The month of February was frighteningly quiet for the Minnesota Vikings, as the front office was preparing for an impactful March and April. There was an arid 3-4 week stretch that resulted in city speculation for the team’s followers – about everything people can do when no news is released.
Kirk Cousins exchange rumors, mistakenly spitting out Danielle Hunter resistance, and many simulated drafts occupied people’s pastime.
So when Rick Spielman went into a video conference on Wednesday, it looked like any phrase that escaped his mouth would be interesting.
Here we are.
The media-driven takeaway culminated when Spielman – without reservations or reservations – claimed that Kirk Cousins is the team’s starting quarterback. In fact, Spielman has a history of committing to players via microphone and switching them months later. But the cousins’ confession seemed different. Why would the team want to exchange a quarterback who throws more than 30 touchdowns like clockwork? Minnesota has long been hungry for such consistent production.
Other informational nuggets were derived from the presser and here’s what they mean.
The exchange philosophy
Asked about the project in two months, Spielman was, of course, vague about what the Vikings could do for the staff. He alluded to positional needs, which is to be expected.
Then he also said: “if we stay in [number] 14. “
Bingo. This indicates to the listener that Spielman is already contemplating an exchange, presumably backwards, as the team did in 2020 – when the tactic yielded DJ Wonnum and KJ Osborn as a sauce for Jeff Gladney’s potatoes. Minnesota and San Francisco swapped in 1st Round last year, allowing the 49ers to select wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk and the Vikings to descend. Minnesota chose Jeff Gladney in 31st local with Wonnum and Osborn as compensation later.
This could happen again in 2021. Vikings need a 2WL Round choice because that commodity was lost to the Jacksonville Jaguars in Yannick Ngakoue’s trade. Cheating a different team in April could take Spielman back to 2WL Round – a place where he documented success.
In theory, Spielman could trade in Round 1, but he has no history of doing so. And it usually involves ostentatiousness for a quarterback – Vikings have one of those.
Life without Eric Wilson is real
Spielman later in the videoconference confirmed that employing three linebackers with fat contracts is unlikely. With Eric Wilson going to the free agency, this lowers expectations for the 26-year-old’s retention. Comparatively speaking, Anthony Barr and Eric Kendricks have fat contracts. Vikings probably can’t afford to spend a lot on Wilson because they already invest heavily in Barr and Kendricks.
It looked like Spielman saw the writing on the wall. He even acknowledged that Wilson could walk and that a player like Troy Dye would have a chance to develop – because Dye is accessible.
In the open free agent market, non-EDGE linebackers do not break the bank unless they are appointed Bobby Wagner or Anthony Barr or Eric Kendricks. Wilson will not be terribly expensive. However, even an intermediate agreement for Wilson is too expensive for Vikings – especially according to Spielman’s comment.
Moral of the story: get emotionally acclimated to something like Anthony Barr-Eric Kendricks-Troy Dye or Anthony Barr-Eric Kendricks-Todd Davis.
Hunter’s contract material was probably fake
Spielman was also asked about “the status of Danielle Hunter’s contract”. He reacted as if it were the first time he had heard of discontent.
To put it in context, the risks of Hunter’s longevity with the team were supposedly increased because of this tweet from last fall:
#Vikings star Danielle Hunter is undergoing surgery to clean a herniated disc, knocking him out in 2020, by me and @TomPelissero. MIN has a decision in this off-season: make Hunter the highest-paid defender in football or change him. Did we see the last of him in a Vikings uniform?
– Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 22, 2020
Hunter never expressed these feelings personally – at least not in public. Spielman’s opinion on the probably false subject was similar to that of fans on October 22, 2020, when they read Rapaport’s tweet.
To be sure, Hunter is underpaid if someone ranks his performance in 2019 for the rest of the elite EDGE rushers in 2020. But it was very strange – according to Rapaport’s tweet – for Hunter to flex during an injury period. end of season. Also, that was not just none injury – it was a disease in the neck. This is one of the most terrible injuries in all sports.
It never made sense for a player to step into Minneapolis asking for a new contract while recovering from a neck injury. Spielman’s comments tend to prove that Rapaport mistakenly believed that Hunter was a free agent. He’s not there. Hunter is under contract until 2023.
“Hunter looking for a new contract” was probably a false narrative from the start.