***Official 2020 Minnesota Vikings season thread***

[Hollywood42]

Let's get this show on the road! Big news from last week is that Xavier Rhodes and Linval Joseph were released. Pretty expected with Rhodes, crazy how far he's fallen in a few short years. Was a little more surprising to see Linval cut, but I know we're trying to finagle some salary space. I definitely wouldn't mind seeing him back on a more reasonable contract, but not sure how likely that is.

And breaking news this morning, Kirk Cousins has agreed to a 2-year extension! I know fans are pretty polarized about him, but I'm a fan of the move. He's solid, and has been very good when he has protection. Hopefully we can continue to get the O-line shored up and continue to be a dangerous offense with Kirk, Cook, Diggs, and Thielen!

Here's hoping for a good season. We're in a bit of a weird spot, definitely too good to tear it all down, but kinda similar to the Wild in the sense that we're tight on cap space and do have some clear holes to fill. Will be interesting to see how we tackle those.

[Hollywood42]

Anthony Harris franchise tagged! Would be great to keep him around!

Does kind of feel like we're just pushing our problems down the road to the next few years where they'll come back and potentially be even worse, but when you have a team that can compete now, can't complain about just continuing to try to find ways that keeps us competitive and gives us a chance

[SkolVikesCards]

Diggs tweeting about leaving again... also Colquitt and Ham extended

[Soxrule111]

Originally Posted by SkolVikesCards

Diggs tweeting about leaving again... also Colquitt and Ham extended

Diggs can HAPPILY leave...Dude doesnt seem to be a team guy.

And Counsins, good for him. Im excited to hear everyone talk about how horrible a deal it is but its really not.

[Hollywood42]

I think Diggs just likes the attention. Am I tired of it, yeah. Grow up dude. Do I want to trade him, no. Unless we get an insane haul. That said I'm not honestly sure if I think he actually wants to be traded. He clearly loves stirring the pot. It's annoying and childish, but at the end of the day if he does his job and gives his all, let him play out his contract and see what happens

[mortatort]

Just curious, what's the consensus on the back up QB's if something happens with Cousins

[CubKings]

Diggs pisses me off. But whatever, he gone.

[myerscards]

The cancer is shipped away.

[Hollywood42]

Well I'll miss the talent. The diva side, not so much. I do like that return- Diggs and a 7th for a 1st, 5th, 6th this year, and 2021 4th

[CC_123]

Big moves from the Vikings today. I can't complain about any of them! Stoked that we got a 1st rounder for Diggs. I definitely didn't expect that. I hate seeing Diggs go, but at least we got a nice haul. Now we need to take a WR in the 1st.

[gergs1134]

Just read that the equivalent in points for what the Vikings got was around the 8th OA pick. Considering what DeAndre Hopkins just got, that is a steal.

Not loving the Cousins extension. Great this year, not so great in 2022.

I like Anthony Harris, but didn't Zimmer just go on record saying that paying that much for a safety was essentially stupid?

So now with 13M in cap and the draft they still need at least 2 corners (slot or otherwise), a WR, some OL help, a pass rusher, a QB2 and a replacement for Linval. The 2 first rounders will help, hopefully both starters from day 1. Gotta wonder where the money is going to come from to get this team filled.

[CC_123]

Originally Posted by gergs1134

So now with 13M in cap and the draft they still need at least 2 corners (slot or otherwise), a WR, some OL help, a pass rusher, a QB2 and a replacement for Linval. The 2 first rounders will help, hopefully both starters from day 1. Gotta wonder where the money is going to come from to get this team filled.

You think we need WAY more than we actually do right now.

Yes, we need a couple CB's and a WR. Offensive line, while it was average last year, isn't exactly something we NEED when we have every single starter returning. Now, I'm not saying there isn't room for upgrade, because there obviously is. If they can find an upgrade and get rid of Reiff due to that, I am 1000% on board with that because Reiff drives me nuts.

A QB2 isn't really of concern right now, because you can find that in the draft or a cheap, one year option in free agency. But we also have Jake Browning, who the Vikings regard highly, so I wouldn't be surprised if they roll with him as their QB2.

Now, we don't need a replacement for Linval. We just don't. We have some of the best defensive line depth in the league. Guys like Jaleel Johnson, Shamar Stephen, Jalyn Holmes, and Armon Watts are more than capable of filling that role and have had to last season. I don't think DT is a position that should be prioritized right now. DB and WR are the two positions that should be the priority right now, but will likely be addressed in the draft, as I expect it to be a WR and CB taken in the first round of the draft.

[tjenkins]

I disagree completely with the fact that we don't need Offensive Line. To me is should be the #1 priority. They were worse than average. They have a whole lot of holes to fill up front but they have freed up some money and if they don't use some of it on the Offensive Line you wasting the talents we have in Cook and Mattison. I predicted that Diggs would be gone in the 2019 Vikings thread. To me it's a good move. If I recall "CC" said and I quote,

"Reiff will probably be gone, thankfully, but there is zero way Diggs is going anywhere, especially with 4 years left on his contract."

[asujbl]

Sounds like they are shopping Harris in a tag and trade (Browns are interested so I've been see it on the Browns message board)

Not sure what level pick it would take at his contract amount

[punkoholic]

Originally Posted by asujbl

Sounds like they are shopping Harris in a tag and trade (Browns are interested so I've been see it on the Browns message board)

Not sure what level pick it would take at his contract amount

Apparently anywhere from a mid to late round picks is what they're asking for.

[asujbl]

Originally Posted by punkoholic

Apparently anywhere from a mid to late round picks is what they're asking for.

Browns have a huge hole at Safety, like literally, they got rid of all 4 of the ones we had.

So you might be able to snag a pretty good pick.

[Hollywood42]

I don't really understand why we'd trade Harris. Cap space is like the only thing, but who do you replace him with? We already need some help with the secondary, and he's and Smith make probably the best safety duo in the league

[asujbl]

Originally Posted by Hollywood42

I don't really understand why we'd trade Harris. Cap space is like the only thing, but who do you replace him with? We already need some help with the secondary, and he's and Smith make probably the best safety duo in the league

It's all $$

You're currently paying your 2 safeties a combined 22 million dollars a year and you don't have any cap space. That's a lot of money for that position alone.

I'm not saying you should trade him, if I was a Vikings fan I wouldn't want to (and as a Browns fan I want him for the same reason) but I understand why the tag and trade concept would be appealing to them

"The Vikings entered Monday with just about $15.4 million in salary cap space, according to Over The Cap. And while trading Harris would create another need in free agency, it would also help the Vikings address several of their other positional needs at cornerback, left tackle, defensive end, guard, defensive tackle, and outside linebacker"

[burke23]

Originally Posted by Hollywood42

I don't really understand why we'd trade Harris. Cap space is like the only thing, but who do you replace him with? We already need some help with the secondary, and he's and Smith make probably the best safety duo in the league

I assume Sendejo and draft pick? Love Harris but that is a lot of scratch given our cap situation.

[CC_123]

Originally Posted by tjenkins

I disagree completely with the fact that we don't need Offensive Line. To me is should be the #1 priority. They were worse than average. They have a whole lot of holes to fill up front but they have freed up some money and if they don't use some of it on the Offensive Line you wasting the talents we have in Cook and Mattison. I predicted that Diggs would be gone in the 2019 Vikings thread. To me it's a good move. If I recall "CC" said and I quote,

"Reiff will probably be gone, thankfully, but there is zero way Diggs is going anywhere, especially with 4 years left on his contract."

Oh no, I was wrong about Diggs Nobody also expected to get that type of haul. Vikings told everyone that they would not move him unless they got a first rounder. Just so happened that one team was stupid enough to give that and then some.

As far as our offensive line goes, they were statistically above average. They ranked 7th in run blocking and 14th in pass blocking, per Football Outsiders. They also only allowed 28 sacks, which is the third least amount given up last season (tied with New England and Baltimore). I am not saying that there isn't room for improvement, because there always is, but the offensive line we have is more than serviceable. Statistics back that up. I would obviously love to see Reiff go, but unless we can find a significant upgrade at LT, he will unfortunately remain on the team.

Offensive line should NOT be the top priority right now. They have their entire starting line back. CB is a higher priority. We only have Mike Hughes, Holton Hill, Kris Boyd, Marcus Sayles, Mark Fields, and Kemon Hall under contract. Yeah, that is ugly. WR is also a higher priority. We only have Adam Thielen, Chad Beebe, Olabisi Johnson, Davion Davis, Alexander Hollins, Bralon Addison, and Dillon Mitchell under contract. Again, a big yikes.

[Hollywood42]

Yeah I get it. I just have a hard time feeling it would be a net positive if they move Harris for a mid to late round pick as rumored. Just doesn't seem worth it even with the extra cap space. Already have a bunch of picks earlier than what it sounds like they'd get for Harris, too. But hard to say definitively without knowing exactly what the options are

Originally Posted by burke23

I assume Sendejo and draft pick? Love Harris but that is a lot of scratch given our cap situation.

Originally Posted by asujbl

It's all $$

You're currently paying your 2 safeties a combined 22 million dollars a year and you don't have any cap space. That's a lot of money for that position alone.

I'm not saying you should trade him, if I was a Vikings fan I wouldn't want to (and as a Browns fan I want him for the same reason) but I understand why the tag and trade concept would be appealing to them

"The Vikings entered Monday with just about $15.4 million in salary cap space, according to Over The Cap. And while trading Harris would create another need in free agency, it would also help the Vikings address several of their other positional needs at cornerback, left tackle, defensive end, guard, defensive tackle, and outside linebacker"

[SkolVikesCards]

Waynes gone too. Starting at corner, Holton Hill and Mike Hughes! Now we need at least 2 corners in the draft + 1 receiver. Not sure how this gonna work out...

[CC_123]

Originally Posted by SkolVikesCards

Waynes gone too. Starting at corner, Holton Hill and Mike Hughes! Now we need at least 2 corners in the draft + 1 receiver. Not sure how this gonna work out...

Holton Hill will be a fine starter at CB honestly. He has all the tools to be a stud. But luckily, this years draft is deep at WR and seems to be pretty deep at CB too. I have no doubt we will be able to find a nice WR. We haven't had the best of luck with CBs through the draft, however. But I do trust Zimmer's DB evaluation skills and Spielman's drafting ability/ability to find mid-round gems.

[myerscards]

#Longseason

[Viking6]

The whole reason to tag Harris was to trade him. You can't pay 2 safeties top dollar. It just doesn't work.

Rick probably tagged him to try an get a pick this year instead of the 3rd round comp pick he would most likely return if he left as a FA. Probably see him traded for a 3 this year or multiple 4-7 round picks