Friday Mailbag: Is the Rodgers storm over?

Vikings fans have plenty of remaining questions about the Vikings interest in Aaron Rodgers

Photo courtesy Minnesota Vikings

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By Matthew Coller

Happy Friday, everyone! Well, we’ve got a GM press conference, owner’s meetings on the way and then we wait for the draft. Until then, we talk about it. So off we go…

Brian_H… Is it fair to say that Risner is still in the mix for a late offseason or early training camp addition if he remains on the market? As much as I'd love to see an entirely new interior, Risner is at least above average at pass blocking. Perhaps his shortcomings in the running game can be partially remedied by playing next to a new Center and one of the existing elite tackles?

I’m not sure if he is going to be in the mix or not. He certainly brought a level of stability to right guard in pass protection that had been really lacking and he’s the type that isn’t going to have a bunch of mental errors (or at least it doesn’t look like it to me) but we can pretty clearly see that they wanted to upgrade the physical nature of the O-line especially in the run game. I’m thinking they might prefer to move Walter Rouse inside and get him going as either depth or competing with Blake Brandel and possibly Left Guard X in the draft than trying to patchwork with Risner again. Not that I’m against Risner — it’s hard to find anyone better for that price.

Brent O… Since Kwesi seemed to confirm they're waiting on signing an experienced backup until after the compensatory picks window, does that lead any indication of which way they're leaning? Flacco? Tannehill? Mysterious third party? Do the Vikings announce who their pre-draft visits are with? Or do we only find out about that after the fact?

I believe Tannehill wouldn’t impact the comp pick situation because he has been a free agent since last offseason, so they could sign him any time. Carson Wentz would make a lot of sense to me. I know that he didn’t have the most sterling reputation by the end with Washington but he’s spent the last two years as a backup with really good organizations. If he was a bad No. 2, the Rams and Chiefs wouldn’t have kept him around. Plus he’s been through the ringer in the NFL. He was the highly-touted guy like JJ McCarthy and saw the highs and lows of that.

Sometimes it will be reported when a player is visiting a team because an agent tells an insider but the team doesn’t announce their visits. I’ve never paid much attention to who they bring in, to be honest. Sometimes it has been telling, other times not.

Kit… Random one for you but the talk about the press conference questions the other day had me wondering: what's the most nervous you've been to ask a tough question at a press conference? or of an athlete/coach in an interview?

Paul V…. Do you ever secretly root for the UFL to do so well it competes with the NFL? Even though it’s kind of the NFL farm system.

Nothing will ever come remotely close to competing with the NFL — and that includes all other major sports. Do I root for the UFL? Absolutely. Kevin Seifert wrote about the new innovations they are adding this year and I’m certain some of those will eventually end up in the NFL. I love the player stories, the guys who are hanging on and looking for one last shot or dudes who are just playing for the love of the game. The product usually starts out very ugly and then gets better as the season goes along and by the end it’s really good football. It’s never going to actually be a farm system for the NFL because college football is always going to be the No. 1 development system by many miles. It’s a longshots league and I appreciate that. One thing I wish the NFL would do is allow any practice squad QB under the age of 25 to play in the UFL. Could be a great development system.

Colt L… Is there a nationwide “mute” button we can press to stop with consistent din from Russini and the AR12 to Minny nonsense?

I hate to tell you this but the GM of the Vikings admitted that the AR12-to-”Minny” was not nonsense. Not only was it real but it’s not entirely off the table. I know you guys absolutely despise the idea of Rodgers and I’m right there with you but attacking the reporter who was sharing the facts on this was wrong.

Eldon… What do you think the Vikings do with their 1st round pick??

In a draft that seems to be really strong from about 15 through 50, I’d say they are really hoping that somebody wants to trade up. So right now I would guess that they’re going to do everything they can to move down. After that, the most obvious positions of need are cornerback, defensive tackle and guard. Maybe I can convince them to go off the board and pick a wide receiver too.

Griffin… While the Vikings have a strong roster, it seems like the cornerbacks group could be a big concern. Mekhi Blackmon coming off a serious injury (not to mention the limited total career snaps), Rodgers has nice upside but has never been a full time starter, Byron Murphy is solid but not a lockdown corner, and Okudah is a reclamation project. Do you think we should sign (or 1st round draft) another cornerback to fill out the secondary? If even one injury happens it's suddenly pretty dire.

Yeah, that’s why corner is toward the top of my list of draft positions. There might be other cornerbacks that they look at in free agency the same way they brought in Moreau and Gilmore last year. Maybe they’d look at Jaire Alexander if the Packers release him, who knows. But generally I agree with you that there’s uncertainty there beyond Murphy Jr. that could require more bodies in the mix. I wonder how much they are valuing what they saw from Dwight McGlothern last year into the mix as well.

Ben99… Do we keep the remaining cap to be flexible for additions after training camp cuts... Or do we add another fa?

Once they got the moves like Jeff Okudah and Rondale Moore on the books, it doesn’t look like quite as much cap space as before. OverTheCap has them at $21 million now. When they add a backup quarterback and a draft class, that number will be $15 million or less. They’ll definitely want to have cap space open for any last-minute moves like signing Gilmore last year or mid-season trades at the deadline etc. And they can also carry that over to next year, which ultimately might end up being important because they scheduled a lot of the contracts to go up my big amounts next year. KAM says all the time that he likes to have options, so I’d say their cap situation right now still gives them options.

Robert S…. Apropos of you pointing out that part of Kwesi's contract has to do with delineating responsibilities, did he ever say yesterday that KOC makes the ultimate decision on who starts at qb? I was listening for that, and I don't think he ever went there, which strikes me as strange. I know everything's "collaborative," but shouldn't he have said that this is up to KOC in the end?

Hang on now, I did not “point out that it has to do with delineating responsibilities.” I said on the podcast that when a team has this much success with a coach and negotiates a new deal for him before the GM, it makes you wonder about the overall power structure and how the decision-making process is divided up and I wondered whether that could be part of the holdup. It wasn’t a report or statement, only a question that I have about the negotiation.

Of course KOC is the most important voice in the decision about the quarterback position outside of the Wilfs. My understanding is that all major decisions go through a process with paths being presented to ownership and they decide. On something like Aaron Rodgers, they would have to be involved because that’s not just their money but their brand as well.

I’ve always felt like if KOC was ready to go with JJ that he’s proven trustworthy of handling that decision but nobody should have unequivocal power on something of this magnitude.

Ben99… Which positions do have the most immediate impact after the draft... ol dl need time? wr and db?

PFF studied this a few years back and found that the position that translates the quickest is running back. After that, edge rushers and defensive backs usually take off in Year 2 while the guys closer to the ball like interior OL and linebackers often peaked a little later. It all depends on the guy though. I would never have believed that a guy like Ivan Pace Jr. would step in right away and become a legit quality starting linebacker after going undrafted. Sometimes high picks don’t stand out for a few years like Xavier Rhodes. There’s also huge gaps in age/experience now in college football.

The Vikings do have some needs that you could argue are “immediate” but it’s usually a better plan to accumulate the most talent regardless of position (within reason). They really need future talent at defensive tackle, corner, guard and potentially even wide receiver if they aren’t sure about Addison’s future.

John H….Why will KOC be inclined to use Jordan Mason more than he used Ty Chandler last year? From my understanding the main reason Chandler wasn't used was because he couldn't be trusted in pass blocking, and it sounds like Mason may have that same weakness.

You can’t exactly blame KOC for not using Ty Chandler when he averaged 3.3 yards per carry and has given up an absurd 12 pressures on 82 pass blocking snaps in his career. Mason has only been used on 29 pass blocking snaps in his career (2 pressures), so I’m not sure we can really evaluate that. The major difference is that Mason has a significant sample size of being really good at running the football in a violent, physical and consistent manner. He’s more likely going to be used on early downs and short yardage, while Aaron Jones will take on the more difficult assignments. What they have to avoid is getting predictable with the personnel but otherwise I don’t think comparing Chandler and Mason is apples to apples.

Pickle Enjoyer….I think it was Eric Eager, or maybe it was Voltaire, who said, "The draft is for next year." What position do you view as the most "this is for next year" right now on the Vikings?

Defensive tackle would be the “this is for the future” pick. Allen and Hargrave are in their 30s and on short-term contracts so it would make a ton of sense to pick Derrick Harmon or Walter Nolen to develop as a rotational player and then eventually take over as the three-down monster guy in the middle. Outside of that, safety. I’m sure that Brian Flores could find a way to use any extra safety in some type of package but that guy wouldn’t be likely playing too much until after Harrison Smith retires.

Bradley P…Is the media infighting over the Rodgers news entertaining or maddening to you?

It’s dreadful.

Joe J… Six of the Vikings biggest offseason acquisitions missed 5 games or more last season due to injury (Fries, Allen, Hargrave, Kelly, Mason, Moore). How much concern is there that they’re making all these bets that those injuries will not be an issue going forward? How much did those injuries keep the price down to where the Vikings were able to afford all of these moves?

Injuries are the most difficult thing to project in the sport. The Vikings seem to have a ton of belief in their training staff and their ability to lay out individual plans like they did with Aaron Jones last year but nobody really knows. They can look at the types of injuries that these guys had and the history of those problems to guide their decision. Just for example, Anthony Barr and Danielle Hunter both suffered torn pectoral muscles and never had problems again. That might be one of those injuries that’s just random and doesn’t tend to recur.

Long story short, if anybody says to me that they are worried about the injury risk with all these guys, I’m not going to disagree with you. I just can’t put any type of number on exactly how much you should be concerned. Last year Greenard, Van Ginkel, Cashman and Jones all came with the same red flags but that doesn’t prove it’ll work this time.

Florian K… One observation and one question. Observation: The off-season has been so successful fans are fixated on the QB2 position. QB2. Yes, we've seen it's importance but holy-frikin-cow. Now the question: With KAMs penchant for working the margins with injured players does that speak more to his trust in the training/rehab/sports medicine department or are they just players on the cheap side? or a little of both?

No disagreement here. I’m a huge journeyman quarterback enjoyer but the truth remains that if the starting QB goes down, the chances of the season reaching its potential are almost zero, so it isn’t something I spend much time thinking about. Whoever KOC wants as the backup is fine.

Kwesi did say in his press conference that signing older or injured players can mean getting better deals. That’s definitely true. If Ryan Kelly hadn’t missed time, he would cost $15 million based on his history. Javon Hargrave is getting $20/year at least if he was coming off the 2023 season. There’s a give and take. Maybe the fact that they could take a mass approach to signing these guys helps mitigate some of the risk.

David W…. I’ve been asking this in my group chat since it’s a little dead before the draft: The first game you can remember: First favorite football hero: Favorite scandal for the Vikings (you covered or didn’t) Favorite random Vikings player (you covered or didn’t): Favorite NFL player that wore a neck roll:

The first game I remember was Scott Noorwood missing wide right.

First football hero was Jim Kelly but there were about 50 players in 1994 that this would have applied to.

The Whizzinator is the best Vikings scandal, in my eyes. Nobody got hurt, it was just hilarious.

There’s like 75 favorite random Vikings players that I could name. Jeff Overbaugh is probably the one that stands out most because he accidentally caused the Minneapolis Miracle and I’ll never stop thinking that’s hilarious. But my group chats have the deepest cuts of deep cut Vikings players.

Favorite player to wear a neck roll was Sam Gash. A human snow plow.

Bradley P…. Rank the starting quarterback positions in the NFC North.

I’d go Jared Goff, Jordan Love, JJ McCarthy, Caleb Williams.

I’m putting Love over McCarthy because we have a sample size of Love leading a team to the playoffs in back-to-back years and McCarthy over Williams because we didn’t see much to say that Williams is the instant superstar he was supposed to be and McCarthy is set up better to succeed next year than Williams (until Ben Johnson proves he can act as HC the same way he did as OC). The list certainly has the potential to be very different