Sports
The Vikings are Getting Some Salt Poured in the Wound
As this stage in the offseason, the top NFL free agent lists proliferate. The Vikings, despite a cap crunch that has yet to be resolved (at least publicly), are going to participate, if only in a modest manner.
But while adding talent is an exciting thing, Minnesota is encountering a discouraging reality: many of the top team fits could have been had for cheap. Indeed, we’re four years on from the disastrous 2022 NFL Draft, meaning the four-year rookie pacts are expiring. Many of the top names who look like nice fits belong to players who could have become Vikings players.
The Vikings Get Salt in the Wound
If you enjoy feeling sad, consider the draft picks just one more time:
- 1st Round, No. 32: Lewis Cine, Safety
- 2nd Round, No. 42: Andrew Booth Jr., Corner
- 2nd Round, No. 59: Ed Ingram, Guard
- 3rd Round, No. 66: Brian Asamoah, Linebacker
- 4th Round, No. 118: Akayleb Evans, Corner
- 5th Round, No. 165: Esezi Otomewo, Defensive End
- 5th Round, No. 169: Ty Chandler, Running Back
- 6th Round, No. 184: Vederian Lowe, Offensive Tackle
- 6th Round, No. 191: Jalen Nailor, Wide Receiver
- 7th Round, No. 227: Nick Muse, Tight End
Pretty stunningly, the ten-person draft class is most likely going to venture elsewhere without a single player signing a second deal to remain. Of the crew, Jalen Nailor is the lone success story; drafting a promising WR3 in the 6th is excellent work. Otherwise, that’s a tough first go at drafting.
Shrinking things down to just the opening five draft picks allows us to see some of the promising talent that’s now out there in NFL free agency.
On ESPN, Matt Bowen proposes team fits for a list of the top free agents. The Vikings get a single mention, getting linked to off-ball linebacker Nakobe Dean. Consider what could have been possible:
- 1st Round, No. 32: Lewis Cine, Safety <–> Kenneth Walker III, Running Back, Drafted at No. 41
- 2nd Round, No. 42: Andrew Booth Jr., Corner <–> Alontae Taylor, Corner, Drafted at No. 49
- 2nd Round, No. 59: Ed Ingram, Guard <–> Nakobe Dean, Linebacker, Drafted at No. 83
- 3rd Round, No. 66: Brian Asamoah, Linebacker <–> Leo Chenal, Linebacker, Drafted at No. 103
- 4th Round, No. 118: Akayleb Evans, Corner <–> Tariq Woolen, Corner, Drafted at No. 153
For whatever it’s worth, the Bowen piece sees Walker as the 18th FA, Taylor as the 12th FA, Dean as the 48th FA, Chenal as the 45th FA, and Woolen as the 14th FA.
Obviously, the fight isn’t particularly fair. No GM, no matter how excellent, can withstand a battle with hindsight. Reality takes place and mysteries get solved, making it easy to tell the future that is the past. There is, nevertheless, some point to the exercise.
There’s a case to be made that what the Vikings need right about now is a young, dynamic runner like Walker. A tall, lengthy corner like Woolen would be great, too. Linebackers Dean and Chenal would be an upgrade, just as Taylor would be perfect for how the secondary operates.
The Vikings are experiencing an off-field equivalent to mistakes on the field.
Consider, for instance, a snap where the defensive tackle doesn’t get into the gap he’s supposed to be in. As the runner breaks through that early lane, the linebacker then misses a tackle since he wasn’t expecting to need break toward that area of the field so dramatically. The safety then needs to take on a powerful runner with a ton of momentum, leading to a business decision that results in an uninspired effort to tackle.
The (fictional) scenario above is an example of how an early mistake at the line of scrimmage can ripple through the rest of the defense and play more broadly. So, too, can the same logic be applied to drafting.
The Vikings are currently in a cap mess largely due to spending so freely on free agents. Needing to spend so freely on free agents largely overflows from poor drafting, the place where young, cost-controlled talent is found. In other words, mistakes from 2022 don’t stay in 2022. Instead, these 2022 mistakes have a real impact on what’s occurring in 2026.
In football, everything is interconnected.
The point, folks, is not that Kwesi Adofo-Mensah is solely to blame for all that ails Minnesota. There’s no way that’s true (or anywhere close to true; there’s a ton of blame to go around). Nor, in fact, is the argument that Minnesota should have been capable of drafting in accordance with the insights that only reality can provide. Such a threshold is impossible to clear.
Rather, the point is that the Vikings are now turning over couch cushions to (possibly) sign one or two strong talents when these same players had been available four years ago for the price of a draft pick, a rookie contract, and a roster spot. The Vikings can now have these players, but they do so after they’ve become older and more expensive.
Connecting on one or two of these picks would have made a massive difference for the present moment.
At a time when the Vikings feel stretched thin, the need to launch the cap version of a fundraiser for free agents who were there for the taking must feel like salt in the wound.
Senior Editor for Vikings Territory & PurplePTSD . Twitter & Bluesky: @VikingsGazette. Email: k.joudry[at]vikingsterritory[dot]com. Canadian. Jude 1:24-25.