Za'Darius Smith now a Brown

[Guest]

[Guest]

@MaroonBells said:

@purplefaithful said:

@dadevike said:
I think this trade was dictated by one major consideration: the need for cap space. That Smith did not want to be here is largely irrelevant. Peterson wanted to be released and his agent created a huge stink, even getting into a shouting match with Brez at the Combines to force the Vikings to release him. The Vikings told the agent that Peterson will play in Minnesota next year or he won't play anywhere. End of story. Early this off-season Lamar Jackson said he wanted to be traded. The Ravens promptly slapped the franchise tag on him. 

The Vikings are not a better team without Smith. Their D is worse now than before the trade. I also suspect Kwesi gave his mentor Andrew Berry a sweetheart deal. A little gift for helping KAM get this job.

So what exactly is the plan here? We can try to compete - but this roster is not good enough to go very far.  We can try to position ourselves for a QBOTF in the next draft - but this roster is too good to get a really high pick. I like Cousins OK but we have put ourselves in cap hell with him and there is no real exit ramp. We will be living with the Cousins cap problem even after he is gone, and we have no idea when that will be. I really do wonder if Kwesi has any coherent plan for this team.

Its'a legit question and we're not unique as fans wondering this about a GM. 

If its being run like a corporation, there is a short-term plan and a LRP that had to get envisioned and sold into ownership. 

I can take a step back, look at some of the moves made (or to be made i.e. Cook) and say they are setting themselves up to be  more competitive in 24/25 on the field and with more cap flex to boot. 

22/23 were all about taking what they inherited and doing the best with it. Only time will tell if this is right or not. 

They got some big talent to sign in JJ, Hock, Darrisaw so it aint gonna be easy - but those are nice problems to have. 

This. Not sure why anyone would expect to recognize a coherent plan one year in, when, like any successful plan, it's going to be built on contingencies. 

One thing that is sort of becoming clear to me is that we're avoiding putting money into 2024 and beyond. The Vikings could've easily pulled money from O'Neill's contract, but haven't. They didn't extend Cousins or Hunter (yet). Davenport and Reeder signed one year deals. And the two-year contracts for Murphy and Lowry have zero guaranteed in 2024. 

It feels like we tried to capture lightning in the bottle in 2022.  2023 is a year where we hope to compete as much as we can with limited resources, while we plan our window for 2024 and beyond.  Just add young players that will be here for a while and cheap stop gaps to be good enough if our offense blows up. 

[Guest]

@medaille said:

@MaroonBells said:

@purplefaithful said:

@dadevike said:
I think this trade was dictated by one major consideration: the need for cap space. That Smith did not want to be here is largely irrelevant. Peterson wanted to be released and his agent created a huge stink, even getting into a shouting match with Brez at the Combines to force the Vikings to release him. The Vikings told the agent that Peterson will play in Minnesota next year or he won't play anywhere. End of story. Early this off-season Lamar Jackson said he wanted to be traded. The Ravens promptly slapped the franchise tag on him. 

The Vikings are not a better team without Smith. Their D is worse now than before the trade. I also suspect Kwesi gave his mentor Andrew Berry a sweetheart deal. A little gift for helping KAM get this job.

So what exactly is the plan here? We can try to compete - but this roster is not good enough to go very far.  We can try to position ourselves for a QBOTF in the next draft - but this roster is too good to get a really high pick. I like Cousins OK but we have put ourselves in cap hell with him and there is no real exit ramp. We will be living with the Cousins cap problem even after he is gone, and we have no idea when that will be. I really do wonder if Kwesi has any coherent plan for this team.

Its'a legit question and we're not unique as fans wondering this about a GM. 

If its being run like a corporation, there is a short-term plan and a LRP that had to get envisioned and sold into ownership. 

I can take a step back, look at some of the moves made (or to be made i.e. Cook) and say they are setting themselves up to be  more competitive in 24/25 on the field and with more cap flex to boot. 

22/23 were all about taking what they inherited and doing the best with it. Only time will tell if this is right or not. 

They got some big talent to sign in JJ, Hock, Darrisaw so it aint gonna be easy - but those are nice problems to have. 

This. Not sure why anyone would expect to recognize a coherent plan one year in, when, like any successful plan, it's going to be built on contingencies. 

One thing that is sort of becoming clear to me is that we're avoiding putting money into 2024 and beyond. The Vikings could've easily pulled money from O'Neill's contract, but haven't. They didn't extend Cousins or Hunter (yet). Davenport and Reeder signed one year deals. And the two-year contracts for Murphy and Lowry have zero guaranteed in 2024. 

It feels like we tried to capture lightning in the bottle in 2022.  2023 is a year where we hope to compete as much as we can with limited resources, while we plan our window for 2024 and beyond.  Just add young players that will be here for a while and cheap stop gaps to be good enough if our offense blows up. 

Yeah, I think this is about right. I think '23 is pivotal for the Vikings and Kirk Cousins. If he explodes in year two of the offense and this team goes deep into the playoffs, Kwesi likely extends him, we adjust the aperture, and focus on the short term.

If he doesn't, Cousins moves on in free agency, Vikings focus longer term, and do a sort of running rebuild with plenty of cap space....but no QB. Now that I think about it, this is a precarious position to be in for a team with two 1st round WRs and a rebuilt OL. There would have to be a bridge, ala Jimmy G in Oakland.

It will be interesting to see how it plays out. 

[Guest]

@MaroonBells said:

@medaille said:

@MaroonBells said:

@purplefaithful said:

@dadevike said:
I think this trade was dictated by one major consideration: the need for cap space. That Smith did not want to be here is largely irrelevant. Peterson wanted to be released and his agent created a huge stink, even getting into a shouting match with Brez at the Combines to force the Vikings to release him. The Vikings told the agent that Peterson will play in Minnesota next year or he won't play anywhere. End of story. Early this off-season Lamar Jackson said he wanted to be traded. The Ravens promptly slapped the franchise tag on him. 

The Vikings are not a better team without Smith. Their D is worse now than before the trade. I also suspect Kwesi gave his mentor Andrew Berry a sweetheart deal. A little gift for helping KAM get this job.

So what exactly is the plan here? We can try to compete - but this roster is not good enough to go very far.  We can try to position ourselves for a QBOTF in the next draft - but this roster is too good to get a really high pick. I like Cousins OK but we have put ourselves in cap hell with him and there is no real exit ramp. We will be living with the Cousins cap problem even after he is gone, and we have no idea when that will be. I really do wonder if Kwesi has any coherent plan for this team.

Its'a legit question and we're not unique as fans wondering this about a GM. 

If its being run like a corporation, there is a short-term plan and a LRP that had to get envisioned and sold into ownership. 

I can take a step back, look at some of the moves made (or to be made i.e. Cook) and say they are setting themselves up to be  more competitive in 24/25 on the field and with more cap flex to boot. 

22/23 were all about taking what they inherited and doing the best with it. Only time will tell if this is right or not. 

They got some big talent to sign in JJ, Hock, Darrisaw so it aint gonna be easy - but those are nice problems to have. 

This. Not sure why anyone would expect to recognize a coherent plan one year in, when, like any successful plan, it's going to be built on contingencies. 

One thing that is sort of becoming clear to me is that we're avoiding putting money into 2024 and beyond. The Vikings could've easily pulled money from O'Neill's contract, but haven't. They didn't extend Cousins or Hunter (yet). Davenport and Reeder signed one year deals. And the two-year contracts for Murphy and Lowry have zero guaranteed in 2024. 

It feels like we tried to capture lightning in the bottle in 2022.  2023 is a year where we hope to compete as much as we can with limited resources, while we plan our window for 2024 and beyond.  Just add young players that will be here for a while and cheap stop gaps to be good enough if our offense blows up. 

Yeah, I think this is about right. I think '23 is pivotal for the Vikings and Kirk Cousins. If he explodes in year two of the offense and this team goes deep into the playoffs, Kwesi likely extends him, we adjust the aperture, and focus on the short term.

If he doesn't, Cousins moves on in free agency, Vikings focus longer term, and do a sort of running rebuild with plenty of cap space....but no QB. Now that I think about it, this is a precarious position to be in for a team with two 1st round WRs and a rebuilt OL. There would have to be a bridge, ala Jimmy G in Oakland.

It will be interesting to see how it plays out. 

Agreed, and I agree it's precarious. I think the criticism that we feel a bit rudderless at the moment is fair. We're not gonna stink so we can draft a top QB, but are we going to be good enough to make missing out on a top QB worth it? Big question mark. Hopefully the answer is yes but until they start playing the games we just don't know.
I don't know how many more years I can take of-- well, the OL is bad so lets run it back... well, it's a new coaching staff so let's run it back... well, it's year two and a new DC so let's run it back... ad infinitum. I don't want the Vikings to suck for a season either but what they've been doing just has not been working. The NFC championship loss to Philly was a while ago now and we can't dine out on that forever. Hopefully this year they figure things out and we get a good sense that we have a legit good team, either this year or next. Or, hopefully the opposite happens and it's obvious major changes need to be made. I understand not blowing things up after a 13 win season I totally do. It would be dumb to do so. But this middle-of-the-road regular season team we've been fielding for the past five years (while fun at times) is not what I want the next five years to look like. I hope the Wilfs agree with that, but I'm not sure.