Quote: @StickyBun said:
I mean, if they felt strongly enough about him, they could have done it. Stepped up contactually. Kirko loved it in Minnesota, so did his family. The team loved him. He was an excellent leader and ironman. Good community guy. So why didn't they? Don't say the injury, because that didn't stop Atlanta one iota. Nor his age.
KOC can tell me he loved Kirk all day long.....and I mostly believe him. But its obvious he didn't LOVE love him. Nor did the organization apparently. IMO, it came down to a few items:- Lack of mobility/average arm strength.
- Kirk's mentality: he was really hard on himself when he messed up and struggled to move past it. We've seen sideline scenarios where KOC and Kirk were testy with each other over letting things go.
- I think both KOC and KAM love the idea of bringing in a rookie they can teach THEIR way. I think they are confident in KOC's ability to mentor up a kid with ability and aptitude fresh from college. They also brought on McCown to be the guy in that rookie's ear, supporting him and building him up.
- I think the organization wants that rookie QB salary window before he gets truly paid to build a strong contending team around that via free agency/draft. KAM has dug the team out of a salary cap hole.
Although it doesn't look like it right now, I think this plan is how they think they'll truly win a Super Bowl.
I posted the following in various threads on this board previously so at the risk of repeating myself...
1. Kwesi stated when he was hired he was building an analytical model to identify a great future qb from the draft.
2. The moves they've made over the last 1-2 years all point in the direction of turning over the roster, getting a young qb and having huge cap space to work with starting in 2025
3. He stated more recently that they've been watching the 2024 qb draft class for the last 2(!) years--the intent is obvious.
4. Every public statement recently on the Kirk situation was "we like him BUT" followed by hedging as to why it might not work. This was not a team saying "he's our guy and we're signing up for more come hell or high water!"
5. Their relatively lowball offer to Kirk was a way of saying, "you can come here for more but we're drafting a kid this year either way."
6. The lack of a 2nd year guarantee in the above offer only confirms this strategy - if the kid has "it" Kirk would be cut loose in 2025.
7. Kirk has said he doesn't want to be a "bridge" or a mentor, and thus more money and being the Man and making the wife happy in Atlanta is the obvious path for him.
8. The odds that KAM/KOC can retain their jobs long term by just running back the average results of the Rick Spielman era are about zero imho. They have to draft their own guy and set their own vision that leads to a championship, not more .500 football and early playoff exits. That time has arrived in full, and personally I'm excited to see how it plays out. =)
Kirk said he was looking to go to a place where the owners, GM, HC, and QB were all on the same page. He feels he found that in Atlanta!
Also an interesting statement.
Kirk said it best in his interview after officially signing with Atlanta -- with Minnesota it felt like a year-to-year thing. With Atlanta, it felt like a place he could retire. It may turn out to be delusional (as I noted before, Atlanta could dump Kirk after 2 years with a manageable hit) -- but Minnesota gave Kirk every reason to feel as he did with the way they handled his contract.
As we move on, the one decision that will matter is the one that delivers our next QB. I think it was Zulgad who said this is why they brought in KOC. Given the hit rate with first round QB's, it is quite the gamble. But recognizing this, my own view is that KAM has poorly managed this transition -- yes, it might have been the "plan" all along, but there are plenty of executional elements, and I have not seen anything that gives me hope that KAM will pull this off: - We let Danielle Hunter walk for nothing. Big mistake. We knew we were moving on -- it was the same contract manuevering they pulled with Cousins. If you are going to let him walk and you are going to need draft capital to get your QBOF, trading Hunter was an obvious move.
- We are short on draft capital moving into the year we need it the most. A great GM would have built a bank -- KAM has not. What does this mean? It means if we make a move up the draft board this year, we will pay dearly and empty the piggy bank of future draft picks. A great team is built through the draft and supplemented with smart FA moves. We will be compromised building a roster of affordable talent if we trade up as expected.
- Speaking of trading up, everyone now knows we need a QB, so everyone and their uncle who has their sites set on a QB in this draft will be aiming to jump ahead of the Vikings. We put ourselves in this position.
- And finally, speaking of the draft, KAM has, IMHO, performed in the bottom quartile of GMs in the draft since he took over. Trade key picks to division rivals? Check. Get less than fair market value? Check. Draft a bunch of duds? Check. And, of course, the icing on the cake was passing on the consensus best safety in the draft (Kyle Hamilton, now an All-Pro) to draft a guy who can't even make it on the field on Sundays (and gifting a division rival a sweet deal in the process).
__PRESENT__PRESENT__PRESENT
Quote: @Purpleblooded said:
Kirk said it best in his interview after officially signing with Atlanta -- with Minnesota it felt like a year-to-year thing. With Atlanta, it felt like a place he could retire. It may turn out to be delusional (as I noted before, Atlanta could dump Kirk after 2 years with a manageable hit) -- but Minnesota gave Kirk every reason to feel as he did with the way they handled his contract.
As we move on, the one decision that will matter is the one that delivers our next QB. I think it was Zulgad who said this is why they brought in KOC. Given the hit rate with first round QB's, it is quite the gamble. But recognizing this, my own view is that KAM has poorly managed this transition -- yes, it might have been the "plan" all along, but there are plenty of executional elements, and I have not seen anything that gives me hope that KAM will pull this off:- We let Danielle Hunter walk for nothing. Big mistake. We knew we were moving on -- it was the same contract manuevering they pulled with Cousins. If you are going to let him walk and you are going to need draft capital to get your QBOF, trading Hunter was an obvious move.
- We are short on draft capital moving into the year we need it the most. A great GM would have built a bank -- KAM has not. What does this mean? It means if we make a move up the draft board this year, we will pay dearly and empty the piggy bank of future draft picks. A great team is built through the draft and supplemented with smart FA moves. We will be compromised building a roster of affordable talent if we trade up as expected.
- Speaking of trading up, everyone now knows we need a QB, so everyone and their uncle who has their sites set on a QB in this draft will be aiming to jump ahead of the Vikings. We put ourselves in this position.
- And finally, speaking of the draft, KAM has, IMHO, performed in the bottom quartile of GMs in the draft since he took over. Trade key picks to division rivals? Check. Get less than fair market value? Check. Draft a bunch of duds? Check. And, of course, the icing on the cake was passing on the consensus best safety in the draft (Kyle Hamilton, now an All-Pro) to draft a guy who can't even make it on the field on Sundays (and gifting a division rival a sweet deal in the process).
__PRESENT__PRESENT__PRESENT
Agree with most of your post but I want to counter that KAM didn't acquire draft capital for a possible move up. What players should he have traded for picks? No team was trading for a washed Kendricks, Theilen or Harry. We couldn't even get a 7th round pick for Dalvin because if you recall, his 2023 contract was over $10M. No team was trading for that contract. Kirko has had a NTC for as long as he's been here. It's unlikely that he would've agreed to a trade.
The only player who was tradeable was DH & the rumor was at the deadline the most that was offered was a 2nd round pick. I can guarantee you that the fans who are criticizing KAM for not trading DH would've been the same fans to criticize him for not getting a 1st in a trade.
Now watch Atlanta draft a QB at 8…  B)
Tampering Tampering Tampering.That’s what happened and I hope the Vikings realize that. The signing was way too fast and now I’ve read Cousins played a role in Mooney joining the team. In my opinion, that’s a lot happening really fast for it all to have been above board.
I wouldn’t be surprised to find out Atlanta had contact with Cousins weeks in advance.
Dirty, dirty birds…! 
If they tampered, especially well before free agency, which is what I think happened, Atlanta owes the Vikings their 8th pick in round 1 at a minimum. He’s a franchise QB both sides expected to resign until the last couple of weeks. If the evidence shows tampering, they have to pay and pay dearly.
Getting caught trying to talk to a franchise QB is one thing, actually doing it and succeeding is another all together. Without a massive penalty and compensation to the Vikings, there’s no reason not to tamper with a franchise QB. It would be well worth it.
|
