RGIII Highlights Packers Issue, Vikings Strength
K. Joudry
|
As far as I can tell, Vikings fans are extra happy right about now. The reason? Well, it’s because the Vikings’ strong record happens to coincide with a weak record for the Packers. After seeing Green Bay take the division for three-straight seasons, Minnesota fans are welcoming their team’s hitherto unusual level of strong play.
Recently, Robert Griffin III – who was the QB1 in Washington before Kirk Cousins took over the job – shared an observation about the two teams. As we all know, Za’Darius Smith used to play for GB; we also know that he is now playing exceptionally well for Minnesota.
RGIII draws attention to a financial reality of Smith no longer being in Wisconsin:
In other words, GB has more than $11 million subtracted from their budget even though the player is no longer on the team. The Vikings, of course, find themselves in a somewhat similar situation as the Packers.
Indeed, the Vikings have nearly $26 million in dead money impacting them in 2022. Much of that belongs to Anthony Barr, who is now playing for the Cowboys. Nevertheless, we see other notable names such as Michael Pierce, Kyle Rudolph, and Sheldon Richardson gobbling up precious cap space even though they’re no longer employed by the Vikings.
The critical difference – and part of the main point of the above tweet – is that the dead money is hurting the Packers while that player is helping the Vikings. In that sense, it’s a bit of a two-for-one deal for Minnesota. Their main competition in the NFC North faces another hurdle and yet the Vikings get the benefit of overcoming one of the most pressing issues from recent seasons: the pass rush (or lack thereof).
An easily overlooked component of Smith’s game is that he’s helping to set up his teammates for success. In the opening 7 games, Ed Donatell has had some success using stunts to free his pass rushers. The clip below shows Smith drawing the attention of multiple blockers, thus freeing Patrick Jones II to make the great play:
The deal Kwesi Adofo-Mensah put together for Za’Darius Smith keeps the pass rusher in town from 2022-2024. He’ll get a sizable pay raise in Year 2 and he has already started earning some of the bonuses in his deal. Elite play from a pass rusher doesn’t come cheap, so fans ought not be concerned about spending money for the former Packer.
Heading into Week 9, Smith has 8.5 sacks, which leads the team. If he continues to play like he has been, Smith will flirt with 20+ sacks by the end of the season. The deal has been money well spent.
[brid autoplay=”true” video=”1174594″ player=”26281″ title=”The%20Vikings%20Are%2061.%20Let's%20Talk%20about%20It.” duration=”1401″ description=”Josh Frey and Dustin Baker discuss Week 9 and T.J. Hockenson.” uploaddate=”2022-11-02″ thumbnailurl=”https://cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/19439/snapshot/1174594_th_1667410985.jpg” contentUrl=”//cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/19439/sd/1174594.mp4″ width=”16″ height=”9″]