Forum The Longship To keep (and pay) the young guys ...

To keep (and pay) the young guys ...

DA
Joined Feb 2014
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Kendricks has been extended. So that leaves Barr, Hunter, Diggs, and possibly Waynes (soon). (Note that Thielen is criminally underpaid.) And depending on how he plays this year, we may really want to keep Richardson, too.
Given the reality of the salary cap, we will undoubtedly have to release players we would otherwise want to keep.  The (I think) obvious ones that will be gone soon are Murray, Remmers, Sendejo, Treadwell, and Robison (retirement). But I suspect there will be others that will need to either restructure or we may need to replace with younger or cheaper - probably not as good - options.   Easton? Rudolph? Griffen? Joseph?

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#1 · Apr 24, 9:28 AM
DE
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But what is "soon"? Everyone listed is under contract for 2018. I could see someone waived/asked to take a salary cut if a draftee takes his job, but otherwise I don't see changes before 2019. Of those you named:
Murray: already took a cut for 2018 and is (I believe) a UFA after this year. I expect we will draft more RB depth.
Remmers: could be in a spot like Alex Boone if others win the RT and RG spots - asked to take a cut or get cut. Good problem to have if our OL quality improves enough to turn him into a backup.
Sendejo: if Vikings draft a good safety this year, he might need to take a pay cut next year. Again, let's hope so.
Treadwell: if he gets cut before his rookie deal is completed, it won't be to save cap space. Treadwell's salary is not terribly high and guaranteed this year and next so waiving him would just eat some dead money in our cap. My hunch is he will be on the team for the next two seasons; next year the Vikings will decide whether to exercise his fifth-year option (probably not).
Robison: Yes, he will be done after this season.

Feels like an awful lot of salary angst on this board lately.

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#2 · Apr 24, 10:49 AM
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I'd rather lose Griffen then Joseph.  Easton is only going to get more expensive.  Rudolphs future will show if the Vikings go early on a TE. 

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#3 · Apr 24, 10:50 AM
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Remmers, Rudolph, and Sendejo stand out as the three most likely players to be asked to restructure or potentially be released in 2019.  Remmers could be cut and we'd save 4.55 million against the cap.  Rudolph has a cap hit of 7.6 million with no dead money...  same with Sendejo.  He has a 5.5 million cap hit with no dead money.
The Vikings could potentially free up around 17.5 million if they cut those three players.  The real cap savings would be less since we would have to replace those players with rookies or free agents, but you get the picture.

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#4 · Apr 24, 11:22 AM
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@"Wetlander" said: Remmers, Rudolph, and Sendejo stand out as the three most likely players to be asked to restructure or potentially be released in 2019.  Remmers could be cut and we'd save 4.55 million against the cap.  Rudolph has a cap hit of 7.6 million with no dead money...  same with Sendejo.  He has a 5.5 million cap hit with no dead money. The Vikings could potentially free up around 17.5 million if they cut those three players.  The real cap savings would be less since we would have to replace those players with rookies or free agents, but you get the picture.


IMO Remmers and Sendejo would both be willing to cut their deals - or, they should, because they won't find those salaries with other clubs. Rudolph, however, might feel like he could test the market. I think the team is pretty fond of Rudolph and would try to work out a way to keep him even if they draft another TE.

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#5 · Apr 24, 12:32 PM
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@"Jor-El" said: Feels like an awful lot of salary angst on this board lately.


For sure...  and the funny thing is that the Vikings "should" have plenty of cap space next season.  Spotrac says right now the Vikings should have around 33 million in cap space next year based upon who is under contract.  However, that doesn't account for Kendricks new contract, but DOES count Trae Waynes 5th year option which they have pegged at 9 million.  If you factor in Kendricks cap hit of 6.6 million (saw the breakdown on ESPN today), the Vikings would have about 26 million in cap space in 2019 (assuming they pick up Waynes' option).
Then if you factor in any cap rollover from this year (currently sitting at 16+ million in unused cap space), that could balloon up to around let's say $40 million max...  probably more likely $35 million after the draft and possibly adding Newman on another 1-year deal.  Also, I'm sure the cap will go up again...  if it goes up another 8-10 million like it did this year...  the Vikings will probably have 40-50 million in cap space to try to fit in contracts for Diggs, Hunter, and Barr.  Seems like more than enough to get something done...  heck, we might even be able to get Richardson under contract if it's closer to 50 million.
We could even free up more if we cut Remmers and Sendejo and do something to restructure Rudy's deal or extend him for another year or two.  Bottomline, the Vikings should have the ability to re-sign their own young talent in 2019.

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#6 · Apr 24, 12:48 PM
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@"Wetlander" said:
@"Jor-El" said: Feels like an awful lot of salary angst on this board lately.


For sure...  and the funny thing is that the Vikings "should" have plenty of cap space next season.  Spotrac says right now the Vikings should have around 33 million in cap space next year based upon who is under contract.  However, that doesn't account for Kendricks new contract, but DOES count Trae Waynes 5th year option which they have pegged at 9 million.  If you factor in Kendricks cap hit of 6.6 million (saw the breakdown on ESPN today), the Vikings would have about 26 million in cap space in 2019 (assuming they pick up Waynes' option).
Then if you factor in any cap rollover from this year (currently sitting at 16+ million in unused cap space), that could balloon up to around let's say $40 million max...  probably more likely $35 million after the draft and possibly adding Newman on another 1-year deal.  Also, I'm sure the cap will go up again...  if it goes up another 8-10 million like it did this year...  the Vikings will probably have 40-50 million in cap space to try to fit in contracts for Diggs, Hunter, and Barr.  Seems like more than enough to get something done...  heck, we might even be able to get Richardson under contract if it's closer to 50 million.
We could even free up more if we cut Remmers and Sendejo and do something to restructure Rudy's deal or extend him for another year or two.  Bottomline, the Vikings should have the ability to re-sign their own young talent in 2019.


Thanks for digging into that detail, that was my impression as well. Are people who didn't want Cousins signed just overly eager to say it's already causing cap problems?

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#7 · Apr 24, 3:20 PM
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Forum The Longship To keep (and pay) the young guys ...
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