The Minnesota Vikings have continued to build their offense over the first 17 months of the Kwesi Adofo-Mensah era. The acquisitions of tight ends T.J. Hockenson and Josh Oliver along with the selection of Jordan Addison this past April signify their long-term approach at building around whoever the quarterback will be.
There is one more step that the Vikings should take to continue building the offense while working on their competitive rebuild. On Friday afternoon, the Arizona Cardinals released wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins and the Vikings should do what they can to sign him for 2023.
Depth is needed
The Vikings need to add depth at wide receiver. After the top three of Justin Jefferson, K.J. Osborn and Jordan Addison, there is nothing but major questions and uncertainty. The addition of Hopkins would give them a bona fide star to pair with Jefferson right now while giving Addison all the time he needs to develop and none of the pressure to play immediately.
Could add him with high incentives
Over his two seasons with the Cardinals, Hopkins missed 15 of the possible 34 regular season games. Six of those were due to a suspension with the other nine because of injury. Due to those missed games, the Vikings could offer him a contract loaded with not likely to be earned incentives, meaning it would be more cap friendly in 2023. With the Vikings having a shade over $9.5 million in cap space before a potential Dalvin Cook move, they have a myriad of ways to make something work.
Ease the pressure on Justin Jefferson
One of the main strategies that defenses deployed against the Vikings was to stop Jefferson. It was one of the reasons that they traded for T.J. Hockenson was made and why they picked Jordan Addison in the first round of the NFL draft. With another true alpha on the outside, the Vikings would immediately have the best group of pass catchers in the National Football League.
The defense would feel less pressure
Make no mistake about it, the Vikings’ defense has a lot of pressure on it in 2023. They were 31st in total defense in 2022 and it prompted a change in defensive coordinator with the hiring of Brian Flores. The Vikings had an astounding 58 three-and-outs in 2022, putting a lot of pressure on the defense to come up with stops. With the addition of an elite weapon, that number will certainly drop significantly making things easier on the defense.
It would be fun
At the end of the day, the NFL is a business. You not only want to be competitive, but also sell tickets and merchandise. One of the things that can bring in money for the franchise is a high level of excitement. Adding an elite skill position player is the easiest way to do so. Signing Hopkins would bring a lot of excitement and jersey sales, which would be massive to not only the on-field results of the Vikings, but also the financial bottom line.
