KAM's approach to free agency

@"Kentis" said: KAM's approach to free agency

I like his moves with what he has been given to work with. We have plenty of *stars* to win.  Kendriks, Hitman, Hunt, Kook, Cook, JJ, Oneil, theilen

it is identifying and filling in with league average or potential league average starters and quality depth along with upgraded coaching philosophy and tactics that will make the difference. 

On paper its not unreasonable to see 10 wins with this roster if we signed one decent CB. 

Essentially going with the same team as last year.. Whats their Strategy? They will overcome in 2022 with Caring and communication!

@"Still Hurtn" said: Essentially going with the same team as last year.. Whats their Strategy? They will overcome in 2022 with Caring and communication!

Right or wrong it seems like in reading the tea leaves, the Wilfs are convinced the only reason we stunk last year was Mike Zimmer. It also seems like they hired the GM and the coach whose vision aligned with theirs to be able to compete right away.

Might be wishful thinking or Zimmer might have really been the cement boots on this franchise. We’ll see. But it’s their team. So strap up and let’s hope they’re right and we can be good this season. 

What makes no sense to me is:
1. How long it took KAM to restructure Harry and Theilen to free up cap space.  That should have been done before FA started.   He had 2 months since our season ended to do it and still left us jammed against the cap after FA had already started.

2. If you extend Kirk Cousins and your coach wants to build an offense around him, your first priority should be to finally fix RG and C for the first time since he's been here. Instead they're still acting like Bradbury's the answer and any schmuck off the street can play RG. If you're going to have to score 35 a game to win, make sure the QB's snap count isn't "Hut, hut, Oh, #^&$!!"

Super Bowl was played on February 13th. KOC did'nt become official until days afterwards. Phillips after that. Donatell after that. Grigson after that. 

Where does the two months come from? To me, it looks like a little less than 3 weeks to get ready for FA. Do you think from everything Kwesi has said so far about cooperation and building consensus he was going to start making unilateral decisions about roster construction?

Nope.

D was an absolute abortion last year, so trying to shore that up first makes complete sense to me. There's a fair chance our RG is already on the roster. If not, they are working on an offer sheet for an ascending one. If that doesn't pan out, there's still FA going on. Then the draft. Then UDFA. Then June 1 cuts. Then camp cuts. Then cut to the 53 man roster.

My advice, stop listening to SKOR. 

@"Still Hurtn" said: Essentially going with the same team as last year.. Whats their Strategy? They will overcome in 2022 with Caring and communication!

That's an excellent point. Just improving the work environment should be worth a couple games. Unless you think people perform their best surrounded by toxicity.

@"JustinTime18™" said: Chip missed the mark in a few spots.

First, the cap is not an issue. This is a patently false narrative. The Saints just cleared $90 million in cap room without cutting a single player. We've cleared $20 + with the same tactics. 

We've got about the 6th youngest roster in the NFL with about the fewest position players over 30. This notion that we need to infuse a bunch of young inexpensive talent is also patently false.

One thing the team will benefit the most from is having a HC who doesn't want an offense that was last effective in the 80s and doesn't fucking hate his QB and GM.

The roster the Vikings took to training camp last summer was among the most talented in years. It was the Vikings basically "going for it." 

It all blew up in their faces because of a few key injuries and a coach who turned into a fucking moron. He's never really been the best game-day coach, but his "situational" defense, as P2 puts it, was historically bad. It's pretty obvious something's wrong if your schemes give up more points in the final two minutes of the half than any team in the history of professional football. That's about more than just stopping people. It's about putting your team in that situation to begin with. Repeatedly. 100% on coaching. 

I think part of the reason KAM was slow to rework veteran deals is they wanting to change how the handle the cap.  Sure you can be stupid and continue to back load contracts and add void years and other shit to kick the cam down the road,  but eventually that can needs to be picked up and its typically not an easy task. 

Rick was always playing for today and wanting to pay tomorrow,  KAM seems to want to do more pay as you go,   but still has to try and meet the Wilfs expectations.,  so after seeing what the trade markets were like for the 2 elephants in the room,  as well as the costs of replacing them,  the decision was able to be made to stay the course and then it became time to make the moves to pay for the course they were handed without making the situation any worse than they have to.  

I dont like giving Cousins more money and control but if the wilfs demand no rebuild,  then thats what KAM had to do, but I see a little method to his madness and while frustrating as a fan,  I think he reactive approach right now night be the best path.   

He has retained 2 of our better talents at their positions, to meet the wilfs demands,  and really only added 1 bad year of cap spending.  It could have been much worse if they had really extended Cousins and Hunter both to longer term higher dollar deals that both parties are looking for.

Now,   the question for me is,  will hunter play on his deal or hold out?

IMO, right now its impossible to know what KAM's style as a GM is as he's trying to find a path forward dealing with cap challenges in which he had no prior part of. Once he gets a little room to breath, we'll know better. Obviously, he and KOC agree with keeping Cousins and moving forward from there, so that's something anyway. Otherwise it will be hard to read the tea leaves for a bit as he may be forced to do something now that he wouldn't have done if he had more leeway.

Ownership didnt want a hard re-set. That edict coupled with a F'd up cap is being reflected right now in the moves they are or aren't making...

We'll find out this season how much talent is really there (or not) and how much a new culture and approach to pro ball will impact things. I'm hopeful. 

In future years (starting this draft) they have to infuse the D with talent and all the while that Adams contact with the Raiders will dictate a lot. A JJ new contract is not really that far off. 

God bless the rising cap. 

@"purplefaithful" said: Ownership didnt want a hard re-set. That edict coupled with a F'd up cap is being reflected right now in the moves they are or aren't making...

We'll find out this season how much talent is really there (or not) and how much a new culture and approach to pro ball will impact things. I'm hopeful. 

In future years (starting this draft) they have to infuse the D with talent and all the while that Adams contact with the Raiders will dictate a lot. A JJ new contract is not really that far off. 

God bless the rising cap. 

When I look at it, I see an offense with weakness up the middle, particularly on passing plays. An offensive coordinator who was a rookie and was under pressure to call runs when he should have been passing too often.
Despite that they were pretty good overall. They had spells where they seemed to go dormant, but over all were pretty good. Now I see a rookie play caller with free reign and potential to be creative and take advantage, as well as recognize, the things the players do well. That potential excites me.
The defense was able to get some sacks last year but didn't seem to have consistent pressure when they needed it. Especially after Hunter was injured. They couldn't stop the run effectively either. Most defenses can at least do one or the other.
The back end was not very good either. Zimmer played a lot of zone because they couldn't press man cover and that limited his use of the blitz as well. 
New scheme and new personnel on the defensive side of the ball is the key to next season. If they can just get to somewhere around league average, it will be a marked improvement from the historically bad defense they had last year, and put them in the running for a wild card spot.
Given the constraints imposed with the salary cap issues, and the Wilf's desire to remain competitive I think Kwesi is doing fine. I agree with Jimmy that KAM adding only one bad year of cap spending was much better than a long term sentence!
I'm not expecting a Lombardi next year. I am expecting improvement and an ascending trend.

It seems to me, Kwesi is trying to stablize the team's salary cap.  There are teams that have tons of money available to snatch up the quality free agents and right now the Vikings cannot compete with hardly anyone.  He's not just looking at this one season coming up, but financial stability through the next few years.

“The cap is a myth”

”Kwesi can’t make big moves because Rick screwed up the cap”

Which is it?

@"pattersaur" said: “The cap is a myth”

”Kwesi can’t make big moves because Rick screwed up the cap”

Which is it?

It's a myth. Kwesi still has to circumnavigate the mess that was left. 

While I'd love to see some big moves, I've got no issues with the way he's going about FA. The offense is pretty much set asides from maybe some infusion of depth at WR and the O-Line. I know many want to see a new C & RG, but I'm guessing he thinks having a new play caller and maybe a tweak to the scheme can help avoid the issues that have plagued us at those spots for some time. If that works then this offense can really go next level.

It's the defense that may take some time to fix, especially with the scheme change.

@"JustinTime18™" said: Chip missed the mark in a few spots.

First, the cap is not an issue. This is a patently false narrative. The Saints just cleared $90 million in cap room without cutting a single player. We've cleared $20 + with the same tactics. 

We've got about the 6th youngest roster in the NFL with about the fewest position players over 30. This notion that we need to infuse a bunch of young inexpensive talent is also patently false.

One thing the team will benefit the most from is having a HC who doesn't want an offense that was last effective in the 80s and doesn't fucking hate his QB and GM.

Agreed he missed the mark in some circumstances. I would argue the cap is still a bottle-neck for the Vikings. The Saints scenario is a bit different since they build their contracts a bit differently from the on-set. 

Instead of straight salary proration the Vikings are employing a more conservative strategy to retain player while not flooring it to go all out and create an even worse situation a year + from now. They did pro-rate Harrison Smith's deal but they wrote that deal for that to happen. All of the others have been handled differently.

@"JimmyinSD" said: I think part of the reason KAM was slow to rework veteran deals is they wanting to change how the handle the cap.  Sure you can be stupid and continue to back load contracts and add void years and other shit to kick the cam down the road,  but eventually that can needs to be picked up and its typically not an easy task. 

Rick was always playing for today and wanting to pay tomorrow,  KAM seems to want to do more pay as you go,   but still has to try and meet the Wilfs expectations.,  so after seeing what the trade markets were like for the 2 elephants in the room,  as well as the costs of replacing them,  the decision was able to be made to stay the course and then it became time to make the moves to pay for the course they were handed without making the situation any worse than they have to.  

I dont like giving Cousins more money and control but if the wilfs demand no rebuild,  then thats what KAM had to do, but I see a little method to his madness and while frustrating as a fan,  I think he reactive approach right now night be the best path.   

He has retained 2 of our better talents at their positions, to meet the wilfs demands,  and really only added 1 bad year of cap spending.  It could have been much worse if they had really extended Cousins and Hunter both to longer term higher dollar deals that both parties are looking for.

Now,   the question for me is,  will hunter play on his deal or hold out?

If he holds out no bonus, changed w/ last CBA…

Turns out there was a lot of phony back end money in Adams deal, however Jefferson is heading for a huge payday. 

Inside the Davante Adams three-year, $67.5 million deal (as a practical matter)The numbers are in on the Davante Adams deal. And, as usual, the initial reports were subject to a little agent-fueled puffery.
For starters, it’s not a five-year, $141.25 million deal. The base amount is $140 million. To get to the maximum value, he needs to get to the Pro Bowl for each of the next five years.
Also, despite that the deal pays out $67.5 million fully guaranteed at signing, it doesn’t. Per a source with knowledge of the transaction, the full guarantee at signing is only $22.75 million.
By early 2023, another $42.92 million in injury guarantees becomes fully guaranteed. To avoid owing Adams that amount, the Raiders would have to cut Adams after only one year, paying him $23.36 million (if he satisfies the workout and per-game roster bonuses) for 2022 — and giving up a first-round and second-round pick. This makes the practical guarantee $65.67 million at signing. But that amount isn’t fully guaranteed.
https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2022/03/18/inside-the-davante-adams-three-year-67-5-million-deal-as-a-practical-matter/

I don’t see us as far away as others. Watching the Super Bowl, our offense could compete with either team even with the Zimmer restricted play calling. It was our defense and defensive play calling/coaching that destroyed the season. 
So for me, the key to a successful upcoming season has less to do with spending money and more to do with getting the right guys in place for the new system. The moves so far have been good in my opinion. 
Jordan Hicks is an excellent signing. Paired with Kendricks, they should form a very solid tandem inside. Hicks is very durable, having started 51 games straight at linebacker. That’s 3rd longest active streak among NFL linebackers. He’s piled up the tackles the past few years and I suspect this will not change.

Harrison Phillips is another good pickup. He’s a rising player with talent and will likely fill Pierce’s position at a lower price. 
Ends are a big question mark for me and probably for the coaches as well. We have a number of guys with the size and athleticism to handle the spots, but I’m not sure how they’ll do in the new scheme. A couple played 3-4 in college, so for a few there will be familiarity. 
At safety I think we are good. Harry and a guy I’m high on, Cam Bynum, look set to handle the position.

Lastly, cornerback is a huge need. In my opinion, we only have one right now in Cam Dantzler. The rest do not appear to be adequate to start. I would have liked to see the team sign a starting contract in free agency with 3-4 experience. I know they’ve targeted a couple, but the prices have been pretty extreme. Regardless, I still see this as a big need. We need 1 at a minimum and I would like to see at least 2. On top of that, we will need to draft another early. 
Finally, in regards to Hunter, I think it’s ridiculous he’s being so difficult after only playing a handful of games over the past two years. What a pain in the ass. I’d normally say get rid of him, but at this point they are better off just keeping him. 
We fix this defense, we will compete for the playoffs next year.

I think the optimism for KOCs offense is a little over the top,  yes we have the skill players,   but all the excuses made about offensive shortcoming in the past that centered on the lack of the OC having never had play calling duties some how is not going to be an issue with KOC?  Or somehow our OLine issues are going to go away because Zimmer isn't brow besting those that can't anchor in pass pro or get any push in run blocking?  Our O could be as big a mess as our D next year.

But at least we made a change so eventually we could/should see improvement.