Moves the Vikings should make for 2020

[Maelstrom88]

No way I would overpay for Waynes. He struggled last year and isn't a ballhawk. Not a shutdown guy and doesn't get turnovers makes the decision pretty obvious to me. I'd offer average starting corner salary and he can take it or leave it. I'm good with Rhodes, Hughes, and Hill as the top 3 going into the draft. We play a lot more zone than people realize. Hughes was a first round pick it's time he starts playing like one. I'd keep Rhodes for another year to avoid the 4 million in dead cap space.

[halfgiz]

@spotrac

Updated #NFL Valuations Lamar Jackson, $37.4M Kirk Cousins, $33M Ryan Tannehill, $30.5M Matt Judon, $16.3M Anthony Harris, $13.8M Derrick Henry, $13.8M Dalvin Cook, $11.1M Matt Skura, $10M Trae Waynes, $8.4M Mackensie Alexander, $8.4M bit.ly/2A5u1q5
6:43 AM - 12 Jan 2020

[RandyMoss84]

I would keep Rhodes as a back up, he played well in the playoffs
Cousins did win the big game against a great team last week so you are wrong
Cut Sherels, I love the guy but he almost fumbled and fumbled yesterday, time to find another punt returner
Fix the offensive line again
Find another cornerback to replace Rhodes
Finding a 3rd wide receiver is a must

Unfortunately, we can't keep Rhodes as a $12.9 million backup. The good news is that cutting him nets us nearly $8 million in cap space. He's as good as gone.

Trae Waynes is an unrestricted free agent. Somebody's going to want him more than we do (meaning willing to pay him more than we are). But should we overpay? Most of you will say no. But looking at the rest of our CB situation, it's not as cut-and-dried as you might think

Mack Alexander is also an unrestricted free agent. IMO, the Vikings should make every effort to re-sign him. Alexander played well this year and last. He also wants to play the outside. Can he do it? Worth a look.

Holton HIll is a restricted free agent. Tough call. He's shown some promise, but what about the off-field issues? He might have more value in compensation, if another team is willing to sign him.

Mike Hughes costs $2.7 million vs. $4.7 million in dead cap. He's a lock to be back. Hopefully he a) takes a step forward as a player, and b) finds a way to stay on the field.

Beyond that, what do we have at CB? Boyd? Meadors? See why it might be in our best interest to overpay for Waynes? Maybe we could draft a CB, but we have so many other needs (interior O-line, D-line, WR) that we are going to have to use draft capital on those positions.

There are free agents out there like Chris Harris from Denver, but he's going to be even more expensive than Waynes.

My guess is that the Vikings will extend Cousins to help with the cap situation. Get his cap hit down to maybe $24 million (as opposed to $31 million) and it helps the Vikings gain desperately needed cap room.

The other HUGE question is what to do with Dalvin Cook. He'll be cheap next year -- $2 million. But with running backs, especially guys like Dalvin who have missed a lot of games due to injury -- you're often better to extend them early. How creative will Brzezinski get with Cook? It'll be interesting.

Then there's the interior of the O-line. If you drop Everson Griffen and Xavier Rhodes, you gain $21 million in cap space. Do you then go after somebody like Brandon Scherff to replace Elflein?

The good thing is that Minnesota is a pretty attractive destination. We've got great ownership, a great stadium, an incredible fan base, and the best facilities in the NFL. We've also won nearly 10 games per season over Zimmer's tenure.

It's going to be an interesting offseason, starting with a new OC.

Sounds like cornerback is another big need in the draft or free agency, Minnesota is an attractive destination, only thing stopping players from signing with Minnesota is the cold weather since some players hate the cold

[J. Kapp 11]

No way I would overpay for Waynes. He struggled last year and isn't a ballhawk. Not a shutdown guy and doesn't get turnovers makes the decision pretty obvious to me. I'd offer average starting corner salary and he can take it or leave it. I'm good with Rhodes, Hughes, and Hill as the top 3 going into the draft. We play a lot more zone than people realize. Hughes was a first round pick it's time he starts playing like one. I'd keep Rhodes for another year to avoid the 4 million in dead cap space.

So you're OK with paying Xavier Rhodes $12.9 million to save $4 million in dead cap?

I'm not. Not at the level he played this year.

[RandyMoss84]

No way I would overpay for Waynes. He struggled last year and isn't a ballhawk. Not a shutdown guy and doesn't get turnovers makes the decision pretty obvious to me. I'd offer average starting corner salary and he can take it or leave it. I'm good with Rhodes, Hughes, and Hill as the top 3 going into the draft. We play a lot more zone than people realize. Hughes was a first round pick it's time he starts playing like one. I'd keep Rhodes for another year to avoid the 4 million in dead cap space.

So you're OK with paying Xavier Rhodes $12.9 million to save $4 million in dead cap?

I'm not. Not at the level he played this year.

Rhodes did play well in the playoffs though

[YikesVikes]

I would keep Rhodes as a back up, he played well in the playoffs
Cousins did win the big game against a great team last week so you are wrong
Cut Sherels, I love the guy but he almost fumbled and fumbled yesterday, time to find another punt returner
Fix the offensive line again
Find another cornerback to replace Rhodes
Finding a 3rd wide receiver is a must

Unfortunately, we can't keep Rhodes as a $12.9 million backup. The good news is that cutting him nets us nearly $8 million in cap space. He's as good as gone.

Trae Waynes is an unrestricted free agent. Somebody's going to want him more than we do (meaning willing to pay him more than we are). But should we overpay? Most of you will say no. But looking at the rest of our CB situation, it's not as cut-and-dried as you might think

Mack Alexander is also an unrestricted free agent. IMO, the Vikings should make every effort to re-sign him. Alexander played well this year and last. He also wants to play the outside. Can he do it? Worth a look.

Holton HIll is a restricted free agent. Tough call. He's shown some promise, but what about the off-field issues? He might have more value in compensation, if another team is willing to sign him.

We need to stop overpaying average talent.
Mike Hughes costs $2.7 million vs. $4.7 million in dead cap. He's a lock to be back. Hopefully he a) takes a step forward as a player, and b) finds a way to stay on the field.

Beyond that, what do we have at CB? Boyd? Meadors? See why it might be in our best interest to overpay for Waynes? Maybe we could draft a CB, but we have so many other needs (interior O-line, D-line, WR) that we are going to have to use draft capital on those positions.

There are free agents out there like Chris Harris from Denver, but he's going to be even more expensive than Waynes.

My guess is that the Vikings will extend Cousins to help with the cap situation. Get his cap hit down to maybe $24 million (as opposed to $31 million) and it helps the Vikings gain desperately needed cap room.

The other HUGE question is what to do with Dalvin Cook. He'll be cheap next year -- $2 million. But with running backs, especially guys like Dalvin who have missed a lot of games due to injury -- you're often better to extend them early. How creative will Brzezinski get with Cook? It'll be interesting.

Then there's the interior of the O-line. If you drop Everson Griffen and Xavier Rhodes, you gain $21 million in cap space. Do you then go after somebody like Brandon Scherff to replace Elflein?

The good thing is that Minnesota is a pretty attractive destination. We've got great ownership, a great stadium, an incredible fan base, and the best facilities in the NFL. We've also won nearly 10 games per season over Zimmer's tenure.

It's going to be an interesting offseason, starting with a new OC.

[Mothman]

The good thing is that Minnesota is a pretty attractive destination. We've got great ownership, a great stadium, an incredible fan base, and the best facilities in the NFL. We've also won nearly 10 games per season over Zimmer's tenure.

They've averaged nearly 10 wins per season under Zimmer. Is that what you meant? They've only won more than 8 games in half of his seasons as head coach.

Whether to pay Waynes or not will be a tough decision. I wouldn't extend Cook this offseason. Let him show he can stay healthy for the majority of another season and then make the decision.

I also wouldn't extend Cousins. I'd rather see them take the cap hit and make it easy to move on in 2021 if necessary.

[halfgiz]

Looks like we could looking for Defensive and offensive Coordinators.

[RandyMoss84]

The good thing is that Minnesota is a pretty attractive destination. We've got great ownership, a great stadium, an incredible fan base, and the best facilities in the NFL. We've also won nearly 10 games per season over Zimmer's tenure.

They've averaged nearly 10 wins per season under Zimmer. Is that what you meant? They've only won more than 8 games in half of his seasons as head coach.

Whether to pay Waynes or not will be a tough decision. I wouldn't extend Cook this offseason. Let him show he can stay healthy for the majority of another season and then make the decision.

I also wouldn't extend Cousins. I'd rather see them take the cap hit and make it easy to move on in 2021 if necessary.

Vikings are discussing an extension with Cook right now so it is too late

[RandyMoss84]

Looks like we could looking for Defensive and offensive Coordinators.

The defensive coordinator got fired?

[Mothman]

I know I'm repeating myself but it really feels like this would be a good time to make big changes. Since we're talking about contracts, considering the results so far, I don't think it makes sense to extend Spielman, Zimmer or Cousins and having all 3 work through a "lame duck" season this year isn't a great idea either. I know it's probably wishful thinking but I'd like to see the Wilfs be assertive, make a good hire at GM, have the team take it's lumps with the cap in 2020 and work to set themselves up with plenty of draft picks, cap room and possibly a new QB in 2021.

This really is a pretty logical time to do a "hard reboot" of this team. They've finished the last 3 seasons by getting mauled in an important game. When you look at their personnel needs, cap situation, contract decisions (not to mentioned the way they've ping-ponged between 8-win seasons and playoff appearances over the last 5 years) it's very difficult to imagine they will be a Super Bowl team next season. If they don't extend Zimmer, Spielman and Cousins this offseason we're likely looking at a scenario where the organization will be making decisions about all 3 after another 8 or 9 win year and will the choice be any clearer at that point? What will have been accomplished by waiting?

I understand the counterarguments to this view but it feels like this particular run to win a Super Bowl is over and it may just be a question of how long the denouement will last.

[StumpHunter]

The good thing is that Minnesota is a pretty attractive destination. We've got great ownership, a great stadium, an incredible fan base, and the best facilities in the NFL. We've also won nearly 10 games per season over Zimmer's tenure.

They've averaged nearly 10 wins per season under Zimmer. Is that what you meant? They've only won more than 8 games in half of his seasons as head coach.

Whether to pay Waynes or not will be a tough decision. I wouldn't extend Cook this offseason. Let him show he can stay healthy for the majority of another season and then make the decision.

I also wouldn't extend Cousins. I'd rather see them take the cap hit and make it easy to move on in 2021 if necessary.

There is no reason to extend him. He will want to be paid as much as the highest paid QBs this year, he will want the same next year. If the Vikings want to move cap, there are better options in Hunter, Diggs, Barr and Kendricks.

[Mothman]

Vikings are discussing an extension with Cook right now so it is too late

If they're still discussing it, it's not too late.

[Mothman]

Looks like we could looking for Defensive and offensive Coordinators.

The defensive coordinator got fired?

No, but this was the final year of his contract so his future is up in the air. Apparently, there's speculation he could join Stefanski in Cleveland.

[RandyMoss84]

The defensive coordinator got fired?

No, but this was the final year of his contract so his future is up in the air. Apparently, there's speculation he could join Stefanski in Cleveland.

That makes sense