Minnesota Vikings - 2018 Offseason Objectives

As the NFL offseason is in full swing, it’s a perfect opportunity to evaluate where each team was in 2017, and where they plan to go in the New Year. Let’s begin the review of the Minnesota Vikings.

2017 Season Recap:

With the Vikings entering the 2017 season, many expectations were placed on the club as they were building a squad under coach Mike Zimmer that was poised to take the next step in their progression. Housing an 8-8 record from the season prior, it was clear the team greatly underachieved as they attempted to add pieces that would be conducive to winning. Starting with the number one issue, Minnesota addressed their offensive line, building a formable unit that was able to improve on nearly every statistic possible. Sam Bradford ran for his life in 2016 and the Vikings struggled mightily to run the ball. While fixing the offensive line troubles, the Vikings drafted high end rookie talent Dalvin Cook to become the lead back to lead the charge. With that corrected and in place, the Minnesota defense that showed signs of dominance now had a running mate to help string together something special.  

Entering week one of the season, the Vikings took charge with Sam Bradford pegged as the starter looking ferocious and clean firing on all cylinders. Bradford tossed 3 touchdowns and over 340 yards to go along with a superb running display by their talented rookie (Cook) who put up 127 yards in his debut. Disposing of the Saints was a great start but it came at a cost. Starter Sam Bradford re-injured his knee and was unable to play the following week. The insurance policy Minnesota chose to be their backup was journeymen Case Keenum. Traveling to Pittsburgh in week two, the Vikings dropped the contest without much fight leaving most fans with the expectation that the season was already in trouble. With an extra week of preparation under his belt, the system was essentially perfect for Keenum as he had one of his best games as a pro dropping the Bucs with ease. Win one, lose one is how the Vikings began the first four weeks as they lost a winnable contest to division foe – the Detroit Lions, losing by 7. What was more dreadful then the loss to the Lions was witnessing Dalvin Cook make a cut to his left and drop to the carpet with a non-contact injury as his knee buckled under the pressure. Confirmation later revealed that he indeed tore his ACL and was done for the season. With Sam Bradford already questionable to return for the year with his gimpy knee, losing star rookie to the same affliction was like a punch to the gut for all Minnesota staff and their faithful.

With a record of 2-2 entering week 5, something magical was beginning to take shape for the team. Rolling with Case Keenum as their starter and replacing Cook with Latavius Murray and Jerick McKinnon to run the ball, it was an unlikely cast that would put this team on its back riding to pastures the city of Minnesota hasn’t seen in quite some time. Winning their next four contests against the Bears, Packers (Aaron Rodgers injured), Ravens, and the Browns, they were starting to run away with the division early on. Returning to action after their week 9 bye, Minnesota kept their winning ways going with sound offense and dominating defense that could rival any team in the league. Victorious in their next four games against the Redskins, the upstart Rams, Lions, and the Falcons, it was clear that with an eight-game winning streak the Vikings were a team to be reckoned with. Housing a 10-2 record, Minnesota finished the year going 3-1 over their last four games ending the year as NFC North division champions and receiving the first-round bye for the playoffs. Quite a successful run with a quarterback no one expected to do much of anything in the league.

Entering the playoffs, their first opponent was the mighty New Orleans Saints. While New Orleans was a team that figured things out as the year went on, this game was filled with fantastic back and forth play that saw the Vikings take the early lead, only to see it dissolve late in the forth quarter as Drew Brees found a way to steal the lead with a minuscule 1 minute 4 seconds left on the clock. The stage was set for the Saints to upset the home town Vikings moving on to the NFC Championship. Keenum started the final possession at his own 20-yard line completing a pass to Stefon Diggs for 19 yards while calling the timeout with 18 seconds on the clock. With plays not materializing and only 10 ticks remaining, one last ditch effort to get into field goal range to tie the game was the plan. As Keenum stepped back in the pocket, he tossed a pass to the right to Stefon Diggs with a prayer in mind. Diggs leapt into the air, caught the ball as the Saints rookie safety seemed to have closed his eyes and drastically missed the tackle, while Diggs had enough foresight to turn and run for the endzone. What was witnessed with virtually no time left on the clock was nothing short of miraculous! Watching and hearing the stadium erupt in cheer as Diggs ran in for the go-ahead touchdown while throwing his helmet in jubilation as his teammates mauled him to the ground, will be a highlight Vikings fans will never forget.

With the celebration short lived, taking on the Eagles in the NFC Championship was the next challenge on the docket. Minnesota seemingly left their mojo on the field from a week before as nothing similar resembled the unit that played their hearts out and lit the city a blaze with excitement and sound play. The Eagles easily routed the Vikings 38-07 in a very lopsided performance that ended the season in rather disappointing fashion. Alas, the season filled with so much promise and hope of destiny fell in the gutter in the city of brotherly love.        

2018 Offseason Workbook:

Offseason Review:

Finding a way to cope with the disappointment of the 2017 season, the work was just about to begin for a roster that would have many questions to how they could get back to the promise land, but this time taking their efforts to the Super Bowl. Coach Zimmer was obviously back for another season to retool his squad especially in terms of what to do with their starting quarterback situation.

In reviewing the offense, many items stood out as to how coach Zimmer was able to extract everything he did from players like Case Keenum and Latavius Murray to generate the numbers they did. Keenum without question (as it wasn’t even close), had his best season as an NFL quarterback throwing for more than 3500 yards and 22 touchdowns and looking very efficient in the process. Latavius Murray became the bell-cow in the back field as the season wore on topping over 800 yards and 8 touchdowns. While those two were piling up the numbers, receiver Adam Thielen made everyone in the NFL take notice that he is in fact a true playmaker at the position. Hauling in 91 receptions for 1276 yards was something special to witness. This offense defied the odds to being one of the more consistent top producers in the NFL a season ago. Ranking 10^th in points for (23.9), 11^th in total yards (356.9 YPG), 11^th in passing yards (234.6 YPG), and 7^th in rushing (122.3 YPG), one could only imagine what this could’ve looked like with Dalvin Cook running the ball. This offense will have questions as to what their path forward looks like at the quarterback position for the 2018 season. With all three of their quarterbacks without a contract, what option will they choose? Do they have confidence in Keenum to replicate a Cinderella type of season while paying big dollars? Do they trust the wobbly knees of Sam Bradford? Or do they envision going back to Bridgewater whose career was almost over? Should be very interesting to say the least.

Defensively we all know at this point, is undoubtedly the strength of this team. Ranking atop all statistical categories this defense dominated the competition with force and might. Ranking 1^st in points allowed (15.8 PPG) this unit was stifling. Ranking 1^st in total yards allowed (275.9 YPG), 2^nd in pass yards allowed (192.4 YPG), and 2^nd in rush yards allowed (83.6 YPG), completed a season with a defense that was absolutely dominating. This unit really has no large weakness to speak of as you climb up and down the depth chart. While the defensive line generated only 37 sacks, the constant pressure delivered was something that helped this unit excel on the back end. Intercepting opposing quarterbacks 14 times was a great stat, but the shear lock-down effort screamed out while reviewing the tape. The evolution of sixth year pro Xavier Rhodes was a pleasure to watch. He lifted his game to another level shutting down the top talents in the NFL on a weekly basis. While no major improvements to the starting roster should take place, rounding out more depth will only prove to make this unit deeper and more powerful for seasons to come.

Rostered Free Agents:

With the plethora of talent on this roster, the Vikings still possess a giant 48 million dollars in cap space to continue to add to this group. Currently having 15 players on their free agent list to re-sign, as mentioned above, all three quarterbacks are in need of a contract. With each option having their own set of flaws and a management group that should be looking at all options to improve, rumor has generated that Minnesota is in deep to try and grab the top quarterback on the open market in former Redskin Kirk Cousins. If indeed they’re successful in their pursuit for Cousins, the likely scenario would be to offer drafted quarterback Teddy Bridgewater a deal to remain as the team’s full-time backup, while letting Keenum and Bradford hit the market. With the improvements in offensive line play, Minnesota has top priorities to re-ink both starting guards in Joe Berger and Jeremiah Sirles. While both played contracts lower than their performance should allow, the potential is great to get them back on the team. Outside of those individuals, the rest should not see an offer come their way as the Vikings will fill out depth via the draft.

With the amount of money Minnesota plans to throw at free agent Kirk Cousins, shaving money off the books would help assist that process. While not the most popular decision, money could be saved in letting reliable tight end Kyle Rudolph walk as they could save 6.3 million on the books. That move is highly unlikely but a definite option if needed. With no real understanding if defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd will ever play football again, they might agree to part ways on an injury settlement that could ultimately save his 6.7-million-dollar salary this year. Having ample opportunity to improve the safety position via the draft, Andrew Sendejo could find his way to the street saving the Vikings 3.5 million toward the cap. Outside those moves, the Vikings should still have enough room to make a large run at Cousins to have him be the franchise for the next number of years.

NFL Draft:

While Minnesota drafts late (30^th pick), they do house seven selections in this year’s draft. Missing their 4^th round and 7^th round picks, they were able to round out the board with three choices in the 6^th round. Improving depth on the defense while adding more electric weapons on the offense, we could see an exciting group in 2018. Continuing to bolster the offensive line rather than forking top dollars to resign aging talent at the guard position (Joe Berger), the Vikings could easily choose a draft full of talented guards to replace that need. Adding to the receiving core and potentially drafting a tight end to replace Rudolph as his contract will be coming up for renewal the following season, could be an educated move for this team. Which ever way Minnesota chooses to move up and down the board, it will only improve this squad further in the long run.   

Overall for 2018:

From the achievements from last season, its quite clear the Vikings brain trust is looking for sustainable long-term success hence the strong push to have Cousins be on the roster pegged as their franchise quarterback. Receiving Dalvin Cook back from his ACL injury would increase the excitement factor in the potential of what this offense would be. Imagine Cousins, Cooks, Diggs, Thielen as the main stays on that unit, quite impressive on paper that’s for sure. Recent news broke that Minnesota is planning to offer a commitment to Cousins in the realm of a 3 year deal worth 91 million dollars! If this comes to pass, Kirk will be the highest paid quarterback in the NFL with an average of 30.3 million per season. As the new league year is set to open all eyes will be on the destination of Kirk Cousins, and if he indeed chooses Minnesota as his new home, this team should be very fun to watch.