Kelly retires

Well hell....

I wish him well and I understand his decision, especially with a young family in the wings.

A sad ending to the Maul of America

MaroonBells wrote:
A sad ending to the Maul of America

Yeah, Maul of America was more lego store than anything else.

Kelly, a four-time Pro Bowl selection in nine seasons for the Indianapolis Colts, appeared in eight games during his first season in Minnesota, missing nine starts due to three concussions.

“10 seasons. What an incredible ride it was,” Kelly wrote on social media. “I was blessed to be around some of the greatest people this sport has to offer. I always wanted to leave each place better than how I found it and with that I can hang my hat. Forever grateful for my family and brothers! Cheers.”

Kelly, 32 and the father of three children, considered walking away last year after suffering two concussions within three weeks in September. They were the fourth and fifth documented concussions of his playing career, the latter coming during the Vikings’ Sept. 28 loss to the Steelers in Dublin. While recovering, Kelly said he wondered if he would ever play again. He said the team paid for his visit to a clinical neuropsychologist, Dr. Michael Collins, in Pittsburgh, where his long-term concerns were eased.

“A lot of soul searching, getting as many answers as I could, and then I realized I’m not done,” Kelly told the Minnesota Star Tribune in November. “I still love this game.”
He returned to play five more games before suffering his sixth concussion on Dec. 21 in a game against the New York Giants in East Rutherford, N.J., where he wore a higher-rated helmet and a Guardian Cap.

The Vikings signed Kelly to a two-year, $18 million contract last year to pair young quarterback J.J. McCarthy with an experienced veteran center. Coaches lauded Kelly, a self-described “chameleon” who adapted to many different quarterbacks in Indianapolis, for bringing that leadership, but injuries to both Kelly and McCarthy limited them to just six starts together.

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Good for him and the Vikings.

Regardless of his desire and ability to continue to play in the NFL, he did the right thing for his family.

Ryan Kelly, who announced his retirement March 6 at age 32, was a two-year, $18 million chance former General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah was willing to take in free agency a year ago. Turns out Ryan’s $9 million average — sixth-highest among NFL centers — was all risk, no reward. He suffered three concussions, bringing his career total of documented concussions to six, while missing nine games and 28% of the snaps in the eight games he did play.

When a backup guard/tackle who had never played center in his life (Blake Brandel) is your best Plan B in-season, you need a better Plan A heading into the next season. Plus, Brandel’s best value might be as a swing tackle or an even more multi-positional backup, not an emergency starting center.

Michael Jurgens, a seventh-round pick in 2024, can stay and battle Zeke Correll, an undrafted rookie last year, and anyone else the team brings in to compete for the backup spot. In three starts and 309 snaps at center last year, Jurgens failed to prove he’s sturdy enough to be a reliable backup, let alone compete for the starting job.

Current roster: Kelly, Jurgens, Correll
Current offensive line salary cap allocated: $89.9 million (2nd in NFL)

Free agents to watch

Tyler Linderbaum (Ravens): This is the pie-in-the-sky answer to every team that needs a bona fide anchor in the middle of its offensive line. He’s a three-time Pro Bowler who has missed only two games in four seasons since being the 25th overall pick in 2022. For those still kicking Adofo-Mensah when he’s down and out, yes, Linderbaum is yet another player the Vikings could have drafted the day the former Vikings GM traded down from 12th to 32nd. Linderbaum turns 26 next month and is expected to set the market high point for centers, currently held by the Chiefs’ Creed Humphrey at $18 million a year. 

The Vikings already had three offensive line starters who rank in the top nine at their respective positions: left tackle Christian Darrisaw (fourth, $26 million), right guard Will Fries (sixth, $17.5 million) and right tackle Brian O’Neill (ninth, $18.5 million).

Connor McGovern (Bills): A mainstay on Buffalo’s line the last three years as a guard in 2023 and center the last two years, McGovern could be the player some teams are looking for if they miss out on Linderbaum. Overthecap.com places McGovern’s market value at $16.3 million, so he’s not cheap either. He is, however, a 28-year-old who has missed only four games in the last four seasons. He seems resigned to the fact the Bills won’t re-sign him at his market value.

Tyler Biadasz (Commanders): The Commanders surprised many last week when they released Biadasz, a 28-year-old with 84 career starts, at a time when they had more than $60 million in cap space. Biadasz became a street free agent able to be signed before free agency begins. Biadasz started 53 games with the Cowboys after being drafted in the fourth round in 2020, and 31 more with the Commanders. The Commanders took an $8 million dead-money hit rather than bring him back. Overthecap.com places Biadasz’s market value at $10.1 million a year.

Cade Mays (Panthers): Teams could be projecting Mays as a rising star at the position after career highs in games (14) and starts (12) during Carolina’s turnaround 2025 season. A massive center at 6-6 and 325 pounds, Mays began his career as a guard after being selected in the sixth round in 2022. He moved to center two years ago and has started 27 games, including one playoff game. Mays turns only 27 next month, so the bidding could go high on him. Overthecap.com places his market value at $12.3 million a year.

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The Vikings have the highest-paid offensive line in football. What they don’t have is a good-enough offensive line.

And that, folks, is the fundamental, underlying cause of this team’s playoff inconsistencies, which in turn is the reason the center position should not take a back seat to any of the many other more popular needs heading into the new league year on March 11.

The Vikings felt this way a year ago when ownership was forced to fork over a league-high $348 million in free agency to cover for then-General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s inability to orchestrate a competent draft. Based on average salary per season, the Vikings made center Ryan Kelly ($9 million) and guard Will Fries ($17.5 million) the sixth-highest paid players at their positions.

A year later, the Vikings were a league-high $40-million-plus over the salary cap. Adofo-Mensah is a former-and-never-to-be-again general manager. Offensive line coach Chris Kuper is gone. And the center position still requires a significant commitment of resources at a time when the Vikings already are exhausting a league-high $89.9 million in cap room to their offensive line.

The first move up front was easy. If Kelly hadn’t retired for his own well-being on March 6, he would have been released. His retirement clears $8.3 million in cap space and prevents the possibility of the Vikings doubling down on a bad gamble on a broken-down player who soon grows a year older (33). Kelly was all risk and no reward last season, missing nine games while suffering three concussions to bring his career total to six.

Replacing Kelly, however, will be anything but easy, as the Vikings discovered all too often last year. Or inexpensive, considering the consensus among draft experts is that no plug-and-play centers are coming out of college this year.

So what’s a center-starved team to do?

That’s up to interim general manager Rob Brzezinski to sign off on as he weighs the draft versus free agency versus the salary cap. All this reporter knows is …

A. Last year’s best Plan B (Blake Brandel) was an emergency third-stringer who had never played the position. As in ever. That. Is. Alarming.

B. This year’s Plan A needs to be better, younger and more durable, even if that means he’s more expensive per season than Kelly at $9 million a year.

Yes, the Vikings are already giving Christian Darrisaw $26 million a year, fourth among left tackles. Yes, the Vikings are already giving Brian O’Neil $18.5 million a year, ninth among right tackles. Yes, they’re already overpaying Fries, who at least played every game last year.

But this is the offensive line. This unit, more than any other in sports, is only as good as its weakest link. Starting Brandel or Michael Jurgens — a former seventh-round pick whose value as even a backup is questionable — defeats the purpose of spending all that money elsewhere along the line. You can’t hide an inferior center, especially if your quarterback is young and jumpy.

The best and most expensive target at center in free agency is Baltimore’s Tyler Linderbaum. Durable and a month shy of his 26th birthday, he’s a three-time Pro Bowler who’s expected to set a new market for centers at more than the $18 million a year that Kansas City’s Creed Humphrey is making.

If Baltimore lets him walk, would he come to Minnesota? Probably not. Especially if Josh Allen and the Bills need a center to replace free agent Connor McGovern.

Kick his tires anyway.

Would McGovern come here? His market value, according to Overthecap.com, is $16.3 million a year. He’s 28, durable, versatile and has been a mainstay on a Super Bowl contender.

What about Cade Mays of Carolina? Over the Cap places his market value at $12.3 million a year. Mays is 26, versatile and massive at 6-6, 325 pounds.

Kick their tires and other durable centers on the right side of 30.

Yes, the Vikings are a bazillion dollars over the cap. But this is an old, bloated, top-heavy roster. There are a lot of easy cuts and enough reliable young core players to restructure to make cap room for a bona fide center.

Why center?

Because one is needed to give the Vikings the elite line they’re already paying for but don’t have.

Elite offensive lines control games. Even when Kevin O’Connell won 14 games in 2024, he knew he didn’t have the offensive line to control games well enough to win a playoff game, let alone a Super Bowl.

Elite offensive lines make the play-caller look like the smartest guy in the stadium. They make running backs better. They turn third-and-9s into third-and-1s, which calms jittery J.J. McCarthys, which helps the best receiver in football (Justin Jefferson) produce like the best receiver in football, which gives the Vikings more points, which takes pressure off the defense, which makes the evil (in a good way) mind of Brian Flores more potent, which, well, you get the idea.

Yes, it’s a quarterback league. But ask Drake Maye if he thinks he can win a Super Bowl without five guys up front.

The key words in that last graph: “five guys.” It takes five. Not three high-paid good players, one promising 2025 first-round draft pick (Donovan Jackson) and just any guy smack dab in the middle of them.

The Vikings already have the highest-paid offensive line in football. If they spend a little more on the right center, they might actually end up with an elite offensive line that lives up to its paycheck, controls games and elevates all 48 teammates, including the quarterback.

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