Is It Time to Say Goodbye to these Veterans of the Vikings?
It’s never easy to say goodbye.
As a Vikings fan, we’ve had the privilege to watch the same group of guys for a while now. Guys like Kirk Cousins, CJ Ham, Dalvin Cook, Adam Thielen, Harrison Smith, and Eric Kendricks have been leaders for this team and pillars in the community. As years pass, we’ve watched their prime years fly by, seems like just yesterday we were watching them get drafted (Except for Kirk).
Throughout Vikings history, we’ve wasted talented players’ careers by not coming away with any Super Bowl trophies or even playing in the big game. It’s sad and unsettling but it is the truth. The Minnesota Vikings have not played in a Super Bowl for 46 years, that’s right 46 years. These guys are just the next wave of players that we have unfortunately wasted their talents. This offseason we should not windle on the false hope that these guys are going to bring us to the promised land.
As I’ve mentioned before they have had their chance and have failed, it’s time to say goodbye. The goal for any sports organization should be to compete for championships, it feels the Vikings are so starved for one that they refuse to admit failure and start again.
Given the current cap situation and the limited draft capital we currently have this is my trade/cut list:
Offense
Kirk Cousins- 34
Dalvin Cook- 27
Adam Thielen- 32
CJ Ham- 29
Defense
Eric Kendricks- 30
Harrison Smith- 33
Jordan Hicks- 30
Between these 7 players, they take up 49.36% of the cap space with Kirk Cousins taking up the most obviously at 16.09%. Given their ages this is not ok, most of these players are either starting to regress or already in the process of regressing.
You can make an argument that Dalvin Cook has some left in the tank and I’d agree with that. However, the NFL is changing and RBs are no longer considered a premium position, and paying an RB $14,101,272 is just too much. I’d much rather put that money into the iOL which needs a complete rebuild (Willing to give Ed Ingram another year to develop but need to bring in competition) or a new WR (We saw what happens when teams double Justin Jefferson).
On defense, even with hiring Brian Flores, we need to rebuild or add players to it on all 3 levels. I like the hire and all, but I fear this means we will hold onto the older players putting the blame mostly on the defensive play calling and scheme. What I fear even more is that Brian Flores is a one-year rental, he was receiving interviews for Head Coaching positions before agreeing to be the Minnesota Vikings DC. No doubt he should improve the defense, not hard given they ranked almost last in the league, but it also means he will be considered again for a Head Coach position in 2024.
There are a lot of things the Minnesota Vikings need to say goodbye to this offseason. Not only the players listed but the mindset and blueprint this team has followed for the past 61 years. In order to win a Super Bowl a complete team is needed, that is something the Vikings haven’t been able to consistently maintain. It’s either the offense or defense that is good, not both.
To see a truly complete Minnesota Viking team you’d have to look all the way back to the 2009 season and we all know what happened the following season. Do you want to know something even more ridiculous; the Minnesota Vikings have not drafted a successful franchise QB since 1999 (Daunte Culpepper), Teddy Bridgewater could have been, but we aren’t counting could have been.
How is this not something that is more talked about? That is almost 25 years since drafting a successful franchise QB, most of the elite teams in the NFL have drafted their QBs. We need a different and new approach, maybe even a more honest one. Hopefully, Kevin O’Connell and Kwesi see that the mindset and blueprint that this organization has followed haven’t worked and changed things up. However, I fear that Kevin and Kwesi are too nice of guys to make these tough calls. One can only hope because if any sports fans deserve to see their team win a championship it’s Vikings fans. I’d love to see the day that the Vikings say goodbye to that 0 Super Bowl victories and empty trophy case. If we don’t change the way we’ve been doing things I fear that ZERO will never change.
