Minnesota Vikings salary cap decisions: cuts, extensions and more

Minnesota Vikings salary cap decisions: cuts, and restructures, involving such players like Harrison Smith; Justin Jefferson’s contract extension; Nick Mullens, Garrett Bradbury and more; Internal free agents such as Kirk Cousins, Danielle Hunter, Dalton Risner and more; Plus a live mock draft.

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Get in the no nonstop Vikings talk it’s purple daily on scor North and scor.com and away go gentlemen the time has come we did this I think three times last off season between January and free agency where we took over the Vikings front office and we mapped out their entire off season as

Specifically as we could with cap space free agency and a draft simulation and jud’s handwritten notes look at those glorious pieces of paper highlighted names I was doing I was studying for the exam with the Wild game last night studying for the exam you’re just under your breath muttering

Bing baly and then you’re just writing off also Vikings notes at the same time oh God I love how you you put a jud’s like a just a selfie video out on scor our social media last night just going over the Wild game and I like the first

Comment was nobody cares about the wild right now yes I know no the first one was spot on the second one was nobody cares that’s all I said nobody cares nobody cares you can find jud’s hockey show though which is one of the top 30 hockey podcasts in America jud’s hockey

Show Apple Spotify SC off YouTube channel uh but we we have three chunks of this episode we’ve got the cap space chunk we’ve got the free agency both internal guys leaving do you want to bring them back and we’ll get into a little bit of external free agency we’ll

We’ll do deeper dives into that as we get closer to March and then we will do a mock draft simulation here with the PFF Mack simulator uh today’s episode presented by quick trip as always and our friends at Federated Mutual insurance company so Federated which was actually recently named one of the 10

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Create the foundation that supports all interactions and decision-making at Federated 100 plus years of experience elevating businesses through riskmanagement Federated insurance.com where it’s our business to protect yours okay okay so excited let’s start start with just sort of laying out their current situation of outgoing players here and then we can get

Into how to clear more cap space and then we’ll get into free agency okay so the Vikings have by my calculation eight starting players out of 22 that are free agents going into this offseason Kirk Cousins is a free agent dton Ryner is a free agent and KJ

Osborne who’s a starter when they run 11 personnel is a free agent so that’s three on the offensive side on the defensive side denil Hunter DJ wanam Jordan Hicks Marcus Davenport was a starter for a few games he was supposed to be a starter yep and then Jonathan

Bullard started 14 games for you on the defensive line played like 650 snaps wasn’t wasn’t like a pro bowler or anything but he is a starting player for you so you you have eight eight starting players are hitting free agency so you have to account for that when you also

Look at their cap situation and we’re getting these numbers from overthecap.com by the way we’re just going to kind of we’re not capologist here maybe we can get Rob brzinsky on sometime but we’re going to reference the over the cap don’t count on that framework yeah he’s not doesn’t do a lot

Of media no so uh according to over the cap the Vikings have $37 million in cap space but only $23 million in what’s called effective cap space I’m going to try to explain that in the way that I understand it which is the NFL salary cap accounts for your top 51 players you

Can carry like 90 guys in the offseason 53 man roster and practice squad they take your top 51 players and you have to be under the salary cap number with those top 51 players well the Vikings only have 39 players under contract right now for

2024 so yeah they have 37 million in cap space but they you have to fill out 12 more roster spots to get to the 51 with at least minimum wage players at at the very least right so you don’t really have 37 million you actually have like 23 million in effective cap space

Hopefully that makes sense uh the salary cap is projected to fall somewhere between 240 and $250 million this year over the cap has it at like 249 again we’re going to go off their projection so right now the Vikings as of today have $50 million which is like 20% of

The salary cap tied up in Kirk Cousins denil Hunter and Marcus Davenport who are not under contract those are that those are void years in dead cap money so one of their cap is tied up in guys that aren’t currently under contract mhm

So a lot of a lot of things to kind of clear up here the first question for you guys is how can we clear more cap space before even deciding to bring cousins back and Hunter back of the guys that are currently on the roster how do we go

From 23 million in caps space to more than 23 million in cap space there’s a Jefferson extension that could help you like maybe lower the number in the shortterm obviously you’d be you’d be pouring into future years uh har Harrison Smith is the biggest chunk that

You could take from he’s 35 years old his cap hit is $19 million beyond that there’s not it’s not like previous years where you’re looking up and down you’re like oh yeah we can get rid of Dalvin and Kendricks and thielen they’ve kind of already done the

Bulk of that house cleaning yeah so Jud where do you want to start in terms of clearing more cap space well I want to start with with a conversation that our our once friend of the AM radio show would be very proud of because we’re going we’re about to as we record this

At 11:26 in the morning we’re about to eat difficult conversations for breakfast um I was coming up with a list last night I’ve got them here I’ve deemed them internal Cuts wow and and these aren’t necessar you’re cutting you’re you’re cutting well no I’m throwing this out to the room we’re all

We we’re skipping restructures we there’s really not many restructure there not a lot of restructures here that that’s that’s the problem so um these are internal moves okay and I’m going to throw these out to you guys and let’s see if we can come to a a

Consensus it’s three so at least this is a this is a I would like some I would like some takeout and like some fancy Fiji Water if like we actually in a boardroom right now but but that’s just that’s just a me thing that’s just how I

Would go about this you want some sweet green or just Chinese food Chinese give me some give me some nice Chinese I don’t I like a face spread or or like brought in in in your own platter thing like a good spread of awesome takeout

Food even like I mean I love Chinese but like Chinese is probably put you to sleep after the first section of this conversation anyway okay so so can we all agree that that Harrison Smith as Phil just said is the obvious one to go um I’d restruct I guess I’d restructure him if

You you guys think that we should personally I would like to just say you know what it’s been a great career here dude you’ve been fantastic your play is dipping you’re 35 quite frankly if you retire we’d appreciate it but the savings are enormous there well let’s okay let’s let’s dive into Harrison

Smith so there’s no guaranteed money left on his his contract length is like two or three more years but there’s no guaranteed need money left on his deal so the the Vikings could do what they did last year which is come to him with a hey you want some guaranteed money

We’ll give you some guaranteed money it’s not going to be as much as you know like the $19 million cap hit uh I would say in terms of depth behind Harrison Smith or around him cam bham I think is the best safety on this team he he plays

Back you know he he plays more of that sort of free safety spot than the other safeties on the team Josh matelis is technically a safety but he’s such a hybrid kind of linebacker roving around he’s doing different things than cam bam and Harrison Smith uh I mean Harrison

Smith fills big shoes in this defense so if LS seam was ready to rock and roll this would be the easiest decision ever right hey man Harry we love you but is like is Jay Ward ready to step in or do you get rid of Harrison Smith and now

You have to spend money on someone in free agency because that’s what I if you I think where I’m at with this is if he wants to come back if you cut him you save $1 million which is a nice chunk and you could probably sign someone for

Less or if you trade him too right um if you ask him to take the same amount of money as he made last year or maybe a little bit less you could save like seven or8 million to that $19 million CIT I think I want him on the team if he wants to

Play It’s kind of where I’m at right now where are you guys at my my whole thing here is this if I cut him and I save 11.4 million to to the cap I do take on 7.8 in dead cap hit um I would like to allocate that 11.4 elsewhere to a

Position that I that I want to pay more like your cornerback position right now and we get to this is a mess like you got so you want to cut him so I would like to save that entire chunk of change and actually say it say it I want to cut

Harrison Smith a legendary and you know what if he retires here’s the agreement if he retires I am willing to in fact get Marketing in here right now because we’re gonna put Harrison Smith in the Ring of Honor next year we’re gonna put him in the Ring of Honor

Immediately I I don’t know if there’s a supposed weight period but we’re going to wave that Harrison if you retire we’re going to bring you back we’re going to give you a we’re going to give you a small plane because you love to fly that’s good that’s a very expensive

Gift which by the way is not on the cap and yes I would like to cut Harrison Smith and allocate 11.4 million elsewhere you you could trade him and save the 11.4 if somebody would float you A fifth or a sixth for Harrison I don’t know if that’s GNA happen though I

Don’t think that advanced stage sorry yeah here’s a here’s a PJ and here is your cutting check you you say goodbye goodbye I cut him I’m no I it’s it’s time just goodbye no problem yeah I mean okay I I’m I’m still clinging to to the

Past I’m clinging to him he was the one guy I fought for last year like you need a leader on this defense um so but you but hey this is this is how this works we’re trying to come to agreements and you guys feel strongly so we’re going to

We’re going to cut Harrison Smith and then immediately bring him back and put him in the Ring of Honor Ring of Honor I’m putting him in the Ring of Honor nobody went in this year it’s going to be a very special year in 2024 so we’re cutting Harry I’m gonna

Just I’m going to make notes here too and so now we are at uh that would put us at uh just under let’s say 35 million in space okay okay okay let’s talk about Justin Jefferson for a second here because he’s the next most interesting one so I went to the

Nick Bosa contract as kind of a comp because I is it pretty fair to say that Nick Bosa is the highest paid non-quarterback in the NFL that if you’re Justin Jefferson and the agent you’re looking to be the highest paid non-quarterback does anyone want to fight that take we we don’t know for

Sure but no I’ve been saying it so I don’t want to fight it so that would be a 5-year contract and I’m so I’m just kind of going up up a little bit from all of the Nick Bosa measurables here on the contract so it’ be 5 years starting in

2025 the structure of the contract right 35 million a year Bose is like 34 I want to say so F uh so 5 years $175 million with a $50 million signing bonus and $125 million guaranteed if you were to surpass the Nick Bosa benchmarks yep now

Bosa’s cap hit in the first year of that deal which I think I don’t know if that was his fifth year uh option year or not but they they because you’re now we’re creating like five years of Runway here massive signing bonus that you can prate and

Spread out over the length of the contract Bosa so bosa’s cap hit in year one of that deal this year was only $1 million because they just they they said hey we’re going to give you a a $50 million or whatever it was $40 million signing bonus you get that right

Now you don’t need a base salary of 30 in your first year so they they take the base salary way down so anyways if if Jefferson and the Vikings agree to this type of a contract the cap hit would probably go from like 20 million to maybe like 12 or $15 million in

2024 and then it would go up a lot more in the in the years that follow mhm so do you guys want to do a Justin Jefferson extension is the first question here yes and and if I’m going to keep him I have to because he’s not

Showing up unless I do so yes as opposed to like a trade though I guess would be the other option I feel I feel like that’s a whole another question here we might have to do that we should do that episode at some point and then do this

Exercise after we’ve kind of had that longer as of now let’s just say I think de and I agree extension ex okay okay so we’re going to we’re going to going to extend and again we’re just kind of estimating on some of the we don’t know

What the exact structure is going to be but I’m going to say for 20124 the Vikings bosa’s cap hit was only 11 let’s say JJ’s is $12 million so you’d save then uh from the 20 million cap hit down to 12 for this year and

Again it go it would go way up starting in 2025 that you would save $8 million in uh 2024 cap space so that brings us to 40 $3 million in effective cap space a few other players to look at here so like Harrison Phillips has one

Year left you could cut him and save $6.5 million you also barely have any credible defensive lineman and ERS I think I want to compliment him and and get and get him more into a position like he is a solid player I don’t think he’s a star or even

Close but I think he’s also Al being asked to do way too much so yeah and they’ve got him kind of uh yeah they’ve they can’t decide like I don’t is he more of like an a gap or a B Gap they’ve got him kind of doing a couple different

Things here this year so um I’m with you I think you just keep him I would even maybe look to like put another year on his contract you could actually save that way too if you wanted to I thought about that I do not want to cut cut him

And like if if you look at the other defensive lineman that are under contract so Jonathan bullard’s a free agent and he’s also just of a guy Dean Lowry is a is a guy jaquelin Roy is he ready to jump in you might have to you like legitimately you might have to put

Him in go yeah so by the way uh Harrison Phillips has no guaranteed money left on his contract for 2024 so it would make sense maybe to redo it a little bit I like your idea yes put another year on that contract you can even bring that

Number down but let’s I like that we’ll we’ll keep him and we’ll leave the number okay some other guys here uh I’m going to give you a list you tell me if anyone stands out to say goodbye to or otherwise Byron Murphy Jr if you cut him you’d

Save $4.6 million Garrett Bradberry if you cut him you’d save 2.5 million so not a lot of savings here but right Dean low you can cut save 2.2 Nick Mullins you could cut save 1.9 now we’re getting into like minimum wage like if you’re cutting a guy that

Makes 1.9 you you would sign a player that makes a million anyway so CJ ham you could cut save 1.7 Patrick Jones you could cut 1.3 CJ ham don’t even bring his name up in this building damn it CJ ham is a lifetime Viking would you look to move

On from any of these guys and save two four you know million dollars here and there well I think I’m going in a different direction with my backup QB like I don’t need to see more of Nick as a backup a starter or a ball boy so I’m

Gonna move on from from him not based on like I’m backup quarterback though yeah he is but I’m I’m going to move on from him him um Patrick Jones now I know that’s again not huge savings but that’s a Spielman draft pick and I just don’t know has he worked like

I I had great hope for him and he certainly looks the part of a guy that should be able to not be denal but you know yeah but be in a bracket of he can really Rush the quarterback and I don’t think that you get a lot the other cheap

One I’m cutting is or where I’m going elsewhere is punter Ryan Wright I saw enough this season okay I saw enough this season and and again that’s a that’s a cap Savings of 9 85,000 so approximately a million it’s not really though because you’re going to sign a punter that makes yeah

You’re just that that on from him yeah I’m moving on from him as well um the issue I found too that’s unfortunate is because of their uh contracts it really doesn’t make sense to move on from scene or Booth no cuz you yeah you’re not saving money you’re not you’re saving

Nothing yeah so I’ll make note I agree Ryan wght he’s actually not one of the top 20 punters in the NFL it doesn’t really impact your cap situation because again you’d be replacing him people yeah but we’ll uh we’ll make note of of Ryan Wright here um Patrick Jones is another

One where it’s like you’re only you’re saving 1.3 but not really because again a minimum wage player would come in and still make like 900,000 or a million but I would say this Dean Lowry at 2.2 million in savings that’s a no brainer right he was actually he was your uh one

Of the worst graded defensive players on the team last year yeah yeah he’s gone that didn’t work out so cut Dean Lowry that equals now we’re up to 45 million uh okay Dex on Nick Mullen jud’s cutting him yep would you cut Nick Mullen I’d

Bring him back I’d bring him back on a minimum deal especially uh yeah I just think he’s a he’s a fine guy to have in the room and I I also in in a spot start situation he’s fine I’m not going to like go to bat for him I’m not going to

Go to war for him but if if you want me to be the deciding factor I’d bring them back the the cut candidate here of the players you’ve listed that I would consider is Bradberry I would cut Bradberry okay so a couple things I I’m with dexon Mullins

He’s a backup quarterback who who can throw for 350 yards by that’s how this room works okay I’m moving on already and he’s only making 1.9 you could them later if you needed to sure okay Garrett Bradberry this is took a little bit of a step back there’s always injury issues

There but here’s the problem again if you cut him it’s not going to help you you don’t need a now you need a starting center yeah and you only save $2.5 million to the cap like the way they structured that contract it’s not if if you could save $10 million oh my God

Move on in a heartbeat but if you cut Garrett Bradberry who is your starting center Austin Schulman’s a free agent you literally don’t have a center on your team and according to my zadian notes you also take on a $3.3 million dead money hit from cutting him

Yeah and by the way that is accounted for in this like the the net would be a savings of 2.2 but the sunk cost would still be the three point whatever so yeah so like are you going to do that cuz I I thought that’s the same thing

The two guys that intrigued me as far as like significant Cuts were Bradberry and potentially if you felt that you could upgrade Byron Murphy Jr but I looked at that one too and you saved some but you don’t like it’s four and a half yeah yeah it’s not you’re not finding a starting

Quarterback for $4 and half million on the market so I’m not goingon to cut so so despite the despite the fact that he is a 10.25 million cap charge which I don’t love I’m not cutting him yeah so yeah I’m kind of like I’m I’m with Dean in

That boy it’d be great to find a better starting center but I’m with Jud and that you could still you you could bring Bradberry back draft a center in the fifth round or something so I’m I’m I’m aligning with Jud on that we’re gonna we’re gonna save gett bradberry’s job

Again all we do is keep saving his job or the Vikings um and then okay CJ ham they’re probably going to bring him back right he’s what’s the savings again 1.7 that’s not yeah that’s not enough to I think you just kind of leave these some of these are like we’re literally

Talking about the we we’ve created have 45 million in cap space and we’re haggling over like Patrick Jones we’re nickel and diming ourselves right now but that’s it they don’t have a lot of contracts to tap so okay phase two free agency we’re going to talk about Kirk

Cousins and denil Hunter first and foremost here but let’s shout out our friends over at neutr source here boys in fact I heard some rustling from outside the studio door I think someone named Maya macki is going to be ready for her neutr saurus chicken and rice in

Fact she’s got one more scoop left so I got to go dad has to go to uh Chuck and Don’s and get some more for her later today and I will see you there because I have to do the exact same thing for that little girl Stella right there who who

During our would you avoid me if you saw me in Chuck and Dons well if I saw you walking at me down the aisle no but if I saw you in the next aisle and you didn’t see me absolutely absolutely I would um but anyway short story during the scoop that

Little girl was barking up a storm because she wanted her neutral Source yep same with the vinster vinster had to go to Grandma’s yesterday for a little bit we had a little some schedule conflicts here in the house so he gets to go to Grandma’s it’s actually best

Because obviously as you guys know grandmas just spoil their grand babies whether they’re fur babies or real babies so binnie just goes with the neutr source bag of treats and he’s all set yeah neutr source is the official dog and Pet Food here of purple daily and Scorn North neutr Source pet

Foods.com to find a retailer somewhere near you also hey get those carpets clean how long has it been since you’ve clean your dirty disgusting carpets your air ducts brething and all that the dust mites that’s a good I love that idea zeroes is here with a 4.9 out of

Five star rating on Google with 177,000 reviews if you ask for the scor north special you can get three rooms zero resfi starting at just $119 and $75 off getting your air duct cleaned say you want the score North special when you call 9520 res or zeroes minnesota.com spell it forward or

Backwards it spells the same zero res okay section two we’ve made some we’ve cre created some cap space uh we also by cutting Harrison Smith we also have opened up the need for another safety so whether it’s maybe this is sink or swim for Louis scene we’ll figure it out but internal free

Agents so um Kirk Cousins is the is the the biggest one the PFF projection for him is 2 years $60 million so $30 million a year and 37 and a half million total guaranteed so it’ be like the first year fully guaranteed then like some money guaranteed kind of in that

Second year if he signed that contract it would rank 17th in average annual value which is much more reasonable than his previous contracts right very fair contract yes Y and for all the people saying he’s only the 15th highest paid quarterback last year no he got his bag

And the Vikings from an accounting standpoint said let’s chop 60% of it off and shove it into a year and which he’s not under contract so he’s always been a top three or top five cap hit unless they shove money into the future and that’s why they’re in the situation they

Are in right now so you can manipulate this contract any number of different ways but no matter how you do it because that money that the the void money is still you still have to spread that out even if you bring him back that money

Doesn’t go away right you can PR rate it and now we’re getting way in the weeds here but moral of the story is if you bring Kurt Cousins back on a 2-year $60 million contract you’re probably looking at like a $35 million cap hit so your cap would Inc your his number would

Increase from 28 million to 35 million and that’s even if you like finagle it with an extra void year or something it’s an estimate but would you bring Kirk back two years $60 million if I thought I was in the thick of a window in which we were going great

Guns and I thought Kirk is the best fit for my Super Bowl team absolutely I I would uh in in the Vikings current predicament and and you’re going to see not surprisingly a trend at least for me of trying to move on Harrison Smith great Viking love you dude see you later

Bye so no I I would not I’m looking and just to be very clear I think the Vikings might completely disagree with this this but if I am in charge which right now the three of us are I am looking to move on I am looking

Not only for a a a rookie contract quarterback but also for a quarterback that is now my quarterback of the future so no in this discussion where it’s black and white I am going to allow Kirk to explore a free agency thank you very much you’ve been great fantastic enjoy

Your Kohl’s Cash and we’ll see you later Dex I say goodbye I say goodbye I just I I understand that there’s still a big dead money capit of him not playing for you or whether regardless if you want to manipulate that into your actual CIT to playing

Form or the contract for for the new one that he’ll get I get it I just I I say goodbye at this point so goodbye well it doesn’t matter what I say now the audience is never going to know what I think about this subject cuz you guys

Just won two out of three mhm I was going to give him 10 years but looks like I got strong armed in this war room you give him a so 13 years $98 million to put him in line with perisian suor I think what we can do too is like because

We’ll do more of these exercises um for this one we’ll say goodbye maybe for another one in the future we can say for for like Kirk we’re going to start this one out and we’re going to bring Kirk back and then work the rest of the offseason around

That sure but for this one we’re going to say we’re going to bid AO we can’t find a a term that works for Kirk and for the Vikings we’re going to say goodbye so the Vikings would still be on the hook for $28 million in capit that

Has been accounted for already so by saying goodbye to Kirk Cousins we’re still at $45 million in cap space okay denil Hunter PFF projected contract he’ll be 29 years old for this upcoming season PFF projects three years $65 million so just under $22 million a year

Which makes him a top 10 paid Edge rusher between like 6th and 10th $ 375 million guarant I’m sorry $40 million guaranteed uh you also like you have money on the books for him from void years too that still has to be swallowed up in this structure so I think what

Would happen here is if you did this deal with Hunter by over the cap in my estimation uh you’d have a $26 million cap hit around there that’s also kind like there’s some comparables like Bradley chub’s contract Montes contract you can kind of use some framework so you’d be increasing denil Hunter’s cap

Hit by $12 million from 14 to like 26 million right but you’d have him locked in for at least a couple years are you in or out on denil Hunter on this contract go ahead Dex you go first this time I’m in I think I’m in just because

There’s such uh uncertainty and you can’t just completely restart that edge room with rookies or like you can maybe get creative with some like random bet minim minimum guys or guys that are you know kind of near over the hill and you can obviously save a ton of money doing

That but I think I have to bring back the lynchpin on this defense so I sign him to this contract yes great word lynchpin yeah I love that word um so the age does scare me a little bit here like he’s not he’s not young so so this is

Not a slam dko he’s 25 of course what are you talking about um and as much as I am not trying to focus on you know is this team going to win a Super Bowl in 2024 because I don’t believe that that’s the case uh I do

Believe that there needs to be a reset here danial Hunter 16 and a half sacks I think with the contract that PFF gave yes I’m in I’m in now if the if the hunter Camp’s like oh no no we’re going top five you know we’re no we we want to

Approach the highest paid defensive end I don’t think I can probably stomach that but with the contract that you gave yes or no my answer is yes I’m in yeah I think I’m in on this too also to me the biggest mistake would be not trading him

A few months ago when you could have letting him walk and go somewhere else at the very least you at least get to continue on with the asset right they talk about Asset Management I’m okay overpaying a little bit here cuz I still get his production I’m still trying to

Be competitive I I don’t think anyone here is looking for like maybe Jud is an abject complete tank job in 200 if you can get your quarterback in this year’s draft which now we just said goodbye to cousins right you could you could draft your quarterback and now start trying to

Generate winning culture going forward with your new quarterback I want denil Hunter to be a part of that and after one year if it just doesn’t make sense anymore okay trade him for a third round pick and now you’re at least getting something for him as opposed to letting

Him letting him walk right so I’m in on this so again this is just sort of like rough estimation but now we go from 45 million in cap space to 33 million for 2024 but we get to Hunter back and most definitely no no trade CLA yeah that’s a whole another yeah

You’re right about that that’s a that that’s a sticking point for me personally I hate those can I unilaterally just I guess it’s a it’s a war room so I’ll throw it out there I want Brandon Powell back at a million and a half he made like a he made like a

Million last year can we can we just bring brand like KJ’s a free agent yeah I’m notna fight on okay Brandon Powell punt returner he’s fun he’s a good player yeah he’s fine okay add that in just not a tush Pusher yeah yeah leave him out of the tush push don’t tush push

Okay so 31 million okay other internal free agents yep doton Ryner projected $8 million a year I’ll throw the other names out you tell me all right uh KJ Osborne free agent Greg Joseph or any kicker for2 two to3 million um cam Acres off another Achilles yeah they’ve got I will say

This they like they’re losing some key backup offensive linemen like schan quinberry but those guys let’s just say those guys all make like a million dollars that they’ll they’ll find another quinberry or somebody right or they’ll come back y it’s easy to do DJ wanam Jordan Hicks Marcus Davenport so

Any of these guys do you want to bring back any of these guys I’m intrigued by by what wam did the quadricep scares me but I also think the fact that he uh tore his quadricep is going to make him more of a bargain unfortunately for him

So if he is willing to sign on my terms then I’m bringing him back wam but it’s not gonna be but it’s not going to be expensive as far as I’m concerned KJ Osborne is gone Jordan Hicks a conversation because he was a key part of this defense he’s 32 but according to

My notes he played for5 Million last season on a pay cut already so he’s not that expensive so I think at the right price the one the one I’d like to talk about is dton Ryner okay because when we get to the potential for outside free agents good

Old good old zad for about the fifth consecutive year has his eye on a guard on upgraded guard me too iak feels the same way okay well we’ve been on we’ve been on that train fill for about five or or six years because look you know Dean was Pro cutting Bradberry and I

Totally get his point there yeah and if the savings was huge I would probably um but the reality is okay we’ve agreed to bring Bradberry back so what can we do what can we do to help this line and in my opinion you got your tackle set a studded guard Ryner can pass

Protect a little bit but he was PFF did not like him there’s there’s better players I’m with you on on that I probably say goodbye to dton Ryner um KJ Osborne I say goodbye to DJ wanam we can bring DJ wanam back for I don’t know what three million somewhere in there expensive

Like Dean kind of like Dean Lowry money let’s let’s call it like two3 million okay so we’re going to resign wanam so that brings us down to let’s say uh 29 million in cap space Dex are you fighting for Ryner or no yeah I am fighting for Ryner I think you lost

Either way but we’ll give you a chance to fight for him I know the majority rules I I don’t get it uh but uh but no I would bring back Ryner I at the very least like yeah 8 million I have a I have trepidation at 8 million but the

Dude was also not signed until October so I think I can get him for half of that in personally no no well P PFF is saying it’s $8 million like that’s I mean you can fight PFF uh Brad if you want to but saying saying his projected contract

Is $8 million at8 are you going to bring him back no I would not bring him back at eight I would not bring him back at eight but I would bring him back I would 100% i’ bring Kirk back at eight can we do that was going to

Say yeah if we could just do like hey denal will you take $12 yeah that’s the thing like Ryner Ryner is weird because why didn’t he get signed I don’t know but well the one thing is Phil though from from the day that we started talk about the potential of him joining the

Vikings PFF said what good and pass protection right and bad run block what he is yep y uh Jordan Hicks by anyone else here I think Davenport by right Jonathan Bullard I know he played 600 snaps I whatever he’s just kind of a guy so that brings us to external free

Agents we’ll do a full episode on these options here but let’s just talk more like positions of need so we have $29 million in cap space to play with and you can manipulate obviously you sign a guy to a three-year deal you can do a signing bonus and

Shove money into the future so we’re going to go off PFF projected contracts but I think we’re still looking for defensive line Edge rusher help in some capacity mhm could also address that in the draft maybe looking for a veteran linebacker someone to step in I mean

Ivan pace and Troy dy I think Troy might be a free agent too actually he is so you definitely need linebacker depth and then starting left guard I’m going to give you just a few samplings of kind of what’s out there so there’s actually some there’s like some pass rush

Specialists like Bryce Huff from the Jets Jonathan greenard from the Texans we’re talking 13 to5 million a year for those kind of pass rush specialist guys those edges and I by the way I went through the PFF top 100 list and I’m looking at players who are around 26 to

28 who are coming off their first first contract if you’re saying goodbye to cousins I don’t know that you’re signing like right 31-year-old free agents to you’re you’re looking for like those 26 27 year old guys like Byron Murphy Josh Oliver Harrison Phillips when they brought him in right uh interior defensive lineman

Who’s a great pass rusher Justin matab 26 years old from the Ravens 14 sacks from the interior projected to make $23 million a year on a 4year 92 million contract uh there’s a there’s a couple guards out there Kevin datson who was with the Rams last year after three years in

Pittsburgh and so so now sha so sha McVey actually according to PFF reinvented his offense in his running game from a wide Zone attack football Sounder football to a heavy Gap scheme okay so McVey said we got to change something in the Run game I wonder if Kevin oconnell

Could go in a different direction schematically too but but Kevin doson is 28 years old coming from the Rams he didn’t he didn’t play there when Connell was there but uh projected to make $17 million a year on a free agent deal so you’d be but you know what I’d rather

Overpay for a really good guard in free agency than like overpay for a one-dimensional edge rusher I’d rather find an edge rusher in the first or second round to play alongside denil Hunter I think free agency you can overpay for non- premium position a little bit y you know well and in our

World too if we’re keeping denal um if we keep him then yes I think it’s important but it it’s not if if he leaves now you’re sort of panicked right and I just like the fact that this team is you know the one thing this team has

Drafted uh offensive line high they have worked to try and fix this but the one thing I go back to is is and Phil I think we have seriously discussed this for like 5 years if not more you know a free agent guard to me yeah just a

Professional guard who’s good and can solidify the the interior because the tackles are great like you don’t have a problem there but there’s a couple guys and we can again we’ll we’ll do a deeper dive into actual names but like between Kevin doson there’s a Robert hunt more

Of a Right Guard with Miami 28 years old it’ be like 17 million a year the first year cap hit would probably be like 12 million because you you signing bonus and shove money into the future I’m kind I mean decks speak up

Here too but like I I sign a guard and I help fix this offensive line for a rookie quarterback coming in with a chunk of this money TW like 12 million of the 29 million yeah I mean I’m not against it I I think if you can get the

Right Guard and it can upgrade your line you do it that that’s where you know for me it’s drafting a rookie Center because I think a rookie Center in the third round is going to be better than Garrett Bradberry and making less money uh so this is more splitting hairs of you guys

Saying guard I say Center so I’m I am fine with the idea of potentially paying a guard maybe a little bit more over the market value in free agency but I’m I’m okay with that I can sign off on that couple other things so I’m going to put here I’m going to earmark

Guard at 12 million cap hit 17 million per year 12 million cap hit which brings us down to 17 million in cap space for this year you know there’s Alex Madison is under contract Ironclad Tai Chandler so it’s tough but like there’s a lot of running backs in free agency too Derrik

Henry Josh Jacobs saquon Barkley Tony Pard Austin Eckler all between seven and $13 million a year according to Pro Football Focus any interest in no an established running back no no zero zero I’m sitting down with my head coach and I’m saying okay let’s watch Tai ch

Chandler film tell me what you don’t like we’re going to fix that and he’s going to play yeah um I I the ti Chandler thing drove me crazy I’m sorry he should be your starting running back next year yes yeah but I’m not going to spend money on on that spot especially

With a veteran because the the um wear and tear it you know it it’s like a it’s like a used car right like the running back’s been driven off the lot it’s not worth as much yeah yeah I think I don’t know the one that

Would interest me I know that he kind of fell off a little bit this year when uh Zeke Elliot left I mean Tony per can still play probably more than the narrative yeah but you’re but you’d be talking about like 8 million dollar a year and now you’re I don’t know where

Where’s the lease option on the running back where’s the new le that I can return after 3 years and 30,000 miles okay that’s that’s the why they hate guys like you God come on yeah it’s tough um okay can I can I go back they need defensive line help big time so

Whether it’s a matab or one of these sort of edge rushing specialist I mean denil hunter is the only legitimate pass rusher that the Vikings have they need somebody else so whether it’s an interior guy or or an edge guy they’re all kind of between like 13 and 23

Million a year can I earmark in terms of cap hit like cuz you again the cap hit would be lower in the first year than the average annual value What if I marked $12 million for a free agent defensive front player so we’re talking about a potential big like nose tackle another

Edge well no I there’s not that many big nose tackles in free agency and if there are it wouldn’t cost this much money uh there are pass rushers okay there’s a couple guys who are over 30 that we can go through this list later Yep this is

What let’s not get into the specifics of it defensive line or Edge help yes e marked for $12 million mhm mhm yeah I I I think well I think you have to like you whether that’s in one player or two like you you you have to at this point

So yes I think you have to find it I would to judge point I would prefer the tackle nose tackle area to spend a chunk of the 12 but you I think physically have to and we’ve got Hunter coming back right yes so I don’t think you’re going

To do this like I don’t think you’re you’re going to you have too much Chinese food uh for dinner he’s coming back well I’m just I’m just making sure because I I don’t think you’re going to I don’t think you’re going to make another big investment in an edge once once and if

Denil comes back well but you need someone to rush the passer now we have the draft coming up here too right and you’ve got one I don’t think you’re going to spend I don’t think you’re going to spend a ton on two of those I can see from the

Interior interior yes y but I’m saying Edge rushers out side linebackers denil coming back I think in their mind resolves the big payday there okay but I’m still going to Mark defensive line help or Edge help in some capacity right like they’re just they’re running a

Bunch of random guys out there and that that’s why they had to Blitz 50% of their snaps last year this is sp this is splitting hairs but I agree with you on defensive line help not Edge help with Hunter back okay um one more thing since

We we just said goodbye to Kurt Cousins there there are a lot of sort of backup Fringe starter quarterbacks out there there’s like in that sort of5 to7 million range mhm there’s Ryan tanah Hill there’s jacobe brasset as a free agent Tyrod Taylor as a free agent

Marcus Mariota Sam darnold is a free AG I mean there’s there’s a bunch of but Drew lock Dean’s guy is sign me up is a free agent Gardener M shu is a free agent should we earmark $5 million for yes guy that might start for you for a

While this is why Nick is gone in my world because I’m going to bring in one of these guys yes absolutely okay so we’re going to go Backup backup SL like Bridge QB yep and that brings us basically to zero cap space we’ve lost an executive oh

We’ve added an executive oh here comes the vinster to chime in with his two cents on oh look at that look at who’s a good boy like let me lock we you sing oh he’s giving you oh look at that he’s like Dad I love you that’s nice a

He’s got takes takes for days so Okay so we’ve and there’s other like obviously there’s minimum wage guys that you would bring in like your backup offensive lineman and stuff so what we have now is we we’re kind of we kind of ran out of cap space there but we added defensive

Line defensive front help we added a bridge quarterback to step in for cousins before the Draft Pick starts mhm we were we’re finally spending money on a guard to fix the offensive line after Kirk leaves of course right but that’s what happens hey you get some cap space

To play with um we’re bringing back Powell we’re bringing back wanam we’re bringing back Hunter we’re saying goodbye to cousins we’re cutting Dean Lowry we’re cutting Harrison Smith we’re extending Justin Jefferson and now boys let me pull this up here it’s time for the final stage here we can we can kind

Of fly through this cuz I know we’re running along uh this is a mock draft simulation I want ack from PFF okay I want so keep in mind like in terms of needs here definitely need a franchise quarterback and then after that I think it’s kind of wide open to

Best position available and we’ll just kind of see how the draft Falls are you ready let’s do it let’s do it so we’re going to select the Vikings here we’re going to we’re going to be picking as the Vikings we’ll do we’ll do a seven round here we can fly through

This they have a turbo setting we’ll start off on slow so we can see how this plays out um and then let’s do let’s do a little more Randomness oh no we’ll do we’ll just do we’ll we’ll just keep the default settings here here we go okay Jud do you want to

Make a trade before the Draft starts or Declan Dean might since he BR broach the subject before we could May trade before the Draft starts oh yeah yeah yeah yeah do you want to move up to three or do you want to see why don’t we see what happens

With the first two picks first okay okay good call okay we’re going to start the draft Bears are on the clock the bear select Caleb Williams okay the commander select Marvin Harrison Jr so we have a chance at Drake May oh yeah then you got Drake May and

Jaden Daniels are both on the clock yeah by the way you what you could do here is cuz the Patriots are probably going to take a quarterback you could trade up to four instead dead cuz the Cardinals aren’t taking a quarterback you we just have to

Jump the Giants to get one of the other two quarterbacks what if we jumped up in into that fifth spot with the Chargers and paid less do you want Drake may I don’t I would take either one of them okay so I would rather then jump up to

Five okay fine with that Chargers mhm so we’re going to swap the five and the 11 and then uh we would have to give up for sure probably the 402nd it says this trade will likely be accepted oh okay just giving them our second round pick oh okay I don’t know if that’s

True did you turn is there a is there a setting for like GM mode being turned off like there is on Madden hold on let’s look this up draft value chart well let’s go off the draft value chart just to make sure I think PFF is a little more liberal with their trade

Function just so people can do it you know its content so to go from 11: to 5 12:50 we need to come up with with 350 draft points okay and the number 42 pick is 480 oh oh thir this would match with the draft first third rounder should we see no

They’re not going to do that okay so we’d have to give up we’d have to give up but we’d be getting into the fifth slot we wouldn’t have another pick something six rounder or something uh 105 would they kick back the 105 I don’t know I’ll try it it says they will

Okay that doesn’t seem realistic like aot you know you don’t you don’t know until you ask they just said yes why are you charers Chargers they’re idiots okay we’re going to offer this trade and see what happens trade accepted let’s go the trade was accepted okay okay resume the

Draft Patriots on the clock I swear to God if they go quarterback they select Drake May Cardinals aren’t taking a quarterback they take Roma is it how do you pronounce the Washington receiver Roma dun yep do and so now the Vikings are on the clock at 5 and obviously Jaden Daniels I

Think Jaden Daniels would be our guy here right yep yep take so there we go we just drafted Jaden Daniels new quarterback that was pretty painless let’s go turbo mode and get to the we can kind of go back and see it’s like a Power Ranger function

There we go I’m curious to see where the other quarterbacks went just for fun here but we do have so we have picks we have a bunch of picks coming up here we have 105 108 128 and we don’t know what some of these prospects this

Is where like Tyler and miles and maybe maybe Thor at some point um Michael penx went 13th oh to the Raiders that’s poor Michael penex and then that’s that’s the only other so then McCarthy fell bonick went 36th yeah so and then yeah all right Vikings on the clock here boys with the

100 fifth pick okay we got uh don’t need a tackle don’t need a quarterback an electric running back would be nice what about thatan neand let’s pull him up can you guys see this if I pull this up okay yep so uh according to PFF he was one of the

Best look at this 89.8 grade great pass rush grade all right he wound up with a 28 quarterback hurries this year for Western Michigan all right Mar neand wait wait wait one one dissenting thought is there a defense Ive tackle here who’s a stud we have a bunch of picks coming up here

So like M Michael Hall Jr you’re looking for like an a gap guy right you’re looking for it like a big a gap kind of he’s more he’s more of a b Gap Guy this is more of a kind of a guy he’s only 280

Lbs that’s redundant no I got to see 300 plus and then I’ll get excited let’s go neand here first all right now we’re turboing now we’re back on the clock and again we got 108 we have 28 Bucky Irving the former gol for Bucky Irving

Oh there he is yeah we I mean I would hell I would take well Dean here’s your Center dude Cedric vanran from Georgia I also would be I would love this yeah I think you got to go Center here jley get this add you guys how we talked about

The the need for fat people Nazir stack house I’m just trying here here dude here’s one from Georgia Nazir stack house 6’3 320 I love the that’s an a gap guy right there I love the that’s the guy football okay what if we do this let’s pull this back off turbo let’s

Go let’s let’s get your guy let’s get your interior your your beef eater here where is he Naz your stack house yep and then we’ll get a we’ll try to get a center maybe with the 128 let’s see what we got here okay we got this we got the Alabama Center I

Think the I think the Georgia guy just went off the board he did okay he went right after so de’s mad at me now and we’re yep screwed up we’re we’re brawling uh Drake how about dude how about the Michigan Center man that running game is badass yeah let’s get the Michigan

Center okay boom we just trapped to the Michigan Center there we go turbo Turbo okay now we’re back on the clock at 1:48 what do we need now we’ve got we got we got our Center we got our quarterback we got an edge rusher interior um I mean a running back would

Be kind of nice I I was going to say is there a running back jaquavius marks we could also use more cornerback help too at some point but uh yeah this dude I don’t know this dude just kind it’s hard to tell we don’t watch Mississippi State football he’s the best running back

Available or we could go defense too man we could go like we we need a linebacker we got Georgia linebacker here we got Cedric Gray from North Carolina we have cornerback n like you said you’re right MH cam Hart from Notre Dame let’s see

What his PFF is look at one of the best corners in the country right I could get down with that what’s his uh what’s his size we need a guy who’s a little bit taller don’t we he’s 62 207 oh look at that guy oh that profiles really well

Take him let’s do it sounds good to me okay all right now we’ve got okay we’ve got we got back toback picks 163 164 I’m going to unilaterally just make some picks here Cedric gr linebacker you got you got the controls you go ahead and do that and then we probably need another

Safety because we keep whiffing on safeties who Miami guy this guy right here yeah or or what if we keep loading up on edges how about this Cedric Johnson guy sure okay we’re going to keep going edges and then uh probably need a receiver at some point too but now we’re

Into we’re into the sixth round we go Alabama halfback we’ll take that guy and then with the 230th pick all right in the 2024 NFL draft the Minnesota Vikings select uh take a safy yet safety Texas safety guy there we go that guy right there all right boys boom let’s see what

The grade is come on come on grading your Draft come on one time a an A+ got no no no that’s for the trade that’s for the trade an a for the dra oh wow oh wow oh hold on a second H hold on a second we just

The a little Chinese food for these guys I think this is a pretty big fleecing here to move up from 11 to 5 we probably should have kick backed something else but hey it’s PFF algorithm not ours not ours exactly so we go we got Jaden Daniels so our quarterback room is Jaden

Daniels probably like Ryan tanah Hill jacobe brassette or somebody maybe Nick Mullins jiren Hall those guys are fighting for a spot Tommy CR and then uh yeah Tommy crammer maybe Gus fat can come back that’ be great and we got some defensive prospects here from the didn’t like the center as much

That’s the only grade I see that’s a c that’s fine it’s okay Drake nent all he has to do is uh hold up that National Champion trophy than the DF that they have right now so I can tell you right now C’s get degrees wow be just fine look at me wow

Why so Bradberry all right that was aesome there you go boys all right we just fixed the Vikings hey thank you guys for hanging out with us here we will do this exercise a few more times but that was our first Deep dive in playing front office here on purple

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