Moves the Vikings should make for 2020

[Purplepain2018]

Truth be told, I am glad Stefanski is leaving. For me, the guy was too inconsistent. One game he would open up the playbook and really let the guys play and then you have just really, really conservative play calling like the games in Green Bay, Chicago, Kansas City, Green Bay in Chicago and oh yes...the game in San Fran.

Here are some moves the Vikings should make for 2020.

1. Cut Xavier Rhodes. Enough said. The guy can't cover, misses tackles, gives up TD's and was really targeted by most QB's the
last 2 years and it helps on the salary cap.
2. Cut Riley Rieff. Pretty much what I said about Rhodes. He gets beat way too easy, just cannot move his feet. Already have
some developmental guys on roster such as Olie Udoh, Aviante Collins and Rashod Hill. Also, will help in
salary cap.
3. Replace Elflein. Another guy who has regressed to the point that he should either be benched or cut.
4. Cut Ben Gideon. Another guy who you never know the guy is playing. He was the starting LB, but then was out due to a
concussion. Need a more athletic player who makes plays.
5. Find Cousins Cousins will be going into the final year of his contract and not sure where the Vikings stand on giving him n
heir apparent. extension or not. The NFL is going to more mobile QB's and that is one thing Cousins is not. He has put up
good numbers, but the knock on Cousins is not being able to win the big game and against good teams.
One possibility is Marcus Mariota from the Titans.
6. Find a third WR Diggs and Thielen are good, but the Vikings needs to find a complimentary third WR to be able to take
some of the heat off of these two. Bisi Johnson may or may not be that guy. Chad Beebe may or may not
be that guy. Need to find him through the draft or free agency.
7. Find new DE Depending on what happens with Everson Griffen and Stephen Weatherly, the Vikings should be in the
market for a speed rusher DE if Griffen or Weatherly leaves. One thing that stood out is when Hunter or
Griffen are off the field where does the pass rush come from.

Just a few thoughts on the end of the year as the Vikings are once again not in the Super Bowl!!!

[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

[Mothman]

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

Again? It was fixed?

I think their top priorities have to be improving their offensive line and shoring up their run defense. This team has to get better at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.

[TSonn]

I don't think we'll bring in Mariota with Cousins still as the starter but I'd be interested to see that. Mariota was supposed to be the original Mahomes. I don't think Mariota is necessarily better than Cousins, but he might be a better fit for our line and Mariota + Cook would probably be deadly.

[RandyMoss84]

I don't think we'll bring in Mariota with Cousins still as the starter but I'd be interested to see that. Mariota was supposed to be the original Mahomes. I don't think Mariota is necessarily better than Cousins, but he might be a better fit for our line and Mariota + Cook would probably be deadly.

Mariota is mediocre but I would take him over awful Mannion for the back up

[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

Again? It was fixed?

I think their top priorities have to be improving their offensive line and shoring up their run defense. This team has to get better at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.

How about 3rd wide receiver? We have not really found a reliable 3rd wide receiver and I am meh on Bisi Johnson to be honest

[TSonn]

I don't think we'll bring in Mariota with Cousins still as the starter but I'd be interested to see that. Mariota was supposed to be the original Mahomes. I don't think Mariota is necessarily better than Cousins, but he might be a better fit for our line and Mariota + Cook would probably be deadly.

Mariota is mediocre but I would take him over awful Mannion for the back up

For sure, but I think our leadership doesn't really want anyone behind Cousins that could challenge him for the starting spot or cause a media QB controversy. Would love the move though! My guess is Mariota would cost too much to bring in to be a back-up.

[Maelstrom88]

I don't think we'll bring in Mariota with Cousins still as the starter but I'd be interested to see that. Mariota was supposed to be the original Mahomes. I don't think Mariota is necessarily better than Cousins, but he might be a better fit for our line and Mariota + Cook would probably be deadly.

Mariota is mediocre but I would take him over awful Mannion for the back up

Count on Mannion being back. He fits Zimmer's idea of a perfect backup. Bright side is if Mannion has to start for any considerable length of time they will be able to draft Trevor Lawrence.

[Maelstrom88]

Again? It was fixed?

I think their top priorities have to be improving their offensive line and shoring up their run defense. This team has to get better at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.

How about 3rd wide receiver? We have not really found a reliable 3rd wide receiver and I am meh on Bisi Johnson to be honest

They do need a better 3rd WR unless they plan on hardly ever using 3 WR sets next year.

[Mothman]

How about 3rd wide receiver? We have not really found a reliable 3rd wide receiver and I am meh on Bisi Johnson to be honest

I agree that they need to find or establish one (maybe Beebe can stay healthy and do the job?). I just meant that I consider the line and the run D higher priorities. They have a bunch of needs.

[halfgiz]

They have DB's that need signed and I don't see them signing everyone.
Waynes,Mac,Kearse and Harris...who gets signed and who doesn't?

What's it going to take to sign Cook or will he be to expensive?

[RandyMoss84]

How about 3rd wide receiver? We have not really found a reliable 3rd wide receiver and I am meh on Bisi Johnson to be honest

I agree that they need to find or establish one (maybe Beebe can stay healthy and do the job?). I just meant that I consider the line and the run D higher priorities. They have a bunch of needs.

When Beebe was playing, he sucked running terrible routes, I hope he gets cut

[RandyMoss84]

They have DB's that need signed and I don't see them signing everyone.
Waynes,Mac,Kearse and Harris...who gets signed and who doesn't?

What's it going to take to sign Cook or will he be to expensive?

Vikings are discussing an extension with Cook right now so it better be a friendly deal, not top highest paid running back since he could not stay healthy for a full season even though he had a great year this year

[S197]

One of the few things it seems everyone can agree on is the O-line is bad and has been for as long as we can remember. Well, Rick brought in Reiff and Remmers. Used mid round picks on busts like Clemmings and Beavers. Elflein is on track to join them. Bradbury had a rough year and while early, isn’t looking like a 1st round pick. And that’s just recently.

So it’s not even a case of neglecting the line, which was a case for a long time. Now it’s also a case of not being able to identify talent. What I’m saying is Rick has failed massively in this area no matter how you look at it.

I think this combined with how he’s handled the QB situation over the years is enough for him to go. We would have been better with a guy like Tannehill and the cap savings invested in OL than paying Cousins.

So I’d start with getting rid of Rick. Anyone who thinks he’ll draft a QB hasn’t been paying attention the last 10 years. It’s probably too late to get rid of Zimmer but I really wouldn’t extend him. Most likely outcome is a .500 season next year and both Cousins and Zimmer are gone.

So 2020 to me is a sunk cost. I would look ahead and who can make the team better in 2-3 years, the window we had is shut. That means tough decisions. Reiff, Griffen, and Linval are 3 easier ones to move on from. Smith may be in the mix, he’s getting up there in age. At the very least they need to start grooming someone and hopefully they can resign Harris. Rhodes depends on if they can retain Waynes and Alexander.

I would field trade offers on Cook. You don’t pay for RBs in this league and someone is going to overpay.

Draft I would say DT, OL, and QB are priorities. You can find a #3 WR in the mid/late rounds.

[J. Kapp 11]

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.