Brez Could Be Pulling Out His Hair Soon

@"BarrNone55" said: https://247sports.com/nfl/minnesota-vikings/Article/Sheldon-Richardson-may-play-himself-into-Minnesota-Vikings-long-term-plans-118155827

Whatever Brez earns as Cap Guru, it's probably not enough...

Barr
Diggs
Richardson  (maybe)
Waynes
Hunter
AT extension (??)

I dont think it's possible they can keep em all...Some team will break the bank for a couple of these players most likely. 

3T is probably the most important position in this defense. And 3Ts of this caliber don't come along that often. If he plays like he's capable in 2018, I think he goes to the top of the list of players we need to extend. 

@"BarrNone55" said: https://247sports.com/nfl/minnesota-vikings/Article/Sheldon-Richardson-may-play-himself-into-Minnesota-Vikings-long-term-plans-118155827

Whatever Brez earns as Cap Guru, it's probably not enough...

Didnt they say when they bought Cousins that they would be able to retain the top guys (Diggs, Hunter, Barr, Kendricks?). I guess they added Richardson after that so all bets are off.
We have to hope that the contract paid to Cousins pays off this year. This starting to look like a must win situation.

There may be some give-and-take in terms of contract restructures if "the band" wants to stay together.  Some players will want to make all they can while they can-which is reasonable, given their likely future medical costs-but some want to stay within a structure/culture that works for them.

We'll see how it plays out, but as it stands...I'm already twitching for Week 1.

I agree with purplefaithful most.
Richardson is the wildcard. He might prove his value more then Waynes or even Barr. Diggs needs to stay healthy for a whole season. So of course this will be the season. If he does we need to retain him. I don't see how we keep everyone like you said and they claim. You can't base next years values on this years prices. As you also said other teams will set the market. That is if we don't do some of these contract during this season.

well you are right about value.  It will be interesting to see what happens to Diggs.  He might not be the most valuable but he might be the hardest to replace.  We will see how the team sees him.

@"Zanary" said: There may be some give-and-take in terms of contract restructures if "the band" wants to stay together.  Some players will want to make all they can while they can-which is reasonable, given their likely future medical costs-but some want to stay within a structure/culture that works for them.

We'll see how it plays out, but as it stands...I'm already twitching for Week 1.

Yeah, it'll definitely be interesting to see how these contracts play out.  Ideally, these guys would all agree to good deals that keep our window open and let EVERYONE get paid well.

But I can't blame a guy like Diggs or Hunter who want to maximize their value when they are young and weren't paid like 1st round picks on their rookie deals.

Once the next domino falls, we should have a better idea of our cap situation in 2019...

@"Wetlander" said:

@"Zanary" said: There may be some give-and-take in terms of contract restructures if "the band" wants to stay together.  Some players will want to make all they can while they can-which is reasonable, given their likely future medical costs-but some want to stay within a structure/culture that works for them.

We'll see how it plays out, but as it stands...I'm already twitching for Week 1.

Yeah, it'll definitely be interesting to see how these contracts play out.  Ideally, these guys would all agree to good deals that keep our window open and let EVERYONE get paid well.

But I can't blame a guy like Diggs or Hunter who want to maximize their value when they are young and weren't paid like 1st round picks on their rookie deals.

Once the next domino falls, we should have a better idea of our cap situation in 2019...

@"Zanary" said:

I think this season will be HUGE for a ton of different reasons, one of which will be whether the team's culture helps to retain some core players.  While I have growing faith in Z's ability to train/develop defensive players, we have a collection of exceptional players on that side of the ball right now.

I'm trying to actually NOT think about cap issues next year, because I really want to enjoy what could be a defining season for my favorite sports team...!

It looks like the Vikings are either a) trying to roll over as much cap as possible THIS season to give themselves the ability to re-sign any of their 2019 in-house free agents...  or b) they are trying to keep enough cap room to extend another player (or two depending on how the deals are structured) this offseason.

The thing I keep saying to myself (sometimes out loud) is that the Vikings were planning/hoping for a time when they'd have a QB making top-tier money, so they must have had a plan.  Now, they hoped that QB would be Teddy, but the money is still the same no matter the name on the check. 

Ultimately the Vikings opportunity to sign Cousins who they perceive to be a franchise QB wasn't going to be derailed by future contract negotiations. The NFL is dominated by QB play and when you have the opportunity to grab one you don't pass it up and figure out the rest later. Fortunately the Vikings have managed their contract situations extremely well and have the ability to really massage anyone into the 2019 cap.

When it comes to Barr, Diggs, Hunter, and possibly Richardson there are two sides to each negotiation. Although the Vikings may have the space and want to retain each of them it doesn't always work out that way. Other teams can offer funny money to pry a player away or a player could simply not want to remain in MN. Not saying that is the case but there are a lot of qualitative aspects to negotiations. How'd you feel if the Vikings passed on Cousins and Diggs decided to jump ship to pursue another opportunity with better QB play? 

The key for MN is to lock up at least two of Barr, Diggs, and Hunter this off-season to avoid inverse tag leverage. The tag can be a good team negotiating tactic until you have more than 2 players you're fighting to resign. At that point each player can ask for more than the tag since at that point they can see themselves getting free and getting crazy money on the FA market.  

Looks like Chip has been following you again @BarrNone55...  ;) B)
Vikings ask cap guy Rob Brzezinski to pull a rabbit out of that hathttp://www.startribune.com/vikings-ask-cap-guy-rob-brzezinski-to-pull-a-rabbit-out-of-that-hat/483134261/

He owes me a by line!