Offseason Thread

[CharVike]

Garrett Bradbury released. https://www.si.com/nfl/vikings/news/no ... jpjzv0kwtx

Bradbury started for 6 seasons and made 23 million. I would call that a good career. I read they couldn't trade him because of his salary. If you can get something for Ingram, who can't block, I thought some team would cough up a 6th or 7th rounder. I would say based on history and age Kelly will miss time. Looks like Michael Jurgens will be the backup and next man up.

[CharVike]

Vikings Sign CB Jeff Okudah to a 1-Year Contract

[J. Kapp 11]

Vikings Sign CB Jeff Okudah to a 1-Year Contract

Here’s another one of these strange pickups.

Dude was the No. 3 pick in the 2020 draft. As in “19 picks ahead of Justin Jefferson.” Yet here he is, on his fourth team in 3 years.

The Vikings under Kwesi have a strange history of picking up highly drafted castoffs.

[Cliff]

Re: Why aren't the Vikings spending more of their cap.

Apparently if they spend too much in FA at a certain point they potentially lose comp picks. They should have got two 3rds comped this year, one for Cousins and one for Hunter but they crossed the threshold and lost the one for Hunter.

[CharVike]

Garrett Bradbury released. https://www.si.com/nfl/vikings/news/no ... jpjzv0kwtx

Bradbury started for 6 seasons and made 23 million. I would call that a good career. I read they couldn't trade him because of his salary. If you can get something for Ingram, who can't block, I thought some team would cough up a 6th or 7th rounder. I would say based on history and age Kelly will miss time. Looks like Michael Jurgens will be the backup and next man up.

Bradbury who was released Monday by the Vikings, has agreed to terms with the Patriots, NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero reported.

[40for60]

The Aaron Rodgers rumors to the Vikings are over!

Tom Pellisaro from NFL Network was on KFAN radio and reported that the Vikings did their due diligence and considered it, but he didn’t think it was likely it would have happened. Also the
Vinings said they have rejected multiple trade offers for McCarthy and he’s their guy moving forward. He also suspects they are going to trade for a veteran backup.

https://x.com/TomPelissero/status/1902 ... gr%5Etweet

[J. Kapp 11]

The Aaron Rodgers rumors to the Vikings are over!

Tom Pellisaro from NFL Network was on KFAN radio and reported that the Vikings did their due diligence and considered it, but he didn’t think it was likely it would have happened. Also the
Vinings said they have rejected multiple trade offers for McCarthy and he’s their guy moving forward. He also suspects they are going to trade for a veteran backup.

https://x.com/TomPelissero/status/1902 ... gr%5Etweet

Great news. I mean, GREAT news.

[StanM]

The Aaron Rodgers rumors to the Vikings are over!

Tom Pellisaro from NFL Network was on KFAN radio and reported that the Vikings did their due diligence and considered it, but he didn’t think it was likely it would have happened. Also the
Vinings said they have rejected multiple trade offers for McCarthy and he’s their guy moving forward. He also suspects they are going to trade for a veteran backup.

https://x.com/TomPelissero/status/1902 ... gr%5Etweet

Could the Vikings waiting to make this announcement have anything to do with giving Rodgers a taste of his own drama? Rodgers makes it known that his top choice would be the Vikings and expects MN to change their plans? National media picks up on it and starts lobbing for Aaron in MN. Vikings remain silent as they have no obligations to address these rumors. Rodgers squirmed for a change hoping the Vikings cave.

That probably didn’t happen but if it did I like the Vikings 10x more.

[VikingLord]

So happy to see that Rodgers is out of the picture and the Vikings are sticking with their McCarthy plan even if there is some risk. I trust KOC when it comes to QBs. He got a lot of out Darnold and if there is a head coach in the NFL who can wring every last drop of potential out of a young guy like McCarthy KOC is that coach. Nobody can predict injuries or other setbacks but I'm excited to see what this offense can do this year already, and I might be even more excited depending on what KAM does with the first pick in the upcoming draft.

One more comment on the parallels between how former Packer Brett Favre came to Minnesota as compared to former Packer Aaron Rodgers coming to Minnesota is that other than both having been former Packers and both having played with the Jets I didn't see much of a comparison. Favre was still capable of playing at a high level when he came to the Vikings while I don't think the same is true of Rodgers who has been declining for several seasons. Yes, the Jets aren't a great team but Rodgers is a contributor to that rather than a counterweight to it. Favre was universally respected for his on field leadership and toughness while I don't think Rodgers' teammates like or respect him. And despite playing against the Vikings for most of his career I never had a strong dislike of Favre. Yes, I hated it when he beat the Vikings, but it was just Favre playing well. I never felt any disrespect or negative emotional reaction from Favre towards the Vikings, and when he was playing for the Vikings he was totally invested in the Vikings and their success.

I'm just glad this speculation is over and the Vikings are moving forward with confidence (and without Rodgers).

[40for60]

So happy to see that Rodgers is out of the picture and the Vikings are sticking with their McCarthy plan even if there is some risk. I trust KOC when it comes to QBs. He got a lot of out Darnold and if there is a head coach in the NFL who can wring every last drop of potential out of a young guy like McCarthy KOC is that coach. Nobody can predict injuries or other setbacks but I'm excited to see what this offense can do this year already, and I might be even more excited depending on what KAM does with the first pick in the upcoming draft.

One more comment on the parallels between how former Packer Brett Favre came to Minnesota as compared to former Packer Aaron Rodgers coming to Minnesota is that other than both having been former Packers and both having played with the Jets I didn't see much of a comparison. Favre was still capable of playing at a high level when he came to the Vikings while I don't think the same is true of Rodgers who has been declining for several seasons. Yes, the Jets aren't a great team but Rodgers is a contributor to that rather than a counterweight to it. Favre was universally respected for his on field leadership and toughness while I don't think Rodgers' teammates like or respect him. And despite playing against the Vikings for most of his career I never had a strong dislike of Favre. Yes, I hated it when he beat the Vikings, but it was just Favre playing well. I never felt any disrespect or negative emotional reaction from Favre towards the Vikings, and when he was playing for the Vikings he was totally invested in the Vikings and their success.

I'm just glad this speculation is over and the Vikings are moving forward with confidence (and without Rodgers).

I totally agree. Another difference is that while in 2009 they had a stacked roster, they had no good option at qb (Jackson and Rosenfels).

[Cliff]

So happy to see that Rodgers is out of the picture and the Vikings are sticking with their McCarthy plan even if there is some risk. I trust KOC when it comes to QBs. He got a lot of out Darnold and if there is a head coach in the NFL who can wring every last drop of potential out of a young guy like McCarthy KOC is that coach. Nobody can predict injuries or other setbacks but I'm excited to see what this offense can do this year already, and I might be even more excited depending on what KAM does with the first pick in the upcoming draft.

One more comment on the parallels between how former Packer Brett Favre came to Minnesota as compared to former Packer Aaron Rodgers coming to Minnesota is that other than both having been former Packers and both having played with the Jets I didn't see much of a comparison. Favre was still capable of playing at a high level when he came to the Vikings while I don't think the same is true of Rodgers who has been declining for several seasons. Yes, the Jets aren't a great team but Rodgers is a contributor to that rather than a counterweight to it. Favre was universally respected for his on field leadership and toughness while I don't think Rodgers' teammates like or respect him. And despite playing against the Vikings for most of his career I never had a strong dislike of Favre. Yes, I hated it when he beat the Vikings, but it was just Favre playing well. I never felt any disrespect or negative emotional reaction from Favre towards the Vikings, and when he was playing for the Vikings he was totally invested in the Vikings and their success.

I'm just glad this speculation is over and the Vikings are moving forward with confidence (and without Rodgers).

I'm also glad the talk of Rodgers is over.

I'm not sure I agree that Favre was so much better though. He had been declining for years too. That's one of the reasons GB was moving on from him. Rodgers was statistically better in nearly every category with the Jets than Favre was with the Jets. Completion percentage, yards per game, QB rating, QBR. Rodgers had 6 more TDs and 11 less INTs.

I didn't want him on the Vikings either but I just don't see Favre having been better at that point.

[makila]

Re: Why aren't the Vikings spending more of their cap.

Apparently if they spend too much in FA at a certain point they potentially lose comp picks. They should have got two 3rds comped this year, one for Cousins and one for Hunter but they crossed the threshold and lost the one for Hunter.

One of the possible things they were waiting for, happened today. Robinson signed with Houston for 1yr/12m. That helps a lot.

Think we see a backup qb signed now. Don't think KAM was wanting to spend a lot more without some assurance one of the outgoing FAs signed for over 4m/yr. That's just speculation on my part, no source.

[J. Kapp 11]

Re: Why aren't the Vikings spending more of their cap.

Apparently if they spend too much in FA at a certain point they potentially lose comp picks. They should have got two 3rds comped this year, one for Cousins and one for Hunter but they crossed the threshold and lost the one for Hunter.

One of the possible things they were waiting for, happened today. Robinson signed with Houston for 1yr/12m. That helps a lot.

Think we see a backup qb signed now. Don't think KAM was wanting to spend a lot more without some assurance one of the outgoing FAs signed for over 4m/yr. That's just speculation on my part, no source.

Here’s the thing about Bradbury.

The Vikings designated him as a post-June 1 cut. That means his dead cap can be spread out over 2025 and 2026.

Normally you do this with somebody who has a large dead cap hit, such as Kirk Cousins. You spread out $50 million or more in dead cap over two years instead of one. But Bradbury’s dead cap hit is pretty small. In total, cap savings minus dead cap, releasing him post-June 1, will be $5.25 million. This on top of more than $30 million under the cap for 2024. As of now, the Vikings are projected to be about $9 million OVER the cap for 2026, and spreading Bradbury’s dead cap out doesn’t help.

Begs the question … what are the Vikings doing? Why are they backloading contracts and pushing dead cap down the road, opening up so much cap space for this season?

Is there another big move on the way? Seems like there must be. If so, who?

[Cliff]

One of the possible things they were waiting for, happened today. Robinson signed with Houston for 1yr/12m. That helps a lot.

Think we see a backup qb signed now. Don't think KAM was wanting to spend a lot more without some assurance one of the outgoing FAs signed for over 4m/yr. That's just speculation on my part, no source.

Here’s the thing about Bradbury.

The Vikings designated him as a post-June 1 cut. That means his dead cap can be spread out over 2025 and 2026.

Normally you do this with somebody who has a large dead cap hit, such as Kirk Cousins. You spread out $50 million or more in dead cap over two years instead of one. But Bradbury’s dead cap hit is pretty small. In total, cap savings minus dead cap, releasing him post-June 1, will be $5.25 million. This on top of more than $30 million under the cap for 2024. As of now, the Vikings are projected to be about $9 million OVER the cap for 2026, and spreading Bradbury’s dead cap out doesn’t help.

Begs the question … what are the Vikings doing? Why are they backloading contracts and pushing dead cap down the road, opening up so much cap space for this season?

Is there another big move on the way? Seems like there must be. If so, who?

They could just be keeping their options open. Maybe they're waiting to see how the draft goes before they make any more deals. If they have unused cap they can also roll it over to cover that gap in 2026.

[J. Kapp 11]

Here’s the thing about Bradbury.

The Vikings designated him as a post-June 1 cut. That means his dead cap can be spread out over 2025 and 2026.

Normally you do this with somebody who has a large dead cap hit, such as Kirk Cousins. You spread out $50 million or more in dead cap over two years instead of one. But Bradbury’s dead cap hit is pretty small. In total, cap savings minus dead cap, releasing him post-June 1, will be $5.25 million. This on top of more than $30 million under the cap for 2024. As of now, the Vikings are projected to be about $9 million OVER the cap for 2026, and spreading Bradbury’s dead cap out doesn’t help.

Begs the question … what are the Vikings doing? Why are they backloading contracts and pushing dead cap down the road, opening up so much cap space for this season?

Is there another big move on the way? Seems like there must be. If so, who?

They could just be keeping their options open. Maybe they're waiting to see how the draft goes before they make any more deals. If they have unused cap they can also roll it over to cover that gap in 2026.

I know all that is a possibility, and it makes a lot of sense.

On the other hand, with as much as $40 million in cap space, a guy can dream, right?

What if the rebuilding (and penny pinching) Jets look at the money Houston just gave Derek Stingley Jr. and decide they don’t want to extend Sauce Gardner?

What if the Colts were to say, “Y’know, we’ve already jettisoned 40% of our O-line … wonder what we could get for Quenton Nelson”?

Or maybe Jim Harbaugh says, “Since Greg Roman only calls 12 pass plays a game anyway, I’d really rather have JJ McCarthy. Worked at Michigan.”

Not saying I WANT any of those things, although I wonder what diabolical things Brian Flores could do with a guy who’s so lockdown that he was only targeted 45 times for an entire season.

Just saying … with that kind of cap still remaining and the Vikings obvious maneuvering to keep cap space free THIS YEAR — to the level of designating a guy post-June 1 who carries such a minimal dead cap hit — I have to wonder if a big move is still on the horizon. Could be really interesting between now and the draft.