Diggs traded to Buffalo

Whether the Vikings are the big winner or not remains to be seen. It all depends on how the picks pan out.

WRs are hard to draft, its reality. But I don't know if the Vikings made this deal so they could turn around and use #22 or #25 on a WR. My guess and maybe if I get my way I'd spend both on the trenches. CB would be part of the equation too. 

@"Jor-El" said:

Some of you guys are calling this "a haul"...seriously? I see exactly ONE premium draft pick, the first rounder (and it ain't a top 10 pick). After that we have a couple of late picks, which are a crapshoot, and a 4th rounder - next year. Great, a 4th round pick , where the Vikings have recently acquired such contributors as Jalyn Holmes, Willie Beavers, TJ Clemmings, and Jaleel Johnson. But hey, maybe we'll strike gold with that pick and get someone on the level of Ben Gedeon! The Bills just acquired one of the 10 (maybe 5) best WRs in the NFL, only 26 years old, and will pair him with John Brown, who caught 72 passes for over 1,000 yards as a rookie. We received the 22nd pick (yay, 1 pick higher than we picked Laquon Treadwell!), and our #2 WR is now Bisi Johnson.

Unless Diggs was a genuine locker-room cancer far beyond anything reported and will melt down in Antonio Brown style within a year, this trade is a tragedy for the Vikings.

Winning teams flip expensive players for cheap draft picks and keep winning. Let Zimmer prove his worth and win with a bunch of new faces. 

I am one of the biggest Diggs fans there is, and don’t doubt me when I say that. I hate this trade and yes I don’t think we got enough. That all being said, I really don’t know what other choice the team had. I love Diggs but his ominous messages over the last year were getting to me. There’s nothing IMO more annoying and disheartening than those messages were. As many have said, he had a new contract (he chose to sign that thing, nobody else) and he obviously was a valued member of the team no matter what he may believe. I am kind of with Jimmy and his theory that Diggs was perhaps jealous of his pal Thielen’s contract, because if I remember correctly that’s pretty much when the cryptic tweets started. I guess from my non-insider viewpoint, not being privy to all info regarding this, I don’t feel like the team had much of a choice here. It’s massively disappointing to me and yes, what 14 brought as a player is going to be greatly missed, I’m afraid.

@"AGRforever" said:

@"Jor-El" said:

Some of you guys are calling this "a haul"...seriously? I see exactly ONE premium draft pick, the first rounder (and it ain't a top 10 pick). After that we have a couple of late picks, which are a crapshoot, and a 4th rounder - next year. Great, a 4th round pick , where the Vikings have recently acquired such contributors as Jalyn Holmes, Willie Beavers, TJ Clemmings, and Jaleel Johnson. But hey, maybe we'll strike gold with that pick and get someone on the level of Ben Gedeon! The Bills just acquired one of the 10 (maybe 5) best WRs in the NFL, only 26 years old, and will pair him with John Brown, who caught 72 passes for over 1,000 yards as a rookie. We received the 22nd pick (yay, 1 pick higher than we picked Laquon Treadwell!), and our #2 WR is now Bisi Johnson.

Unless Diggs was a genuine locker-room cancer far beyond anything reported and will melt down in Antonio Brown style within a year, this trade is a tragedy for the Vikings.

I mean we did strike gold on that 5th round pick of diggs didnt we?

Winning teams flip expensive players for cheap draft picks and keep winning. Let Zimmer prove his worth and win with a bunch of new faces. 

@"Jor-El" said:

Some of you guys are calling this "a haul"...seriously? I see exactly ONE premium draft pick, the first rounder (and it ain't a top 10 pick). After that we have a couple of late picks, which are a crapshoot, and a 4th rounder - next year. Great, a 4th round pick , where the Vikings have recently acquired such contributors as Jalyn Holmes, Willie Beavers, TJ Clemmings, and Jaleel Johnson. But hey, maybe we'll strike gold with that pick and get someone on the level of Ben Gedeon! The Bills just acquired one of the 10 (maybe 5) best WRs in the NFL, only 26 years old, and will pair him with John Brown, who caught 72 passes for over 1,000 yards as a rookie. We received the 22nd pick (yay, 1 pick higher than we picked Laquon Treadwell!), and our #2 WR is now Bisi Johnson.

Unless Diggs was a genuine locker-room cancer far beyond anything reported and will melt down in Antonio Brown style within a year, this trade is a tragedy for the Vikings.

All picks after the 4th round are guesses, and all picks next year are mostly meaningless. Grains of sand to balance a scale. So this is essentially Diggs for the 22nd pick. I don't think anyone got fleeced here--it's fair value in the market of capital and services. 

But when you factor in just how much Diggs meant to this offense, and how difficult that will be to replace, considering all the other needs, the Vikings have definitely taken a step backward. 

I think the best thing the Vikings can do right now is sign a low-cost veteran receiver who can step into the #2 role and draft another receiver in either rounds 1 or 2 to compete with him. We absolutely cannot count on a rookie receiver to come in and contribute, much less replace the kind of attention that Diggs drew from defenses. 

There is an argument to be made from a best-use-of-resources perspective. Vikings were a running team spending nearly $30M on its wide receivers. THAT, I get. But in order for this to work, the Vikings have to turn this transaction into one HELL of a running game, despite the fact that, right now anyway, the key to beating the Vikings is simple: double Thielen and stack the box. 

@"Geoff Nichols" said:

@"AGRforever" said:

@"Jor-El" said:

Some of you guys are calling this "a haul"...seriously? I see exactly ONE premium draft pick, the first rounder (and it ain't a top 10 pick). After that we have a couple of late picks, which are a crapshoot, and a 4th rounder - next year. Great, a 4th round pick , where the Vikings have recently acquired such contributors as Jalyn Holmes, Willie Beavers, TJ Clemmings, and Jaleel Johnson. But hey, maybe we'll strike gold with that pick and get someone on the level of Ben Gedeon! The Bills just acquired one of the 10 (maybe 5) best WRs in the NFL, only 26 years old, and will pair him with John Brown, who caught 72 passes for over 1,000 yards as a rookie. We received the 22nd pick (yay, 1 pick higher than we picked Laquon Treadwell!), and our #2 WR is now Bisi Johnson.

Unless Diggs was a genuine locker-room cancer far beyond anything reported and will melt down in Antonio Brown style within a year, this trade is a tragedy for the Vikings.

I mean we did strike gold on that 5th round pick of diggs didnt we?

Winning teams flip expensive players for cheap draft picks and keep winning. Let Zimmer prove his worth and win with a bunch of new faces. 

This. They spent a 5th round pick on Diggs and got 5 years of strong production out of him. 4 of those years when he was the cheapest. Then you are able to flip that pick to 1. Open up future cap space but 2. To get 4 cost controllable players to hopefully rinse and repeat with. Its unlikely that any of them offer the same impact as Diggs, he's a great player. But last season proved this offense is more of a sum of parts. 

I'm with Maroon and Jor El. This wasn't enough. If you did a redraft Diggs would be a mid to upper 1st Round selection. And Minnesota got a later 1st and a bunch of shit. Spielman will trade out of that 4th for more 7ths or whiff on it. That Round is his kryptonite. And it isn't until next year, so unless he uses it to move up this year it does absolutely nothing to help the 2020 team.

And I don't give a rat's ass about the depth of the WR class. That's all well and good when you want to add a piece with upside, like Johnson or Ceephus. 

Unless Minnesota has already thrown in the towel they can't afford to hope that upside develops. They are virtually locked into using one of the 1sts on one of the near-can't miss guys. If they don't it's a massive gamble. Massive gamble.

So let's say Rick gets his replacement in the 1st. That means he essentially got a 5th and 6th this year to help the team. Wow. Color me impressed. A 5th and 6th for a Top 10 WR. What a haul.

What was the lone area you could say the Vikings were the best in? It ain't Defense. It was Wide Receiver tandem. Now that's gone and the aging Adam Thielen is another hamstring pull away from this team picking Top 10 in 2021 with a new GM & HC who probably won't want to be tied to Cousins.

Look, I'm the Usual Suspect when it comes to trying to paint a fair picture of how and why Minnesota can succeed year in and year out. I'm struggling to do that now. Even if Adam is 100% healthy the whole season he's going to see constant doubleteams. Who's going to take advantage of that? Bisi Johnson? Please. Even his parents don't believe that. Irv? Not unless he turns into Kelce or Kittles.

I'm going to stack the box and sell out to stop the run, double Adam even out of the Slot, and dare Kirk beat me with what's left. Which will be a hell of a lot of dinks and dunks. Good bye Play Action bombs. Good bye bombs off of waggles. Good bye explosive plays.

Look, I hated the shitty attitude. But half his generation and 75% of the good players at his position have it. You say no until you get more. 

Honest to God I opened this thread thinking Starting LG a 1st and a 4th, minimum. Instead it's yet another hole to fill with a Draft Pick. To go along with LG, 3T, CB and NT. 

I'm out of purple juice. That's too many holes, folks. Damn. The franchise finally broke my faith. :(

this is how its supposed to work if you have a well run franchise IMO,  you draft good people that the fans love to cheer for,  they become good football players that the fans love to cheer for,  but then before they cripple your financial ability to make moves to keep your franchise competitive you flip that stud for picks and cap relief.   Diggs acting out just made it easier for me to say goodbye.

Now is where Rick earns his extension,  how he uses those picks to not only replace Diggs,  but to fill those other areas of need to keep the team in the competitive mix is how we need to judge him.   IMO i am taking one of those first rounders and either turning it into Cincis 2- 2nd rounders,  or I would even consider a first rounder next year with a late 2nd early 3rd this year.   I want to see some of this draft capital used to strengthen next years draft instead of just bringing in 15 rookies this year.

Our O just took a step closer to replicating the 49ers. 

@"Wetlander" said:

@"MaroonBells" said: Just a reminder to those who think the draft is a candy store...taking off the last two years because the results are largely unknown, here are the top 4 receivers taken the three years prior...Note that FIVE of them are top 10 picks. 

2017	1	1	5	5	Corey Davis	Titans	Western Michigan
	2	1	7	7	Mike Williams	Chargers	Clemson
	3	1	9	9	John Ross	Bengals	Washington
	4	2	5	37	Zay Jones	Bills	East Carolina

2016	1	1	15	15	Corey Coleman	Browns	Baylor
	2	1	21	21	Will Fuller	Texans	Notre Dame
	3	1	22	22	Josh Doctson	Redskins	Texas Christian
	4	1	23	23	Laquon Treadwell	Vikings	Mississippi

2015	1	1	4	4	Amari Cooper	Raiders	Alabama
	2	1	7	7	Kevin White	Bears	West Virginia
	3	1	14	14	DeVante Parker	Dolphins	Louisville
	4	1	20	20	Nelson Agholor	Eagles

On the flip side, none of those drafts were viewed as being particularly deep at WR.  This draft seems more like the 2014 draft that had Mike Evans, Odell, Sammy Watkins, Kelvin Benjamin, and Brandin Cooks as the headliners and also had Davante Adams, Allen Robinson, Jarvis Landry, and others viewed as strong Day 2 picks.

The Vikings don't need draft a WR with the first round pick they acquired for Diggs.  If anything, they have the flexibility to move around the draft and target a wide variety of players.  We could move up into the top 15 picks without sabotaging our draft and grab Lamb or Jeudy if they slip out of the top 10... or we could move up for an OT...  or we could stay put and use our 2nd or a couple mid-round picks to attack a deep WR class.

The Vikings have plenty of options to fill holes with good prospects.

There can be no Troy Williamson behavior tolerated...

But a #2 WR is suddenly right up there with other positions in need as FSU points out.

Losing Diggs is a huge hole to climb out of. It significantly weakened what was the strength of the team - OFFENSE. 

There's no way to say what is going to happen. I thought even before the Diggs trade that some here were way to high on this offense. Some are ok with the Diggs trade and some are down on it, that's totally cool. It will be interesting. But the bottom line is Diggs wanted out. He's out. Let's see how he likes dem' apples in Buffalo.

@"FSUVike" said: Look, I hated the shitty attitude. But half his generation and 75% of the good players at his position have it. You say no until you get more. 

Recency is a wonderful thing. Let's take a look back to bring some perspective on Diggs shall we?

Prior to this season, he averaged about 10 yards a reception in 2 years, and 13+ yards in two others.

Prior to this season, he was unavailable from between 2-5 starts a year, plus being less than effective in other games due to annual soft tissue injuries.

Once in his career, he's caught more than 69% of his targets.

We were 30th in pass attempts. 

Cousins had a 30+ TD season in Washington with less to similar WR talent.

Bottomline, his tweets weren't cryptic, he wanted out, and Rick took a bad situation and loaded us up with the picks necessary to reload the roster.

When you're ready, come in off the ledge. 

You have to now wonder if character trumps talent at WR going forward. Moss, Harvin, Diggs. The path is clear for any young, productive Reciever that is a diva to force his way out of Minnesota. 

What better way to prevent that from happening than to take guys with lower ceilings that act like Saints. 

@"JoDakota" said: He didn't want to be here....and acted like a dick......no different that Percy Harvin. Both basket cases. He supposedly didn't like Kirk, but he had a couple of great years with him. 

His antics were getting old. Hard enough to win in the NFL when the team is on the same page. Diggs was constantly unhappy, despite lots of touches. It was time for him to go, and we got a great deal in value for him. Good move by Rick.

Yup.  Thanks for the memories.  One great and fabulous memory.  But the act was wearing thin and the production wasn't there when Adam was out.  (I say, wasn't enough to put up with the pouting and constant media drain).  He was a very good WR, but just don't need the babysitting tasks.
Adam will speak up too, but his is a fire to compete and win.  Just ask any defender that faces him in practice.  Diggs was more about the almighty me.

@"BarrNone55" said: Recency is a wonderful thing. Let's take a look back to bring some perspective on Diggs shall we?

Prior to this season, he averaged about 10 yards a reception in 2 years, and 13+ yards in two others.

Prior to this season, he was unavailable from between 2-5 starts a year, plus being less than effective in other games due to annual soft tissue injuries.

Once in his career, he's caught more than 69% of his targets.

We were 30th in pass attempts. 

Cousins had a 30+ TD season in Washington with less to similar WR talent.

Bottomline, his tweets weren't cryptic, he want out, and Rick took a bad situation and loaded us up with the picks necessary to reload the roster.

When you're ready, come in off the ledge. 

The offense is now much easier to defend schematically, they traded away a 26 year old in his prime, who imo still had big upside, they didnt get enough in return imo, left themselves with AT @ WR who's getting older and I fear the hammy issues are the tip of the iceberg with him.

Add WR to the heap of positional need on a team that had too many to begin with...

And it gets worse. Only 20 Rookies WRs in the entire history of the League have eclipsed 1,000 yards. So even if Minnesota could somehow pick the best of Lamb/Jeudy/Ruggs, none of whom they will have a shot at, the odds of that Rookie replacing Diggs' production is extremely low.

But hey, at least you guys who spend all day on Twitter won't have anything to get cranky about any more!