2015 Offseason - Free Agent/Draft Tracker

[HardcoreVikesFan]

I see this as more of we have a lot of young talent, that Zimmer, Spielman and the coaching staff have a lot of faith in that they will turn out. Wallace and Jennings are very different receivers. Wallace is a burner and that is huge, we needed a guy with Elite Speed to stretch the defense, Greg wasnt exactly a burner. There's no point in signing some of these free agents, over spending when we believe we have some young talent that can step up. The vikings were one of the youngest teams in the NFL, and they just got a little older a little more mature right now time is good for us.

I am not and never was a proponent of over spending in free agency.

However, good teams build through the draft AND supplement through free agency. You cannot fill every need and be competitive by just relying on the draft alone. Hell, just look at New England. Yes, they have major talent that they developed through the draft, but they don't win that Super Bowl without signing Brandon Browner, Darrelle Revis, Brandon LaFel, and LaGarrette Blount.

I still don't believe this team has improved as it stands today. I am a huge believer in the Vikings' staff, but IMO, coaching alone cannot be the end-all-be-all indicator of success. You need to have players who can actually play as well.

[Vikings28]

How come no one wants Mathis? Just because of his contract? Apparently he was allowed to shop himself around the league last year and this year and there have been no takers. Reports say the Eagles might cut him so I doubt the trade compensation is the reason why no one is biting, they'd probably move him for a late pick.

Scherff is going to be a beast and I understand wanting to go young and finding a long-term solution but I wouldn't mind Mathis. He's still really good and can start while you figure out what you have in Yankey. That also allows you to use the #11 pick on someone else. Scherff might be a special one but guards aren't that difficult to find.

[Pondering Her Percy]

Do you want me to go through a full mock offseason again? I can do that, but I would rather not divulge too much into hypothetical analysis than I have to.

However, here is what I would have done as GM keeping the assumption that Cassel was going to get traded, I was going to trade for Mike Wallace, and the assumption that Felton/Johnson were released.

- Adrian Peterson would be shopped but I would only trade him for a first round pick minimum and/or equivalent player.

- Cut Chad Greenway, keep Greg Jennings, restructure/release Brain Robison. Jennings was worth retaining one more year. Greenway and Robison are not worth their current contracts.

- Resign Joe Berger (a move the team made) for offensive center/guard depth. Solid contract the team gave him.

- Resign Tom Johnson (move the team made) for defensive tackle depth. Solid contract the team gave him.

- Made a play for a Derrick Morgan/Brandon Graham/Jabaal Sheard to replace Robison. Preferably, Sheard or Graham. Sheard's deal was a steal for New England and Graham's deal was easily doable.

- Sign Chris Hairston/Corey HIllard for offensive tackle depth instead of keeping Mike Harris. HIllard's deal was undisclosed and Hairston is still unsigned.

- Sign George Selvie for defensive end depth. Contract for him was 1.5 million from New York.

- Gauge the contract value for Brandon Spikes. If the contract was too much, focus my effort on signing Akeem Ayers (this was a player I really wanted Minnesota to take a chance on this offseason). Ayers' deal was 4 million over two years - hardly a back breaking contract for a young player with upside.

After that, I would see how the market played out. I would do like this team did and sign Taylor Mays for depth. Mays would probably be my last signing if all of the above worked out as planned.

In the draft, focus on BPA while maintaining emphasis on guard, corner, safety, linebacker, wide receiver, half back.

I think my offseason plan wouldn't be too aggressive or detrimental at all. The biggest contract I would be giving out would be the defensive end contract to Sheard/Graham/Morgan, and even that contract wouldn't be egregious at all. In the end, I would have plenty of cap room to absorb Peterson's contract (if he was not traded) and sign our draft picks. Plus, there would be more than enough cap room to give deals to Harrison Smith and Matt Kalil (if he earned it) during the season.

The biggest issue I have with this team right now is that it didn't appear to me that they sought to better themselves. There were options on the market to better this team. I am all for building through the draft, but trying to maximize compensatory picks (which was their strategy this offseason) isn't always the best way to make a team better.

The draft will be telling for this team. It is just that, IMO, there were some moves that we should have made (and can still make) to improve this team. Then again, I am not a GM and I don't have any say in this team's transactions.

Couple things with this.....

There is no way we were paying both Wallace and Jennings at their high price tags. Second, Graham and Sheard are tweeners (OLB/DE). They are viable replacements for Robison. A guy like Johnson could be a replacement but not Sheard or Graham.

[HardcoreVikesFan]

Couple things with this.....

There is no way we were paying both Wallace and Jennings at their high price tags. Second, Graham and Sheard are tweeners (OLB/DE). They are viable replacements for Robison. A guy like Johnson could be a replacement but not Sheard or Graham.

Well, if they cut Greenway out right, they could have afforded both. But it sounded like Jennings was gone regardless of whether or not they traded for Wallace.

I don't agree with your assessment of Graham and Sheard. Both played defensive end in college and both played defensive end in the NFL. Sheard was effective in the 4-3 defense and Graham is a better fit in a 4-3, even though he is effective in a 3-4 role. They would have fit this defense well and been more effective than 32 year old Brian Robison.

[John_Viveiros]

Scherff/Cooper or Parker at 11. Would still be hard to pass on Waynes tho.

I'm with you on most of these guys. I don't want to draft WR after the Wallace trade, but if Cooper is there at #11 we have to pull the trigger. I really want to shore up the trenches with Scherff, but finding a starting CB in Waynes would be a good use of the pick too if the big guy is gone already.

I'm a bit worried about Devante Parker. I guess if all the rest of the guys are gone, we could go for him, but I'd rather be drafting the best guy at his position at #11, not the 3rd best. I haven't seen him play, but I'm not a big fan of drafting a guy as a red zone target, which seems to be a common thought about Devante. I would rather get a more polished route runner like Cooper.

Besides, we already have our high risk/reward 1st round receiver prospect on the roster.

[Purple bruise]

http://www.dailynorseman.com/2015/3/25/ ... nce-newman

Terence Newman signed.

[DK Sweets]

This signing is nothing to be either upset or excited about - it just is. Hopefully it helps depth.

[vatusay]

Soooooooooo how far does Randy Gregory slide......

[Boon]

I'm with you on most of these guys. I don't want to draft WR after the Wallace trade, but if Cooper is there at #11 we have to pull the trigger. I really want to shore up the trenches with Scherff, but finding a starting CB in Waynes would be a good use of the pick too if the big guy is gone already.

I'm a bit worried about Devante Parker. I guess if all the rest of the guys are gone, we could go for him, but I'd rather be drafting the best guy at his position at #11, not the 3rd best. I haven't seen him play, but I'm not a big fan of drafting a guy as a red zone target, which seems to be a common thought about Devante. I would rather get a more polished route runner like Cooper.

Besides, we already have our high risk/reward 1st round receiver prospect on the roster.

Just because he's "3rd best" (which is arguable) doesn't mean he's not worth the 11th pick. If you have randy moss, marvin harrison and jerry rice coming out in the same draft , if you take marvin harrison at #9 does that mean he's not worth the pick? Not saying that's the case here, just trying to make a point

[vatusay]

OBJ was 3rd receiver taken last year 12 overall.........

Manning had ties to him in the past.......

Teddy has ties to Parker.........

OMG Vikings have to draft him!!!

I like Parker more than White. Cooper, Parker, White. I almost like Smith out of OSU more than White. He goes up and gets it.

[dead_poet]

Report: Massive Polish O-lineman worked out for Vikings on Wednesday

http://www.1500espn.com/sportswire/Repo ... sday032615

[UKViking]

Report: Massive Polish O-lineman worked out for Vikings on Wednesday

http://www.1500espn.com/sportswire/Repo ... sday032615

Reminds me of that moment in The Blind Side where Oher finally mans up and blocks the other guy all the way to the other side of the field.

[dead_poet]

Sweet! Fun outside-the-obviously-very-large-box signing.

@VikingsPR: The #Vikings have signed undrafted free agent T Babatunde "Babs" Aiyegbusi.

Learn more about him here: http://www.dailynorseman.com/2015/3/26/ ... ump-to-nfl

6'8", 351. He also managed to run a 5.28-second 40-yard dash and displayed a 26.5" vertical leap

Related moves: released Justin Anderson & Jordan McCray

Edit: Go to the above link and enjoy him destroying smaller humans. The block at 3:18 is fun (he blocks the dude out of the screen)

More on the behemoth's story: http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/post/ ... -nfl-dream

[Vikings28]

Ha. I was just reading up on that guy. No idea who he is or what to expect from him (if anything) but he's a monster.

[dead_poet]

Babs: 6-9 351 pounds.

@mattvensel The #Vikings say that his name is pronounced Babatunde (bah-BUH-tune-day) Aiyegbusi (ah-YEG-boo-see). But you probably knew that already.

It'd be fun to see if he can "dwarf" Phil.