Vikings Off Season Plan and Mock

[MarkSP18]

The Vikings will enter the off season with about 10.985 mil (for 43 players) according to overthecap which may not be accurate.  I'll go with 8 mil just in case.

The Vikings have some in house free agents they have to decide to make on offer, place a tender amount, or watch them test the market.  They also will likely ask to restructure/extend some contracts.  This will be a bit outside the box.  

In free agency, there really are not too many good offensive linemen that I believe will ultimately be available.  They do not need secondary help.  They could consider linebacker and/or defensive tackle help depending on if they extend Barr and Richardson.  I do not see a receiver or tight end being added either.  I think doing very little is probably the best approach.  

If Barr and Richardson go get huge deals then the Vikings could be in line for two 3rd round compensatory picks in 2020.  That is the goal here.

So, now that the strategy is out the way, here are the current free agents ...

UFA
Sheldon Richardson - 29 - 43DT
Latavius Murray - 29 - RB
Anthony Barr - 27 - 43OLB
Brett Jones - 28 - C
Nick Easton - 27 - C
Dan Bailey - 31 - K
Marcus Sherels - 32 - CB
Ameer Abdullah - 26 - RB
Tom Johnson - 35 - 43DT
Tom Compton - 30 - LG
George Iloka - 29 - S
Aldrick Robinson - 31 - WR
Trevor Siemian - 28 - QB

RFA
Anthony Harris - 27 - S
Rashod Hill - 27 - RT

ERFA
Matt Wile - 27 - P
C.J. Ham - 26 - RB
Cedrick Lang - 27 - LG
Josiah Price - 26 - TE


I would offer Easton a 2 year 2.5 mil deal with 500K guaranteed
I would place the 2nd round tender on Anthony Harris which is 3.124 mil
Wiley, Ham, Lang and Price would get the minimum salary based on their years in the league

That would be all I would offer a new contract at the start of free agency.
Barr and Richardson will likely get huge offers.  The rest can test the market.


I would cut Sendejo and Remmers saving 10.05 mil in cap space.

I would trade Waynes to the Colts for their 2nd round pick #58 saving 9.069 mil in cap space. 

The Colts need a corner and they have 123 mil in cap space plus the Jets 2nd round pick.  They might get a corner with the #26 or #34 pick but will that corner be as good as Waynes?  
The Vikings are probably not going to extend Waynes after 2019.  He is going to get over 10 mil per year.  If he stays then Hughes may not play too much once he is ready which should be by the start of the season if not sooner.  Cook came back early so you cant bet against Hughes possibly being ready sooner.

I do not see the logic of taking a corner in the 1st round and then not letting him play a lot.  As the 4th corner Hughes would get some snaps for sure but Hill performed well for an UDFA last year and should get snaps too.

I think Waynes can get a return similar to the Marcus Peters trade.  The Chiefs got a 2018 4th and a 2019 2nd for Peters and a 2018 6th.  I think a straight up 2nd is good enough.

This brings the total available cap space to about 27 mil.


I would do very little in free agency and wait for players to get cut and then see if I could sign some of them in order to protect the compensatory picks for 2020.  Here is an article that is predicting which players might be cap casualties ...

https://www.nj.com/eagles/index.ssf/2018...is_ca.html

Some players that I would consider signing if they are cut are ...

Marcel Dareus DT, Ronald Leary OG, Kelechi Osemele OG, Danny Trevathan LB, Bobby Wagner LB, & Allen Hurns WR.

... now these players might not get released but there will be cap casualties.


In actual free agency the only player I would try to sign is Mike Davis (RB) from the Seahawks.  I would offer a 2 year deal for $1,500,000 per year.

I would offer Easton a 2 year 2.5 mil deal with 500K guaranteed
I would place the 2nd round tender on Anthony Harris which is 3.124 mil
Wiley, Ham, Lang and Price would get the minimum salary based on their years in the league

After these in-house signings and the one free agent signing the cap space would be down to about 18 mil.


 I used the fanspeak site to do this mock draft and the fanspeak big board.

TRADES
HOUSTON TEXANS
SENT: ROUND: 1 PICK: 18 & ROUND: 6 PICK: 35
RECEIVED: ROUND: 1 PICK: 23 & ROUND: 3 PICK: 22

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
SENT: ROUND: 1 PICK: 23
RECEIVED: ROUND: 1 PICK: 29, ROUND: 3 PICK: 37, & ROUND: 6 PICK: 23

DENVER BRONCOS
SENT: ROUND: 3 PICK: 37
RECEIVED: ROUND: 5 PICK: 9 & ROUND: 4 PICK: 10

PHILADELPHIA EAGLES
SENT: ROUND: 6 PICK: 17 & ROUND: 7 PICK: 33
RECEIVED: ROUND: 5 PICK: 25


29: R1P29 DL CHRISTIAN WILKINS CLEMSON
50: R2P18 G MICHAEL DEITER WISCONSIN
58: R2P26 G BEAU BENZSCHAWEL WISCONSIN
81: R3P17 G DALTON RISNER KANSAS STATE
86: R3P22 S JAQUAN JOHNSON MIAMI
112: R4P10 WR JJ ARCEGA-WHITESIDE STANFORD
120: R4P18 LB GERMAINE PRATT NC STATE
148: R5P9 TE JACE STERNBERGER TEXAS A&M
164: R5P25 CB COEY BALLENTINE WASHBURN
198: R6P23 QB GARDNER MINSHEW WASHINGTON STATE
254: R7P38 DL GREG GAINES WASHINGTON


Obviously, this seems like wishful thinking because these players wont be where they are in this mock.  But you never know.

[Guest]

That is some creative wheeling and dealing. Risner is getting pushed up the boards in the top 15 for a lot of mocks I've looked at so I see no chance he is there at 81. Doubtful he would be there at 29 either. Wilkins would be fantastic at 29 but I think we would be lucky to get him at 18 if we stay where we're at. 

Nice effort and thought put into your post. 

[Guest]

@TBro said:
That is some creative wheeling and dealing. Risner is getting pushed up the boards in the top 15 for a lot of mocks I've looked at so I see no chance he is there at 81. Doubtful he would be there at 29 either. Wilkins would be fantastic at 29 but I think we would be lucky to get him at 18 if we stay where we're at. 

Nice effort and thought put into your post. 

I am just thinking outside the box with this one.  I could easily see the Vikings letting Barr and Richardson go test the market (i.e., leave).  It could be because their is a difference of opinion about money too.
In this case, they need to preserve the comp picks.
If you look at this list from last year you will see a lot of players released and traded for cheap ...
http://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/news/nfl-free-agency-2018-tracker-signings-trades-cuts/1gsmmd79bkzcf12e73v2pq8dkz
Notable cuts … Tyrann Mathieu, Eric Ebron, Pernell McPhee (maybe not
notable), Jordy Nelson, Johnathan Hankins, Chris Ivory, Allen Hurns,
Ndamukong Suh, Mike Pouncey, Jarius Wright, Muhammad Wilkerson, David
Amerson, Sean Smith, Michael Crabtree, Marquette King, Vinny Curry, Mike
Mitchell, Richard Sherman, Doug Martin, Chris Baker, Robert Ayers,
& Sylvester Williams.
There will be some players who get cut this year too.  For salary cap reasons.
No need to sign anyone in free agency.  Just wait for the cuts and keep your comp picks in 2020.

[Guest]

Love getting Christian Wilkins and I think the Waynes trade has some merit. I think a 2nd rounder is about the right return. With Hughes coming back and Alexander proving his worth, we could easily decide to go into the season with those two paired with XR and draft a corner in the middle rounds. 

Couple other things....

• Unless Easton's injury is much worse than any of us know, there's no way you get him for 2/2.5M. 

• Arcega-Whiteside in the 4th would be nice. But once teams get a look at him at the combine, I think he's going to skyrocket up the boards. His size, body and brains are going to be the talk of the combine. Just watch.