Clearing Haze

[purplefaithful]

Vikings leaders Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Kevin O'Connell get reboot right in Year 3

The Vikings duo just drafted a quarterback in the top 10 and reconfigured the roster to position the team with $100 million in salary cap space next year.


The Vikings held a news conference Friday to introduce and welcome their top two draft picks. The moment also served as an unofficial unveiling of version 2.0 of the organization's leadership.

The Vikings are now molded in Kwesi Adofo-Mensah's and Kevin O'Connell's vision. This moment signals a fresh start, a reboot. The last vestiges of the previous regime have faded into the horizon like a setting sun.

Year 3 for the KAM-KOC tandem is set up to be a pivotal marker. Maybe not make-or-break, but the temperature was warming considerably on the two leaders to reveal a plan that inspires confidence in the direction.

Their plan has come into focus. It makes sense. It feels right.

The duo just drafted a quarterback in the top 10 and reconfigured the roster over the past two seasons to position the Vikings to have $100 million in salary cap space next offseason.

That gives Adofo-Mensah and O'Connell more runway to build a championship contender. To steal a line from P.J. Fleck, this is no longer Year Zero.

Patience is relative in the NFL because the salary cap creates a razor-thin margin between success and failure. The Wilfs have never shown an inclination to be meddlesome owners prone to knee-jerk reactions. But they like to win and want to know that their team is competitive with peers.

Now that Kirk Cousins is gone and the salary cap situation cleaned up, the Vikings are no longer circling in a holding pattern. They can finally move forward with a new plan.

Adofo-Mensah's "competitive rebuild" description took on a life of its own, but an organizational makeover was really the goal. They needed a new quarterback, a younger roster, better talent and more financial flexibility. All of that was never going to happen in two years.

Trading up to draft quarterback J.J. McCarthy with the 10th overall pick is an organizational commitment that starts at the very top. A move this significant is done with the understanding that patience is necessary with the hope of a big payoff in a few years.

McCarthy steps into a desirable environment as a rookie. He is surrounded by an accomplished group of skill players, led by the league's best receiver, Justin Jefferson. He is being tutored by a head coach who played the position in the NFL and takes pride in maintaining a close connection with his quarterbacks. The two tackles protecting him are top notch.

McCarthy is not being asked to prop up dead weight. Nobody knows for sure what his ceiling will look like, but the circumstances at the beginning of his career give him a head start.

The financial flexibility that arrives in 2025 is a critical piece to the overall blueprint. The Vikings are projected to have $102 million in cap space, according to overthecap.com.

Contract extensions for Jefferson and left tackle Christian Darrisaw will eat into some of that pie, but Adofo-Mensah will be in position to make a splash on prime free agents.

Those who bemoan the loss of draft picks in trading up to grab McCarthy and edge rusher Dallas Turner overlook that point. Besides, teams should always value quality over quantity when drafting.

This is not to suggest that Adofo-Mensah or any GM should be reckless with draft assets in making deals. But knowing the Vikings have an abundance of cap space coming next offseason had to factor into Adofo-Mensah's calculus in getting aggressive to trade up twice in the first round. He can fix holes in the roster or upgrade positions in free agency after the upcoming season. Not everything will hinge on the draft.

The timing of different factors coming together brings clarity after being in limbo. This feels like a new beginning, even though Adofo-Mensah and O'Connell are entering Year 3.

Their vision for their team is unmistakable now.

https://www.startribune.com/vikings-nfl-...600362016/

[FLVike]

Here's the question; If the Falcons went defense and no QB was selected before our pick, would we take Penix or JJ?

[supafreak84]

Here's the question; If the Falcons went defense and no QB was selected before our pick, would we take Penix or JJ?

As much as I think the Vikings would have been ok taking Penix, we've been tied to McCarthy through this entire process and I think for the Vikings, between the two, they would have leaned towards the younger guy without the medical red flags

[purplefaithful]

"I believe we met the moment from a process standpoint," the GM said. "Results are what they are; we will be judged by them. But from a planning and executing-a-vision standpoint, I do believe we did."

With the Vikings' free-agent signings, draft picks and undrafted free agents, Adofo-Mensah has acquired about 40% of the roster this offseason, and most of the players the Vikings added in free agency signed contracts that expire or void after 2024.

After two seasons under Adofo-Mensah and coach Kevin O'Connell, most vestiges of the Rick Spielman-Mike Zimmer era are gone. Only 13 players predate Adofo-Mensah and O'Connell in Minnesota. The rest of the players were acquired by the Vikings' current decisionmakers.

Now consider the 14 picks from Adofo-Mensah's first two drafts who are still on the Vikings roster. Of those 14, only Ed Ingram, Akayleb Evans and Jordan Addison have started a full season in the NFL. The other 11 — and especially the six players from the 2022 draft who haven't become starters — are heading into pivotal seasons in 2024.

The Vikings' two biggest defensive free-agent acquisitions, Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel, will headline a remade pass rushing group with first-round pick Dallas Turner.

The fact the Vikings replaced defensive coordinator Ed Donatell with Brian Flores after the 2022 season means that some players who were brought in to fit the Vikings' old scheme might not fit as cleanly in the new one.

What's more, O'Connell has talked this offseason about how the Vikings want to play more man coverage in 2024 than they did in 2023, meaning cornerbacks such as fourth-round pick Khyree Jackson could challenge third-year players such as Evans and Andrew Booth Jr. for playing time opposite free-agent pickup Shaquill Griffin.

There'll be battles for the left guard spot, where Blake Brandel could get the first shot, and on the defensive line, where the Vikings added two free agents and seventh-round pick Levi Drake Rodriguez.

And all those spots are merely sidebars to the competition at quarterback. Sam Darnold figures to head into the offseason as the starter, with Nick Mullens as the No. 2 QB and first-round pick J.J. McCarthy getting time to learn.

https://www.startribune.com/vikings-nfl-...600362159/

[Montana Tom]

I think everyone agrees that Kwesi fell short in his first draft in 2022, with hindsight being perfectly 20/20, based on results. The results were more stable last year, with Addison and four others still on the roster, with McBride on the PS. I don't think you had the contributors from last year (outside of Addison) that I expect we will see from at least a couple this year. I am optimistic for Darnold and the opportunity for JJ to sit...as long as possible. I am optimistic for Khyree Jackson from Oregon (by way of the grocery store!), the tallest CB in the draft, to contribute. Our GM is getting better, just like his expectation of his players.