2018 Minnesota Vikings Off-Season Thread

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per Shama:

Journeyman Case Keenum’s performance for the Vikings last season approached star status, but despite 2018 free agency a source close to the team’s front office doesn’t expect Keenum to be unreasonable in contract negotiations. He described Keenum as “old school” in attitude and predicted the quarterback who never established himself in four previous NFL seasons will remain a Viking. “He isn’t going anywhere,” the source said.

The Vikings are looking for a new offensive coordinator to replace Pat Shurmur who is the new head coach of the Giants. In the hiring process general manager Rick Spielman and head coach Mike Zimmer are likely to value the approach of Shurmur who adapted his system to the talent of the players, instead of mandating a style of play.

http://shamasportsheadliners.com/

Skol Vikes!!
 

KFAN: REPORT: Cousins says "Vikings are #1 with a bullet" if offers are similar

As soon as the bombshell dropped earlier this week that the Washington Redskins had traded for Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith, the market for their former quarterback Kirk Cousins went bonkers!

Technically, Smith can't be traded until the new league year begins on March 14th, 2018 and technically Kirk Cousins is still the Redskins quarterback until then, but recent news and Cousins trek around Radio Row at the Mall of America today has made that a bit of an awkwardly unofficially official situation.

As mentioned, Cousins is in Minnesota right now and is joining all sorts of media outlets telling them exactly what you would expect.

"Curveballs come all the time," Cousins told Sirius Radio. "I expect to be a free agent come March 14th. I haven't had a chance to pick where I'm going to play since I went to Michigan State."

So where will Kirk land? Many people are linking the Minnesota Vikings to the Cousins sweepstakes given they appear to be a quarterback away from getting to the Super Bowl.

As of yesterday, Vikings general manager Rick Spielman had remained coy when it comes to the Vikings quarterback situation, but the situation is grave with three quarterbacks becoming free agents at the end of this league year.

Well, right on the scene at radio row, things got a little more interesting with Paul Allen and Paul Charchian for KFAN.

The Pauls were chatting with Bleacher Report senior writer Master Tesfatsion, formerly of the Washington Post, about Kirk Cousins and how he might fit with the Vikings. Stemming from that conversation, Paul Allen received a text message from what he called an "incredibly well respected opinion" with some VERY interesting information around Kirk's preference for a landing spot.

The mystery text message read as follows:

"Listening to you, I'm told Cousins has been telling people this week the Vikings are #1 with a bullet on his preference list. If offers are similar he's taking the Vikings."

https://kfan.iheart.com/content/201...gs-are-1-with-a-bullet-if-offers-are-similar/

Skol Vikes!!
 

If they can do something like 5/$135m with no more than $100m guaranteed I would do it. That's a cap # of $27m/year. They already paid their QB's around $21 million last year. That's steep but not unreasonable given what Alex Smith just got. If they have to go higher than that, it gets dicey.
 

howeda7 said:
If they can do something like 5/$135m with no more than $100m guaranteed I would do it. That's a cap # of $27m/year. They already paid their QB's around $21 million last year. That's steep but not unreasonable given what Alex Smith just got. If they have to go higher than that, it gets dicey.
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No way in hell would I give Kurt Cousin a hundred million dollar contract. Dude is not that type of guy. I don’t think he would be an upgrade over Case or Sam (best QB on roster) or much better than a HEALTHY Teddy. My preference would be for the Vikes to sign Sam to a friendly starters contract and Teddy.
Case had a great season but his lack of arm strength was exposed and taken advantage of by good defenses. A healthy Sam is special and I think a healthy and more seasoned Teddy is not much different than Case. Spend money on the oline (Joe Thomas!!!!) and protect Sam.


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Sportsfan24 said:
No way in hell would I give Kurt Cousin a hundred million dollar contract. Dude is not that type of guy. I don’t think he would be an upgrade over Case or Sam (best QB on roster) or much better than a HEALTHY Teddy. My preference would be for the Vikes to sign Sam to a friendly starters contract and Teddy.
Case had a great season but his lack of arm strength was exposed and taken advantage of by good defenses. A healthy Sam is special and I think a healthy and more seasoned Teddy is not much different than Case. Spend money on the oline (Joe Thomas!!!!) and protect Sam.


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I don't disagree that a healthy Bradford is as good as Cousins, but there is no way you can assume Bradford will be healthy. He's had the same knee operated on 3 times. He's missed more games than he's played in his career. The chances he can make it through a 16 game schedule are remote, IMO. I'd gladly take him as the back-up to whomever we land on, but he cannot be a starter.
 

howeda7 said:
I don't disagree that a healthy Bradford is as good as Cousins, but there is no way you can assume Bradford will be healthy. He's had the same knee operated on 3 times. He's missed more games than he's played in his career. The chances he can make it through a 16 game schedule are remote, IMO. I'd gladly take him as the back-up to whomever we land on, but he cannot be a starter.
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I don’t think Kirk Cousins is that good first of all. He’s certainly not elite. Bradford is hands down the better QB between Keenum, Cousins, and Teddy. I would rank them in that order. If I include value (ROI) and ability, I would rank them as follows:

Bradford, Teddy, Case then Cousins. This is assuming Teddy’s healthy. I would have no issue going into next season with a improved oline, healthy Cooks and Bradford as our QB with a healthy Teddy backing him up. That’s a injury prone QB with an elite arm (the best group of receivers in the NFL), an elite and more importantly every down RB, a playoff caliber QB with more NFL experience under his belt and top defense.

I would rather that money be spent among two QB’s vs giving it all to a one year wonder or mid level QB (Cousins). I also wouldn’t want Case and Bridgewater (on the same team); that’s two weak armed QB’s.


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howeda7 said:
He's missed more games than he's played in his career.
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Wat? Out of a possible 112 regular season games, he has played in 80. Coming into this season it was 78 out of 96.
 

dpodoll68 said:
Wat? Out of a possible 112 regular season games, he has played in 80. Coming into this season it was 78 out of 96.
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Actually it's 80 out of 128 so we're both wrong. In the last five years though he's missed more games than he's started.

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I would not want to be making this QB decision, especially now knowing Cousins would have interest. Ironically, the one you have the best handle on is Cousins, as he's been healthy and you have tons of tape you can scout him on. Case is the wild card. Let's admit that he was statistically really good. What does that mean? One good season or the beginning of an improvement arc and a distinguished career? Anyone who thinks they know is kidding themselves.
 

Bad Gopher said:
I would not want to be making this QB decision, especially now knowing Cousins would have interest. Ironically, the one you have the best handle on is Cousins, as he's been healthy and you have tons of tape you can scout him on. Case is the wild card. Let's admit that he was statistically really good. What does that mean? One good season or the beginning of an improvement arc and a distinguished career? Anyone who thinks they know is kidding themselves.
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Completely agree bad. Would hate to have to make this decision. No matter what they choose a lot of people will think it was the wrong choice unless we win a super bowl and lets face it.. that ain't happening.
 

Bad Gopher said:
I would not want to be making this QB decision, especially now knowing Cousins would have interest. Ironically, the one you have the best handle on is Cousins, as he's been healthy and you have tons of tape you can scout him on. Case is the wild card. Let's admit that he was statistically really good. What does that mean? One good season or the beginning of an improvement arc and a distinguished career? Anyone who thinks they know is kidding themselves.
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Cousins simple isn’t that good. I would rather have had Alex Smith if not someone on our roster last season. For me it’s two of the three:

1. Case and Bradford as backup
2. Bradford and Teddy as backup
3. Teddy and a strong armed veteran as backup.

Cousins will be too expensive and isn’t better than two possible all three of our QB’s. Prior to being injured Teddy was looking great going into the 2016 season. If and it’s a big if, if Teddy is healthy we drafted him for a reason. What has done to make us determine that he is no longer a starting NFL QB?


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Bradford is probably the best out of all the options but I want nothing to do with him and his injuries.
 



Kirk Cousins is the right answer. He still put up nearly 4100 yards and solid numbers with a bunch of nobody's at WR. What would he do with Thielen and Diggs? I'd like to find out.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
Kirk Cousins is the right answer. He still put up nearly 4100 yards and solid numbers with a bunch of nobody's at WR. What would he do with Thielen and Diggs? I'd like to find out.
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Yeah but at what monetary price? And is the O-line good enough to prevent him from being pounded? Part of Keenum's allure was his ability to escape the rush; which unfortunately he failed to do in the final game played last season.
 

Bad Gopher said:
I would not want to be making this QB decision, especially now knowing Cousins would have interest. Ironically, the one you have the best handle on is Cousins, as he's been healthy and you have tons of tape you can scout him on. Case is the wild card. Let's admit that he was statistically really good. What does that mean? One good season or the beginning of an improvement arc and a distinguished career? Anyone who thinks they know is kidding themselves.
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I'd be willing to bet a good amount of money that Case Keenum will never have a season better than the one he just had.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
Kirk Cousins is the right answer. He still put up nearly 4100 yards and solid numbers with a bunch of nobody's at WR. What would he do with Thielen and Diggs? I'd like to find out.
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I tend to agree. In 15 and 16 combined he was like the #6 rated passer. Last year, he lost his top two WR's and Washington had a bunch of injuries on the OL and backfield. It's a question of $$.
 


GopherWeatherGuy said:
Kirk Cousins is the right answer. He still put up nearly 4100 yards and solid numbers with a bunch of nobody's at WR. What would he do with Thielen and Diggs? I'd like to find out.
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The same thing he did with Pierre Garçon, Desean Jackson and Jordan Reed......not much


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Sportsfan24 said:
The same thing he did with Pierre Garçon, Desean Jackson and Jordan Reed......not much


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You mean like complete nearly 70% of his passes for ~4200 yards and go to the playoffs in 2015 with a bottom 5 defense?
What about completing 67% of his passes for ~4900 yards and going to the pro bowl in 2016, just missing the playoffs with a bottom 5 defense?

Yeah, not much.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
You mean like complete nearly 70% of his passes for ~4200 yards and go to the playoffs in 2015 with a bottom 5 defense?
What about completing 67% of his passes for ~4900 yards and going to the pro bowl in 2016, just missing the playoffs with a bottom 5 defense?

Yeah, not much.
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9-7 and a loss in the wild card round.....yeah, not much.


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Football teams play about 40 players in any given game. Why do you judge a QB by wins and losses when 39 others contribute?

Wins and losses is a terrible metric to judge a player in a game where 40 players contribute. Try better metrics.
 

Sportsfan24 said:
9-7 and a loss in the wild card round.....yeah, not much.


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With a bottom 5 defense. What would happen with one of the best defenses? Wait, don't answer that, it'll hurt your brain too much. Continue trolling like usual.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
With a bottom 5 defense. What would happen with one of the best defenses? Wait, don't answer that, it'll hurt your brain too much. Continue trolling like usual.
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Trolling? So anytime someone disagrees with you they are trolling? I don’t think you understand the meaning of the word.


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Sportsfan24 said:
Trolling? So anytime someone disagrees with you they are trolling? I don’t think you understand the meaning of the word.


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It's your same tired argument as Rubio. In your world, only the people you dislike are responsible for wins and losses. What was Keenum's record in the regular season and playoffs before going to the NFC championship this year?
Give a reason with some substance and I wouldn't call you a troll.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
It's your same tired argument as Rubio. In your world, only the people you dislike are responsible for wins and losses. What was Keenum's record in the regular season and playoffs before going to the NFC championship this year?
Give a reason with some substance and I wouldn't call you a troll.
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I dislike Cousin’s because I would rather have one of the QB’s currently on our roster vs making Cousin’s one of if not they highest paid QB in the league?[emoji15]
If that’s your position then hell, I absolutely HATE him![emoji1]

Look, you made a good argument about his stats being good and the defense being bad. It doesn’t move me off my position but it’s a valid point.

Rubio? I don’t want to make you cry so I will leave that alone.[emoji22]

Case? Let’s see:
1. Didn’t cost us much so why not.
2. Cousins has been given ample opportunity.
3. The team that knows Cousins best was reluctant to sign him to a long term contract......why?
4. We have better and cheaper options than Cousins.
5. I would give Case the money before Cousins.


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Congrats to Moss. He deserves it. Too bad he has to go in alongside a murderer.
 

This will be a really tough call for the Vikes. The decision on the new OC is probably an even more important decision than the QB because ultimately, the QB they want to roll with should be the QB the new OC wants to roll with.

Cousins is a really good QB. Really good. Not elite. None of the Vikes QB’s are close to elite either though. Somebody is going to pay Cousins more than he’s worth; someone will pay Keenum more than he’s worth. Bridgewater and Bradford? Who knows. Bradford is likely by far the most talented of the 4 but just can’t stay on the field. If I knew Bradford could stay healthy and take every snap next season, the decision to me would be an easy one.

I’m not against signing Cousins, because he’s likely the most known and proven commodity among the group (at least the four we’re talking about). Yes, they would have to pay him more than he’s worth. Maybe way more than he’s worth.

I’m glad it’s not my call. I’d rather over pay for Drew Brees but I don’t see him leaving the Saints.
 

per Shooter:

Do the Vikings have a quarterback among the three who’s worth committing to long-term?

“Bradford’s been injured so many times he’s never been able to make it through,” Steinberg said. “At one point, it looked like Teddy Bridgewater’s team. So you have to make an assessment what his physical status is.

“And Case Keenum, how old is he?”

Keenum is 29.

“So is Kirk Cousins,” Steinberg said.

Steinberg’s eyes light up when he talks about Cousins, who is leaving the Washington Redskins for free agency. Steinberg does not represent Cousins.

“He is the first free-agent quarterback at a young age to hit the market probably since Warren Moon did in 1984,” Steinberg said. “This is a complete anomaly. Starting quarterbacks do not become free agents — they are signed long-term by their teams. So because of the peculiarity that Washington didn’t sign him long-term, he’s available.”

The top of the NFL quarterback market right now is about $24 million a year.

“It would not surprise me if he averages closer to $30 million a year, with a huge guarantee,” Steinberg said.

https://www.twincities.com/2018/02/...o-one-starting-qb-agent-leigh-steinberg-says/

Skol Vikes!!
 

Breakin' The Plane said:
Congrats to Moss. He deserves it. Too bad he has to go in alongside a murderer.
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Yeah because prosecutors always plead suspected murders down to misdemeanors! Stop it. That was prosecutorial misconduct overcharging him when they know he didn’t commit a murder.


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