round: 2
Trades*: 7
Free Agency*: 5
* = counts repeat players
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CONCLUSIONS
Lesson #1: Find your QB in the draft, and don't reach for him when talented players are available.
Perhaps you might be thinking "well thanks, Captain Obvious!" to this, but it's still a lesson to be learned.
First off - find your QB in the draft, don't mess around when looking for your franchise QB!! How many times do we see a middling QB hit free agency and get paid way too much money? Brock Osweiler, Mike Glennon, Sam Bradford (ARZ), and Case Keenum (DEN) come to mind, and Kirk Cousins is certainly in this ballpark. Trading for a QB almost never works; heck, in the time span of this article, only the Carson Palmer trade from OAK to ARZ was a true success (the Garoppolo trade is still TBD).
The franchise QB list above clearly shows it - most teams find their QB through the draft. But... it also doesn't pay to panic. I'm referring to the 2011 draft where the Vikings took Ponder when nobody thought he would go. Not only did the Vikings blow a chance at finding a good pass rusher or starting offensive lineman, but they also locked themselves into Ponder as their QB for the next 3 seasons. This meant that other options like Dalton, Kaepernick, Wilson, Cousins, Manning, Smith, and Palmer weren't options during this time period.
Imagine this hypothetical situation composed of 100% hindsight: With the 12th pick in the 2011 Draft, the Vikings select LT Nate Solder, and he becomes the starting LT for at least the next 5 years. Then, in the 2nd round, the Vikings select Christian Ponder (if he's still available, which is up for debate, but if not they could move up to get him). Not only is there less pressure for a 2nd round QB as compared to a 1st rounder, the Vikings now don't need to draft Matt Kalil the next season, and Ponder's leash will be shorter since he isn't a 1st round QB. This allows for the Vikings bring in a QB earlier to usurp Ponder's starting QB job - say Carson Palmer in 2013.
It seems the Vikings learned from the second part of lesson, as they took Anthony Barr in the 1st round of the 2014 draft and waited until the 32nd pick to jump up and nab Bridgewater. In the alternate situation where Spielman panics again and takes Bridgewater 9th, Barr is likely scooped up within the next few picks, and the Vikings' ability to get another good starter are greatly reduced - instead of Barr, the Vikings could have ended up with OLB Kyle Van Noy, a guy who lasted just 7 starts for the Lions (though, of course the Patriots redeemed him into being a good LB, but that's beside my point).
It's also important for the front office to have an ear turned to the competition come draft time. The 2011 staff needed to examine whether other teams were actually going to pounce on Ponder - while the 2014 staff appeared to figure out [from their sources] that the media and mock drafters were overstating Bridgewater's (and Manziel's) actual draft stock. From what I can tell, Spielman & Co. have gotten better at discerning which teams are going to pick which player (or at least which position).
Lesson #2: Free agency is full of fool's gold; the draft is where the real treasure is.
Teams in all sports do it all the time - teams sign players to mega-deals in free agency, and the players often disappoint. While this may not be a thing in the star-driven NBA, it's 100% buyer beware in the NFL and MLB. The typical player starts declining around age 29-31 (depending on position, QB doesn't apply), and many times players are hitting free agency at 26, 27, and even 28 years old. Plus teams have to pay the market rate, which cause almost all players to be overpaid and add unrealistic expectations to that player. Rarely did any Viking free agent signing work as expected; DTs Linval Joseph and Tom Johnson were bargain adds in 2014, and that's really about it. Too often signings like John Carlson, Greg Jennings, Alex Boone, and Mike Remmers burned the Vikings' wallet.
The best teams use free agency for small to medium supplements to help their teams. The best recent examples include the Patriots, the recent Eagles regime, and recent Colts regime come to mind. Remember that image of Belichick out on a cruise in March during the free agency splurge, and the Patriots barely made any moves? I think there's some method to the madness.
Lesson #3: Sometimes you are dealt a crappy hand, and even if you play everything perfect, you still lose out
To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure how the Vikings were supposed to play 2016 on. I guess you don't draft a QB whose legs are too skinny? Bridgewater's knee injury caused a series of events that is still playing out today - it's hard to say what would have happened if the injury never happened, but we certainly wouldn't have had Bradford, Keenum, and then Cousins as our starting QBs.
The Bradford trade didn't turn out well, but the alternative was to go into the 2016 season with Shaun Hill as their QB, and find a new starter in 2017. Sure, maybe the Vikings lose enough games to draft Patrick Mahomes or DeShaun Watson, but is it really the right move to immediately punt the 2016 season away after Teddy's knee injury? Only in hindsight would it make sense to tell the 2016 squad to tank, while the team's playoff window had just opened the year earlier.
It's also hard to say what the Vikings should have done in the 2018 offseason - Bridgewater and Bradford weren't real options if 2018 was to be a Super Bowl or bust year, Keenum was a clear candidate for regression and his benefactor, Pat Shurmur, was gone, and while Alex Smith is a fine veteran QB, he ended up wrecking his leg. I suppose you could argue that Smith possibly doesn't break his leg if the Vikings trade for him... but they are also acquiring a middling QB that the Chiefs are trading away because he didn't have what it took to win in the playoffs.
So yes... I am claiming that trading for Bradford in 2016 and getting Cousins in 2018 were the right moves. The Vikings had a roster built that could win playoff games, and the front office did whatever possible to get a good QB in the door. Spielman & Co. played both situations very aggressively, which I think is something that should be applauded.
But going back to my second point, making sexy free-agent splashes for players with big names doesn't always work. Getting Bradford and Cousins came at a great cost, yet 2017 Keenum was better than both of them. Sometimes the quiet, conservative plays work out better in the long run. It seems this Vikings front office might "go down swinging", but perhaps they should have considered just trying to get on base rather than going for the home run.
--------Perhaps you might be thinking "well thanks, Captain Obvious!" to this, but it's still a lesson to be learned.
First off - find your QB in the draft, don't mess around when looking for your franchise QB!! How many times do we see a middling QB hit free agency and get paid way too much money? Brock Osweiler, Mike Glennon, Sam Bradford (ARZ), and Case Keenum (DEN) come to mind, and Kirk Cousins is certainly in this ballpark. Trading for a QB almost never works; heck, in the time span of this article, only the Carson Palmer trade from OAK to ARZ was a true success (the Garoppolo trade is still TBD).
The franchise QB list above clearly shows it - most teams find their QB through the draft. But... it also doesn't pay to panic. I'm referring to the 2011 draft where the Vikings took Ponder when nobody thought he would go. Not only did the Vikings blow a chance at finding a good pass rusher or starting offensive lineman, but they also locked themselves into Ponder as their QB for the next 3 seasons. This meant that other options like Dalton, Kaepernick, Wilson, Cousins, Manning, Smith, and Palmer weren't options during this time period.
Imagine this hypothetical situation composed of 100% hindsight: With the 12th pick in the 2011 Draft, the Vikings select LT Nate Solder, and he becomes the starting LT for at least the next 5 years. Then, in the 2nd round, the Vikings select Christian Ponder (if he's still available, which is up for debate, but if not they could move up to get him). Not only is there less pressure for a 2nd round QB as compared to a 1st rounder, the Vikings now don't need to draft Matt Kalil the next season, and Ponder's leash will be shorter since he isn't a 1st round QB. This allows for the Vikings bring in a QB earlier to usurp Ponder's starting QB job - say Carson Palmer in 2013.
It seems the Vikings learned from the second part of lesson, as they took Anthony Barr in the 1st round of the 2014 draft and waited until the 32nd pick to jump up and nab Bridgewater. In the alternate situation where Spielman panics again and takes Bridgewater 9th, Barr is likely scooped up within the next few picks, and the Vikings' ability to get another good starter are greatly reduced - instead of Barr, the Vikings could have ended up with OLB Kyle Van Noy, a guy who lasted just 7 starts for the Lions (though, of course the Patriots redeemed him into being a good LB, but that's beside my point).
It's also important for the front office to have an ear turned to the competition come draft time. The 2011 staff needed to examine whether other teams were actually going to pounce on Ponder - while the 2014 staff appeared to figure out [from their sources] that the media and mock drafters were overstating Bridgewater's (and Manziel's) actual draft stock. From what I can tell, Spielman & Co. have gotten better at discerning which teams are going to pick which player (or at least which position).
Lesson #2: Free agency is full of fool's gold; the draft is where the real treasure is.
Teams in all sports do it all the time - teams sign players to mega-deals in free agency, and the players often disappoint. While this may not be a thing in the star-driven NBA, it's 100% buyer beware in the NFL and MLB. The typical player starts declining around age 29-31 (depending on position, QB doesn't apply), and many times players are hitting free agency at 26, 27, and even 28 years old. Plus teams have to pay the market rate, which cause almost all players to be overpaid and add unrealistic expectations to that player. Rarely did any Viking free agent signing work as expected; DTs Linval Joseph and Tom Johnson were bargain adds in 2014, and that's really about it. Too often signings like John Carlson, Greg Jennings, Alex Boone, and Mike Remmers burned the Vikings' wallet.
The best teams use free agency for small to medium supplements to help their teams. The best recent examples include the Patriots, the recent Eagles regime, and recent Colts regime come to mind. Remember that image of Belichick out on a cruise in March during the free agency splurge, and the Patriots barely made any moves? I think there's some method to the madness.
Lesson #3: Sometimes you are dealt a crappy hand, and even if you play everything perfect, you still lose out
To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure how the Vikings were supposed to play 2016 on. I guess you don't draft a QB whose legs are too skinny? Bridgewater's knee injury caused a series of events that is still playing out today - it's hard to say what would have happened if the injury never happened, but we certainly wouldn't have had Bradford, Keenum, and then Cousins as our starting QBs.
The Bradford trade didn't turn out well, but the alternative was to go into the 2016 season with Shaun Hill as their QB, and find a new starter in 2017. Sure, maybe the Vikings lose enough games to draft Patrick Mahomes or DeShaun Watson, but is it really the right move to immediately punt the 2016 season away after Teddy's knee injury? Only in hindsight would it make sense to tell the 2016 squad to tank, while the team's playoff window had just opened the year earlier.
It's also hard to say what the Vikings should have done in the 2018 offseason - Bridgewater and Bradford weren't real options if 2018 was to be a Super Bowl or bust year, Keenum was a clear candidate for regression and his benefactor, Pat Shurmur, was gone, and while Alex Smith is a fine veteran QB, he ended up wrecking his leg. I suppose you could argue that Smith possibly doesn't break his leg if the Vikings trade for him... but they are also acquiring a middling QB that the Chiefs are trading away because he didn't have what it took to win in the playoffs.
So yes... I am claiming that trading for Bradford in 2016 and getting Cousins in 2018 were the right moves. The Vikings had a roster built that could win playoff games, and the front office did whatever possible to get a good QB in the door. Spielman & Co. played both situations very aggressively, which I think is something that should be applauded.
But going back to my second point, making sexy free-agent splashes for players with big names doesn't always work. Getting Bradford and Cousins came at a great cost, yet 2017 Keenum was better than both of them. Sometimes the quiet, conservative plays work out better in the long run. It seems this Vikings front office might "go down swinging", but perhaps they should have considered just trying to get on base rather than going for the home run.
Whew... alright, now that this massive essay on the Vikings' past decades of offseasons is complete, what do you think? What were some alternate scenarios that should/could of have happened with/without hindsight? What do you think about my conclusions? Let's get some discussion going here!
Just when I nearly had it fully repressed. Might have been one of the worst seasons in team history consider how high the expectations were and just how wrong everything went lol. At least Childress finally got fired. No wait, even that turned out to be a disaster because we ended up with 3 years of Milquetoast. I rather would have kept the KAO for another 3 years.
Man I've only read 2011 so far. Funkmeister is keeping me busy, and I see I'm not the only one. 
Man I've only read 2011 so far. Funkmeister is keeping me busy, and I see I'm not the only one. 
