Revised, knowing what we know now.

[Beef Supreme]

I respectfully reject the notion that this has been a debacle. In fact, it’s been better than I expected. The only player of consequence that we’ve lost is Richardson. We committed to a mild FA period on 3/15/18.


We still have massive holes at both guard positions and important but less massive holes at 3-techDT and 3rd WR. We'll need a kicker and some depth on both lines too.

I honestly think that’s still very possible to fix this off-season. Kicker and depth can be addressed in the 2nd half of the draft. I’d like to bring Robinson back to compete with Treadwell, Beebe, and others for the 3rd WR spot. I think we use our top picks to address the guard and DT spots, whether that’s with just straight up draft selection or using those picks as chips in trades. We can hopefully supplement with a June 1 cut to help us get a stopgap if a young player isn’t ready.

I view the off-season as incomplete and unable to be graded as of yet, but I don’t think the task ahead of Rick and co. is insurmountable. I went into FA with very modest expectations. We weren’t going to be major players. I’m very glad our losses were not more significant.

I’ll have a more clear picture after the draft. We will probably still have some work to do, but we’ll know whether that work is to fill a few gaps or if we’re in panick mode to fill major holes.

We are worse off than prior to FA. No amount of spinning or rationalizing will change that.

Hopefully its a very good draft. Has to be.

Now that they needlessly backed themselves into a corner they almost have to take two interior guys in first 3 picks and both better be good enough to start day one. Then we hope the improved OL is to get Cousins where we need him to be.

We lost Richardson.


Is there any other loss that has mattered?

Easton?

[bombers3shooter]

I respectfully reject the notion that this has been a debacle. In fact, it’s been better than I expected. The only player of consequence that we’ve lost is Richardson. We committed to a mild FA period on 3/15/18.


We still have massive holes at both guard positions and important but less massive holes at 3-techDT and 3rd WR. We'll need a kicker and some depth on both lines too.

I honestly think that’s still very possible to fix this off-season. Kicker and depth can be addressed in the 2nd half of the draft. I’d like to bring Robinson back to compete with Treadwell, Beebe, and others for the 3rd WR spot. I think we use our top picks to address the guard and DT spots, whether that’s with just straight up draft selection or using those picks as chips in trades. We can hopefully supplement with a June 1 cut to help us get a stopgap if a young player isn’t ready.

I view the off-season as incomplete and unable to be graded as of yet, but I don’t think the task ahead of Rick and co. is insurmountable. I went into FA with very modest expectations. We weren’t going to be major players. I’m very glad our losses were not more significant.

I’ll have a more clear picture after the draft. We will probably still have some work to do, but we’ll know whether that work is to fill a few gaps or if we’re in panick mode to fill major holes.

We are worse off than prior to FA. No amount of spinning or rationalizing will change that.

Hopefully its a very good draft. Has to be.

Now that they needlessly backed themselves into a corner they almost have to take two interior guys in first 3 picks and both better be good enough to start day one. Then we hope the improved OL is to get Cousins where we need him to be.

We lost Richardson.


Is there any other loss that has mattered?

Easton?

We lost Richadson who I would argue really wasn't that perfect a fit for the defense no matter how you slice it. He signed at a discount to go on a run and the Vikes did not go on a run. The writing was always on the wall that he was here for one year if we didn't win ever since the pen hit the paper last free agency!

[hategreenticemase]

I respectfully reject the notion that this has been a debacle. In fact, it’s been better than I expected. The only player of consequence that we’ve lost is Richardson. We committed to a mild FA period on 3/15/18.


We still have massive holes at both guard positions and important but less massive holes at 3-techDT and 3rd WR. We'll need a kicker and some depth on both lines too.

I honestly think that’s still very possible to fix this off-season. Kicker and depth can be addressed in the 2nd half of the draft. I’d like to bring Robinson back to compete with Treadwell, Beebe, and others for the 3rd WR spot. I think we use our top picks to address the guard and DT spots, whether that’s with just straight up draft selection or using those picks as chips in trades. We can hopefully supplement with a June 1 cut to help us get a stopgap if a young player isn’t ready.

I view the off-season as incomplete and unable to be graded as of yet, but I don’t think the task ahead of Rick and co. is insurmountable. I went into FA with very modest expectations. We weren’t going to be major players. I’m very glad our losses were not more significant.

I’ll have a more clear picture after the draft. We will probably still have some work to do, but we’ll know whether that work is to fill a few gaps or if we’re in panick mode to fill major holes.

We are worse off than prior to FA. No amount of spinning or rationalizing will change that.

Hopefully its a very good draft. Has to be.

Now that they needlessly backed themselves into a corner they almost have to take two interior guys in first 3 picks and both better be good enough to start day one. Then we hope the improved OL is to get Cousins where we need him to be.

We lost Richardson.


Is there any other loss that has mattered?

Easton?

I'm not saying it's a huge loss and we are WAY worse. I'm just stating facts - right now we're worse than last year.

I don't agree with EG contract - had to be more relief or cut. The Rudolph situation is just plain bizarre. Nothing done moving Wayne's (or Rhodes).

Of course we may also want to consider that here we sit with not one thing having been done to address the debacle that has killed this franchise for 5 years which will in turn, put an inordinate amount of pressure and tunnel vision regarding the draft.

So, we are a worse team, we have almost no cap relief, and the major debacle needing repair is actually a tad worse also as everyone assumed we could have Easton in mix for top 7 spot.

Somehow that is good?

[Beef Supreme]

We signed on for this on 3/15/18. That is the day we have Kirk Cousins $84M guranteed. There is an opportunity cost to that.


And we don’t build and get better by robbing Peter (defense) to pay Paul (offense). You just tread water and shift the way you lose from one way to another.

The way to get better is to keep the talent you have and continue to build through the draft. When you have a QB making $29M, the opportunity cost is either being only a minor player in FA, or gutting the talent you have so you can partake in the overpriced FA market.

If we had outbid the titans for Saffold (say we gave him $13M/per to come here), we’d have $42M invested in a good-but-not-great QB and a good-but-not-great guard. That’s about 23% of the cap on two non-elite players. That’s not a smart build.

As it is, we can draft a guard, pay him about $2M or less and have the position filled for the next ten years or so, if we get the right guy. Saffold will only get worse over time and possibly be useless in 3 or 4 years and put us right back here.

We can’t just buy our way to excellence. Dan Snyder tried that. You end up horribly unbalanced, cap strapped, and full of aging players that often aren’t as good with you as they were on their prior teams.



Yes, the pressure is on to come out of the draft with OL talent and not blow value by reaching. So they have a challenge that they have to accomplish. That’s on them and we knew we’d be in a meat grinder to fill out the roster as soon as we signed Cousins. We don’t have margin for error, That’s what that contract does to the cap. Can’t splurge to fill holes. Have to keep what you have and draft well. If we do, I think we can be very good in 2019.

[HeHateMe]

Broken record, Zimmer should have said let Barr/Richardson/Griffen/Rudolph walk, trade Waynes and coach up the guys who were behind them. Sign a third WR/Guard and head into the draft with DE/DT/LB/RB/OG as your holes.

[bombers3shooter]

We signed on for this on 3/15/18. That is the day we have Kirk Cousins $84M guranteed. There is an opportunity cost to that.


And we don’t build and get better by robbing Peter (defense) to pay Paul (offense). You just tread water and shift the way you lose from one way to another.

The way to get better is to keep the talent you have and continue to build through the draft. When you have a QB making $29M, the opportunity cost is either being only a minor player in FA, or gutting the talent you have so you can partake in the overpriced FA market.

If we had outbid the titans for Saffold (say we gave him $13M/per to come here), we’d have $42M invested in a good-but-not-great QB and a good-but-not-great guard. That’s about 23% of the cap on two non-elite players. That’s not a smart build.

As it is, we can draft a guard, pay him about $2M or less and have the position filled for the next ten years or so, if we get the right guy. Saffold will only get worse over time and possibly be useless in 3 or 4 years and put us right back here.

We can’t just buy our way to excellence. Dan Snyder tried that. You end up horribly unbalanced, cap strapped, and full of aging players that often aren’t as good with you as they were on their prior teams.



Yes, the pressure is on to come out of the draft with OL talent and not blow value by reaching. So they have a challenge that they have to accomplish. That’s on them and we knew we’d be in a meat grinder to fill out the roster as soon as we signed Cousins. We don’t have margin for error, That’s what that contract does to the cap. Can’t splurge to fill holes. Have to keep what you have and draft well. If we do, I think we can be very good in 2019.

No we don't have margin for error. It's a draft where the GM and coaches jobs are on the line and it's the worst secret ever that we have to go not just offensive line, but most certainly offensive guard early and often (probably at least twice in the first few rounds). Drafts with jobs on the line results most often with lack of foresight as far as ceiling of a player goes and usually ignores potential and sees a team take the guys who are more ready for immediate impact and have the highest floors.

Alot of people want to move Reiff to guard, but how did that work for guys like Remmers, Boone, Johnson, and to a lesser degree Fusco? Remmers was a starting RT for a 17-2 Super Bowl loser before he came here, but using the anybody can block and they are all interchangeable attitude this team employs he was moved to Guard and was an utter failure. Charlie Johnson was a Left Tackle on a team that won a ring in Indy, but we thought he could play guard too and it was just another disaster here.

Boone was a serviceable tackle in San Fran, bad guard here. Fusco was drafted as a Center, moved to RG and had one good year for hurt, but then "hey anybody can block" let's try him at LG, just another gaffe in a long line of them, he was a disaster. Obviously for the money Easton was not going to be here, but maybe he also thought he was at his best fit playing Center.

Now we have 24 and 23 year old starters that are going to have to mesh with possibly 2 Rookie starters and it's going to take some time and patience, two things given our limited window to do something we really don't have. Heard alot of folks talking about moving Elf to Guard or Rielff to LG or O'Neil to LT. Do we really want to start the season with 4 or 5 guys in new spots? Seems like a disaster waiting to happen given our recent history of the limited versatility they have shown in recent history.

[Beef Supreme]

Broken record, Zimmer should have said let Barr/Richardson/Griffen/Rudolph walk, trade Waynes and coach up the guys who were behind them. Sign a third WR/Guard and head into the draft with DE/DT/LB/RB/OG as your holes.

You forgot TE as a hole. You let Rudolph go in your hypothetical. That makes a hole at TE.


Instead, we’ve got two holes at guard and less dire holes at DT, 3rdWR, and backup RB.


I like where we’re sitting now much better.

[mlhouse]

We signed on for this on 3/15/18. That is the day we have Kirk Cousins $84M guranteed. There is an opportunity cost to that.


And we don’t build and get better by robbing Peter (defense) to pay Paul (offense). You just tread water and shift the way you lose from one way to another.

The way to get better is to keep the talent you have and continue to build through the draft. When you have a QB making $29M, the opportunity cost is either being only a minor player in FA, or gutting the talent you have so you can partake in the overpriced FA market.

If we had outbid the titans for Saffold (say we gave him $13M/per to come here), we’d have $42M invested in a good-but-not-great QB and a good-but-not-great guard. That’s about 23% of the cap on two non-elite players. That’s not a smart build.

As it is, we can draft a guard, pay him about $2M or less and have the position filled for the next ten years or so, if we get the right guy. Saffold will only get worse over time and possibly be useless in 3 or 4 years and put us right back here.

We can’t just buy our way to excellence. Dan Snyder tried that. You end up horribly unbalanced, cap strapped, and full of aging players that often aren’t as good with you as they were on their prior teams.



Yes, the pressure is on to come out of the draft with OL talent and not blow value by reaching. So they have a challenge that they have to accomplish. That’s on them and we knew we’d be in a meat grinder to fill out the roster as soon as we signed Cousins. We don’t have margin for error, That’s what that contract does to the cap. Can’t splurge to fill holes. Have to keep what you have and draft well. If we do, I think we can be very good in 2019.

No we don't have margin for error. It's a draft where the GM and coaches jobs are on the line and it's the worst secret ever that we have to go not just offensive line, but most certainly offensive guard early and often (probably at least twice in the first few rounds). Drafts with jobs on the line results most often with lack of foresight as far as ceiling of a player goes and usually ignores potential and sees a team take the guys who are more ready for immediate impact and have the highest floors.

Alot of people want to move Reiff to guard, but how did that work for guys like Remmers, Boone, Johnson, and to a lesser degree Fusco? Remmers was a starting RT for a 17-2 Super Bowl loser before he came here, but using the anybody can block and they are all interchangeable attitude this team employs he was moved to Guard and was an utter failure. Charlie Johnson was a Left Tackle on a team that won a ring in Indy, but we thought he could play guard too and it was just another disaster here.

Boone was a serviceable tackle in San Fran, bad guard here. Fusco was drafted as a Center, moved to RG and had one good year for hurt, but then "hey anybody can block" let's try him at LG, just another gaffe in a long line of them, he was a disaster. Obviously for the money Easton was not going to be here, but maybe he also thought he was at his best fit playing Center.

Now we have 24 and 23 year old starters that are going to have to mesh with possibly 2 Rookie starters and it's going to take some time and patience, two things given our limited window to do something we really don't have. Heard alot of folks talking about moving Elf to Guard or Rielff to LG or O'Neil to LT. Do we really want to start the season with 4 or 5 guys in new spots? Seems like a disaster waiting to happen given our recent history of the limited versatility they have shown in recent history.

Remmers was not as good of a lineman as Reiff so there is that. But, offensive tackles can move inside and be successful and many start out as guards and move to tackle once they get experience in the league.

This does not hold for everyone. I doubt I move Brian O'Neil inside to guard, but Reiff, he could be a very good interior lineman particularly in a zone blocking scheme that requires solid movement and footwork.

As far as staring the season with 4 or guys in new spots ABSOLUTELY. The offensive line sucked last season. There are 5 spots, and improving those spots will need new players at those spots.

I think there are two scenarios, given a first round oLine draft pick like Cody Ford.

1. Move Reiff to guard, O'Neil to LT, and start Ford at RT. Line is ONeil-Collins-Elefein-Reiff-Ford with hopefully multiple options to compete for the starting jobs or ;

2. Start Ford inside to begin career with the option of flipping ONeil and Reiff.

A lot of this depends upon the draft selection and if Brian O'Neil is ready to move to LT. But, I think either option improves the entire offensive line at every position.

[BlackDog]

We knew that they weren’t gonna be big players in FA. That’s what happens when you fully guarantee a choke artist 84 million.

Bringing back Barr is a mistake. They should’ve used that money to sign some depth at LB, OL, and HB. Now once again the team is counting on another patchwork oline to keep Cousins from getting that deer in the headlights look like he had during the second half of the season. There isn’t a single starter on the team that really deserves to be considered good, but keep praying that Kubiak will perform some miracle. It’s not gonna happen.

Elflien is overrated by many here. Rieff is Rieff. O’Neal will go down with an injury, ensuring Hill will be a starter again and the rest is practice squad material. Sorry but a couple of rookies isn’t gonna fix it.

Losing Murray isn’t surprising, but now the Vikings will be counting on Cook to stay healthy for a full season. If he goes down, then it’s Boone and Abdullah. Whoopie!!

I don’t believe the team will use its first pick on an olineman. They’ll draft a DT that Zimmer fell in love with. Then Spielman can once again show off his acumen by picking a few more Willie Beavers in the mid rounds. It’s either that or he’ll give up the farm in order to trade up for another 1st rounder much like we saw when they drafted Patterson.

It’s downhill from here. I’m fully expecting Zimmer to be fired after this season and the top 10 GM the homers gush about should go with him for signing Cousins as well.

[Bob Wiley]

Do the Vikings have a surplus at any position? I would look to make a trade for an o linemen that way.

[bombers3shooter]

Broken record, Zimmer should have said let Barr/Richardson/Griffen/Rudolph walk, trade Waynes and coach up the guys who were behind them. Sign a third WR/Guard and head into the draft with DE/DT/LB/RB/OG as your holes.

You forgot TE as a hole. You let Rudolph go in your hypothetical. That makes a hole at TE.


Instead, we’ve got two holes at guard and less dire holes at DT, 3rdWR, and backup RB.


I like where we’re sitting now much better.

Yeah most folks around here think they are playing house or Madden or taking a trip to the grocery store and there isn't 30 other teams trying to win football games. How is the OP going to fault them for not getting Zeitler? Somebody got traded to another football team? Well he must have been available to everybody right?

[Oscar]

The Top 10 GM has a proven record! He is unable to draft or buy an OL.

But you bozos keep telling yourselves Spielman is going to pull a rabbit out of his ass this year!

[BlackDog]

Do the Vikings have a surplus at any position? I would look to make a trade for an o linemen that way.

Cornerback. Of course if they do that, there’s a good chance Zimmer pounds the table again to use another high draft pick to replace what he lost.

It’s all about the defense.

[HeHateMe]

Broken record, Zimmer should have said let Barr/Richardson/Griffen/Rudolph walk, trade Waynes and coach up the guys who were behind them. Sign a third WR/Guard and head into the draft with DE/DT/LB/RB/OG as your holes.

You forgot TE as a hole. You let Rudolph go in your hypothetical. That makes a hole at TE.


Instead, we’ve got two holes at guard and less dire holes at DT, 3rdWR, and backup RB.


I like where we’re sitting now much better.

Good point, too much going on. In a lot of offseason scenarios, I said add Jared Cook. I'd still go that route and roll with David Morgan as the #2 guy. Hell, third WR could have been someone cheaper and then spend the money on Cook. Rudolph logically could have gone from a 7.5 mil cap hit to like 3.5 and you could have retained him of course. Waynes+Griffen = 20 mil in extra cap, Rudolph restructured + Barr gone is almost another 9-10ish.

[Bob Wiley]

Do the Vikings have a surplus at any position? I would look to make a trade for an o linemen that way.

Cornerback. Of course if they do that, there’s a good chance Zimmer pounds the table again to use another high draft pick to replace what he lost.

It’s all about the defense.

I thought about that. But the Vikings have to do something. They only have a few o linemen even on the roster and even fewer good ones.

[hategreenticemase]

We signed on for this on 3/15/18. That is the day we have Kirk Cousins $84M guranteed. There is an opportunity cost to that.


And we don’t build and get better by robbing Peter (defense) to pay Paul (offense). You just tread water and shift the way you lose from one way to another.

Sorry, I am so tired of this myopic, lazy thinking. Yep, we spend a lot on QB, so of course we are in cap issues.

The first fail is not fixing the damn line last year when we got the damn expensive qb. Horrible and indefensible.

We are keeping guys a year too late (EG, Rudy) and not leveraging out strengths (trading a corner, zims ability to created def players out of athletes). This is why we are where we are. Worse than last year and ZERO cap room with a massive unsolved problem. Again.

[Beef Supreme]

We signed on for this on 3/15/18. That is the day we have Kirk Cousins $84M guranteed. There is an opportunity cost to that.


And we don’t build and get better by robbing Peter (defense) to pay Paul (offense). You just tread water and shift the way you lose from one way to another.

Sorry, I am so tired of this myopic, lazy thinking. Yep, we spend a lot on QB, so of course we are in cap issues.

The first fail is not fixing the damn line last year when we got the damn expensive qb. Horrible and indefensible.

We are keeping guys a year too late (EG, Rudy) and not leveraging out strengths (trading a corner, zims ability to created def players out of athletes). This is why we are where we are. Worse than last year and ZERO cap room with a massive unsolved problem. Again.

It’s reality. $29M is a big chunk of change. I think it was a mistake, but it’s sunk cost now. How do we make the best team we can under the circumstances? Keep your strengths (defense) and address the weaknesses the best you can with the draft.

It’s do-able. And if successful, we’ll be set for a long time. We'll have the team pretty well set and can address departures as they come.

[Jaamz]

We knew that they weren’t gonna be big players in FA. That’s what happens when you fully guarantee a choke artist 84 million.

Bringing back Barr is a mistake. They should’ve used that money to sign some depth at LB, OL, and HB. Now once again the team is counting on another patchwork oline to keep Cousins from getting that deer in the headlights look like he had during the second half of the season. There isn’t a single starter on the team that really deserves to be considered good, but keep praying that Kubiak will perform some miracle. It’s not gonna happen.

Elflien is overrated by many here. Rieff is Rieff. O’Neal will go down with an injury, ensuring Hill will be a starter again and the rest is practice squad material. Sorry but a couple of rookies isn’t gonna fix it.

Losing Murray isn’t surprising, but now the Vikings will be counting on Cook to stay healthy for a full season. If he goes down, then it’s Boone and Abdullah. Whoopie!!

I don’t believe the team will use its first pick on an olineman. They’ll draft a DT that Zimmer fell in love with. Then Spielman can once again show off his acumen by picking a few more Willie Beavers in the mid rounds. It’s either that or he’ll give up the farm in order to trade up for another 1st rounder much like we saw when they drafted Patterson.

It’s downhill from here. I’m fully expecting Zimmer to be fired after this season and the top 10 GM the homers gush about should go with him for signing Cousins as well.

[weimy froob]

I respectfully reject the notion that this has been a debacle. In fact, it’s been better than I expected. The only player of consequence that we’ve lost is Richardson. We committed to a mild FA period on 3/15/18.


We still have massive holes at both guard positions and important but less massive holes at 3-techDT and 3rd WR. We'll need a kicker and some depth on both lines too.

I honestly think that’s still very possible to fix this off-season. Kicker and depth can be addressed in the 2nd half of the draft. I’d like to bring Robinson back to compete with Treadwell, Beebe, and others for the 3rd WR spot. I think we use our top picks to address the guard and DT spots, whether that’s with just straight up draft selection or using those picks as chips in trades. We can hopefully supplement with a June 1 cut to help us get a stopgap if a young player isn’t ready.

I view the off-season as incomplete and unable to be graded as of yet, but I don’t think the task ahead of Rick and co. is insurmountable. I went into FA with very modest expectations. We weren’t going to be major players. I’m very glad our losses were not more significant.

I’ll have a more clear picture after the draft. We will probably still have some work to do, but we’ll know whether that work is to fill a few gaps or if we’re in panick mode to fill major holes.

We are worse off than prior to FA. No amount of spinning or rationalizing will change that.

Hopefully its a very good draft. Has to be.

Now that they needlessly backed themselves into a corner they almost have to take two interior guys in first 3 picks and both better be good enough to start day one. Then we hope the improved OL is to get Cousins where we need him to be.

We lost Richardson.


Is there any other loss that has mattered?

Easton?

teams that stay in place in the nfl get passed. the best thing you can say about the vikings going into the draft is that they treaded water-all the while that window of opportunity closed a little more. right now the status quo is a step back imo.

[weimy froob]

The Top 10 GM has a proven record! He is unable to draft or buy an OL.

But you bozos keep telling yourselves Spielman is going to pull a rabbit out of his ass this year!

i was going to say that RS needs to pull a rabbit out of his hat to make this team a SB contender. your phrasing will work though.

[weimy froob]

We signed on for this on 3/15/18. That is the day we have Kirk Cousins $84M guranteed. There is an opportunity cost to that.


And we don’t build and get better by robbing Peter (defense) to pay Paul (offense). You just tread water and shift the way you lose from one way to another.

The way to get better is to keep the talent you have and continue to build through the draft. When you have a QB making $29M, the opportunity cost is either being only a minor player in FA, or gutting the talent you have so you can partake in the overpriced FA market.

If we had outbid the titans for Saffold (say we gave him $13M/per to come here), we’d have $42M invested in a good-but-not-great QB and a good-but-not-great guard. That’s about 23% of the cap on two non-elite players. That’s not a smart build.

As it is, we can draft a guard, pay him about $2M or less and have the position filled for the next ten years or so, if we get the right guy. Saffold will only get worse over time and possibly be useless in 3 or 4 years and put us right back here.

We can’t just buy our way to excellence. Dan Snyder tried that. You end up horribly unbalanced, cap strapped, and full of aging players that often aren’t as good with you as they were on their prior teams.



Yes, the pressure is on to come out of the draft with OL talent and not blow value by reaching. So they have a challenge that they have to accomplish. That’s on them and we knew we’d be in a meat grinder to fill out the roster as soon as we signed Cousins. We don’t have margin for error, That’s what that contract does to the cap. Can’t splurge to fill holes. Have to keep what you have and draft well. If we do, I think we can be very good in 2019.

No we don't have margin for error. It's a draft where the GM and coaches jobs are on the line and it's the worst secret ever that we have to go not just offensive line, but most certainly offensive guard early and often (probably at least twice in the first few rounds). Drafts with jobs on the line results most often with lack of foresight as far as ceiling of a player goes and usually ignores potential and sees a team take the guys who are more ready for immediate impact and have the highest floors.

Alot of people want to move Reiff to guard, but how did that work for guys like Remmers, Boone, Johnson, and to a lesser degree Fusco? Remmers was a starting RT for a 17-2 Super Bowl loser before he came here, but using the anybody can block and they are all interchangeable attitude this team employs he was moved to Guard and was an utter failure. Charlie Johnson was a Left Tackle on a team that won a ring in Indy, but we thought he could play guard too and it was just another disaster here.

Boone was a serviceable tackle in San Fran, bad guard here. Fusco was drafted as a Center, moved to RG and had one good year for hurt, but then "hey anybody can block" let's try him at LG, just another gaffe in a long line of them, he was a disaster. Obviously for the money Easton was not going to be here, but maybe he also thought he was at his best fit playing Center.

Now we have 24 and 23 year old starters that are going to have to mesh with possibly 2 Rookie starters and it's going to take some time and patience, two things given our limited window to do something we really don't have. Heard alot of folks talking about moving Elf to Guard or Rielff to LG or O'Neil to LT. Do we really want to start the season with 4 or 5 guys in new spots? Seems like a disaster waiting to happen given our recent history of the limited versatility they have shown in recent history.

as i said in the other post-RS needs to pull a rabbit out of his hat right now to make this team a SB contender next year. they regressed last year-have question marks on the line that probably are going to try to be filled in a wholesale manner and all key players have one more year of tread on their belts. let's see what the team looks like going into summer OTA's-but i don't think the picture is all that rosy right now.

[Beef Supreme]

We are worse off than prior to FA. No amount of spinning or rationalizing will change that.

Hopefully its a very good draft. Has to be.

Now that they needlessly backed themselves into a corner they almost have to take two interior guys in first 3 picks and both better be good enough to start day one. Then we hope the improved OL is to get Cousins where we need him to be.

We lost Richardson.


Is there any other loss that has mattered?

Easton?

teams that stay in place in the nfl get passed. the best thing you can say about the vikings going into the draft is that they treaded water-all the while that window of opportunity closed a little more. right now the status quo is a step back imo.

Fine. But again we committed to that last year with Cousins.

The notion that a poor OL held the offense back has to prevail and we have to fix that line through the draft. Other teams add their skill guys and the Vikes fortify the foundation of the team. That’s what has to happen. This allows Cousins, Cook, and everyone else better, right? That has to be the thinking.

And for every team that gets better through FA, another team gets worse. It’s a zero-sum game, after all. It’s nailing the draft where teas really get better.


It’s all about the draft.

[weimy froob]

We lost Richardson.


Is there any other loss that has mattered?

Easton?

teams that stay in place in the nfl get passed. the best thing you can say about the vikings going into the draft is that they treaded water-all the while that window of opportunity closed a little more. right now the status quo is a step back imo.

Fine. But again we committed to that last year with Cousins.

The notion that a poor OL held the offense back has to prevail and we have to fix that line through the draft. Other teams add their skill guys and the Vikes fortify the foundation of the team. That’s what has to happen. This allows Cousins, Cook, and everyone else better, right? That has to be the thinking.

And for every team that gets better through FA, another team gets worse. It’s a zero-sum game, after all. It’s nailing the draft where teas really get better.


It’s all about the draft.

my point is that the team right now doesn't look like it's better than the one that went 8-7-1 last year. i've always believed in the draft and i always believed that you build a team thru the lines. some people here don't believe that. there have even been threads stating that o-lines don't matter any more. i disagree. i think it's the rare QB that can succeed without a superior o-line. the exceptions that prove the rule. on the other hand a superior o-line has allowed many a QB to shine in the post-season. but i digress. the point is that after this first FA splash i think the team is not as good as the one that finished the season last year as a bust in a SB or bust season.

[hategreenticemase]

We signed on for this on 3/15/18. That is the day we have Kirk Cousins $84M guranteed. There is an opportunity cost to that.


And we don’t build and get better by robbing Peter (defense) to pay Paul (offense). You just tread water and shift the way you lose from one way to another.

Sorry, I am so tired of this myopic, lazy thinking. Yep, we spend a lot on QB, so of course we are in cap issues.

The first fail is not fixing the damn line last year when we got the damn expensive qb. Horrible and indefensible.

We are keeping guys a year too late (EG, Rudy) and not leveraging out strengths (trading a corner, zims ability to created def players out of athletes). This is why we are where we are. Worse than last year and ZERO cap room with a massive unsolved problem. Again.

It’s reality. $29M is a big chunk of change. I think it was a mistake, but it’s sunk cost now. How do we make the best team we can under the circumstances? Keep your strengths (defense) and address the weaknesses the best you can with the draft.

It’s do-able. And if successful, we’ll be set for a long time. We'll have the team pretty well set and can address departures as they come.

Dude, I understand its a reality. The best way to look at it is how you described it - sunk cost. I don't think its a mistake - can't be called that until we have a GOOD OL and Cousins isn't significantly better. I believe with a good ol he will be better. But, that's yermt to be proven.

What's undeniable and is not too early to call it a mistake was the MASSIVE blunder of entering this past season with an expensive yet ol sensitive qb, with a bad ol. It was fucking preposterous.

We HAD options. We didn't do anything, except questionably keep a couple expensive guys who may be close to done or on the backside for sure. I'm still pissed we didn't trade for Zeitler which wouldhave solved so many issues.

[RubeTube]

Sorry, I am so tired of this myopic, lazy thinking. Yep, we spend a lot on QB, so of course we are in cap issues.

The first fail is not fixing the damn line last year when we got the damn expensive qb. Horrible and indefensible.

We are keeping guys a year too late (EG, Rudy) and not leveraging out strengths (trading a corner, zims ability to created def players out of athletes). This is why we are where we are. Worse than last year and ZERO cap room with a massive unsolved problem. Again.

It’s reality. $29M is a big chunk of change. I think it was a mistake, but it’s sunk cost now. How do we make the best team we can under the circumstances? Keep your strengths (defense) and address the weaknesses the best you can with the draft.

It’s do-able. And if successful, we’ll be set for a long time. We'll have the team pretty well set and can address departures as they come.

Dude, I understand its a reality. The best way to look at it is how you described it - sunk cost. I don't think its a mistake - can't be called that until we have a GOOD OL and Cousins isn't significantly better. I believe with a good ol he will be better. But, that's yermt to be proven.

What's undeniable and is not too early to call it a mistake was the MASSIVE blunder of entering this past season with an expensive yet ol sensitive qb, with a bad ol. It was fucking preposterous.

We HAD options. We didn't do anything, except questionably keep a couple expensive guys who may be close to done or on the backside for sure. I'm still pissed we didn't trade for Zeitler which wouldhave solved so many issues.

Everyone wants to bitch and moan about Cousins getting better with the Oline. They better take a look at the 28th ranked run offense and the HC who wants to "Pound it"

Cousins had a pretty damn good year. The running game was absolutely pathetic and the biggest reason this team failed to make the playoffs.

I'm all for running the football but with this Oline and RBs on roster who have never sniffed a 1K season, that is far more concerning.

[Beef Supreme]

teams that stay in place in the nfl get passed. the best thing you can say about the vikings going into the draft is that they treaded water-all the while that window of opportunity closed a little more. right now the status quo is a step back imo.

Fine. But again we committed to that last year with Cousins.

The notion that a poor OL held the offense back has to prevail and we have to fix that line through the draft. Other teams add their skill guys and the Vikes fortify the foundation of the team. That’s what has to happen. This allows Cousins, Cook, and everyone else better, right? That has to be the thinking.

And for every team that gets better through FA, another team gets worse. It’s a zero-sum game, after all. It’s nailing the draft where teas really get better.


It’s all about the draft.

my point is that the team right now doesn't look like it's better than the one that went 8-7-1 last year. i've always believed in the draft and i always believed that you build a team thru the lines. some people here don't believe that. there have even been threads stating that o-lines don't matter any more. i disagree. i think it's the rare QB that can succeed without a superior o-line. the exceptions that prove the rule. on the other hand a superior o-line has allowed many a QB to shine in the post-season. but i digress. the point is that after this first FA splash i think the team is not as good as the one that finished the season last year as a bust in a SB or bust season.

Well. We’re not.


But again we should have expected that after the Cousins deal. That’s why we have to outdraft other teams this April. If we don’t, we won’t be any better. But with a good class and maybe a minor trade or June 1 pickup, we can be improved.

The games don’t start until September. That’s almost 6 months away.


There’s a lot riding on this season. It could be make or break for Spielman and Zimmer. Should absolutely be for Spielman. He put the tr in this spot with the cousins deal. Now he has to successfully negotiate that contract and continue to get better.

I’m optimistic because I thought we’d lose a lot of talent and go backwards and, aside from Richardson, that didn’t happen.

So far, so good. But the real work is still in front of them.

[RubeTube]

Fine. But again we committed to that last year with Cousins.

The notion that a poor OL held the offense back has to prevail and we have to fix that line through the draft. Other teams add their skill guys and the Vikes fortify the foundation of the team. That’s what has to happen. This allows Cousins, Cook, and everyone else better, right? That has to be the thinking.

And for every team that gets better through FA, another team gets worse. It’s a zero-sum game, after all. It’s nailing the draft where teas really get better.


It’s all about the draft.

my point is that the team right now doesn't look like it's better than the one that went 8-7-1 last year. i've always believed in the draft and i always believed that you build a team thru the lines. some people here don't believe that. there have even been threads stating that o-lines don't matter any more. i disagree. i think it's the rare QB that can succeed without a superior o-line. the exceptions that prove the rule. on the other hand a superior o-line has allowed many a QB to shine in the post-season. but i digress. the point is that after this first FA splash i think the team is not as good as the one that finished the season last year as a bust in a SB or bust season.

Well. We’re not.


But again we should have expected that after the Cousins deal. That’s why we have to outdraft other teams this April. If we don’t, we won’t be any better. But with a good class and maybe a minor trade or June 1 pickup, we can be improved.

The games don’t start until September. That’s almost 6 months away.


There’s a lot riding on this season. It could be make or break for Spielman and Zimmer. Should absolutely be for Spielman. He put the tr in this spot with the cousins deal. Now he has to successfully negotiate that contract and continue to get better.

I’m optimistic because I thought we’d lose a lot of talent and go backwards and, aside from Richardson, that didn’t happen.

So far, so good. But the real work is still in front of them.

Zimmer is just as much to blame if this fails. He's gotten everything he wanted over on the defense.

If it was up to Zimmer, we would have Trevor Siemien throwing to Bobby Wade and Hank Baskett so he could get a couple more players on his defense.

Spielman has been here way longer so i definitely agree he should go but don't let the HC off the hook.

[weimy froob]

Fine. But again we committed to that last year with Cousins.

The notion that a poor OL held the offense back has to prevail and we have to fix that line through the draft. Other teams add their skill guys and the Vikes fortify the foundation of the team. That’s what has to happen. This allows Cousins, Cook, and everyone else better, right? That has to be the thinking.

And for every team that gets better through FA, another team gets worse. It’s a zero-sum game, after all. It’s nailing the draft where teas really get better.


It’s all about the draft.

my point is that the team right now doesn't look like it's better than the one that went 8-7-1 last year. i've always believed in the draft and i always believed that you build a team thru the lines. some people here don't believe that. there have even been threads stating that o-lines don't matter any more. i disagree. i think it's the rare QB that can succeed without a superior o-line. the exceptions that prove the rule. on the other hand a superior o-line has allowed many a QB to shine in the post-season. but i digress. the point is that after this first FA splash i think the team is not as good as the one that finished the season last year as a bust in a SB or bust season.

Well. We’re not.

yep. the first line of the OP.

This is PURELY a "where we are at as of now" thread.

not as good as we were last year. that's my opinion too. still time to fix the equation. still a chance RS can pull a rabbit out of the hat.

[Beef Supreme]

The team has been better under Zimmer than anyone since Denny Green. I’m not too keen on dumping him knee-jerk after this. I’m in no hurry to revisit the Leslie Frazier years, etc.

And I’m pretty sure the deal that put us in this spot, the Cousins contract, was not his idea. If that doesn’t work, then Spielman should go and we should trust the next guy to acquire a young QB on a rookie contract. That’s the recipe for success. Not $84M for Kirk “above average” Cousins.

[Oscar]

The Top 10 GM who has been in the front office since 2009 has the WORST OL in the NFL 10 years later.

How do you have only 1 G on your roster? No one who posts here could do that if they tried!