Vikings Mock Draft v3.26

[MarkSP18]

Cap wise, we are at $11.5M according to overthecap but that does not include the Thielen details (still strange it is taking this long).  I think it is safe to assume they saved 5M with the Thielen redo giving them $16.5M in cap space.

The cap space also does not include the Sullivan one year deal.  What do you think that will be?

Anthony Averett signed a one year 4M deal. He played 808 & 354 snaps the last two years.Eli Apple signed a one year 3.75M deal. He played 979 & 28 snaps the last two years.M.J. Stewart signed a one year 2.25M deal. He played 327 & 229 snaps the last two years.Isaiah Oliver signed a one year 2.385M deal. He played 161 & 830 snaps the last two years.
Sullivan has played 827 & 729 snaps the last two years.
I think he comes in close to 4M for one year but it would not surprise me if Brez was able to add void years like he did with Tomlinson and Richardson last year. Let's say they gave him a one year 4.08M deal with two void years and a 3M signing bonus. His cap hit would be 2.08M.
This should leave about 15.3M because you do not have to subtract the entire 2.08M since the player at position 51 in the cap calculations is removed (870K or so).

They'll need 4.3M to sign the rookies leaving 11M to sign another cornerback and a GORD.

An ideal scenario would be ...
They could give Gilmore a 3 yr 42M deal with 2 void years added.12.5M signing bonus.Salaries of 1.12M, 8.38M, 10MCap hits of 3.62M, 10.88M, 12.5M, 2.5M, 2.5MHe gets 3M per game bonus in 2022 & 2023 plus 4M in 2025.
Give JC Tretter a 3 yr 39M deal with 2 void years added.12.5M signing bonus.Salaries of 1.12M, 12.88M, 10MCap hits of 3.62M, 15.38M, 15M, 2.5M, 2.5M

Give DeShon Elliot a 1 yr 2M deal500K signing bonus1.5M salaryCap hit of 2M
This would leave 4.2M remaining.
... I do not think any of this happens so I'll just say they will sign one more veteran corner for 5M to 8M and one more guard/center for very little.

Onto the draft ...

TRADESTrade Partner: Philadelphia EaglesSent: Round 1 Pick 12Received: Round 1 Pick 19, Round 2 Pick 19

Trade Partner: Las Vegas RaidersSent: Round 5 Pick 13, Round 6 Pick 13Received: Round 4 Pick 21

Trade Partner: Indianapolis ColtsSent: Round 3 Pick 13Received: Round 3 Pick 18, Round 5 Pick 36

19: R1 P19 OT Trevor Penning - Northern Iowa



46: R2 P14 EDGE Boye Mafe - Minnesota


51: R2 P19 DL Travis Jones - Connecticut


82: R3 P18 WR George Pickens - Georgia


126: R4 P21 LB Darrian Beavers - Cincinnati


179: R5 P36 S JT Woods - Baylor


184: R6 P5 CB Damarri Mathis - Pittsburgh


191: R6 P12 G Luke Fortner - Kentucky


250: R7 P29 TE Daniel Bellinger - San Diego State




I like Penning at right guard and feel good about moving him out to tackle if there is an injury OR if Darrisaw does not pan out.

Za'Darius can be cut next year and the team would save 10.3M so getting an edge to groom seems like a good idea.

[Guest]

I like the Gilmore signing, but Tretter seems like he might be damaged goods. I'd almost rather have Patrick Peterson back as he'd likely come cheaper then Gilmore. 

Love Penning, just not sure he holds the same value as a guard or if that's a transition he could make. Mafe would give us depth at OLB but I like our depth currently and the guys behind Hunter and Smith. I'm a Travis Jones guy so I like that pick. Still think we need to draft another corner higher then the 6th round 

[Guest]

love the effort, love the players you highlighted but I feel there is 0% chance they don't take a CB in first two rounds.  I think the first round but they coild wait til the 2nd if the draft falls right for them.

[Guest]

Appreciate the effort and thought into this.

I don't think Tretter could pass a physical right now. 

Jones, Beavers, and Bellinger are personal favorites.

Definitely need to hit LB a couple times as our depth is abysmal. Beavers could hit inside or out. Boye or Ojabo with our second.

Penning is simply a luxury we can't afford. Get this scoring D to NFL average and we win 12 games last year. Top 3 picks should all be on D.

[Guest]

@supafreak84 said:
I like the Gilmore signing, but Tretter seems like he might be damaged goods. I'd almost rather have Patrick Peterson back as he'd likely come cheaper then Gilmore. 

Love Penning, just not sure he holds the same value as a guard or if that's a transition he could make. Mafe would give us depth at OLB but I like our depth currently and the guys behind Hunter and Smith. I'm a Travis Jones guy so I like that pick. Still think we need to draft another corner higher then the 6th round 

Yeah, the cornerback situation was neglected in this mock.  I like to do different mocks taking different positions to see how it plays out in fantasy world.

Penning does have a little experience playing right guard and the coaches at the Senior Bowl had him practice at guard a lot.

https://www.buffalobills.com/news/spencer-brown-and-trevor-penning-nfl-draft-buffalo-bills-uni

"It's definitely crossed my mind for sure," Penning said of playing next to Brown. "I think it'd be super cool. My first start I actually played right guard next to him. That was a very cool experience so why not do it again?"

I do not think it is going to be too tough a transition for him.  Plus, I am not rubber stamping Darrisaw into a long term answer. He needs to play a full season and play well.

Penning is similar to Alex Boone, Andrus Peat, Rob Havenstein, and Tyson Clabo in size but he is much more athletic.

[Guest]

@JustinTime18™ said:
Appreciate the effort and thought into this.

I don't think Tretter could pass a physical right now. 

Jones, Beavers, and Bellinger are personal favorites.

Definitely need to hit LB a couple times as our depth is abysmal. Beavers could hit inside or out. Boye or Ojabo with our second.

Penning is simply a luxury we can't afford. Get this scoring D to NFL average and we win 12 games last year. Top 3 picks should all be on D.

I think that since the team re-invested in the QB who struggles mightily with pressure up the middle AND they have yet update the interior offensive line in free agency, they need to get that upgraded in order to maximize their return on investment from the QB.

After Zion Johnson, Kenyon Green, and Tyler Linderbaum the players drop off.  They may have to take yet another 5th round  pick or later with the hope that they pan out.  Sadly, it is the same scouts that brought us TJ Clemmings, Willie Beavers, Danny Isidora, Colby Gossett, Jeff Baca, Tyrus Thomson, David Yankey, Austin Shepherd, & Travis Bond.  These are 5th round or later picks from 2013 thru 2018.  We got Oli Udoh, Blake Brandel, and Kyle Hinton since 2019 and who there may still be a chance.

That is a terrible track record where you would expect to hit on one or maybe even two in that time frame.  Spielman is gone but not the scouts.

I am of the mindset that the defense is not going to get a whole heck of a lot better even if you spent every draft pick on defense.  Getting Hunter back should help a lot and Smith is proven when healthy but back surgery ain't no joke.

I think they should try to make the offense better and more prolific scoring wise.  The QB puts up good numbers as do the receivers and back.  But they are 14th in scoring which is not good enough.  The offense is closer to being top 10 in stats (if not already) AND scoring which will help the defense.  IMHO.

[Guest]

Nice work. I like the Deshon Elliot idea. We're all just assuming that Bynum is going to be the kind of player he flashed in glimpses last year. I hope so. But even if he is, Harry is 33. 

I don't think we want to add even more youth and inexperience onto the NFL's youngest line. Fill RG with a vet, a journeyman to compete with Wyatt Davis. But, y'know, someone with knees. Then draft the best CB available between Mac Junior and Sauce.  One will certainly be there. 

There are just four premium positions in the NFL and corner is one of them. Don't overthink this. Draft the goddamn corner. Edge is an option only if we sign an under-30, UFA starting outside corner in free agency. But even then, the edge you draft is going to spend a lot of time on the bench. That bang falls short of the buck for a win-now team. 

[Guest]

I'm far from a draftnik, but I am not convinced the little guy from Wash is worthy of 12 overall...To Geoff's point would we be better of going Dl #1 and DB at rd 2 without a big drop-off in talent/upside. 

This would be a fascinating year to see how they stack the DBs vs DL 

[Guest]

@MaroonBells said:
Nice work. I like the Deshon Elliot idea. We're all just assuming that Bynum is going to be the kind of player he flashed in glimpses last year. I hope so. But even if he is, Harry is 33. 

I don't think we want to add even more youth and inexperience onto the NFL's youngest line. Fill RG with a vet, a journeyman to compete with Wyatt Davis. But, y'know, someone with knees. Then draft the best CB available between Mac Junior and Sauce.  One will certainly be there. 

There are just four premium positions in the NFL and corner is one of them. Don't overthink this. Draft the goddamn corner. Edge is an option only if we sign an under-30, UFA starting outside corner in free agency. But even then, the edge you draft is going to spend a lot of time on the bench. That bang falls short of the buck for a win-now team. 

There are not too many under 30 corners remaining in free agency that are good though. Is Kevin King good enough?  I think that with Dantzler being 24 and Sullivan being 26 when the season starts, having one experienced veteran corner is not the worst thing.

I also do not think that a first round corner is a necessity.  Drafting for need is the worst philosophy IMHO.  That is how the team got Bradbury and Treadwell.  It also got them Jefferson though.

I thin Gardner is OK but he faced hardly any draft-able receivers.  He did face Alabama but who else did he face that got or is getting drafted?

Stingley has the tools but missed a lot of time.

I never pigeonhole myself into one position for any draft.

[Guest]

Is it just me or is it weird that the details of Thielen's deal STILL have not been released?

Usually it takes a few days but we are on day 9 now.

I wonder if they have a trade they are working on? 

I doubt it.