Forum The Longship Amazing when you see the entire list...

Amazing when you see the entire list...

purplefaithful
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Wow!

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Vikings' key free agents and expensive veterans
QUICK DECISIONS TO MAKE



Vikings’ key free agents
Anthony Harris, safety
Trae Waynes, cornerback
Mackensie Alexander, cornerback
Everson Griffen, defensive end
C.J. Ham, fullback
Dan Bailey, kicker
Britton Colquitt, punter
Eric Wilson, outside linebacker
Stephen Weatherly, defensive end
Ameer Abdullah, kick returner
Andrew Sendejo, safety
Jayron Kearse, backup safety
Sean Mannion, backup quarterback
Laquon Treadwell, backup receiver
David Morgan, backup tight end
Rashod Hill, backup offensive lineman
Kentrell Brothers, backup linebacker
Dakota Dozier, backup guard
Brett Jones, backup center

Under contract but could be cut
Linval Joseph, nose tackle, due $11.15 million
Riley Reiff, offensive lineman, due $10.9 million
Xavier Rhodes, cornerback, due $9.9 million

http://www.startribune.com/vikings-key-free-agents-and-expensive-veterans/568350022/

Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger! 

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#1 · Mar 1, 11:30 AM
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The winds of change are blowing...

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#2 · Mar 1, 2:25 PM
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#3 · Mar 1, 2:52 PM
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I’d like to see Bailey, Colquitt, Griffen, Ham, Kearse, Morgan and Wilson resigned.

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#4 · Mar 1, 9:49 PM
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It's a daunting list, that's for sure. I'd put the priorities in this order:

1. Alexander. His value to cost ratio is probably highest in this group
2. Bailey. After how many years, the Vikings had reliable kicking
3. Colquitt. ...and punting
4. Sendejo. If we don't sign Harris, you have to bring back Sendejo. 

I'd love to bring back Hill, Weatherly and Wilson, but those are the kind of young, emerging players that cap rich teams overpay for. 

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#5 · Mar 2, 5:58 AM
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Just remembered....we have to sign a backup QB, too. I have a feeling that a lot of this money is going to have to come from a Cousins extension. 

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#6 · Mar 2, 6:34 AM
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@"Godhead" said: I’d like to see Bailey, Colquitt, Griffen, Ham, Kearse, Morgan and Wilson resigned.
i dont see Kearse sticking around.  to much has been said to date for that ship to have not already sailed.
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#7 · Mar 2, 7:25 AM
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Sendejo can't cover. He's a Strong Safety in an era where that role is swiftly dying. Zimmer got away with it against New Orleans but Shanahan went right at him right out of the gates. If he's the replacement for Harris this pass Defense will be twice as bad as last year. 

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#8 · Mar 2, 8:25 AM
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@"FSUVike" said: Sendejo can't cover. He's a Strong Safety in an era where that role is swiftly dying. Zimmer got away with it against New Orleans but Shanahan went right at him right out of the gates. If he's the replacement for Harris this pass Defense will be twice as bad as last year. 
It won't be just Sendejo. If we don't re-sign Harris, it will likely be Sendejo and a day 1 or 2 safety. 
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#9 · Mar 2, 8:52 AM
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@"MaroonBells" said: It's a daunting list, that's for sure. I'd put the priorities in this order:

1. Alexander. His value to cost ratio is probably highest in this group
2. Bailey. After how many years, the Vikings had reliable kicking
3. Colquitt. ...and punting
4. Sendejo. If we don't sign Harris, you have to bring back Sendejo. 

I'd love to bring back Hill, Weatherly and Wilson, but those are the kind of young, emerging players that cap rich teams overpay for. 


I like your thinking here except Sendejo. I think they need to draft a safety, which is risky, but they are going to have to take some risks with less expensive players at some positions this year.

I think they will find a way to keep Weatherly, but we shall see.

I have never been a big fan of Hill, but he played very well when pressed into duty last year. How about kicking Rieff inside to L guard and starting Hill at one of the tackle positions? That may be too expensive but is a potential option.

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#10 · Mar 2, 9:12 AM
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@"jargomcfargo" said:
@"MaroonBells" said: It's a daunting list, that's for sure. I'd put the priorities in this order:

1. Alexander. His value to cost ratio is probably highest in this group
2. Bailey. After how many years, the Vikings had reliable kicking
3. Colquitt. ...and punting
4. Sendejo. If we don't sign Harris, you have to bring back Sendejo. 

I'd love to bring back Hill, Weatherly and Wilson, but those are the kind of young, emerging players that cap rich teams overpay for. 


I like your thinking here except Sendejo. I think they need to draft a safety, which is risky, but they are going to have to take some risks with less expensive players at some positions this year.

I think they will find a way to keep Weatherly, but we shall see.

I have never been a big fan of Hill, but he played very well when pressed into duty last year. How about kicking Rieff inside to L guard and starting Hill at one of the tackle positions? That may be too expensive but is a potential option.



The Reiff situation is going to be a tough one. Will he accept a pay cut? A move to guard? I don't know. He had one of his best years last year at LT. 

One thing I keep coming back to is that we might be able to get better OL play even if we don't add anyone. Of course, we WILL add a player or two, but it's not crazy to think that a Reiff, Samia, Brad, Kline and O'Neill line would be better. It's also not crazy to think that O'Neill moves to the left, Reiff inside and Udoh is able to hold his own on the right. 

You're right. We'll definitely have to take some risks with less expensive players this year. 

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#11 · Mar 2, 9:23 AM
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Can Reiff move to guard? Remmers was a serviceable tackle, but possibly the worst guard I have watched play. Not saying Reiff cant make the change, but it isn't a sure thing.

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#12 · Mar 2, 10:09 AM
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Reiff is twice the athlete Remmees was. As players there really isn't much in common between them other than both wearing purple at the same time.

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#13 · Mar 2, 10:22 AM
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@"FSUVike" said: ...  If he's the replacement for Harris this pass Defense will be twice as bad as last year. 
There’s way too many variables to be able to say that.  This past year with Harris at Safety was worse than any of the other Zimmer years except maybe his first year here and a lot of those years had Sendejo at Safety.  I think the only way you can say that a 2020 Sendejo pass defense is going to be twice as bad as our 2019 pass defense is if you assume that nothing else is going to get better.  The problem with this defense wasn’t our safeties, it was our CBs and DTs.  We had really really bad CB and DT play.  I would much rather have Sendejo (or any semi-competent safety) + $8-12M a year to improve our defense than just Harris.
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#14 · Mar 2, 10:51 AM
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@"wiviking" said: Can Reiff move to guard? Remmers was a serviceable tackle, but possibly the worst guard I have watched play. Not saying Reiff cant make the change, but it isn't a sure thing.


and in a league that is starved for LTs,  I doubt he would accept a pay cut when he is already well outside of the top ten in LT contracts.

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#15 · Mar 2, 11:05 AM
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Couple of things:

  • I don't think Morgan is a free agent.  He would have been except he didn't play this year because of a non-football injury.  So, I think his contract tolled.
  • Sendejo will be re-signed for the veteran minimum.  You can talk about how he is on the downhill slope (and I think it was stupid to cut a rookie to bring him back last year) but you need 4 safeties on the roster -- why not have someone who is familiar with the defense playing for the veteran minimum as 1 of those 4?
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#16 · Mar 2, 11:19 AM
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@"medaille" said:
@"FSUVike" said: ...  If he's the replacement for Harris this pass Defense will be twice as bad as last year. 
There’s way too many variables to be able to say that.  This past year with Harris at Safety was worse than any of the other Zimmer years except maybe his first year here and a lot of those years had Sendejo at Safety.  I think the only way you can say that a 2020 Sendejo pass defense is going to be twice as bad as our 2019 pass defense is if you assume that nothing else is going to get better.  The problem with this defense wasn’t our safeties, it was our CBs and DTs.  We had really really bad CB and DT play.  I would much rather have Sendejo (or any semi-competent safety) + $8-12M a year to improve our defense than just Harris.



I can absolutely say that. Harris led the League in Interceptions if you count the one in New Orleans. He is universally rated as one of the top Coverage Safeties in football, ahead of Harrison. With Harris patrolling the back end Zimmer was able to keep Smith closer to the LOS, which helped the Defense.

Now you are going to have either Harry playing deep, which takes him away from the LOS and eliminates his Swiss Army Knife utility, or Sendejo, who can't cover anyone, or a Rookie, cuz Minnesota sure as shitten isn't going to let a Top 2 Safety in the League go just to spend money on a Free Agent. 

If you tell me Xavier McKinney is the pick that changes things. He profiles to step in and contribute from Day 1. But now you burned your 1st Round Pick on something other than CB or 3T or O-Line. 

You bring back Rhodes, Waynes and Mac and fix the 3T but trot out Sendejo at FS and this pass Defense will suck worse. Keep Harris, jettison the rest, snag a 3T and CB early in the Draft plus sign a veteran CB and the pass Defense will be as good at a minute and likely better than last year.

How many times do I have to point out how many of the Elite Defenses played lots of Zone and had 2 good to great Safeties?

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#17 · Mar 2, 1:25 PM
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@"wiviking" said: Can Reiff move to guard? Remmers was a serviceable tackle, but possibly the worst guard I have watched play. Not saying Reiff cant make the change, but it isn't a sure thing.


I don’t like the idea of shuffling around the oline.   Given the Remmers failed move to G, and how much Elflein struggles in pass pro in his move from C to G, I think we should either draft a G early or sign a tier 2-3 FA a la Kline.   I am worried about moving ONeill to the left side, moving Remmers to G, etc.  That could seriously screw up multiple spots.  Reiff is serviceable as a LT, basically average according to PFF.  Maybe he takes a pay cut or a restructure, or let him play out the last year of his deal. Give Udoh another year, hopefully as the swing tackle, and maybe draft a potential replacement for Reiff that can sit and learn for a year.  

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#18 · Mar 2, 2:43 PM
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@"FSUVike" said:
@"medaille" said:
@"FSUVike" said: ...  If he's the replacement for Harris this pass Defense will be twice as bad as last year. 
There’s way too many variables to be able to say that.  This past year with Harris at Safety was worse than any of the other Zimmer years except maybe his first year here and a lot of those years had Sendejo at Safety.  I think the only way you can say that a 2020 Sendejo pass defense is going to be twice as bad as our 2019 pass defense is if you assume that nothing else is going to get better.  The problem with this defense wasn’t our safeties, it was our CBs and DTs.  We had really really bad CB and DT play.  I would much rather have Sendejo (or any semi-competent safety) + $8-12M a year to improve our defense than just Harris.



I can absolutely say that. Harris led the League in Interceptions if you count the one in New Orleans. He is universally rated as one of the top Coverage Safeties in football, ahead of Harrison. With Harris patrolling the back end Zimmer was able to keep Smith closer to the LOS, which helped the Defense.

Now you are going to have either Harry playing deep, which takes him away from the LOS and eliminates his Swiss Army Knife utility, or Sendejo, who can't cover anyone, or a Rookie, cuz Minnesota sure as shitten isn't going to let a Top 2 Safety in the League go just to spend money on a Free Agent. 

If you tell me Xavier McKinney is the pick that changes things. He profiles to step in and contribute from Day 1. But now you burned your 1st Round Pick on something other than CB or 3T or O-Line. 

You bring back Rhodes, Waynes and Mac and fix the 3T but trot out Sendejo at FS and this pass Defense will suck worse. Keep Harris, jettison the rest, snag a 3T and CB early in the Draft plus sign a veteran CB and the pass Defense will be as good at a minute and likely better than last year.

How many times do I have to point out how many of the Elite Defenses played lots of Zone and had 2 good to great Safeties?



I don't expect us to be an elite defense. I expect the Vikings success or failure will be on our offense's ability to play at an elite level (ie...better than last year) and our defense's ability to play at an average level.

Sure, in a perfect world, we have millions and millions in cap space, we give Anthony Harris market value (what, 10 to 12 per?), draft a starting CB, a 3T, an OL and lace 'em up. Problem is, we don't have any cap space, nor do we have a CB2 or CB3 under contract, nor do we have a kicker or a punter under contract, nor do we have a backup QB under contract. You can't add those positions and pay Anthony Harris what he's worth, too. 

Maybe they find a way, but I'd put the odds of Harris being back under 20%. So, yeah, then you need to draft a safety high enough to expect him to challenge Sendejo right away (probably rounds 2-4). So maybe that takes the 3T off the draft list. But the way Zimmer is talking, it wouldn't surprise me if we stick with what we already have there. Keep Reiff where he is, draft CB in the 1st, LG/T in the 2nd, Safety in the 3rd. 

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#19 · Mar 2, 2:48 PM
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@"Magnus10" said:
@"wiviking" said: Can Reiff move to guard? Remmers was a serviceable tackle, but possibly the worst guard I have watched play. Not saying Reiff cant make the change, but it isn't a sure thing.


I don’t like the idea of shuffling around the oline.   Given the Remmers failed move to G, and how much Elflein struggles in pass pro in his move from C to G, I think we should either draft a G early or sign a tier 2-3 FA a la Kline.   I am worried about moving ONeill to the left side, moving Remmers to G, etc.  That could seriously screw up multiple spots.  Reiff is serviceable as a LT, basically average according to PFF.  Maybe he takes a pay cut or a restructure, or let him play out the last year of his deal. Give Udoh another year, hopefully as the swing tackle, and maybe draft a potential replacement for Reiff that can sit and learn for a year.  


Reiff has 2 years left and if he wont restructure (why would he?)  then I think we need to draft a future LT and get him going at LG,  and we also need to sign somebody with experience at LG in case rookie cant go.  but between a veteran, Samia, and a rookie I would sure as hell hope that we can do better than Elf did last year.

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#20 · Mar 2, 2:52 PM
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@"JimmyinSD" said:
@"Magnus10" said:
@"wiviking" said: Can Reiff move to guard? Remmers was a serviceable tackle, but possibly the worst guard I have watched play. Not saying Reiff cant make the change, but it isn't a sure thing.


I don’t like the idea of shuffling around the oline.   Given the Remmers failed move to G, and how much Elflein struggles in pass pro in his move from C to G, I think we should either draft a G early or sign a tier 2-3 FA a la Kline.   I am worried about moving ONeill to the left side, moving Remmers to G, etc.  That could seriously screw up multiple spots.  Reiff is serviceable as a LT, basically average according to PFF.  Maybe he takes a pay cut or a restructure, or let him play out the last year of his deal. Give Udoh another year, hopefully as the swing tackle, and maybe draft a potential replacement for Reiff that can sit and learn for a year.  


Reiff has 2 years left and if he wont restructure (why would he?)  then I think we need to draft a future LT and get him going at LG,  and we also need to sign somebody with experience at LG in case rookie cant go.  but between a veteran, Samia, and a rookie I would sure as hell hope that we can do better than Elf did last year.


I don't think you need the veteran if you draft the LG / future LT in the 1st three rounds. A Samia / high pick competition should result in a starter better than the Eflin Wonder. 

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#21 · Mar 2, 2:59 PM
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