The Calm Before The Storm
K. Joudry
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Consider these past few days as the calm before the purple storm. Soon, the Vikings news will be flying fast and furious (so be sure to swing by Purple PTSD).
Some purple fans are likely wondering when we’ll learn about cuts, restructures, extensions, and trades. The answer is very soon. We’ve already seen the Packers doing all kind of work to get under the cap. Other team have similarly been working with their vets.
One thing to remember about Minnesota is that the team is working with almost an entirely new leadership group. Everything I’ve seen suggests KAM and K/O want to be thorough in their approach to the roster. The past few days have likely been consumed by plenty of debates about the best way forward. Once some of the work gets put in the rear view mirror, the purple leadership will be able to move forward with some of these decisions.
Players like Michael Pierce, C.J. Ham, Adam Thielen, and Eric Kendricks (among others) are all cut candidates. Kirk Cousins will need to be traded or extended. What will they do with Dalvin Cook? LA didn’t have a true RB1 and found all kinds of success. How important will Cook be to the K/O offense? Certainly there are several others who are subject to internal debate.
All of this is to say that the Vikings news is coming soon. Previously, I’ve suggested that the Vikings could reasonably open up close to $30 million in cap space. That piece didn’t consider Cook or Cousins (or several depth players). As a result, I’m of the opinion that Minnesota enters free agency with somewhere between $25-$40 million in cap space.
By no means will this be enough to win every bidding war. What it does provide, though, is enough to snag one high-end free agent. It’s also enough to avoid paying one tier-1 player in favor of several strong players in the tier-2 category. We’ll soon see news that clarifies which strategy the Vikings take.
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