Reich wants Evero

@"JimmyinSD" said:

@"PurpleCrush" said: Pettine sure doesn't move the needle for me, but he's not as bad as it would seem. 10 years as a DC, six times finished in the top 10.

@"PurpleCrush" said: Pettine sure doesn't move the needle for me, but he's not as bad as it would seem. 10 years as a DC, six times finished in the top 10.

How much of that though is scheme,   and how much of that is just being on a team that put a huge amount of resources into his D?  I think Zimmer was a pretty smart guy, but lets not forget that he got a lot of premium picks and free agents early on to work with that helped make that side of the ball pretty stacked.

To close the loop on Evero, money was one of the main factors in heading to Carolina. Going for the highest offer has been the recent trend for coordinators. Also, he interviewed with Carolina for their HC vacancy (which couldn't be blocked due to promotion) which gave them some comfort offering him the job with no follow-up. He was scheduled to meet with MN today or tomorrow but it just never got to that point. Truth is, MN planned on hiring him. They will turn back to Flores now assuming he doesn't get the HC job in Arizona. If that were to occur I wouldn't be surprised to restart the process in some ways. 

@"purplefaithful" said: “The biggest takeaway from Raheem is that he had coached on offense and defense. He’s been a head coach. He’s seen football from so many different vantage points,” Evero said. “He had been in a 3-4 system and he had been in a 4-3 system, and he just knew so much football in general. So when he would coach our defensive guys, so much was not only just coaching our scheme but coaching how offenses were looking to attack you. I just thought he was really brilliant about talking about, ‘OK, this is the intent of these offensive plays and this is how they are going to attack us. This is how we can adjust.” ... From Monte Kiffen he learned the importance of turnovers and ‘winning the ball.’ “The biggest thing about Monte was his scheme wasn’t very hard, but it was just about, ‘We know exactly what we’re supposed to do. We’re going to play fast.’ There are no mistakes. Everyone is running to the ball and attacking the ball. It was the first time in my coaching career that I’d really seen (an emphasis on) attacking the football. I got that from Monte.”.

As to the Morris point, seems kind of shocking that this sounds so rare.  One would think this is obvious.

Wondering the mind set of Flores if he does get passed over for the Cardinals HC.  He has to know he was not the top choice for the Vikings, knowing that would he even take the job if offered.  There is also the possibility of him interviewing in Denver for the DC job.  I guess the same could be said for Pettine knowing he was a fall back choice, but then if he is the guy why not make the change during the season.

@"Greylock" said: Wondering the mind set of Flores if he does get passed over for the Cardinals HC.  He has to know he was not the top choice for the Vikings, knowing that would he even take the job if offered.  There is also the possibility of him interviewing in Denver for the DC job.  I guess the same could be said for Pettine knowing he was a fall back choice, but then if he is the guy why not make the change during the season.

also in Flores case,  pretty easy to tell him that you had to keep looking as there was no way of knowing how it would settle out in AZ for him.

@"mgobluevikes" said: We screwed the pooch when we apparently failed to offer Nielsen. This organization is arrogant enough to think guys a step away from HC gigs want to come rebuild a defense with gaping holes.

I know I've said this before, but if we open this thing up again for more interviews can we please get someone from that Bengals staff to come in and interview. 

@"supafreak84" said:

@"mgobluevikes" said: We screwed the pooch when we apparently failed to offer Nielsen. This organization is arrogant enough to think guys a step away from HC gigs want to come rebuild a defense with gaping holes.

I agree, and the bottom line is this is not a good job in contrast to other opportunities around the league. If I'm a potential DC candidate, I'm looking at the shit show the defense was last season, the fact that we are 24 million in the hole with the salary cap and you just don't know what you are going to have to work with when you actually start training camp. A lot of veteran talent is going to have to be cut and if KOC is trying to pigeonhole you into this scheme he want's to play...no thanks. We might be stuck with Pettine.

I know I've said this before, but if we open this thing up again for more interviews can we please get someone from that Bengals staff to come in and interview. 

@"Geoff Nichols" said:

@"supafreak84" said:

@"mgobluevikes" said: We screwed the pooch when we apparently failed to offer Nielsen. This organization is arrogant enough to think guys a step away from HC gigs want to come rebuild a defense with gaping holes.

I agree, and the bottom line is this is not a good job in contrast to other opportunities around the league. If I'm a potential DC candidate, I'm looking at the shit show the defense was last season, the fact that we are 24 million in the hole with the salary cap and you just don't know what you are going to have to work with when you actually start training camp. A lot of veteran talent is going to have to be cut and if KOC is trying to pigeonhole you into this scheme he want's to play...no thanks. We might be stuck with Pettine.

I know I've said this before, but if we open this thing up again for more interviews can we please get someone from that Bengals staff to come in and interview. 

Since the cap is a myth the Vikings are in an ok spot all things considered, compared against other teams against the cap at least. Brian O'Neill's contract was built to restructure so once that happens they'll only be about $13M over the cap and an extension for Hockenson will save another $5M or so. So starting about $8M over the cap before releasing a single player. If they extend Kirk again they honestly may be at the cap. A Dalvin Tomlinson extension would help them as well. 

All of those extensions are cash for cap. So the 2023 cash budget won't be changing. E.G Hockenson's 2023 comp would still be around the $9M he is set to make now. Only Tomlinson would be adding additional cash. So they can make all of these moves and just move up when the cash is due without "spending" additional money this year. 

I hope they go after Payne for the money it would take to resign Tomlinson.

The defense has been dogshit for 2 years now, I don't care what they do, just do something. 

@"supafreak84" said:

@"Geoff Nichols" said:

@"supafreak84" said:

@"mgobluevikes" said: We screwed the pooch when we apparently failed to offer Nielsen. This organization is arrogant enough to think guys a step away from HC gigs want to come rebuild a defense with gaping holes.

I agree, and the bottom line is this is not a good job in contrast to other opportunities around the league. If I'm a potential DC candidate, I'm looking at the shit show the defense was last season, the fact that we are 24 million in the hole with the salary cap and you just don't know what you are going to have to work with when you actually start training camp. A lot of veteran talent is going to have to be cut and if KOC is trying to pigeonhole you into this scheme he want's to play...no thanks. We might be stuck with Pettine.

I know I've said this before, but if we open this thing up again for more interviews can we please get someone from that Bengals staff to come in and interview. 

Since the cap is a myth the Vikings are in an ok spot all things considered, compared against other teams against the cap at least. Brian O'Neill's contract was built to restructure so once that happens they'll only be about $13M over the cap and an extension for Hockenson will save another $5M or so. So starting about $8M over the cap before releasing a single player. If they extend Kirk again they honestly may be at the cap. A Dalvin Tomlinson extension would help them as well. 

All of those extensions are cash for cap. So the 2023 cash budget won't be changing. E.G Hockenson's 2023 comp would still be around the $9M he is set to make now. Only Tomlinson would be adding additional cash. So they can make all of these moves and just move up when the cash is due without "spending" additional money this year. 

If that is the case (and with Flores now in the fold) who do you see as veterans either likely cut or potentially traded this offseason? Harrison Smith, Zadarius, Kendricks, Cook, Thielen, etc. Who has the best chance of not returning next season?

@"Geoff Nichols" said:

@"supafreak84" said:

@"Geoff Nichols" said:

@"supafreak84" said:

@"mgobluevikes" said: We screwed the pooch when we apparently failed to offer Nielsen. This organization is arrogant enough to think guys a step away from HC gigs want to come rebuild a defense with gaping holes.

I agree, and the bottom line is this is not a good job in contrast to other opportunities around the league. If I'm a potential DC candidate, I'm looking at the shit show the defense was last season, the fact that we are 24 million in the hole with the salary cap and you just don't know what you are going to have to work with when you actually start training camp. A lot of veteran talent is going to have to be cut and if KOC is trying to pigeonhole you into this scheme he want's to play...no thanks. We might be stuck with Pettine.

I know I've said this before, but if we open this thing up again for more interviews can we please get someone from that Bengals staff to come in and interview. 

Since the cap is a myth the Vikings are in an ok spot all things considered, compared against other teams against the cap at least. Brian O'Neill's contract was built to restructure so once that happens they'll only be about $13M over the cap and an extension for Hockenson will save another $5M or so. So starting about $8M over the cap before releasing a single player. If they extend Kirk again they honestly may be at the cap. A Dalvin Tomlinson extension would help them as well. 

All of those extensions are cash for cap. So the 2023 cash budget won't be changing. E.G Hockenson's 2023 comp would still be around the $9M he is set to make now. Only Tomlinson would be adding additional cash. So they can make all of these moves and just move up when the cash is due without "spending" additional money this year. 

If that is the case (and with Flores now in the fold) who do you see as veterans either likely cut or potentially traded this offseason? Harrison Smith, Zadarius, Kendricks, Cook, Thielen, etc. Who has the best chance of not returning next season?

Subject to change since so much will happen at the combine. But tend to think Za'Darius is back on his current deal. One of Kendrciks/Hicks is gone. Feel like they could extend Kendricks since he fits Flores' system. Unless he has someone else in-mind. Harrison back on a straight pay-cut and both Cook/Thielen are released. Combined with O'Neill & Hockenson that gets them to nearly $20M in space before touching Kirk's deal. It also purges the cap in many ways since you're removing Thielen/Cooks big money deals with no dead money left by 2024. 

@"purplefaithful" said:

@"Geoff Nichols" said:

@"supafreak84" said:

@"Geoff Nichols" said:

@"supafreak84" said:

@"mgobluevikes" said: We screwed the pooch when we apparently failed to offer Nielsen. This organization is arrogant enough to think guys a step away from HC gigs want to come rebuild a defense with gaping holes.

I agree, and the bottom line is this is not a good job in contrast to other opportunities around the league. If I'm a potential DC candidate, I'm looking at the shit show the defense was last season, the fact that we are 24 million in the hole with the salary cap and you just don't know what you are going to have to work with when you actually start training camp. A lot of veteran talent is going to have to be cut and if KOC is trying to pigeonhole you into this scheme he want's to play...no thanks. We might be stuck with Pettine.

I know I've said this before, but if we open this thing up again for more interviews can we please get someone from that Bengals staff to come in and interview. 

Since the cap is a myth the Vikings are in an ok spot all things considered, compared against other teams against the cap at least. Brian O'Neill's contract was built to restructure so once that happens they'll only be about $13M over the cap and an extension for Hockenson will save another $5M or so. So starting about $8M over the cap before releasing a single player. If they extend Kirk again they honestly may be at the cap. A Dalvin Tomlinson extension would help them as well. 

All of those extensions are cash for cap. So the 2023 cash budget won't be changing. E.G Hockenson's 2023 comp would still be around the $9M he is set to make now. Only Tomlinson would be adding additional cash. So they can make all of these moves and just move up when the cash is due without "spending" additional money this year. 

If that is the case (and with Flores now in the fold) who do you see as veterans either likely cut or potentially traded this offseason? Harrison Smith, Zadarius, Kendricks, Cook, Thielen, etc. Who has the best chance of not returning next season?

Subject to change since so much will happen at the combine. But tend to think Za'Darius is back on his current deal. One of Kendrciks/Hicks is gone. Feel like they could extend Kendricks since he fits Flores' system. Unless he has someone else in-mind. Harrison back on a straight pay-cut and both Cook/Thielen are released. Combined with O'Neill & Hockenson that gets them to nearly $20M in space before touching Kirk's deal. It also purges the cap in many ways since you're removing Thielen/Cooks big money deals with no dead money left by 2024. 

@ the bold...

I would be shocked if they were both released and it feels like some really big bullets pulled from the O. I would love to see them keep D.Cook at a reduced rate. 

In your scenario, I could see the Vikings drafting a WR pretty high this year and I wonder if they would try to keep Mattison? 

I think Cook is still an elite RB and his drop off this year was mainly due to the scheme of the offense. We knew coming in that KOC wanted to throw the ball around, utilize Jefferson as the focal point of the offense, and that all increased with the addition of Hockenson. I don't think they did enough of trying to get Cook out in space and lost some opportunities on that end. I hope that's something that changes this year if Cook is kept. 

@"supafreak84" said: I think Cook is still an elite RB and his drop off this year was mainly due to the scheme of the offense. We knew coming in that KOC wanted to throw the ball around, utilize Jefferson as the focal point of the offense, and that all increased with the addition of Hockenson. I don't think they did enough of trying to get Cook out in space and lost some opportunities on that end. I hope that's something that changes this year if Cook is kept. 

Vikings have some salaries they need to deal with. There'll be dead cap money. Its probably not as bad as some media members make it out to be (what a shocker) but its also going to give a little heartburn. 

Love to keep Dalvin, but I'd also love to have a better defense. If we have to sacrifice a few things on offense (Thielen, Cook) to achieve that, I'm down. 

@"MaroonBells" said: Love to keep Dalvin, but I'd also love to have a better defense. If we have to sacrifice a few things on offense (Thielen, Cook) to achieve that, I'm down.