Friday mailbag: Should the Vikings let the defense stay young?

Vikings fans have questions from all sorts of angles on the offseason

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By Matthew Coller

@headcoach21 Do you think the NFL is rigged or is that crazy talk?? The officiating really has been an issue all season

This is where my obsession with watching old games comes in handy. I promise you every single championship weekend has had an officiating controversy. Every. Single. One. It’s because the entire nation is watching and refs make routine mistakes but their significance is blown up by the stage. I was just watching 2011 the other day when the 49ers lost to the Giants and there’s a play late in the game where Ahmad Bradshaw fumbles and the refs rule it forward progress and the TV ref jumps in to defend them instantly and I didn’t think his progress was stopped at all. DID THE NFL WANT THE GIANTS TO WIN? Or did they just blow the whistle a little too early?

The reffing is better today than it’s ever been but it’s never going to be perfect in any sport and they could do a better job of explaining what happened, even when they got it wrong. And Skyjudge is gonna happen at some point soon, I’m sure. The funny thing about this “NFL is rigged” nonsense is that it came in a Chiefs game where the calls weren’t even that bad or wrong.

I’d leave the door open for concerns about gambling and refs. I’d definitely agree with anyone who says it’s human nature to give big stars more calls or to call something that gives a team one more chance to create an exciting ending. Rigged? Not possible. It’s too random for that.

@alexjjlarsen Given the AFC Pro Bowl QBs are all replacements and the number of players who opt out, what would you do to make the Pro Bowl actually matter from the players' perspective?

There’s no answer. These guys want to go on vacation after the season is over. I would make the Pro Bowl into what the All Madden team once was. If my fellow old people remember, it was an hour-long show that was interviews, Madden commentary and features about the players he named to the team. Maybe that’s less fun than having them play dodgeball or whatever but I think it would be much more watchable if they kept the Pro Bowl teams a secret until this week and then made a huge presentation out of them. Say two hours, one for the AFC, one for NFC and NFL Films puts all of their magic into behind the scenes stories with the guys and analysis from their teammates and commentators. I’d enjoy that. But I’ve never thought All-Star games or Pro Bowls were aimed at me.

@smccullough5 Do you enjoy the extra week between conference championship games and the super bowl or would you prefer the NFL return to the original schedule of having the SB the week after?

It’s absolutely dreadful (no offense, Senior Bowl) to have the energy of those games and then nothing. But I recognize that it’s needed. The players’ bodies go through so much over the first three weeks of the playoffs and they’d be practically dead by the time they got to The Big Game, especially with the 17-game schedule now. I’d rather see two teams at their peak health than a bunch of corpses out there.

@KAAAAAHN_tk421 Are we sleeping on Seattle being a viable trade partner? They just made the playoffs, have plenty of draft capital, and good playmakers. Might be good if they want to take a QB at 5 and sit behind Kirk for a year while still being competitive.

Depends on what they think of Geno Smith and what he wants in his contract (though they can franchise tag him too). He just had a better year than Kirk and he’s younger. The idea of trading Cousins doesn’t fit unless they either have another idea like signing Jimmy G or are ready to burn it all to the ground like Detroit did when they traded Stafford. If not, it’s either going to come down to letting him walk after 2023 or signing another extension so they can trade him a year from now. If they put him out there, Seattle might be somewhere on the list but they’d be better served to just play their rookie QB, let him get his lumps and build with him.

@krueger_west Does a Brian Flores hire put the Vikings in win now mode and guarantee a Cousins extension and pushing more money into the future ?

I wouldn’t say that has to be the case. With whoever they hire, rebuilding the defense is going to be a process. There’s no flipping the switch and going from 28th to top five next year with the cap situation and draft capital so if Flores takes the job he’ll do so with the understanding that he’ll need to develop players and make incremental improvement. When he got to Miami their defense was horrendous the first year and then by the second year they were very good. That’s what the Vikings should be hoping for with their hire. If they do a bunch of stuff to hurt the cap in the future in order to run it back, they might mess around and get the same results even if the DC is better because the QB schedule is way harder next year.

@NicholasMMiller Have you decided if you’re going to adopt another greyhound?

Have not made a decision on that but if anyone is considering pet adoption in Minnesota, here’s where you can get information about greyhounds. They are the best.

@mourlam720 I just want to say to the Wilfs the fans are ready for change, do the right thing. Let the players that need to go to get the cap right. The “championship standard” comment stuck out to me but we’ll see if they really do what needs to be done.

I made this the main topic of my show the other night when I filled in for Henry Lake on WCCO the other night: I’m amazed at the number of fans who want this. Not in a bad way, of course. But I would have expected a very high percentage of fans to see last season and demand a new defensive coordinator as the fix. Yet that isn’t the vibe from the vast majority of fans who send in questions to me. I think you’re all correct that the team finally needs to live in reality and try something else after seeing this fail for the last five years. They got some benefit of the doubt when it came to running it back and once again fans watched other teams in the final three rounds of the playoffs.

@Skol_Doc Do you see any chance that the bears could find a way to mess up all of the resources that they have at their disposal? What would that situation look like? And did they make the correct decision to stick with fields instead of drafting a qb at #1

Sure, it’s possible. The Jets and Browns have been the draft capital and cap space champions of recent years and they haven’t done much of anything with it. All it would take is some bad luck in the draft, a bad signing or two and messing up the QB situation. Those things reduce the margin for error. Picking higher gives you a better chance at a great player and cap space allows for a mistake here or there without it being crushing. We don’t know for sure that they’re sticking with Fields (remember Arizona said that Josh Rosen was their guy right before picking Kyler Murray) but I don’t think it’s a bad idea. If he’s bad again, they can pick a QB in 2024. They made it pretty clear it was a full rebuild, which usually takes two or three years if it works well.

@KyeBaxter Given the way the NFCCG went down, do you think the NFL will make a change to the rules to add a 3rd QB that is exempt from the 53 man roster? Maybe just for the playoffs since those games are so much more important?

I have no idea why the NFL did away with that rule. It makes zero sense. Why would they ever want a world where a fullback might be thrown in to play QB? Hockey has this with goalies where some college student or coach can be thrown into the game because it’s insane to have anyone else except goalies playing in net. Same with QBs. Every team has a third QB on the practice squad anyway, why not have him eligible? Bring it back today for all games.

@smccullough5 No more football on Sundays means more time to golf. How will you fill all of your extra time?

Yeah, golf for sure. I’ll probably get in some travel to visit family soon. Most likely I’ll just create some other PI projects because this is my job and favorite hobby.

@rightcenterback Deep analysis on Pro Bowl flag football strategy.

Everybody make sure that nobody gets hurt. Other than that, I’d do the same thing I do on Madden: Send everybody deep and throw it to the one underneath guy and let him dodge everyone.

@CryptoCherry7 You’re JJ’s agent… do you demand clarity on ‘25 rostered QB before you begin contract negotiations?

Yes. If I just watched Davante Adams uproot his life to play with Derek Carr only to have Carr sent packing, I’d absolutely be asking that question. That doesn’t mean anyone can guarantee what’s going to happen down the road but I’d want to know if it’s going to be Cousins or if they’re drafting someone else and the plan if the draft pick doesn’t work out. I don’t know that actual negotiations can really go that way because the team isn’t going to want to be locked into whatever they tell him and then be accused of lying later if it doesn’t happen. Still, they should be as up front with him as they can about the timeline at QB. It has to be a factor in his decision.

@daddy4547 From what I saw this season I don't think dalvin pushed the pocket very well this year. And when we faced mobile qbs we didn't collapse the pocket very well either would you look to get like a 350lb nose tackle in the draft or free agency?

Tomlinson was good by the numbers at creating pressure but I think if you’re going to push the pocket consistently you probably need time to do that and opposing QBs were having no problem finding open receivers in less than 2.5 seconds against the Vikings this year. Tomlinson is also a free agent unless he signs an extension within the next few weeks so they will need another defensive tackle. After getting Harrison Phillips to stuff the run, I’d say that looking for a legit pass rusher from the three-technique position. Khyiris Tonga could take on a bigger role as the pure nose tackle.

@Skol_Doc I believe the Vikings may be best suited to trade down and possibly out of the first round to accumulate more picks. Fans won’t love this, but Where do you stand with the quality versus quantity situation that is the Vikings having only 5 picks thus far?

My issue with last year’s process was that they traded so far away from where superstars are usually picked. The backend of the first round has a handful of good picks historically, whereas the top of the draft is littered with All-Pros and Hall of Famers. If we’re talking about moving from the 24th pick to 36th, the odds of getting a very good player aren’t much different. If they’re not picking a QB, they can let someone else fall in love with a prospect at 24 and move down. Also, if that’s what Kwesi believes is the way to beat the draft, I say roll with it. Don’t bail because last year hasn’t worked out so far.

@RealBHogenson Pros/Cons of the following approach to defense: cut all the vets loose and roll with a cheap defense of 21-25 year olds on rookie deals next year. Defense is already the worst in the league, this would at least help the cap.

The pros are that the new DC gets to learn about who can play. Duke Shelley is a good example of how sometimes you don’t really know if someone can do it until they get a chance. By the end of 2023, they’ll know exactly what they need in free agency and they’ll have the money to put into the weak areas. The downside is that it can always get worse. If the young players don’t emerge and they just end up playing dudes they picked up off the street because they have nothing else, it’s going to feel like no progress was made and they wasted a year, especially if they stick with the same offense and rank in the top 10 in scoring again and miss the playoffs because of the defense.

@SamRoot43 The Vikings' top 3 UFAs are Tomlinson, P2, and Bradbury. How about a round of Re-sign, Draft, Free Agency? (Get your gameshow music!) If they had to keep one, and replace the other two - one in external free agency, and one in the draft, what should be their strategy?

If I’m keeping one, it’s Bradbury, I’ll draft the defensive tackle and get the corner in free agency. I’m not sure I’m actually for this but looking at the other free agent centers it’s hard to find a good replacement who will be better and a better deal. Drafting a center should be a complete no-go and there’s nobody on the roster to take Bradbury’s place. With Phillips and Tonga in place as the run stuffers, they need an interior pass rusher and teams usually don’t let those guys hit free agency. With corners, I’ve noticed a lot of good deals in free agency with the second wave of veteran corners in recent years. Teams go nuts for the top couple guys and then the other solid players get reasonable deals.

JoshuaRSmith… I see the Vikes with a natural tank next season. It happens thusly: The Wilfs make Kwesi run it back again with several of the old guys — but they don't make him re-extend Kirk, finally letting him play out his contract. The team reverts to the mean in 1-score games and is even worse on D despite the new coordinator. Against a tougher schedule, they win 6 or fewer games and — presto — get a high pick in the first round with a better chance at grabbing a QB. Can you see it?

I can definitely see it. You’re describing exactly what happened in Atlanta, except the Falcons timed it out poorly and there wasn’t a great QB prospect at the top for them to pick. They kept trying to fix their defense and build around Matt Ryan but it was just over for them being a contender and they eventually slid into mediocrity. That would be a frustrating outcome though, maybe tantamount to not creating a retirement plan and inheriting some money that bails you out. Yes, you’re still in a good place but the right planning could have made it even better.

CharlieSeltzer1… What’s your take on 3rd and 1 play calling from this year? 1) shot-gun handoff? 2) jet sweep 3) the push/sneak thing the eagles do. I would like to see the eagles thing flagged and I hate the shot-gun handoff, but I think the jet sweep has a really high conversion. Thanks and keep up the great work.

The Eagles push isn’t against the rules, so there’s nothing to flag them for. I’m not sure there’s a right answer. I agree with you that the jet sweep is good and catches teams off guard but you can’t use it all the time or opponents will prepare for it and tackle the receiver for a loss. The shotgun handoff is a bad play if you don’t have a good O-line or a QB who creates a rushing threat. I think it’s just about being unpredictable and willing to go for fourth down if you miss, which opens up passing opportunities. The Chiefs love that quick out pass to the slot receiver in short yardage situations. Some teams do the pitch to the opposite direction the O-line is blocking. Others just run behind their best offensive lineman, which makes sense to me. It’s not a one-size-fits-all thing.

@Skol_Doc It sounds like Sean Payton may want to keep evero in Denver as DC. Teams can block lateral moves ie DC > DC. Pending evero landing a HC job, could the Vikings still request an interview with a defensive title higher than DC such as assistant head coach to get around this rule?

I couldn’t find a definitive answer to this but I’m assuming that you can’t do it unless it’s an interview for head coach, otherwise it would be too easy a hack for teams that want to poach other clubs’ assistants. Hard to know if they’ll stick with him. Sometimes guys like Payton already have their staff put together when they do the interview.

@JPM3_MN Do you ever see the NFL moving toward creating a "QB middle class" - will enough Front Offices ever show the discipline to avoid giving huge contracts to good-not-great QBs?

Kinda, just not exactly in the same way that other positions work. Teams are still being forced to sign QBs to extremely expensive deals and I’m guessing that continues but they’re doing so knowing full well that they can trade them when the time comes. What happened with Carr likely becomes the norm for all non-elite quarterbacks. The Giants, for example, will sign Daniel Jones for $40 million per year and then if he’s pretty meh there will be another team that gets desperate for competent QB play and gives them a third-round pick. And round and round it will go.

@WHENESOTA Can the Vikings rebuild the defense, pay JJ, and fill holes on the o line well enough to compete for a SB....with Cousins current salary?

Is it possible? Sure. You’re always one or two drafts away. In 2017 the Vikings spent the seventh most cap space in the NFL at quarterback and went to the NFC Championship game. But if we think about all the things that had to happen for that season to come together, it tells you how difficult that scenario is to achieve. They had to hit on Anthony Barr in 2014, Eric Kendricks, Danielle Hunter and Stefon Diggs in 2015 and got career years from Everson Griffen, Xavier Rhodes and Harrison Smith at the same time.

They could afford an expensive QB and WR if they absolutely crush the 2022 and 2023 drafts and land several bigtime stars on rookie contracts at the same time. Is that likely? Not really. And is it likely that Cousins gets better from here into his late-30s? Not really. That’s what every decision is about, right? It’s all an odds game. They’ve been trying to go against the odds and it hasn’t worked.

@jeffintokyo1 When do you think we start to see either veterans being cut or restructured contracts announced?

Usually those discussions happen at the Combine, which is at the beginning of March. Things start to move shortly after that and before free agency in Mid-March.

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