The Vikings already have had a busy offseason and that will increase next week as Kwesi Adofo-Mensah runs his second draft as the team’s general manager.
This has caused plenty of questions about the Vikings’ direction as a roster coming off a 13-win season undergoes change. Let’s answer some of those questions in this mailbag.
Kirk Cousins for Trey Lance? It's no longer reckless speculation
Cousins to SF
Lance & a 2024 2nd that could be a 1 to MN
Who says no?— Jacob (@Just1SBB4IDie) April 19, 2023
Me and my SKOR North teammates, Phil Mackey and Declan Goff, often indulge in what we call reckless speculation. This means discussing potential trades and signings that some consider to be long shots, if not impossible.
One example came early in the offseason when we discussed the potential of Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins waiving his no-trade clause in order to join the San Francisco 49ers. As part of the return, the Vikings would get 2021 third-overall pick Trey Lance.
Many rolled their eyes and declared such discussion to be foolish. But on Wednesday, Pro Football Talk reported the Vikings and 49ers talked about Lance at the Scouting Combine. The Vikings have made it pretty clear they are interested in moving off of Cousins — he turns 35 in August — after the final season of his contract in 2023.
There is a chance they could even try to do it before this season, or at least consider that option. The 49ers make a lot of sense given they were in the NFC title game last season and have a roster that’s ready to win. The problem is they don’t have a quarterback who’s ready to play at a high level.
Brock Purdy, the last pick in the 2022 draft, had success as a starter, but could miss the 2023 season after having elbow surgery. Veteran Sam Darnold signed with the 49ers, but his career has been far from a success, and Lance was lost to an ankle injury early in the season and remains an unknown.
It’s well known that 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan has admired Cousins since their days together in Washington, and while Lance is short on experience, his rookie contract has three years remaining, including the fifth-year option. The reasonable price on that contract, and the remaining term, could present Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell with an opportunity to find out if the soon-to-be 23-year-old can turn into a franchise QB.
Jacob’s question about a second-round pick, that could turn into a first-round selection, coming back to Minnesota is an interesting one. There has been speculation (there’s that glorious word again) that Lance would be traded for only a second-round pick, so if the 49ers had a chance to get Cousins back, it makes sense that they would be the one including a return pick with conditions attached.
There are a lot of Cousins fans who would say no to this idea, sorry Jacob, but the reports that the 49ers are getting calls on Lance (and that Minnesota already has inquired about him) makes this question one worth discussing and certainly not dismissing.
Roster turnover has only begun
Do you find it feasible to keep everyone that’s been rumored to be on the trade/cut block?
— Cody waller (@Codywvikes) April 18, 2023
While there are some Vikings fans who are probably sad to see some of their favorites go (Eric Kendricks, Patrick Peterson, Adam Thielen, etc.), it’s clear Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell are willing to make tough decisions.
Safety Harrison Smith was only able to stick around because of his willingness to take a pay cut. It appears as if running back Dalvin Cook will be a former Viking before training camp arrives, and Danielle Hunter is staying away from the voluntary portion of the offseason program, at least for now.
There are more changes coming not only this offseason, but after this season and that’s the smart move. Success in the NFL comes from decisions made with your head, not your heart.
Hunter is a good example. He remains a productive player and could help the Vikings in 2023. But he’s going to turn 29 in October and, if he’s looking for a contract with any amount of term, Adofo-Mensah might decide the short-term production he gets isn’t worth the long-term investment.
Za’Darius Smith, who joined Hunter as a pass-rushing outside linebacker in the Vikings’ 3-4 defense, has asked for his release because he wants to pursue a new contract and more money. Again, Smith was very productive until suffering a knee injury in Week 10, but he will turn 31 in September and missed almost all of 2021 because of a back injury.
Giving him more money doesn’t seem like a wise investment in a salary-cap league.
This is a long way of saying, prepare for more cuts and trades as Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell shape the roster into what they want and not what former general manager Rick Spielman built.
Potential quarterback options in the middle rounds
Based off the Scoops session today, can you examine your favorite mid round QB options and which one you would like the Vikings to draft?
— Nick Miller (@NicholasMMiller) April 18, 2023
If you’re wondering, “The Scoop” is a SKOR North show that features Minnesota sports insider extraordinaire Darren “Doogie” Wolfson. We get scoops from Doogs every Tuesday and Thursday on SKOR North. This week we discussed mid-round quarterback options for the Vikings.
Our own Kevin Fielder did a deep dive on the art of finding a backup quarterback, or one who isn’t taken early in the draft. The Vikings have done their homework on just about every QB, so the possibility of selecting one in the third round, or on the third day, can’t be dismissed
The names that stand out to me are Tanner McKee, who almost certainly would be ranked higher if he hadn’t gone to Stanford, Brigham Young’s Jaren Hall, and UCLA’s Dorian Thompson-Robinson.
These are the types of quarterbacks that Spielman rarely took a chance on, but that O’Connell might welcome the opportunity to coach. None would take over for Cousins in 2023, but all could be seen as backups with eventual starting potential.
If I had to pick one for O’Connell, I’d go with McKee.
What type of difference can Brian Flores make?
With current personnel do we truly believe Brian Flores can make this defense jump to atleast middle of the pack?
— Marcus Jagta (@JagtaMarcus) April 19, 2023
This is an interesting question because the decline of the Vikings’ once outstanding defense began under Mike Zimmer and can’t be completely blamed on one-and-done defensive coordinator Ed Donatell.
But Donatell also shouldn’t be absolved for the Vikings having a woeful season on defense in 2022. (Minnesota was tied for 28th in scoring defense, 31st in total defense and against the pass and 20th against the run.) O’Connell also gets some blame, in part because he hired Donatell based on what he thought he would get and not realizing it wouldn’t come close.
Donatell had spent three seasons as Vic Fangio’s defensive coordinator in Denver, but Fangio was in charge of the defense. O’Connell believed Donatell would install Fangio’s systems, but what he got was a cheap knockoff.
Flores, 42, who was head coach of the Miami Dolphins from 2019 to ’21 but has never had the coordinator title, is going to stick with the 3-4 scheme the Vikings ran but there will be few similarities beyond that.
Flores, a senior defensive assistant and linebackers coach with Pittsburgh last season, is going to be far more aggressive and flexible. At one point last year, O’Connell told Donatell he was too predictable. That is a one-way ticket to dismissal in today’s NFL.
Flores has a big job ahead of him — and the Vikings have some real question marks with personnel — but a jump to the middle of the pack, especially in scoring defense, should be possible for this unit.
If that happens, Flores is likely going to be a head coach again 2024.
What role will C.J. Ham play in the offense?
As a big CJ Ham fan I was pleasantly surprised to see him back this year. What do you forsee his role being this year? He (fulback) seemed useless in last year's playbook, so I'm curious to see why he's back.
— Michael Munson (@munsonmichael) April 19, 2023
I also thought that Ham might be let go in a cost-cutting move, considering his lack of use in 2022, but I think we misjudged the type of alterations O’Connell wants to make in his offense this coming season.
It’s clear he wants to run the ball more and odds are also strong that he’s going to want to get more creative with personnel groupings. Remember, part of the goal in the NFL is to run similar plays from different groupings in order to confuse the defense.
The decision to sign blocking tight end Josh Oliver in free agency was a surprise at first, but his presence will enable O’Connell to use more 12 personnel (one running back, two tight ends) after being a team that was often in 11 personnel (one running back, one tight end) last season.
How exactly does Ham figure into this? He could be utilized in an H-back to switch up things. There’s something else to keep in mind: While Ham went from having 376 snaps on offense in 2021 to 169 last season, he also plays a huge role on special teams and the importance of that can’t be dismissed.
Dennis Ryan's departure is cause for reflection
any good Dennis Ryan stories?
— Derek Caron (@dcaron28) April 19, 2023
Glad you asked, Derek.
It’s not a particular story about the Vikings’ longtime equipment manager, but rather what a class act and how respected Dennis has been for so many years. The St. Paul native first worked for the Vikings in 1975 and then was hired full-time two years later. In 1981, he became the youngest equipment manager in the NFL at the age of 21.
I was on the Vikings’ beat for the Star Tribune from 2005 through 2010, and can tell you nobody worked harder than Dennis. It was clear the coaching staff and players loved and appreciated him. The act of moving the Vikings operations from Winter Park in Eden Prairie to Mankato, Minn., for training camp was a massive undertaking and, yet, Dennis handled it with the smoothness of a Magic Johnson pass.
With the departure of longtime public relations director Bob Hagan, at least in a full-time role, and with Ryan leaving after 47 years, a lot of the Vikings’ history has walked out of the building in the past few months.
Budda Baker's potential impact in secondary
With Budda Baker's potential availability, and the transitional nature from Corner to Safety, would it seem feasible to stock up on cross functioning personnel? Of course financials ignored in the interim.. but as a whole DBs would look solid.
— Josh Lange (@JLange113) April 19, 2023
Unfortunately, the financials can’t be ignored when discussing the Cardinals safety, who has requested a trade. Baker, 27, who has been named to five Pro Bowls in six seasons, has a $16.871 million salary cap hit in 2023 that increases to $19.975 in the final year of his current deal in 2024.
Baker would look great in purple but the Vikings already are trying to workout their cap issues. What I like about this question is the thought of football becoming more and more positionless.
This is something I expect Flores to use to his advantage far more than Donatell did. Lewis Cine, the Vikings’ 2022 first-round pick whose season was ended early by injury, is a safety who is built (6-foot-1, 200 pounds) like a linebacker.
The Vikings’ defense is a base 3-4 in its scheme, but this isn’t 1995. Defenses must be multiple, 3-4 at times, 4-3 at times, etc., and throw curveballs at opposing quarterbacks. The Vikings hope is that they can do exactly that, but it largely will be with homegrown talent, some of which has yet to arrive.
