SI.com: Vikings now have a very valuable asset

[StickierBuns]

A starting QB on a rookie contract

https://www.si.com/nfl/vikings/news/viki...j-mccarthy

[Montana Tom]

...with a boatload of cap space to boot.

[purplefaithful]

If Darnold can keep the team competitive, I may reel back my criticism of how they managed K. Cousins contracts the last 2 years.

[MaroonBells]

...with a boatload of cap space to boot.

That's key. The Vikings are practically hoarding '25 cap space, now with $150M+. 

Personally, I'd rather still have Cousins and Hunter to go with the players we drafted this year, and go into '25 with, say, $100M in space, but it's hard to argue with what they've done. They've gotten much cheaper and much younger and the young talent--JJ, Turner, Addison, Pace, Blackmon, in particular--looks promising. 

But at the end of the day, it's all about the QB. JJ's the key to everything.

[StickierBuns]

That's key. The Vikings are practically hoarding '25 cap space, now with $150M+. 

Personally, I'd rather still have Cousins and Hunter to go with the players we drafted this year, and go into '25 with, say, $100M in space, but it's hard to argue with what they've done. They've gotten much cheaper and much younger and the young talent--JJ, Turner, Addison, Pace, Blackmon, in particular--looks promising. 

But at the end of the day, it's all about the QB. JJ's the key to everything.

It was time for a change at QB, for better or worse. I loved Kirko, but Kirko only brought us so far. They ripped off the band-aid finally. Let's get that rookie starting QB window going and see what can be done.

[pattersaur]

That's key. The Vikings are practically hoarding '25 cap space, now with $150M+. 

Personally, I'd rather still have Cousins and Hunter to go with the players we drafted this year, and go into '25 with, say, $100M in space, but it's hard to argue with what they've done. They've gotten much cheaper and much younger and the young talent--JJ, Turner, Addison, Pace, Blackmon, in particular--looks promising. 

But at the end of the day, it's all about the QB. JJ's the key to everything.

Always love your takes but this is pretty out there! Hunter didn't want to be here and Kirk is getting up there and coming off a major injury.

If we had the same exact roster as we have now (dubious, but for argument's sake...), + the ~$65M/yr those 2 players would cost for the next 2 years, it would cause more harm than good imo. Yeah the idea of Turner and Hunter on the edge is awesome, but Hunter didn't want to be here and is very pricey. With those 2 guys we do have a chance to be a real threat in 2024 so I get that, but neither would fix our weaknesses. I'm more than fine moving on.

I'll take that $65M in cap space in 2025, hopefully beef up the lines and roll with what we got. Seems more sustainable. Now if JJ stinks then yeah you're absolutely right haha. Hopefully not! Time will tell.