"Had they not set themselves up well with the salary cap" are we talking about the Minnesota Vikings? That club has very much *not* set itself up well with the salary cap. In addition to the dead money and copious use of void years, the longer it takes to extend JJ, the higher that price is going to be. The roster has been retooled with younger players, but the cap management has been poor.
This year there is a consensus top 3 and then a gap--that was also the case in '99, and the best QB in that class was taken at 11 (though as ever, the coach/roster matter too). It wouldn't make sense to saddle KOC with someone he doesn't like, but it's also a leap to assume that KOC (or anyone) can correctly rank the prospects, and thus get ROI for using 4 or 5 top 60 picks to get that player.
The current regime inherited a bunch of backloaded contracts with tons of guaranteed money. (Barr, Theilen, Cousins, Smith, Kendricks, Cook) They were forced to take on a lot of dead money and use void years to remain competitive ..which was an ownership requirement. They've actually done an amazing job and are bitting that bullet this season freeing them up to be more flexible in the future. As for the void years... it is necessary to remain competitive right now while pushing some of the money into the future where they have ample cap space.
The guys who were cut didn't have guaranteed money left, but it's fair to note that KAM arrived in an existing hole. The issue is that this is his third offseason and he hasn't stopped digging. They are not biting the bullet this season, look at the UFA contracts and how they are structured. It's more of the same--last year Marcus Davenport provided as much value to the team as Lucas Davenport, yet is a $6.8 MM charge on the 2024 cap.
If we want to suggest it's all the Wilfs' fault and KAM was powerless. . .that's possible, but it means that KAM is making low 7 figures annually to do nothing, which would itself be worthy of criticism. There is also nothing to suggest that e.g. when the trade with the Texans was made Zygi or Mark were the ones on the phone, or providing direction on the structure.
There will be cap room next season (though less so after JJ and Darrisaw extensions), but the problem is the continued use of void years and delaying cap hits at a time when it really doesn't make sense to do so (unlike say the Bucs while they had mid 40s Brady). Come training camp, the Vikings will be universally predicted to finish 3rd or 4th; 2023 and 2024 were the years to stop kicking cap hits down the road and KAM did the opposite.
$20 MM isn't a huge amount of dead cap compared to what Rusty will cost the Broncos, but that's still the cost of a decent pass rusher or top corner. It's poor roster management.
“1. Trade up to the top three no matter the cost…” This sends a shiver through my bones and not because of our current weather in Princeton! We old timers still remember a trade abomination which brought us Hershel Walker and sent the Cowgirls to multiple Super Bowls… I’d shy away from that option.
I think it's very unlikely they hold onto both first round picks in any scenario. They made that trade for a future move. If they can't trade up with those picks for a QB, I think it's much more likely they trade back with at least one of them and recoup some of the value they lost in the original trade. To put it another way, it's very unlikely they would have made that trade just to take a non-QB, knowing the overall value they were sacrificing to do so. Especially not knowing who will be there at each slot.
"Had they not set themselves up well with the salary cap" are we talking about the Minnesota Vikings? That club has very much *not* set itself up well with the salary cap. In addition to the dead money and copious use of void years, the longer it takes to extend JJ, the higher that price is going to be. The roster has been retooled with younger players, but the cap management has been poor.
This year there is a consensus top 3 and then a gap--that was also the case in '99, and the best QB in that class was taken at 11 (though as ever, the coach/roster matter too). It wouldn't make sense to saddle KOC with someone he doesn't like, but it's also a leap to assume that KOC (or anyone) can correctly rank the prospects, and thus get ROI for using 4 or 5 top 60 picks to get that player.
The current regime inherited a bunch of backloaded contracts with tons of guaranteed money. (Barr, Theilen, Cousins, Smith, Kendricks, Cook) They were forced to take on a lot of dead money and use void years to remain competitive ..which was an ownership requirement. They've actually done an amazing job and are bitting that bullet this season freeing them up to be more flexible in the future. As for the void years... it is necessary to remain competitive right now while pushing some of the money into the future where they have ample cap space.
The guys who were cut didn't have guaranteed money left, but it's fair to note that KAM arrived in an existing hole. The issue is that this is his third offseason and he hasn't stopped digging. They are not biting the bullet this season, look at the UFA contracts and how they are structured. It's more of the same--last year Marcus Davenport provided as much value to the team as Lucas Davenport, yet is a $6.8 MM charge on the 2024 cap.
If we want to suggest it's all the Wilfs' fault and KAM was powerless. . .that's possible, but it means that KAM is making low 7 figures annually to do nothing, which would itself be worthy of criticism. There is also nothing to suggest that e.g. when the trade with the Texans was made Zygi or Mark were the ones on the phone, or providing direction on the structure.
Is he not talking about after this year? They will have a ton of cap next season even with Void years and a JJ extension
There will be cap room next season (though less so after JJ and Darrisaw extensions), but the problem is the continued use of void years and delaying cap hits at a time when it really doesn't make sense to do so (unlike say the Bucs while they had mid 40s Brady). Come training camp, the Vikings will be universally predicted to finish 3rd or 4th; 2023 and 2024 were the years to stop kicking cap hits down the road and KAM did the opposite.
$20 MM isn't a huge amount of dead cap compared to what Rusty will cost the Broncos, but that's still the cost of a decent pass rusher or top corner. It's poor roster management.
“1. Trade up to the top three no matter the cost…” This sends a shiver through my bones and not because of our current weather in Princeton! We old timers still remember a trade abomination which brought us Hershel Walker and sent the Cowgirls to multiple Super Bowls… I’d shy away from that option.
I think it's very unlikely they hold onto both first round picks in any scenario. They made that trade for a future move. If they can't trade up with those picks for a QB, I think it's much more likely they trade back with at least one of them and recoup some of the value they lost in the original trade. To put it another way, it's very unlikely they would have made that trade just to take a non-QB, knowing the overall value they were sacrificing to do so. Especially not knowing who will be there at each slot.