Matthew Coller and Manny Hill talk about the Vikings’ decisions so far and where that takes them going forward. How would we grade the signing of Sam Darnold, Aaron Jones, Jonathan Greenard and others…
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Regulator Mount up we’re Coming [Applause] A hey everybody welcome to another episode of purple Insider Matthew Coller here along with Manny Hill returning to the show and Manny here’s what I want to say to you is uh first of all welcome back obviously we were together often throughout the regular season but not
Going to do shows every single week during the off season with you but I need to inform you of how many times that the chat has said where is Manny when is Manny coming back when are we going to hear Manny comment on Kirk Cousins joining the Atlanta Falcons so
I’m just gonna leave you the floor you’ve had some time to think about it you’ve had a few days to Stew over what has happened so far and I want you to tell me how you’re feeling right now about the Minnesota Vikings your thoughts on Kirk choosing the Atlanta
Falcons people have not heard from you yet they have heard way too much from me recently so fire way Manny how are you feeling I I feel great about it because I think everybody wins in this situation in terms of you know Kirk Cousins and the Minnesota Vikings Kirk I think gets
Everything he possibly could have wanted with a a ginormous contract with a lot of guaranteed money and he gets the no trade clause shout out to Mike McCartney who got that to get you know part of the deal again I mean it’s just a Master
Class work of of uh sports agency on the on the part of Mike McCartney and congrats to Kirk getting getting that type of deal and and the Falcons get you know a veteran quarterback who’s been very productive and very good for a long time and now they’re in a position to
Really contend and and possibly make some noise in the playoffs uh next year and for the Vikings this is great for them as well because I think this allows them to really officially Turn the Page and and sort of pivot and go into a new Direction um and and really kind of
Focus on building something for the future to put themselves in a position to to contend for a long time uh depending on a lot of the moves that they make going forward so I I’m I’m ecstatic for for everybody really because it really feels like a win-win situation for for everybody involved and
Um this week has been really exciting because this is the first time in quite a while that Vikings have been able to just be really active in free agency and they have been and I really like a lot of the moves that they’ve made so far so
This is this has been great it’s been a lot of fun this week so I want you to contextualize something for me here with Kirk Cousins leaving the last six years and where it fits into your life watching Minnesota Vikings football because when it’s me talking I moved
Here in 2016 to cover the team for what was 1500 ESPN so I know Vikings history as you know but I didn’t live it here in the same way that you have and when I bring on someone like Brian Murphy he’s a reporter Murph is a hardcore reporter
Just like me uh Eric eager for example is a football analyst as As Good As It Gets and danne Mizani whose uh episode is g to run soon on the YouTube channel is a reporter for the Pioneer Press so there’s a lot of sort of objective opinionist uh and not necessarily
Someone in your shoes who grew up a Minnesota Vikings fan here with the roots as deep as it gets in this team so I I want you to sort of look at the history of this team where the Kirk Cousins era sort of rests in your mind
What it sort of says where it fits in and what it means to be moving on from it like give me your Vikings fan put that hat on and contextualize this for me in your mind yeah in in a lot of ways I think you know the organization was run differently from
You know from what we’ve seen from the last six years but it it kind of falls into I think that same um category of you know sort of that towards the end of the Danny Green into the Mike Ty era that sort of that six-year period there
Where saw some success went to the playoffs a few times but never really um you know with the exception of of uh 2000 you with the 41 donut experience weren’t really a lot of you know trips where it was like trips to the playoffs where it was like oh yeah
This team this team is contending and this team is going to go on a on a on a deep run to the Super Bowl towards the end of the Denny years you know they had a couple really nice Seasons obviously and I’m talking about like Post 98 I
Mean 98 was obviously very real but 99 2000 they were they were contending but you know when you really look back on it they didn’t really have you know certainly didn’t have the defense that was good enough to really get them um into contention for a Super Bowl and so
When they transition into that Ty era it was fun because it was Randy Moss it was Dante Co pepper but they were just kind of this middling 500 team you know and they were run very differently back then this was pre uh you know Ziggy and Mark
Wilf taking over as owners um you know so this was the red momes era so it was run differently but it was kind of the same sort of results where you know it was it was frustrating at times because it was like man if they just do this differently if they just
Add this player on defense everything can kind of come together with what they have and the Kurt Cousins era is kind of very similar to that where every year it was kind of like well if they just add this guy if they just sign this guy they
Go sign this guard if they make a trade for this corner or they sign this guy then they’re going to have everything then it’s going to be fine then everybody be ready to go and it just never never really happened they just never really got into the position that
I think so many people were wanting them to go into so I think to to kind of compare if if I could reflect back on my life you know I’m GNA be 40 years old in a in a month and when I think about my lifetime that’s kind of the the
Comparison of those two eras that are I think pretty similar um obviously different times different players different you know management style uh between the two times but it it’s in terms of just frustration and exciting times on occasion they’re they’re kind of um they’re kind of on par with each
Other you know this is something that I’ve thought about quite a bit over the Kirk Cousins era is exactly what you just said about the fleeting exciting times that they had uh during this last six years where we can pinpoint the moments where there is a fervor that
Goes over the fan base and because our jobs when you and I were working in radio together or now when we’re seeing the chat getting the emails the DMS and so forth where we interact so much with the fans that I feel like we have a good
Finger on the pulse of H what the feeling is generally overall and there are only about a handful of times where you can say that something swept over the fan base like this feeling of tremendous excitement uh even really since I’ve been here but especially over
The last six years so I can even just off the top of my head kind of come up with a number of them I mean first of all uh you know Sam Bradford going five and0 and then there’s all that excitement or you know Case Keenum
Getting hot in the the middle of the 2017 season and then the Minneapolis Miracle the day Kirk Cousins signed there was very much that feeling and even though we argued with fans up and down about whether it was a good idea to sign Kirk Cousins the excitement level
Was there because the expectation was raised to be super bowl or bust if you were naming a season like they did on the old NFL films how they used to do that it would have been super bowl or bust would have been the name of that
Season and even when they had their up moments 2019 they won a lot of games but there always seemed to be around the corner something really disappointing so in 2009 19 they’ve got a chance to beat the Green Bay Packers at home and compete to win that Division and the
Packers just stomp their faces in and roll over them and then you’re playing in the wild card game but you win the wild card game in dramatic and greatly entertaining fashion you spend the week talking about how you’re one step away and then you just get your face smashed
In again by the 49ers and then it sort of rinse and repeat on different levels you know they get back in the playoff race in 2020 and in 202 only to have disappointing games where they were let down and 2022 was the Last Frontier of that where it was like all
Right well they they’re eight and one they just beat the Buffalo Bills and that was an excitement level like I think we had never seen with Kirt cousins then the next week they get smacked in the face again by the Dallas Cowboys everybody kind of realizes it’s
Not really good enough and the end result ends up being the end result and then the ironic last moment of great game against the Green Bay Packers you’re about to get back to 500 with Kirk playing his best ball of the season and then he pops the Achilles and the
Sort of stops and starts of maybe it will no it won’t but it could no it won’t and that’s that’s how I’m gonna remember it is every time we would play the sort of talk me into game where it works then it eventually just kind of
Doesn’t and by the time we got to season six it was like you had watched the Saw movie over and over again and it’s the same torture for Vikings fans and it’s better I think to have a movie end up with a bad ending than it is to have a
Movie uh ruined for you and you already know what the ending is going to be and that’s what it really was with the Kirk Cousins era but I will tell you something Manny one thing that I have never really truly been able to figure out that I have chased for so long with
Kirk Cousins is how his numbers were so good and when and when whoever pulls up those pro football reference Pages 20 years from now and what kind of quarterback was this guy they’re gonna go man wow this guy put up some great numbers and then like why did they get
Rid of that guy and let him go to Atlanta and uh I’ll never really be able to quite figure it out how the seasons always went kind of the same way the results were always kind of the same but the numbers were reflective of of like a top-notch quarterback but it wasn’t ever
Really truly what we were seeing in front of our face it’s a it’s one of the strangest phenomenons I think I’ve ever run across in sports and you have to wonder like how is this going to go in Atlanta for him now too it’s going to be
Really fascinating I think it’s I think it’ll be a little bit more fun to kind of watch because you know as somebody who doesn’t have like a rooting interest in the Atlanta Falcons it’ll be easy for me to like watch it without having to have any sort of like fr ation of like
How how can Kirk throw for 375 yards and four touchdowns with no picks and the Falcons lose by three like how did that happen you know what I mean where we saw that so many times during the past six years where it was literally frustrating
And to your point about just sort of the the es and flows and the ups and downs where we just had so many moments where we were teased into thinking like this is going to be it this is you know the the playoff win in New Orleans was I
Remember thinking wow Bravo Kirk Cousins like played really well made a big time throw to Adam theen to set up the Kyle Rudolph touchdown in that game you’re thinking okay well maybe this is year two with Kirk here and maybe maybe this is they’re going to turn the corner here
And if they go into San Francisco and lose if but if they’re really competitive then you’ve got something that you got something Brewing but then it just like you said you just get your you get your face kicked in you you know what I mean and so it’s going to be
Fascinating to watch how this whole thing with Atlanta plays out because they’re going to have a a great opportunity they’re they’re in a very similar position that the Vikings were in when they signed Kirk Cousins six years ago um where they had you know really good talent on offense they just
Were looking for that quarterback to just plug in and play and go um so it’s going to be fascinating to kind of watch how this sort of thing plays out in Atlanta they’ve got a really good opportunity to have a nice season I don’t know if I’m ready to call
Them like a Super Bowl Contender yet but they’re certainly going to be the favorites in that Division I think and you know they’re gonna have an opportunity to get a home playoff game and maybe make some noise and if some things go their way maybe they end up in
The NFC title game who knows but it’s it’s G to be fascinating to watch and um I think a lot easier to watch because I won’t have a rooting interest in it okay I want to get into your evaluation and kind of grade of a lot of
These moves that the Vikings have made uh including your grade on them letting Kirk go knowing though I think I have a a pretty good idea what your grade is going to be for them not extending Kirk Cousins but I I do want to ask you a
Little bit more about the Falcons thing if the Falcons win with Kirk and go farther than they’ve ever gone with the Vikings what should people think about that because I know what I think people should think about that but I want to hear that from you I think that
Ultimately if if the if the Falcons like let’s say you know maybe not this coming season but the 2025 season they let’s say everything comes together for them they go to the NFC Championship Game and maybe they play a really tight game with you know San Francisco or somebody and
They come up just short I think what you do is you just you just tip your hat and you say okay good on you Kurt Cousins congratulations it was NE ultimately was never going to happen here you know I I kind of look at it the same way you know
Different players different sport but I kind of look at it the way you know when Andrew Wiggins got traded to the Golden State Warriors and they eventually won the title two years ago beating the Boston Celtics in the finals and Andrew Wiggins played really well in the finals
Like the Warriors do not win that title without his without the way he played especially in that game five for them to go up three games to two but you know the reality is it was never going to happen with the Timberwolves you were never going to get
You know Andrew Wiggins was never going to put the wolves in a position to even like contend for a championship it just was never going to work out so ultimately yeah does it kind of suck if as a Minnesota sports fan does it suck to see one of your former players go and
Win a championship with somebody else we’ve seen it multiple times you know with with past you know some of our past favorite athletes here it’s it’s tough to see but I think you you kind of recognize that it wasn’t really going to happen here and I think it’s it’s the
Same way with Kurt Cousins is that you can not like it and you can look back on it and wish man wish it could have worked out better here wish wish he could have gotten us to an NFC Championship game that type of thing but I think ultimately you have to look at
The way the last six years played out and it just it just wasn’t going to work it just wasn’t going to you know get the results that you wanted and so I think you just you just tip your hat to Kurt Cousins and the Atlanta Falcons if
Everything works out for him and you just you move on and and you kind of focus on okay what do the Vikings need to do going forward to get themselves in a better position to to contend for a championship that’s a great perspective Manny because my thought was very
Similar that if Kurt Cousins goes to Atlanta and succeeds I don’t think that it proves anything that we didn’t already know about his time in Minnesota which we always said what would have to happen for cousins to win is you to build a behemoth roster that was reflective of what we’ve seen from
Philadelphia or San Francisco and then you would have to get the right matchups and then you would have to have a lot of things go right for you you kicker they have a great kicker uh your kicker makes every kick and your defense plays extremely well you win the turnover
Battle you have the ball bounce your way you don’t get very many injuries and when we look at where the Vikings are or would have been had they signed cousins building that roster around his cap hit was always really the trouble I don’t think anyone ever said it was impossible
And we had seen him win a lot of games it was always just the number of boxes you have to check if you have Josh Allen to be in the NFC or AFC Championship versus the number of boxes you have to check with Kurt Cousins different if the
Falcons are able to pull that off congratulations to them by the way how did they get there oh yeah they haven’t made the playoffs since 2017 they have consistently drafted in the top 10 two wait no three of their offensive weapons are top 10 draft picks so not tanking
But tanking is essentially how they were able to build this team which the Vikings were never willing to do uh just instead of tanking for a quarterback it’s almost like the Lions did with Jared Goff where they tanked around a quarterback uh they you know for Jared
Gof where they end up getting all those top picks and those top players and the Falcons have kind of done that so if they are able to do it and they’re able to pull it off and Kirk wins then I agree tip your hat to him I wouldn’t
Look back and go wow the Vikings failed there because the the Falcons succeeded because the situations were just so much different and also we evalue valate things on the thinking at the time so when we say the 2022 draft was bad at the time it didn’t make sense at the
Time that we were asked to evaluate drafting a safety and a linebacker and a guard with top picks then we went okay this I don’t get it like the trade back and not get a first round pick that’s first guessing with this I it would be
Second guessing if if you said oh well the Vikings blew it because the Falcons won your first guess is what that that it was the best move for the Vikings and that Kirk is probably gonna go there win a good number of games put up a lot of
Points lose in the first round and then everyone will say well you know he got him back to the playoffs maybe next year we’ll get a new guard and then we’ll do it all again or I mean I also it’s possible and this is part of the reason
For the Vikings to move on that Kirk could get hurt again we just saw him teing Achilles so you never know when that’s going to happen again and there’s one other thing I wanted to bring up with you uh about the Falcons which is and William asks this uh says uh uh has
Have I addressed the tampering stuff um and I have not mentioned the tampering issue with the Atlanta Falcons that the NFL is investigating the Falcons tampering with Kirk Cousins because I guess and I didn’t listen to his press conference because I don’t have to anymore uh which is nice so I didn’t do
That I listened to Sam darnold today and instead but uh I guess that sort of The Quiet part has been said out loud by the Falcons that they were always talking to him or whatever and so the NFL is looking into that I could not care about
Anything less Manny I mean that’s just yeah look I I go to the combine every single year and there are about four places around Indianapolis that are absolutely packed with NFL head coaches Executives agents Etc former players are showing up there sometimes uh you know looking for jobs or joining agencies or
Free agents I saw NFL free agents showing up there looking to try to meet with teams and stuff like that there is such a cluster of humanity in the NFL that goes there and plus teams sit down with these agents as well how would you ever police someone saying in a meeting
With Mike McCartney about whatever other player you have of his hey by the way let’s talk about Kirk for a few minutes I mean how what what what are we goingon to record every meeting between agents and teams and and all this stuff are we going to have Rogers send NFL police
Into uh High Velocity in inside of the JW Marriott over the I mean what are we talking about here so I would imagine Roger Goodell uh like most investigations is sort of performatively investigating we’ll find that there was no tampering and will’ll all move on and
If he does find Hard Evidence good luck with that that there was tampering what do they just take a draft pick away from the Falcons nobody cares about this do you care about this I don’t think anyone cares about this I don’t give a damn at
All I mean and do we even know like are the Vikings like filing a complaint with the league saying are the like are the Vikings making some sort of outcry about this like what is what is what is the deal I mean I don’t I don’t really like
The only way I would care about this is if you know if we’ find out that the Vikings are going to get some sort of like compensatory pick or something like that like if they’re gon to get awarded like a second round pick because the Falcons tampered or like you know that
Whole thing I don’t know um otherwise it’s kind of a nothing Burger to me like I just don’t think it really even deserves a lot of a lot of time unless something really serious is going to go down which when is that ever really happened I remember didn’t when when
Favre signed with the Vikings didn’t the Packers try to file some sort of or didn’t they make some sort of complaint about tampering or something from like the year before when they traded them to the Jets and I I don’t know it’s just it’s all just kind of dumb and unless
Something major is going to happen in in the way of like draft pick compensation then it doesn’t really mean anything to me because then if that happens then you’re really thinking about well you know maybe this is a extra ammunition for the Vikings to trade up and take a quarterback in the
Top four who knows but that’s not going to happen in terms of some sort of reward or something like that because the Falcons you know briefly spoke to Kurt Cousins during the combine maybe I don’t know it just I don’t know it just seems like a waste of time what I think
Happened at the combine is uh Mike McCartney put together all the medical things that he could come up with about this Achilles and he slid them under the door of the Falcons and they slid a note back with a number and then it was knock
Twice if you agree I mean it yeah it doesn’t matter and Jared brings this up uh are there any good reasons why tampering is still a thing why exactly what exactly would be the difference if people were just allowed to talk whenever yeah there is no difference
Because they can because they have cell phones the the whole tampering thing seems to be invented like many many years ago where you weren’t supposed to call up other players or try to recruit players to leave their teams and come to your team or whatever but now that
Everybody can talk to everybody whenever they want I see no reason to keep these things on the books and I also think if there is a filed complaint by the Vikings now they acted like they didn’t care about this today in the press conference when they were asked but if
There was some sort of uh bad blood I guess with the Vikings toward the Falcons maybe sound a little snarky KOC at the combine but even if that is the case it would just be sour grapes he ain’t coming back like it’s not like they’re gonna void the contract because
They you know uh whispered and sent no do you like me Circle yes if you do uh at the NFL combine I I don’t think that was uh that was ever gonna happen so let’s go through these Manny I gotta get your opinion on all these things that
Have happened we’re playing catchup here like old friends who haven’t talked in well you know a couple weeks we actually regularly talk but uh at least uh these things hashed out so I think we can just surmise I wrote it down that you would give the um Vikings letting Kirk go to
Atlanta an a is that correct yes I would give it an A+ in fact because I think it’s something that we talked about really after Kirk Cousins got hurt I mean we really kind of talked about like yeah it’s probably time to just move on and focus on finding that next Young
Quarterback and and trying to rebuild and and sort of replenish this roster so give it a A+ for me yeah that one uh has been discussed maybe at length although you know what another thing about the cousins era that it’ll be defined by is how long we talked about him potentially
Leaving because he was negotiating contracts every couple years after 2019 I thought that Kirk Cousins was going to go after 2019 because that draft had so many good quarterbacks and turns out all of them turned out to be good in 2020 you know from Joe burrow to
Tua to Herbert to uh Jordan loves like they’ve all turned out to be good so you know there’s that but I thought because of that draft that there was a decent chance that he was going to leave after that and instead decided to stick around and they actually signed him very early
And then traded Stefan Diggs from out from under him and that was also weird it didn’t seem to match up like wait a minute you’re trading Stefan Di his best wide receiver you’re letting all this Talent go but then you’re signing him to an extension where the most uh the
Highest cap hit is in 2021 where you’re actually probably going to be better and develop some Replacements it did none of it none of that ever added up but every year it was like is he staying could they trade him the number of times we’ve done episodes or articles should they
Trade him is he gonna be extended uh that was exhausting in itself every offseason uh signing Sam darnold I actually have not spoken with you about this so I am curious about your opinion of the Vikings choosing Sam darnold as uh their murf called it the Spackle quarterback rather than the bridge
Because it’s kind of covering up a hole in the wall right now but it is not a permanent solution I like the Spackle quarterback much more than the bridge uh so your feelings on Sam Darnell give that a give that a grade I’ll give it a
B+ um I think I I like the move because you know there’s there’s an opportunity there for Sam Darnell to maybe you know Revitalize his career a little bit you know get him in a situation where he’s got some weapons to throw to an offensive-minded head coach um and you
Know just see what you can see what you can get out out of him and I also like it because it’s not a long-term commitment and I think it also represents that this team is going to attempt to draft a quarterback in the first round you know next month and I
Think that’s something that I’ve been pounding pounding the table with my fist for for you know dating all the way back to to last season so I I like the move you know I $10 million is a little much I think for my liking but I think ultimately you
Got to spend that money somewhere so you know just it’s it’s a one-year deal I don’t think it’s it’s a super high-risk sort of situation um and hey let’s see what’s darnold has let’s see what he can do and you know I think it could be something
That can work out for him so I I’ll give it a solid B+ I think of all the options and I made a list I should go back and look at my list maybe I can find my list of the quarterbacks because I do a a series on the substack go to purple
Insider.com newsletter comes out every day there’s going to be a mailbag that’s going to take me 14 hours to answer every question but I always answer every question uh so go check that out but I I did a future of the Vikings series and I
Wrote down a bunch of names and he was there and I’m going to try to pull this up here because I I’m curious like who I included because this was a while ago for potential quarterbacks all right I’ve got this who did I include okay I included uh Kyler Murray not happening
It’s becoming very clear that’s not happening Mack Jones that’s gonna be a no for me dog uh Baker Mayfield got way more money than I would have expected so no that wasn’t a good choice Gardener muu how would you compare it to a gardener muu I probably would have preferred
Gardner muu just from the standpoint of I think he’s I mean I think he’s better than Sam darnold I know he didn’t really have a great year with the Colts last year but I think the the overall body of work has been obviously I think better
Than Sam darnold and you know I think he can step into a situation and you know you know I think very similarly to Sam darnold you you know he’s not going to come in and think that he’s supposed to have a multi-year deal and be the team’s
Long-term starter I mean he’s he’s you know I think even going into the situation in Vegas thinking yeah they could probably they they might draft a quarterback and if they don’t draft one this year they’re probably gonna draft one next year so I’m just going to come
In and be a professional do my job and try to win as many games with this team as I possibly can so that’s all ultimately like in terms of like a bridge quarterback that’s what I’m looking for um and I think you know Sam Darnell has a chance to to be that as
Well but I think if you’re just talking in terms of which guy I would rather have between the two it’s probably Gardner muu because I I tend to trust that he’ll perform a little bit better um but you know I I think you know darnold was also cheaper because what
Did what did mchu get he got two and 20 was it two and 25 from the ra yeah something like that yeah I think that’s right um and maybe a little bit more guaranteed or around the same amount but they under team control for two years
Mchu is so much more of a Ryan Fitzpatrick type than darnold I think the difference is that there is this like finger quote upside where you still have to say it it has not been totally decided that Sam darnold is who he is and he’s not old enough to have totally
Decided Gardner mchu is who he is but that is a decent starting quarterback that fills a spot for you and we know that there’s a little bit more of guarantee on the box of what Garder mshu would give you as opposed to it’s pretty erratic throughout Sam darnold’s career
And it could be erratic here it could be he looks great in training camp it could be he looks terrible which like there’s been a lot of different iterations of Sam darnold uh as he’s gone along there was the time in New York where they thought he was going to be the guy
Because he had some huge December and then came out the next year and I think they won like two games or something so you know there’s been a lot of those ups and downs where I feel like with mchu he’s kind of been the same guy all the
Way through uh Russell Wilson that was a no for me were you out on that yep totally out I don’t think it was a fit I don’t W to I would not want to deal with everything that I think would come with Russell Wilson come here he would be the
Probably the cheapest option because the Broncos are still paying him and so you could probably sign him like the Steelers did to you know a veteran minimum contract so MoneyWise it would make some sense but just the overall sort of side show of him coming in and
It’s like what is he gonna do the let’s ride Vikings country kind of like what he did I I don’t want to see any of that and I just don’t really know how much Russell Wilson really has left in the tank and when you’re talking about a bridge quarterback you don’t
You’re not really thinking about like you know what is this guy going to look like three or four years from now because it doesn’t matter you’re not thinking about that far down the line with somebody like that but he’s also a guy that’s trying to like I think sort
Of repair his reputation a little bit and try to rejuvenate his career as like somebody’s franchise quarterback and I don’t know if that’s the type of guy you want you know when you’re trying to draft a young guy to you know to deel Vel and grow I don’t know if you want a
Guy like Russell Wilson who still thinks he’s somebody’s franchise quarterback going forward I don’t know if that’s the best situation for a young guy behind him you know I think if the Vikings had a bunch of guys who were 32 years old and Kirk left them even if they offered
Him whatever amount of money and you just needed somebody and that’s where he makes a lot of sense for Pittsburgh because they kind of do have that they have a bunch of older players Cameron Hayward Minka Fitzpatrick like their stars are not all that young and Mike
Tomlin really needs to win needs to get into the playoffs win around so go for the best quarterback you could get at almost no price the Vikings I don’t think are in that same spot plus you just can’t put Russell Wilson with a Young quarterback that’s just not him he
Is the show he is the centerpiece and look I don’t blame him his career has earned that but not who he’s been recently but try telling any pro athlete that hey by the way Michael Jordan these aren’t your Wizards yeah right like he’s you he’s going to make him their team so
I don’t think it would have been a very good fit I also think that oconnell loves throwing the ball over the middle of the field something Russell Wilson just does not do over his career he’s an outside the numbers thrower so uh Ryan tanah Hill Marcus Mariota Tyrod Taylor
Jacobe brassett Carson Wentz and that’s the list anybody on that list that would have been a better option than Sam darnold Maybe J jacobe brassette you know I think yeah there there there’s a there’s a track record there of him being you know pretty reliable and and playing well and you know he’s
Not going to come in at you know demanding to be the team’s long-term starter like he’s a guy that I think would actually really want to help a young you know rookie quarterback that’s that you’re trying to develop so I I you know jacobe I think I would have been
Cool with the other guys I mean tny Hill no I don’t think he really has much of anything left and he kind of indicated a couple of years ago when I think was was it when they the Titans drafted Malik Willis that he basically wasn’t interested in really helping Malik
Willis grow and develop and not sure I mean obviously knowing what we know now about Malik Willis it probably wouldn’t have mattered um but still just I don’t know if that’s the kind of mindset you want from a guy again much like Russell Wilson you want a guy that is going to
Be sort of a positive influence on on the young guy and I don’t think Ryan tanah Hill would have been that okay that was a very deep breakdown of your B+ of Sam darnold being the Vikings quarterback but uh yeah I give it I get high marks because I think he can be
That guy who was there for a younger quarterback as well as providing quality competition so and it seems like he’s totally fine with that I mean he talked today about that possibility and just kind of said look I’m GNA work my hardest no matter what he proved that
Last year with Brock pie and so we already have a sample size to say that that will be the case uh Jonathan grenard versus denil Hunter it’s not really a one versus one here people will make it that as they let Hunter go to sign grenard but it’s sort of grenard
Plus the flexibility of gard’s contract around the same amount of guaranteed money two years versus four years you could do a lot more with the salary cap over four years than two uh and also the other players which we’ll get to that they were able to bring in but I think
As you them you have to simultaneously grade Jonathan grard joining and denil Hunter leaving so what is the grade of of that decision oh that you know in fact when you put it that way I had to think about it for a minute because you know I think if if you’re
Looking at the granard signing on and in itself I give it I give it a solid a because he’s a guy that’s at a pretty good age he was obviously very productive for the Texans last year very good pass rusher um the PFF numbers are
Pretty good you know and you got him on a on a on a pretty pretty nice contract and like you said it’s a four-year deal so it’s a deal that you can kind of manipulate and and change around and restructure over the next couple of
Years if you need to um but I think when you factor in the denil hunter angle of this of denil Hunter leaving for nothing that’s where it it kind of becomes like H that might have been a mistake because they had an opportunity to to move on from him you know during
The season and they chose to hang on to him because they still wanted to try and make a run for the playoffs and I know the players wanted to keep denil around the coaches did as well um but you knew that this was going to be a possibility
That he was going to walk for nothing if you didn’t trade him and that’s exactly what happened and so I think you have to factor that in and so I think when you Factor both of those things in I’ll give it a I’ll still give it a solid B because I do
Like the grenard signing but I think hanging on to Hunter without really much of a chance to to retain him beyond the 2023 season I think was a was a big mistake in letting him walk for nothing I agree that b is the right grade here because grenard can continue this with
His age he does have some injury history I don’t think it’s a disturbing injury history it’s like football players get hurt I I don’t think it’s Marcus Davenport level I saw some comparison to that I I don’t I just don’t agree uh more of along the lines of banged up a
Bit as opposed to this guy has had so many injuries that he’s missed so much time that it’s hard to ever see him playing like a full season no grenard is coming off a full season tweaked an ankle at the end of the year played 15
Games if he gives you 15 games you’re you’re pretty happy with that but there is enough to downgrade it a little to say that if you’re answer to denil Hunter is someone with an injury history we can bang that a little bit you can’t
Get an A+ for that um and then the fact that they didn’t get draft Capital back for Hunter when we all could have seen it coming that they weren’t going to make the playoffs after letting Kurt Cousins go that also goes into this grade as well grenard is not the player
That denil Hunter is that is just a fact of the matter there are very few people who are and I I I’ll give him credit for this though he Nam dropped Chris dolman today talking about the history of the Vikings and Edge rushers so he does get
A little upgraded for that but you’re losing a player who’s great and would anybody be surprised if denil Hunter is 35 and still gets 12 13 14 sacks and part of it is because from the beginning you didn’t come in and sign him to a longer term extension which now that we
Know the answer about his health that he’s been healthy the last two years completely 17 games each of the last two years then it’s also a mistake to have not extended hunter from the beginning when quacy Mena and Kevin oconnell got here so it’s more like a C+ because you
Don’t have denil Hunter you don’t have a second round pick and you do have a player who I think is good but I do not put in the same category as a denal hunter who is truly uper Echelon in the NFL pass rushers so I I would go like C+
On that one uh maybe maybe B minus but I I still think it’s fine and what the other players they were able to get factored in but some of that stuff is with hindsight you could look back and go okay we know that there was some mistakes there and I’m not totally sure
That Jonathan grenard will just get 13 sacks every year because he’s really only done it once so that’s another part of the factor as well I think he’s a really good player uh how about these paired together a couple linebackers Andrew van GLE and Blake Cashman and
Vikings fans got their first look at Andrew van gingle today and uh he went to Wisconsin if you hadn’t seen him there before long hair you know just uh his name is Van GLE I don’t know he’s just like this is a linebacker folks this is a linebacker a do-it-all
Linebacker who I really like and Blake Cashman I’ve never seen someone so excited to do their press conference with us he was having a great day Minnesota guy went to the go first I mean just super super happy it was fun to see uh but how do you grade those two
Moves I like them both um I’m gonna give it an A minus and I’m gonna Pat myself on the back a little bit with the Andrew vanle thing uh because uh I think it was about a month ago where we did a show and we talked about like if the Vikings just have
Unlimited resources you know if they’re going to bring Kurt Cousins back and they’ve got unlimited Resources with cap space they’re just going to spend spend spend who are you going to get and Andrew van GLE was one of the guys that I looked at and said you know what you
Look at his PFF grades he’s an edge rusher he can you know he can get off the you know he can you know pressure the quarterback and things like that and you probably would not have to break the bank to sign him which the Vikings did
Not have to do so I I love it I thought it was a great signing Blake hashman same thing you know he was really good for the Texans last year obviously the local connection I I think makes it even more exciting but you know he’s a good
Player I mean Blake Cashman has really turned himself into um a really really solid NFL linebacker and you know he’s at kind of a a nice age to both of these guys you know think gle’s a little bit on the older side I think he’s gonna
Turn 29 this summer but uh Cashman 27 28 years old um with still you know maybe some room to to get even better you know maybe we haven’t seen the best out of him yet and last year was really good with the Texans so I like it I I’ll give
It a a um a solid a because I I like both moves with uh with both guys I do too I think uh both positions are pretty significantly upgraded uh van gingle is a much better player than DJ wanham all respect to what he took on last year but
He’s been the definition of an average NFL player over his career and Blake Cashman even though it’s a one-year breakout um if we’re projecting forward what is Jordan Hicks going to give you versus what Blake Cashman could give you Cashman could give you he’s under contract for three but even more you
Three to five more years of of really good play whereas you Jordan Hicks that that would be betting on a guy who’s really been through it bodywise was not as quick as he used to be so these guys I think are real impact players and if
We’re grading the fit I think it’s an A+ fit for both of these guys uh C was a Green Dot at times in in Houston was a key part of demo Ryan’s defense I think there’s intelligence there that you know Brian Flor is going to work with well he
Moved around a little bit but now he’ll do more of that he was a good pass rusher with the Gophers I think they’ll use that more than he did at the the Texans and then van gingle he was already used really well with Brian Flores he was part of those Brian Flores
Defenses that went from worst in the league in 2019 to being an elite defense by 2021 and this was a big part of it so he already knows Flores he already knows how he operates and we can look back at his exact performance and say yeah this
Is what he was in this defense and at a very reasonable price I mean I think it was 14 million fully guaranteed that’s hardly anything for a guy who can impact the game to me these were the best signings these are the ones that I want
To grade uh the absolute highest now was there anything else that uh that stuck out to you I mean I wrote this down brandle Powell bard those guys coming back uh someone named Trent sherfield is now a Vikings a bounce around receiver and uh Jerry Tillery who’s not the
Answer at defensive tackle I could tell you that so I I don’t have any others to grade but how about this Manny let me give you a hypothetical tell me how you would grade it if the Vikings traded two first round picks number 11 and next season along with two second round picks
To get the fourth overall selection ensuring that they were going to get a quarterback in this draft how would you grade that hypothetically I’d give it an a this is this is what I want them to do you know if you’re if you’re if you’re telling me
That JJ McCarthy is going to be there at 11 maybe I wouldn’t you know if you’re going to guarantee me that JJ McCarthy was going to be available with the 11th pick I might not give it as high a grade because it’s like well how you just keep
Keep the future assets and take the guy at 11 but McCarthy’s going to go on the top 10 and you’re going to have to contend for you know with some of these other teams maybe to get him or a drake may you know maybe McCarthy goes number
Three and may would fall to you at four um if you do that and you get into that position to take a guy like this is this is what I’ve been wanting them to do this is this is this is it you know this is your chance this is your opportunity
To get that Young quarterback and try and uh and and really build a roster around him over the next you know three four years and think about this caller you you trade you you trade up you get that Young quarterback whether it’s May McCarthy whoever think about the the resources
That they’re gonna you know you’re giving up draft picks but think about the resources they’re going to have in 2025 with all the cap space they’re going to have because the Kirk Cousins dead cap hit is off the books the denil hunter dead cap hit is off the books
You’re in Prime position to really do what you want to do to put this team together and and get yourself in position to contend so I if if they pull this off if they can move up and get a guy really really solid a for me yeah I
Would feel the same way I would feel like it was the connecting of the circle of where you started and or the painting of the picture do you ever watch the Bob Ross uh the PBS guy those of us without cable the painter dude and he would
Start painting and you’d see it and you’d be like I don’t see a forest man what like I just see a bunch of you know random colors and then he would bring it around and uh by the end he’s got this beautiful painting and you’re like now
I’m seeing it and that’s what it’s kind of been like with this competitive rebuild where at times you’re going I don’t really see what the competitive rebuilding is here or if this move or that move and even not trading someone like Hunter last year like I not really
Seeing it but if they were to trade all those draft picks to make sure that they got a quarterback then I would see it then it would be like all right you know what in the micro viw some mistakes along the way but in the macro view now
I see the entire picture and uh that’s that’s what we’re looking for is to really by the end of this understand what they were out setting out to achieve and to see it come to fru if they were to not trade up wait till 11 not pick a quarterback take a
Defensive tackle and then not trade back in for a quarterback or something I’d be like is Sam darnold our quarterback here like uh is that what we’re doing but you know I got no indication at the press conferences today that they think Sam darnold is their quarterback I mean I
Think quacy dafo Mena described it as he’s a quarterback under contract I was like wow I mean that’s got to make you feel great he’s going to call his mom mom the GM called me a quarterback under contract I think it’s going to work out here like there was no enthusiasm really
Whatsoever so you know um anyway going back to the Kirk and Atlanta tampering thing apparently Kirk in his press conference said that he had contacted the Falcons before he was a free agent officially so he essentially incriminated himself for tampering but again I don’t really care and uh I am
Reminded by the chat that there was an actual tampering penalty handed down of a pick swap of the Arizona Cardinals and Philadelphia Eagles so um yeah we can look forward to some sort of majorly punitive thing I’m sure coming down uh for the Minnesota Vikings but maybe
Maybe like uh who was it there was a good funny comment about your 1 1800 uh tampering or something are you entitled to compensation so I guess the Vikings probably are but I doubt it’s anything that’s going to change your opportunity to draft a quarterback all right let’s uh let’s
Finish on this and then I I’ll spend a little time I have I really have to write uh but I will spend a little time answering some questions from fans after you you pop out many but um who do you like man like do you have a guy in the
Draft I mean we talked about a little bit toward the end of the season but the combine hadn’t happened yet things like that uh so I’m curious as this whole thing is played out if you have somebody that as you’ve learned more you’ve read your tape analysis you’ve watched YouTube highlights combine interviews
And so forth uh who you think would be the best fit for the Vikings I think I think Drake May would be the best fit um you know I know there’s there’s been some talk especially like in the last week week and a half about you know some people
Being down on Drake may I I still like him a lot I still think he has a chance to be really good you know I think if you put him in a good situation with weapons with an offensive-minded head coach um you know I think you’re you’re
Really G to give him an opportunity to have a lot of success and oh look at the Vikings they have weapons and an offensive-minded head coach who played the position himself I mean I think it would make a lot of sense if it’s Drake May if it’s JJ McCarthy you know I
Really i’ I’ve warmed up to the idea of JJ McCarthy in the last couple of weeks not just because he’s shot up a lot of people’s draft boards but I think there’s an opportunity I think for him to to have some success too I think just
My concern with him was just he was asked to do so little with Michigan from the standpoint of he was not asked to be very productive for them um but I think there’s something to be said for a guy to step been with a roster that that
That’s that good with a lot of pressure riding on him not just pressure on the head coach to win at a high level but pressure on him as well to to sort of lead the team and to run the offense um and playing in a lot of big games
Beating Ohio state twice um and you know finding a way to to to beat Alabama in the in the Rose Bowl and then doing enough in the national championship game I think you know he seems like a high character guy there is some Talent there
Um so if it’s JJ McCarthy i’ I’d be fine with that but I think my first preference would probably be Drake May with JJ McCarthy and we’ve got time to talk about it a lot more heading up to the draft but my 30 second thing on McCarthy is it’s okay to have questions
About a quarterback and also like the idea of drafting him we can do that you don’t everyone doesn’t have to act like they’re Ste a Smith and Skip bis all the time with every opinion it’s one thing I like about our little group of fans that
Watch our show Vikings fans is that a lot of times they think in in nuanced manners and so I appreciate that about you see it in the questions and the comments and things like that but so often it becomes do you love that quarterback more than anything in your
Entire life and you would throw yourself in front of a bus to save his life or would you rather push him in front of the bus because you hate him and it’s like that’s just not how anything works though because you could say I’m I’m a little concerned about the fact that
Against Penn State they had third and 10 they hand it off like that’s that happened uh and also like it wasn’t very precise in some of the biggest games against Iowa or in the national championship game there is accuracy issues there is deep ball issues but you
Can also say if they drafted him you think it’d be a really good decision and that goes for pretty much anyone I mean Drake May has some low lights that would make shakon a fool but yet at the same time like yeah the tools and everything else seem to fit
Really perfectly with Kevin oconnell so that’s that’s just like if you go for nuance you often um miss the bus on on hot takes and retweets and shares of your short video where you’re screaming about one quarterback guaranteeing they’ll be a bust or a success or whatever but you end up looking silly
You end up saying that Desmond Ritter would be qb1 which I took the time today as I was waiting for press conference to just search on Twitter Desmond Ritter qb1 to see which draft analysts were super high on a quarterback that had no discernable top end skill to me but I’ve been wrong
Before too so just to show you how wrong your favorite analyst can be when it comes to quarterbacks which is why I’d be totally good with it if they drafted the guy they liked the most so uh where this all goes will be fascinating I think the next move is though trying to
Secure a trade up if that’s what they want to do unless they are sold on the second level of quarterbacks Beyond those top four uh all right final thoughts Manny a new wave a new breath of fresh air what is it called in Star Wars it’s like a new generation and
Something are you not a Star Wars guy and lukewarm on Star Wars a new A New Beginning maybe beginning A New Hope A New Hope yeah I think that’s the that’s it Vikings post Kirk generation colon A New Hope final thoughts yeah of course Jon Jonathan just shoots me a text
Immediately like he’s been waiting for any reference he could jump in on thank you Jonathan um I I’m excited I I I I think this is this is what I’ve I’ve hoped that they would do this is the route that I was pulling for them to do um
When the off season started and I couldn’t I couldn’t be more thrilled I I like a lot of what they’ve done in free agency and and now it seems like it feels like there’s going to be a a legitimate attempt to move up and secure that that Young quarterback and and try
To build on them and and build on a on a future so I’m excited and I’m I’m looking forward to seeing how everything sort of plays out I I wish the draft was like next week so that we could really find out what’s going to happen but we
Still have about a month and a half so um let the speculation begin and uh looking forward to it it’s going to be a lot of fun well you’re the best Manny thanks so much for uh taking the time here we’ll definitely get together again as the offseason goes along and big
Moves happen and absolutely after the NFL draft probably before and after if uh you’re not too busy so we’ll make sure to grab you then but thanks again for jumping on man and we will talk football again very soon football everybody uh I know a lot of you were
Asking for Manny’s takes over the last few days so there you go it did not disappoint as always so here’s what I’m uh I got I got about a half hour because I I really I was at those press conferences today and the other night I said oh I’ll answer like a couple
Questions and then I gotta go write an article and it ended up being two hours of answering your questions because you guys ask good ones and bring up great topics but I get caught up in that so half hour so we’ll go to 9:30 and then I
Got to go write an article and you should read it by going to purple insider.com signing up for the newsletter so let me scroll all the way back all the way back uh to earlier in the show from some of the comments here and respond uh Rob says what are your
Thoughts on koc’s body language at today’s pressure presser to me he seemed a little bit reserved and lost uh it was noticeable and actually on the YouTube channel you’re going to see uh Dane motani and I from earlier today we recorded a podcast out at TCO Performance Center and that was really
At the center of the conversation is that Kevin oconnell did not have the same type of energy that he usually does when talking about this team and that took me by surprise a little bit and I guess what I came away with for a conclusion is just that number one he’s
Kind of feeling it now like this is real now for all these other times that he’s talked it’s always been probably in his mind that Kirk was GNA come back that like all right he’s you know he’s playing around in free agency earn that right but he’ll come back here and he’s
Going to run my offense and we’re going to win and we’re going to do everything we can to compete for a championship next year and now it’s like oh now we gotta build a whole new thing kind of reminds me so I like the house Hunter
Shows and things like that and if you ever watch Love It or List It just stay with me if you haven’t it’s you know fairly entertaining but uh what always happens and Love It or List it is when they go to renovate the house they always find something terrible wrong
With the house every time it’s oh man we got a foundation issue here oh man we got leaking water every single time and that’s maybe what it was like for Kevin oconnell all right we’re gonna do this renovation but we’re gonna have Kirk and it’ll be F uh oh you got a foundation
Problem now and ultimately by the end of the show it’s fixed up beautifully and cost the people more money uh but in this case that’s kind of where the metaphor ends because there’s an opportunity to build a better Foundation over the coming years but he just looked
To me like a guy with a lot of weight on him right now because this quarterback decision comes down to him doesn’t come down to quacy adaao Mena or scouts or the owners or anybody else comes down to Who the head coach really believes in
And he knows that it is a uphill battle to coach a rookie quarterback and to try to get the most out of them here’s another thing he knows if you pick the right guy you can be known as a legendary coach if you pick the wrong guy you can be remembered as just
Another coach who got fired after three years that’s heavy stuff man that’s your whole career resting in one offseason in one decision now it doesn’t have to and I don’t think that it should always operate that way in the NFL but we just know that’s the reality of the NFL how
Would you feel if that were the case you’d probably probably be feeling it a little bit right and sometimes it’s a lot easier for the general manager who’s always wheeling and dealing with players to say all right that’s not his price he’s out next guy’s in Better Price
Draft a guy it’s fine go ahead but Kevin oconnell is really the one that’s wearing the weight of the world on his shoulders here so I think that overall oconnell does kind of show his emotions on his sleeve sometimes and U I think we saw that a little bit today um but also
You know might just be tired like it’s it’s just hard to draw all these distinct conclusions but I those who watch the press conference would have said yeah it’s not his usual sort of up like you know Tempo kind of excitedness that we have generally heard from him
Even when talking about some things that that weren’t the best or that they were going to have to overcome uh What About Bob says uh do you have any Steam on is steam what we’re using now since the Justin Jefferson nonsense uh on what teams are willing to trade at
The top of the draft I don’t know I mean Arizona just makes so much sense but they also make so much sense for Marvin Harrison Jr or Malik neighbors or whoever Arizona wants to pair with Kyler Murray their goal should be to get the best wide receiver they can so their
Price will not be nothing right it’s it’s gonna be significant very very significant and there’s everybody’s calling them New England after getting jacobe brassette just does not look like a team that’s going to pick anything else but quarterback at number three overall that’s just my read on it right
Now and the same thing goes for Washington they bring in uh what Mariota and they trade away Sam Howell like that team is setting up lining up to draft a quarterback with the number two overall pick same thing going for number three but number four if there’s anything
That’s going to be up for sale it’s going to be that and that just is common sense right but I I haven’t like steam have I seen any you know Adam Sher rumor have I seen the Cardinals put it out there intentionally only when they tweeted out the Kyler Murray thing they
Tweeted out that Kyler Murray was their franchise quarterback which may have been a wink wink nod nod we are open for business because we’re not moving Kyler Murray so if you’d like go ahead and send us your trade proposal uh from Mike do you think that there is
Anything to the rumors that Fields isn’t in play because the Bears are shopping the number one overall pick no I don’t I think that Fields isn’t in Play Because Fields is bad that’s why that’s what I think it is I think he’s just not a good quarterback and there’s no evidence to
Suggest that he is Bears fans will lose their mind when you tell them there isn’t but truly there’s not if you compare Justin fields to Sam darnold with the New York Jets tell me how it’s different I mean I tell tell me honestly how it’s different uh it’s not they are
Just failed first round draft picks and teams are usually not willing to spend that much on failed first round draft picks unless they think there’s something else there but you have to build everything around that player there’s only one real spot that makes sense to me for Justin field and that’s
As Jaylen herz’s backup because if Jaylen Herz got injured then you could run the same stuff but he’s got to go to a place where it’s a run first quarterback situation because he’s not a great passer and I won’t believe he is until I see it you know I really won’t
Like he’s got to show it and it’s been three years and he’s never shown it he’s an occasionally good passer but mostly very bad and they’ve built it all around their running game how many teams have quarterbacks where the situation is built built around the quarterback running first even historically very
Little very few usually it’s pass first and then you build off that with the running game even with Lamar Jackson he’s still throwing for a thousand more yards than Justin fields did last year uh groovy skeptic is there anything to quacy we don’t have to draft a
Quarterback or do you think that’s a function of holding their cards close to the chest it’s one of those things you just have to say if you say oh yeah buddy we’re drafting a quarterback well I don’t think that changes anything as far as their leverage goes I just think
That it’s not something you would generally reveal to the world but everybody knows if they said it that would be totally fine and I don’t think any of us would criticize quy dafam Mena for saying that but I think he’s trying to at least be a little like oh you know
Maybe we don’t have to we like Sam darnold a lot we could just stick with him this year but that’s just silly I mean there that’s not the plan the plan is to draft quarterback and anything else would not make any sense at all Brett van gingle and Cashman both
Seem like Jack uh Jack knives or uh jack of all trades uh perfect for flores’s system I think they’ll be excellent with Flo coaching them the fact that we already know van gingle was excellent with Flores coaching him is pretty good like that’s a pretty good signing if you
Can get someone where you already know the results you don’t have to try to project you could just go right back and see exactly uh what you know um what he did before oh you know what uh Jordan says did Manny grade Aaron Jones you know what we forgot about that we got
Caught up on some other conversation going through all those uh potential quarterbacks and I did not get his grade on that sorry about that I for me that’s an a because it’s a one-year deal and he could significantly upgrade the running game in the first year of whatever
You’re doing quarterback wise if it was anything more than a one-year deal I’d be like I don’t know but I don’t know how you could go anything less than an a unless you’re concerned about his injury history maybe you could go let’s let’s not get crazy let’s go let’s go B+
Because of that because there is injury history there recently for Aaron Jones he is such a great player though uh from what he did last year I mean his most recent performance is kind of legendary for what he did at the end of the season and into the
Playoffs Dave says I like their Moves In free agency if they bolster the defense and offensive line and running game then Sam darnold should be fine as a bridge the key is with the GM finally having a successful draft yeah I mean it’s really at least if it’s going the way that I
Think it’s going to go then it’s about the head coach picking his quarterback and then finding enough other pieces later on in the draft that can eventually develop into something but it’s mostly going to be how they deal with free agency to build the other parts of the roster this draft is really
The draft of the quarterback and it might take multiple picks it might be the only guy you get in the first two days but it is the draft of the quarterback as long as you get him I would not I’d put it on the whole regime
When you draft a quarterback it goes on everybody goes on the owner the coach the uh general manager the whole organization if you draft Lewis scene I’ll just put that on quy right the trade down I’ll just put that on him that was that was his stuff but we’re
Talkinging about a quarterback okay that’s everybody they all have to be in quote alignment which they said that they were today so they always do say that though I’ve never heard anyone be like no alignment no we’re not on the same maybe Zimmer would have said that
If we ever asked him are you on the same page with uh Rick fielman no no that wouldn’t have been the case uh seven dragons asked what would you guys think of signing xaven Howard I’d be okay with it but his last two years have been pretty underwhelming one of the problems
With Corners is that uh that they get to a certain point where they hit their Peak and it’s very short normally that there’s not a lot of Corners who have a super long Peak Edge rushers now this is this is kind of an argument maybe to draft Edge rushers and not Corners
Because Edge rushers can have a 10-year Peak they could be great for year after year after year after year where Corners they start off they’re a little spotty and then if they’re really good they’ll hit that two or threee window where they’re great and then they you know
Eventually uh fall off and that’s what’s happened to zaven Howard now if Brian Flores thinks it was system related then I’m into it it’s really all his decision he would be an upgrade but for a very short time I think he’s like 32 years old just for a very short time it would
Be an upgrade I’d prefer they go after someone a little bit earlier or younger younger I should say Hunter says uh should the Vikings try to copy the 2012 Washington model and draft two quarterbacks in the same year as a contingency something like McCarthy in the first and Jordan Travis in the
Fourth yeah that is a a model that has not often been tried for sure although San Francisco picked Brock Pie as well now that was the what following year of of Trey Lance and maybe they already had hints about Trey Lance but normally you would have said well they’ve got their
Quarterback why would they pick another one oh it’s the seventh round who cares look I would never criticize a team for doing that if they did I would never criticize it I think most of the time you are throwing away your draft pick though if you draft a quarterback in the
Middle rounds we’ve seen that recently you kinda I mean okay you got prie you got Dak Prescott you got Kirk you got Russell Wilson it’s not a huge Sample versus how many quarterbacks have been drafted in the middle and late rounds that have actually worked I’d probably
Rather just go with you know I don’t know an defensive tackle or a guard or something that’s my preference but if they did that and they took the guy with the ACL injury because he might have some upside I’m not gonna say that’s wrong but I also think that it played
Games with RG3 in Washington we could say well they nailed it Kirk cat got them to the playoffs one year and was a better quarterback than RG3 and that is true but I think it also from that very beginning kind of split people where the shanahans clearly liked Kirk they’re
Very big Kirk people and RG3 you know maybe you start to like the other guy a little bit more and everything and RG3’s knee injury is what really ruined his career but you know there there became it became like a thing with the two quarterbacks and I don’t know if you
Exactly want that to happen but again I’m not going to be against it uh how much uh Brandon says how much better is Sam darnold as a quarterback than Nick Mullins he is way more naturally gifted and still potentially on the upswing but how much actually better of them
Playing it’s not much and it’s weird how quarterback works that way because if you could combine the two if they could go in the cryo chamber or whatever and be fused where you could put the Sam darnold arm and chest and all that St muscles and everything he’s a big guy uh
Onto Nick Mullins I’d be a superstar but it’s not how it works unfortunately so they do it in different ways and they get to basically the same place which is far too many turnovers you know they take a lot of risks they get some big plays they get some big games Sam
Darnold is clearly way way more gifted than Nick Mullins but the statistics of them starting don’t look all that different so I mean backups are backups that’s usually how it ends up going but I think darnold is somebody that you could start over a full season physically I don’t know if
You can start Nick Mullins over a whole season uh that it seems kind of dangerous actually to start Nick Mullins over an entire year because he does have a tendency to get himself killed he gets hit he takes hard hits he throws so many interception ctions he might pass jamus
Winston’s 30 interceptions if you had him start an entire season whereas Sam darnold uh will make mistakes and will turn the ball over take sacks and fumble and you throw picks but he could start a full season and give you a chance to make the playoffs I don’t think that’s
The case with Mullins Mullins is like five and 19 or something as a career starter so yeah I’d say and darnold is significantly more talented as a quarterback than Mullins uh Brett says why has Minnesota not offered dton Ryner a contract why is Ryner basically panhandling for a job on
Twitter is there something unforeseen to the public that management doesn’t like about him uh no I I mean I think it’s more just pretty simple what we think it is which is they brought in Ryner last year because they wanted a little more grip from that position I think and they
Wanted a little better pass protection they wanted a smarter guy as far as identifying blitzes and twists and stunts and they got that I mean he is really good as a pass protector but if you’re getting Aaron Jones and your main goal is to improve your running game
You’re just not bringing back Dalton Riser and if you can name me a team in the NFL that wants a guard that doesn’t run block effectively and we’re talking very bottom of the league and and is gonna pay topnotch dollar for it I mean I there’s just not many um Ryner is a
Really enthusiastic teammate always there at his locker ready to answer for whatever happened in the game and all that and runs up to his teammates and picks them up when they go down and all those things and became a very likable figure for the Vikings last season it’s
Just you just brought in one of the best running backs of the last decade and you want to run the football effectively so you’re going to bring in the guy who ranks like 60th out of 70 guards in run blocking over the last five years it’s
Been a trend with him that I think is the hold up and he’s just probably not getting a whole lot of attention because of that and if you’re him that’s tough because pass blocking is really important it really is it’s really important and so he’s got a good
Argument for hey guys come on I’m really good at this you know like shouldn’t you pay me some money for being good at this but sometimes weaknesses are what ultimately get you with offensive lineman uh Taylor says we talk about quarterback a lot that’s true yes we do on the week that Kirk
Cousins leaves we certainly do uh biggest needs beside that a cornerback and nose tackle are the closest for me I think that left guard is probably my place to begin defensive tackle is still Jonathan Bullard Jerry Tillery Harrison Phillips not good enough absolutely not good enough they need defensive tackle
Left guard cornerback is definitely a need um if we were ranking the one thing if it got left off that you be like okay I guess it’s probably corner is the one thing and that’s not saying that I disagree with you it’s just that if you
Were to leave that off uh oh Keenan Allen is signing with the Bears huh yeah wow that just happened that’s not good for the Vikings that guy what did he do to them last year and that’s probably why the Bears signed him he roasted the hell out of
The Vikings like nobody I’ve ever seen before uh so yeah there you go Caleb Williams possibly gets a pretty good weapon there or whoever they pick maybe it’s Jaden Daniels I don’t know whoever it is they’re gonna throw the ball the Keenan alen against the Vikings 40 times
So anyway uh corner corner because they have Evans they have Booth they could bring in somebody else like a Levi Wallace we’ve seen this before where average corners for their careers sometimes you know have solid seasons and solidify a unit even if you don’t have a shutdown guy so it’s still
Important but that defensive tackle and left guard to me are are way up at the top because Center and Right Guard are shaky so if you can have a very good left guard quality left guard average Center still I’m not convinced on the Right Guard two great tackles you can
Have a pretty good uh overall offensive line I think uh Ty D skull says we should not just draft a quarterback because we feel like we have to we all know what happened the last time we drafted a quarterback too early based on need I’ll leave it at that won’t say his
Name you know the drafting of the quarterback thing and I know that Christian Ponder has hurt you all I understand that but also uh there is so little Rhyme or Reason To Who succeeds or fails when it comes to drafting quarterbacks that both of the top quarterbacks last year there
Were rumors that both of them had their owners step in and force them to make the pick one of them was Bryce young the other one was CJ Stout in one case the Carolina Panthers look foolish the other case the Texans look genius and in both
Cases the owners seem to just step in and demand that they do it uh because it is so difficult to project Christian Ponder had every bit the chance of anybody else who is a first round pick to work out he just didn’t and if he did then the Vikings
Probably would have been really darn good if he had worked out I would defend a pick like that he was a good athlete pretty good quarterback uh in college so all right take your guy it didn’t work out you know what they did two years later they took another guy was it two
Years uh they took another guy and uh that guy got them to a division title and his knee blew out but still uh you can’t be you can’t be afraid you can’t be afraid and I don’t think that Christian Ponder ever proves anything about anything period he doesn’t prove that
You shouldn’t do X Y or Z he doesn’t prove that Rick Spielman didn’t know quarterbacks he doesn’t prove that Mike Mayo was a genius because he said on draft night that you know it was a reach doesn’t prove anything all it’s just sometimes these quarterbacks don’t work
Out and if they draft one that doesn’t work out it will be bad for the franchise I think we all know that but they’re going to give that player the best possible chance to succeed we never really asked if they gave Ponder the best chance to succeed because he was so
Bad but you know did they like did they have receivers then did they they had the running game obviously did they have the coaching then I don’t know like but they’re gonna push this decision in the best way they can with what they have around this quarterback that they draft
So uh I I don’t think that a failed draft pick for for many many years ago should have any impact on how you look at this um yeah uh one before I die says with wanam now signing a deal are the Vikings lined up to get a comp pick uh you guys
Love the comp piics um I never really pay much attention to them because they announce it the next year but I and then I’m not making fun of you it just tells me how obsessed you guys are with uh football which I love but it’s something that since they just announce the list
Before the draft I usually just wait until then and don’t think about it uh but the way that it works with compix is they get counteracted by signings that you make so I would guess that because the Vikings are making big signings that they are not going to um end up getting
Much compensation for what they’ve lost so they lose Kirk but they bring in darnold maybe there’s some Gap there because Kirk’s contract was so big lose hunter bring in Gard bring in G van gingle there’s a whole Secret whatever formula to figure that stuff out but most of the
Time uh most of the time you don’t end up getting a whole heck of a lot if you end up spending in free agency which the Vikings have oh man you know um yeah the the the Ponder thing is something that I I just feel like because the Vikings have tried so few
Times is the reason that it comes up because they have not taken the top 10 quarterback because they have so often tried to fill the spot with Brett Favre which worked or with you know whatever Matt Castle or whatever guy that they could sort of find uh that
That’s and stuck with Kirk Cousins for so long that’s why there’s so much focus on one guy who failed but you could go through any frame and they’ve got failed quarterbacks every franchise has them for the most part um except for what Green Bay and Indianapolis like
Everybody else has made mistakes in the draft and that doesn’t say anything to you know about what’s going to happen in the future especially something that we’re talking about is a dozen years old uh and draft analysis has gotten better quarterbacking has gotten better coaching has gotten better offenses have
Gotten easier to run uh the w wide receivers are good I mean so look you’re never going to be perfect though you’re never going to be perfect but they should pick uh with somebody who they think really matches well personality-wise with their coach that’s the biggest thing you’re always trying
To say I guess if you were to look back at Ponder and say what what was it was it the desperation to draft a quarterback I I don’t know about that and reaching on a quarterback’s fine to me too for the most part like oh well he’s only the 18th best player well
Quarterbacks are always the top if it’s worth a first round pick then it’s worth it but what what was it um was it The Supporting Cast I mean I know for ponder that he has said and it might just be that they misevaluated his talent usually they don’t Mis evaluate the
Talent normally what happens is it’s about the way the player mentally and emotionally reacts to his environment and was his environment the same as the environment they’re going to give JJ McCarthy or Drake May so you know there’s that but yeah I mean we can move
We can move on things we need to make a list someday of things you can move on from The hersel Walker trade like move on it’s it’s all right it a long time ago there’s no reason to talk about that anymore or uh the same with with
Christian Ponder but yeah the the Keenan Allen trade some of you guys bringing that up that wow that’s a great trade for the Bears the Vikings are now dealing with some very intelligent front offices that they’re going to battle against so they’re in the the right way
With a lot of the things they’re doing they’re in the right mindset they’re taking the right approach but the Bears over the last two years now since the chase clay trade which is one of the worst you’ll ever see since then man they’ve done a lot of good
Stuff and uh the Vikings have to be in the position to do things like this at some point which they can because uh you know Keenan Allen is a really really good wide receiver and he’s going to go with DJ Moore there and that’s a big upgrade from Darnell Mooney who I don’t
Think is very good so this man this exciting NFC North’s exciting they’re watching these rebuilds and now the Vikings coming along as well is over the next few years is gonna be really something so all right great stuff guys great stuff and uh shout out
To Manny uh one of my best friends he’s just uh so great at contextualizing it all giving his perspective so um glad you guys enjoyed seeing Manny back on the show if you’re new to the show during the regular season Manny and I are on here every Monday and Thursday
Breaking down the week’s game so thank you guys so much up on the the channel next is Dane misani and I from TCO performance center uh with maybe um worse lighting out there in the little side room but uh yeah we did it right after the the press conferences so keep
Your eye on the channel that video is going to Premiere coming up next so thank thanks everybody so much for the discussion this was really fun as always and much much more to come emergency podcast with every move articles over purple insider.com so keep your eyes out and we will talk very soon
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27 Comments
In the end, what did we get for six years and $185 million dollars?? Some fun regular season moments and one playoff win followed by an absolute curb-stomping in San Francisco. We had all of those things before Kirk, and will have them now that he's gone. Nothing was accomplished.
Cousins has three playoff visits in 11 years as a starter with a single victory. It is baffling when people casually talk about him winning multiple playoff games with the Falcons. Could it happen? Sure, I guess. But it would be a huge departure from his history. There are significant data points with Cousins on talented rosters accomplishing nothing at all. It is far more likely that the Falcons miss the playoff entirely than they will win even one playoff game this season.
I care about the tampering. Either have the rule and enforce it; or eliminate the rule.
Wilfs want to make money they won't let jj go he sells to many jerseys
His stats looked good compared to rhe results because over his career he had a lot of garbage time stats to close out games but people forget about that.
His teams would fall behind and then he would throw for a lot of yards during the 4th quarter when defenses had gone into prevent. Ive seen a ton of his games go like this and the box scores always looked like the game was more competitive than it actually was. He would have yards in the first quarter then disappear for the 2nd and third quarters… then get his garbage stats late fourth quarter…. rinse and repeat
Monty Python explains the Kirk Cousins Era…. We examine the phenomena of deja vu, that strange feeling that we have lived through something before. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2eUopy9sd8
Of course if we can wrangle a 3rd or 4th rounder from Atlanta for "tampering" it would be hilarious… But I agree, who really cares?
Linval, Dalvin, Harrison, now Johnathan. The vikings get amazing value in their d line f/a signings
It looks like we might collect unincumbered comp picks for kirk and danielle. 2 3rd round picks would get our pick count back in order
I honestly dont know why didnt resign 26 yr old wonnum to pair with 26 yr old greenard when he only cost 6m. I dont see much of a difference between him and van ginkel other than 4m a year and 3 years in age. Both about 8-10 sack per year producers who can play both standup and hand in the dirt. Little perplexing
'A' from my end. For not extending Kirk. Another + for Aaron Jones. Wonnum is a bit of a headscratcher… let's see.
I think Kirk reverts back to his old self pre Kevin. The Falcons are going to find out how much Kevin had a hand in his success in 2022 and 23
Kirks statement game was 2018 in GB . The defense gave him a GM winning drive and second down he throws a pick in the end zone to end the game. Had he scored that would of catapulted him into the upper echelons
lol The Flacons will come nowhere near a championship game with Cousins
Kirk WON'T win and we all know it. That's why we all wanted him gone isn't it? We all know that Cousins comes up small in the biggest moments. When everything is going great and on schedule he's absolutely terrific but the second things break down Cousins breaks down, when the pressure is at it's highest he will let you down and we all know it!
Doesn't everybody "tamper"? Are we really going to start going down this road
I'm trying to decide if it's just my bad memory or if I watched games differently at different points in my life , I definitely remember bad offenses I remember ponder bailing the pocket every pass play, I remember tavaris looking like he just didn't have it , I remember being excited for Joe Webb starting a playoff game in Lambeau because hey they won't be ready for the mobile QB (on frozen January wisonsingrass that's never mowed short) , I remember all those but bad defenses I don't remember much of anything except our corners were terrible , the Jeff Gladney cam dantzler Holton hill experiment was not good but I don't remember details of bad defense years
If the Falcons lose a pick that helps the Vikings and every team that drafts after them. Why have rules, I guess.
Matt: “You can’t compare Genard and Hunter, though people will…” proceeds to grade them as a comparison
Yay Manny! Welcome back
Wouldn't it be something if the Vikings stomped the Falcons into a puddle next season?
Were the Falcons on the cusp of greatness last season, did I miss something? They are not in the same position as the Vikings were 6 years ago, I don’t think their offensive talent is better than the current Vikings. I think our offense could be decent next year. Look objectively at the roster and they could contend for playoff spot if healthy.
this week has been the most exciting week of vikings football since 09..
I think Altanta has a good roster, but do they have a better roster than the one Kirk joined in 18'? I'll answer that one with an emphatic "no". Then the next question is, who is more valuable, Kirk at 30 or at 36 years of age coming off his first major injury? I get what Arthur Blank did what he did, but make no mistake Kirk Cousins is a high floor – low ceiling QB that doesn't take a team far given his contracts. I suspect when Kirk's time is done in ATL, Falcons fans will draw the same conclusion Viking fans did 3 years ago.
Sam Darnold is a solid guy, always has been, and that's been true since he was thrust into the starting job at USC as an under the radar recruit. He showed last season with Kyle Shanahan that there is still a bit of upside if he gets good coaching. No, he's not the long term answer as the Vikings starter, but he'll work with a rookie QB and if he plays his cards right he could be the long term back up in Minnesota, and that's not a bad gig.
A. Rule is a rule. Enforce it or get rid of it. Don’t pick and choose when to enforce it, that will get congress involved
We love Manny!