2022 schedule

[allday1991]

By "hard reset" I'm talking about shedding core players, especially those with big contracts, so, yes, Cousins, but also guys like Hunter, Harrison Smith, Kendricks, Cook, PP, etc. Lots of fans thought we would go into a more aggressive rebuild this offseason with new GM and coach. Instead, they chose to do what they are calling a "competitive rebuild" which is somewhat euphemistic and a way to hedge their bets IMO.

I personally think the NFC East is weak. If we can't beat teams like Dallas and Wash at home, we aren't even close to being a playoff team. The north is weak too, so we should prosper. If we don't make it to 10 wins, we need to blow the roster up, starting with Cousins.

I dont really understand the whole "we should have blown the roster up" take. Teams like the Bears blew their roster up by getting rid of Mack and Robinson. That was the extent. Blowing your roster up usually consists of a team with maybe a couple good players left on it with inflated contracts and the rest of the roster is pretty bad. You dont take a roster with top 12-15 talent in the NFL and just cut every worthwhile veteran on it.

In what world does or would a team ever get rid of Kirk Cousins, Dalvin Cook, Adam Thielen, Harrison Smith, Eric Kendricks, and Patrick Peterson (who makes pennies so I'm not really sure why he was on your list) all in one offseason? That's just not even realistic and honestly unheard of. I'm glad they didnt take that route. We didnt have the team to do it regardless. I think the future still looks very bright with this new regime and what they have brought in.

The bears didn’t really need to release or trade anyone, they got 120 million in cap next year. If we struggle and have more holes than predicted,How much cap do we have next year? I got lots of bears fans as friends, our organizations took polar opposite approach’s to “rebuilding” we will
know in 3 years which one did it the right way.

[Pondering Her Percy]

I dont really understand the whole "we should have blown the roster up" take. Teams like the Bears blew their roster up by getting rid of Mack and Robinson. That was the extent. Blowing your roster up usually consists of a team with maybe a couple good players left on it with inflated contracts and the rest of the roster is pretty bad. You dont take a roster with top 12-15 talent in the NFL and just cut every worthwhile veteran on it.

In what world does or would a team ever get rid of Kirk Cousins, Dalvin Cook, Adam Thielen, Harrison Smith, Eric Kendricks, and Patrick Peterson (who makes pennies so I'm not really sure why he was on your list) all in one offseason? That's just not even realistic and honestly unheard of. I'm glad they didnt take that route. We didnt have the team to do it regardless. I think the future still looks very bright with this new regime and what they have brought in.

The bears didn’t really need to release or trade anyone, they got 120 million in cap next year. If we struggle and have more holes than predicted,How much cap do we have next year? I got lots of bears fans as friends, our organizations took polar opposite approach’s to “rebuilding” we will
know in 3 years which one did it the right way.

Part of the reason they have $120 million is indeed because of guys like Khalil Mack and Allen Robinson like I mentioned above.

[VikingLord]

Well, our opponents this year look like a gift from the NFL Gods. Our division is pretty weak, and our out of conference schedule only has 2 real powerhouses. No excuse this year for the coach/QB/GM if we dont make the playoffs.

Come on really? I do not expect Vikings to make the playoffs with a new coaching staff and learning a new system

It looks like the Wilfs expect them to make the playoffs based on their public statements. The way it looks to me, they felt the major change needed for the team to return to the playoffs was to replace the GM and head coach to get more out of the talent already on the team.

If KOC doesn't turn out to be more effective at getting the most out of the existing talent than Zimmer was able to get, I wonder how the Wilfs will react.

On the bright side, the actions of the Wilfs and of the new GM will allow their various theories to be put to the test. If the thing holding the Vikings back from success was the GM-coach combo, replacing both while holding the talent steady should result in an improved W-L record and/or playoff success. For KAM, his trades with divisional rivals (who both selected receivers, not ironically) will allow everyone to see twice a year if his theory on the relative flatness of the talent pool between picks 12-75 was accurate. The Vikings also get an early Monday night matchup against the Eagles this season, so we can all see if passing on Jordan Davis validates that as well since I'll be shocked if Davis doesn't start that game. Will we see Lewis Cine and Andrew Booth jumping in front of passes and flying up to blow up running plays, or Jordan Davis absolutely wrecking the interior Vikings OL when the Vikings hand it to Cook? Should be interesting to see. I'm willing to give KAM the benefit of the doubt, but I don't think it will take very long to see if he read it right or he's full of hot air and really doesn't know what he's doing.

[allday1991]

The bears didn’t really need to release or trade anyone, they got 120 million in cap next year. If we struggle and have more holes than predicted,How much cap do we have next year? I got lots of bears fans as friends, our organizations took polar opposite approach’s to “rebuilding” we will
know in 3 years which one did it the right way.

Part of the reason they have $120 million is indeed because of guys like Khalil Mack and Allen Robinson like I mentioned above.

Even if they kept both they’d still be 80-90 million under the cap. However the bears have realized by the time they’re competitive there older veterans will be way on the down side of there career. The Vikings seem to want to keep players like Smith, Kendrick’s, Cook , Theilen (all players that are starting or will be starting to decline in the next 3 years) I’m assuming they’re keeping these guys because they believe they can win within that window, so I’d assume the organization believes they can win now, so why are we not expecting playoffs? Seems like you agree we should be.

[psjordan]

It looks like the Wilfs expect them to make the playoffs based on their public statements. The way it looks to me, they felt the major change needed for the team to return to the playoffs was to replace the GM and head coach to get more out of the talent already on the team.

If KOC doesn't turn out to be more effective at getting the most out of the existing talent than Zimmer was able to get, I wonder how the Wilfs will react.

On the bright side, the actions of the Wilfs and of the new GM will allow their various theories to be put to the test. If the thing holding the Vikings back from success was the GM-coach combo, replacing both while holding the talent steady should result in an improved W-L record and/or playoff success. For KAM, his trades with divisional rivals (who both selected receivers, not ironically) will allow everyone to see twice a year if his theory on the relative flatness of the talent pool between picks 12-75 was accurate. The Vikings also get an early Monday night matchup against the Eagles this season, so we can all see if passing on Jordan Davis validates that as well since I'll be shocked if Davis doesn't start that game. Will we see Lewis Cine and Andrew Booth jumping in front of passes and flying up to blow up running plays, or Jordan Davis absolutely wrecking the interior Vikings OL when the Vikings hand it to Cook? Should be interesting to see. I'm willing to give KAM the benefit of the doubt, but I don't think it will take very long to see if he read it right or he's full of hot air and really doesn't know what he's doing.

Maybe I'm imagining your condensed timeline, but this is probably the most unfair take I've seen you post here VL, and you don't post many unfair takes, if any.

This will take time, and everyone inside the building understands that. No one will be on a hot seat after year one, or even year two for that matter. Both the GM and HC are brand new to their positions, the Wilfs will give it time. They certainly had patience with the last regime.

[allday1991]

It looks like the Wilfs expect them to make the playoffs based on their public statements. The way it looks to me, they felt the major change needed for the team to return to the playoffs was to replace the GM and head coach to get more out of the talent already on the team.

If KOC doesn't turn out to be more effective at getting the most out of the existing talent than Zimmer was able to get, I wonder how the Wilfs will react.

On the bright side, the actions of the Wilfs and of the new GM will allow their various theories to be put to the test. If the thing holding the Vikings back from success was the GM-coach combo, replacing both while holding the talent steady should result in an improved W-L record and/or playoff success. For KAM, his trades with divisional rivals (who both selected receivers, not ironically) will allow everyone to see twice a year if his theory on the relative flatness of the talent pool between picks 12-75 was accurate. The Vikings also get an early Monday night matchup against the Eagles this season, so we can all see if passing on Jordan Davis validates that as well since I'll be shocked if Davis doesn't start that game. Will we see Lewis Cine and Andrew Booth jumping in front of passes and flying up to blow up running plays, or Jordan Davis absolutely wrecking the interior Vikings OL when the Vikings hand it to Cook? Should be interesting to see. I'm willing to give KAM the benefit of the doubt, but I don't think it will take very long to see if he read it right or he's full of hot air and really doesn't know what he's doing.

Maybe I'm imagining your condensed timeline, but this is probably the most unfair take I've seen you post here VL, and you don't post many unfair takes, if any.

This will take time, and everyone inside the building understands that. No one will be on a hot seat after year one, or even year two for that matter. Both the GM and HC are brand new to their positions, the Wilfs will give it time. They certainly had patience with the last regime.

If we come out dead last in the nfc North you’d honestly give them more time?

[psjordan]

If we come out dead last in the nfc North you’d honestly give them more time?

You mean like Zac Taylor in CIN, winning 2 and then 4 games his first two seasons?

Yes, OF COURSE they get more time. Not one coach or GM would EVER take a job with MIN in the future if we canned the whole crew after one season.

[allday1991]

If we come out dead last in the nfc North you’d honestly give them more time?

You mean like Zac Taylor in CIN, winning 2 and then 4 games his first two seasons?

Yes, OF COURSE they get more time. Not one coach or GM would EVER take a job with MIN in the future if we canned the whole crew after one season.

The bengals where also in a stacked conference, Steelers and Ravens are never a joke and the browns have been decent those years. Not to mention his second year he lost his starting QB. We complained about Zimmer not being able to win games for us, you give pretty much the same team to a different coach who then gets beat out by a talentless lions and bears roster and you don’t considered it? No one expected the bengals to compete, even last year. Everyone is expecting us to beat the lions and bears, totally different situation.

[vikeinmontana]

If we come out dead last in the nfc North you’d honestly give them more time?

You mean like Zac Taylor in CIN, winning 2 and then 4 games his first two seasons?

Yes, OF COURSE they get more time. Not one coach or GM would EVER take a job with MIN in the future if we canned the whole crew after one season.

Exactly. It won't happen because I don't expect us to be last. Though I do expect Chicago and Detroit to improve. But I can't picture a scenario where we would clean house like we did, and then fire a brand new staff after one season. It just won't happen. And shouldn't happen.

[VikingsFan84]

If we come out dead last in the nfc North you’d honestly give them more time?

You mean like Zac Taylor in CIN, winning 2 and then 4 games his first two seasons?

Yes, OF COURSE they get more time. Not one coach or GM would EVER take a job with MIN in the future if we canned the whole crew after one season.

The Browns canned coaches almost every year and yet they are still taking the Browns job

[VikingsFan84]

You mean like Zac Taylor in CIN, winning 2 and then 4 games his first two seasons?

Yes, OF COURSE they get more time. Not one coach or GM would EVER take a job with MIN in the future if we canned the whole crew after one season.

Exactly. It won't happen because I don't expect us to be last. Though I do expect Chicago and Detroit to improve. But I can't picture a scenario where we would clean house like we did, and then fire a brand new staff after one season. It just won't happen. And shouldn't happen.

Detroit? Improve?

[VikingLord]

Maybe I'm imagining your condensed timeline, but this is probably the most unfair take I've seen you post here VL, and you don't post many unfair takes, if any.

This will take time, and everyone inside the building understands that. No one will be on a hot seat after year one, or even year two for that matter. Both the GM and HC are brand new to their positions, the Wilfs will give it time. They certainly had patience with the last regime.

To be completely frank, I was not at all impressed by the moves KAM made in this draft. With Davis and Hamilton still on the board, he traded out of 12 to 32, essentially moving down in the 2nd to get a higher pick in the 3rd. The teams he traded with are in the same division, and both took WRs. I don't have a problem with the guys KAM drafted where he drafted them necessarily, but at the same time, I question whether he could have gotten a better player (even an immediate impact player) at 12 and still gotten Booth standing pat in the 2nd.

The final verdict won't be rendered on any draft or the moves made in a given draft for several seasons, but KAM's moves in his first get a more direct and immediate test than those made by most GMs who don't trade with divisional rivals, probably to avoid such comparisons while they wait for their bets to pay off.

I agree nobody will be on the hot seat immediately. It does take years to accurately assess a given draft, and KAM and KOC will get plenty of time to show if either, or both, know what they're doing regardless of what happens next season as a result of the decisions made by either or both. But in KAM's case at least, the decisions he made in this last draft offer a unique opportunity for more direct comparisons with his publicly-stated logic and reasoning behind those decisions than most GMs. We'll get a more immediate look at whether he really knows what he's doing as a result, even if the early returns don't reflect the ultimate outcome. I don't think that is unfair, either. KAM exposed himself to exactly this scrutiny by the trades he made and who he chose as trade partners.

[chicagopurple]

My view of the Vikes is that ownership is sitting pat on talent chosen by Spielman but changing the Coach. The veterans that were looking a bit older last year will just be older and slower this year. Cousins will be Cousins. Is there some inner beast within his soul that was being suppressed all these years by Zim and will now erupt? Doubtful. Our division is weak. Our out of conference foes are not alarming. We have no excuse for failing to improve from last year. Ownership is saying we have the talent and they have brought in the new improved scheme and attitude. Time to see some proof. I am 50 yrs into this bandwagon…..

[VikingsFan84]

Here is the schedule leaked so far

Week 2 @ Eagles
Week 5 @ Saints
Week 17 @ Packers

[J. Kapp 11]

What is a "hard reset" in your opinion? They've cleaned house with coaching and management. Perhaps because they didn't do things like cut Cousins or something?

As far as the ease of schedule ... it's not a gift, the worse your team the year before the easier your schedule is supposed to be. That said, the fact is we just don't know how tough the schedule is. Teams change quickly in the NFL.

By "hard reset" I'm talking about shedding core players, especially those with big contracts, so, yes, Cousins, but also guys like Hunter, Harrison Smith, Kendricks, Cook, PP, etc. Lots of fans thought we would go into a more aggressive rebuild this offseason with new GM and coach. Instead, they chose to do what they are calling a "competitive rebuild" which is somewhat euphemistic and a way to hedge their bets IMO.

I personally think the NFC East is weak. If we can't beat teams like Dallas and Wash at home, we aren't even close to being a playoff team. The north is weak too, so we should prosper. If we don't make it to 10 wins, we need to blow the roster up, starting with Cousins.

But what you're saying — jettisoning big contracts — is pretty much what they're doing. They're just not doing it this year.

They drafted Cine to eventually replace Smith, Booth to replace PP, Asamoah to replace Kendricks, Evans to (likely) replace Dantzler (not a big contract but potentially a better player), and Chandler to replace Cook. Unless there are injuries, those replacements won't happen in 2022, but you can bet that's the long-term plan. If that plan works out, then Kwesi's competitive rebuild will be an apt description. If it doesn't work out, then the Vikings aren't any worse off than if they'd dumped salary and fell back to being a 2.0 version of the Bears.

Just because lots of fans thought they would go into a more aggressive rebuild right away this offseason doesn't make that the correct course of action. And it was never a given that it would be the only course of action. It's just what many people assumed.