Zimmer’s “Toxic Leadership” label debunked courtesy of FA? Not so fast…
Joe Johnson
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Note: This article is response to an article by our NFL/ Minnesota Vikings Insider, Dustin Baker, who also helms our new general NFL site, FranchiseTagged.com. Click HERE to read his story:
If I’m known for anything in the Minnesota Vikings media industry, outside of owning the largest network of local/independent (for now) Vikings sites, run-on sentences, and general wet blanket-ry regarding the Vikings, it’s for holding myself accountable when it comes to the takes I make and how they’ve aged.
Case in point? This article:
Or my take on Moritz Boehringer snagging Adam Thielen’s roster spot (I wish I was joking).
Beyond that, though, it feels like a lot has happened this last week that has flown in the face of some of the takes I’ve made (which are pretty standard Joe takes). I’ll be doing a few articles this week assessing whether or not I should be eating any (more) crow, but wanted to start with a story that sounded like it was made specifically for me.
Recently, our very own NFL Insider (and managing editor of our new general NFL Site, FranchiseTagged.com) Dustin Baker covered the return of Mackenzie Alexander and essentially stated that his return, as well as the return of Stephen Weatherly (and the fact that Patrick Peterson asked to come to Minnesota) means that the reports of “Toxic Leadership” under Zimmer weren’t valid.
While I think that, like most things in life, things aren’t that simple (as if continued/returned employment meant that every boss in the world wasn’t a jerk, we all wouldn’t hate our bosses), it is safe to say that at the bare minimum Zimmer has done a really good job of either maintaining or re-acquiring continuity on his defense. Does that mean that Zimmer can’t be what has been reported? On the surface you’d think so, but if you dig a bit deeper you’ll find that it’s really not that simple.
For example. If the logic is that Mackenzie Alexander’s return means that Zimmer’s management style isn’t an issue, then what would you call him reportedly spurning a better/longer term deal with the Vikings last off-season for a one-year deal in Cincinnati?
Beyond that, this implies that NFL players have the same leverage as head coaches or general managers and can just choose where to play. That every player that signs a free agent deal does so because they agree with the coaches/management of the teams they’re signing with/to, not because they see that signing as their best/only option.
Some players do have that sort of leverage. I would argue that none of the players that either asked to play for or return to the Vikings have that leverage. Am I saying that that means that’s proof positive of “toxic leadership”? No. But I’m saying that you can’t simply look at a league in which most players, especially the type that the Vikings could afford this off-season, take what they can get as if the NFL is a league where every free agent has their pick of teams to sign and play to and for.
This may surprise people, but some players don’t just have the right to choose where they play and perhaps a guy like Patrick Peterson saw that the Vikings had a need for a guy of his age and (former) pedigree, and thought that it’d be the best for his career to stop in Minnesota on a one-year prove it deal. After all, it’s not like Peterson was some highly sought after free agent.
Let’s take Pro Football Focus’ Free Agency ranking from earlier this off-season.
Peterson was the 84th-ranked free agent.
Mackenzie Alexander? 96th.
Dalvin Tomlinson? 47th.
Xavier Woods? 59th.
Stephen Weatherly? He was released by the Panthers over a month ago, didn’t crack the Top 100 of the above, and clearly felt that he could most likely do more back in the system that allowed him to garner the deal he got with the Panthers in the first place. How does that scream vindication?
Don’t get me wrong. I’m as excited about these signings as anyone as I think they’ll have an outsized impact on this Vikings defense (which is clearly what the players and their agents thought). But, my point is that it is not as if these guys had many options outside of what the Vikings offered them, so it isn’t as if this one aspect of Zimmer’s tenure means that he also hasn’t done a lot of things that go beyond simply being an “old school coach in a snowflake era”.
I know that I’m responding to what Baker wrote with speculation, but that’s exactly what I’m responding to. The speculation that because players returned to the Vikings it somehow negates things that have been sourced and reported, which seems like a gross overgeneralization of those transactions and the actual things people have said about Zimmer.
That doesn’t mean that there isn’t something to be said that someone like Alexander, who many surmised was upset with the Vikings after he took that one-year deal last off-season, has decided to come back to Minnesota. However, I feel like it’s an overly simplistic view of who (re)signed here and why.
Then there’s Anthony Barr, who initially said that he wouldn’t restructure his contract with the Vikings only to do just that. If Zimmer was so awful to deal with, then why would players like Barr stay in Minnesota for less money?
Why would Zimmer’s defense have that aforementioned unique continuity if he’s such a bad boss? In terms of Barr, I don’t think someone not wanting to go to the Jets is a great sign as to whether or not your franchise is anything but slightly above … The Jets.
Beyond that, Barr is coming off of an injury and has found his potential free agency value plummet after year in which he was replaced by Eric Wilson and really not missed. Considering his injury, and that fact, perhaps he feels that he has a better chance of making more long-term money by coming back healthy and performing at a level near what he did a couple seasons ago than doing the same in a foreign system.
That’s speculation on my part, and my point isn’t to rake Zimmer over the coals based on speculation (as I would like to get a press pass, again, at some point), but rather to say that to simply say that Zimmer is a great boss because of the above isn’t a complete assessment of the situation. Especially when I’ve heard from people I trust that that’s not a fair assessment.
That’s the entire point. I love Dustin. I trust his point of view and take on nearly everything (outside of hitching his star to my wagon) and I love doing point-counterpoint topics with him. I also don’t think he needs to read what I write, but I don’t think his article or those like it are addressing the topics laid out below (or that I’ve covered/alluded to this off-season).
Case in point? There are the issues that people have had with Zimmer which were covered in painstaking detail by an established, credentialed journalist (which is coincidentally the three things I’ll never be courtesy of articles like this), as well as the things that I’ve been told that may, at some point, become public record.
Speaking of which, the fact that retired players with no skin in the game don’t want to be on the record here, to me, shows exactly why a sub-50 free agent signing here means nothing in terms of this topic. These guys want to remain employed for as long as possible and then they still want to avoid the gigantic cluster that would come from going on the record for things like this.
So why am I doing it?
The best way I can put it, is, I love the Vikings. I hope that’s clear. I don’t want to be a wet blanket for effect, nor would I ever jeopardize the sacrifice that I’ve personally put into building the largest Vikings news network in the game or the work of the writers I employ.
I wouldn’t sacrifice my press availability, as I know that the things that we write are known by the team. So, while I won’t violate the trust of those who have told me things off-the-record, I also don’t want to sit idly by as people say that Zimmer’s record is now clear because a few low-end free agents with few options signed here. That just doesn’t feel right to me, considering, so I felt like someone had to take the opposing view here.
Because none of the above “proof” that the toxic leadership topic is a myth actually means much when you actually look into what is ON the record.
Let’s revisit Tyler Dunne of GoLongTD’s article (which I covered in the article ‘Report: Things are BAD in Zimmerland, Really Bad’). Also, I implore you to read that article (or rather, Dunne’s piece) and tell me if you think anything in that article seems like it’s created out of whole cloth.
“Past co-workers describe the head coach as everything from “a very disgruntled, pissy old man” to “joyless” to “a big blamer” to “an equal-opportunity asshole” to “pissed about everything.” One source close to the team’s inner-workings believes his intensity worked initially with so many young players dying to prove themselves but, as time passed, it became white noise.”
Or this:
“Everything is everyone else’s fault,” this source says. “Or the answer is always, ‘You have to work harder.’ Maybe it’s your scheme. Maybe it’s your stubbornness. Maybe it’s your inability to adjust. Maybe it’s your lack of communication. If you keep bringing Zimmer back and Spielman back and Cousins gets extended for $30 million a year, you’re going to lose the locker room because you’re losing some guys.”
Or:
“There are players, he adds, who have viewed Zimmer’s form of leadership as “his way or the highway,” saying Zimmer tries to make players out to be selfish when this locker room, in reality, has been unbelievably unselfish.”
That raises the actual part of this that people, in my humble opinion, are overlooking.
That the results simply haven’t been there for Zimmer to continue to be employed by the Vikings regardless of how he treats players, coworkers or even his boss (“One former co-worker who saw the two interact regularly, says Zimmer “treats Rick terrible. Like shit. The way he talks to him, it’s incredible.””).
I honestly don’t understand the level of commitment people have had to a coach that has been handed the most plum gig in all of the NFL (new stadium? Check. Best facility in the league? Check. Every red cent spent on whatever free agent or player contract requested? Check. Changing how the entire league pays quarterbacks to bring in the biggest free agent in NFL history? Check. Every draft pick requested for his favorite position (group)? Check and check. Job security despite only making the playoffs every other season? Check. Somehow letting George Edwards fall on the sword after the third playoff appearance/embarassment despite the fact that he didn’t call any plays nor construct the offensive line that was obliterated in that game? Check. Freedom to run a 21st century team like a 18th century match factory? Check and mate). I’m sure I’ll get the same bland, random angry feedback in the comment section of this piece as I do every time I criticize Zimmer. I used to think Vikings fans were spoiled by a top-5 regular season record, or players like Randy Moss or Justin Jefferson. This, though, just screams that we’re all angrily committed to mediocrity.
I’m sure this’ll fall on deaf ears right now because everyone is enamored with the fact that the Vikings have a lot of “exciting” free agency signings. But, I think that it’s safe to say that regardless of why Zimmer’s style hasn’t lead to players leaving the team or blackballing the team it is hasn’t lead to anything worthy of that level of support by the fans, or frankly, the team.
Those resignings don’t negate what has been sourced and reported. Nor do they mean anything but more of the same from a head coach that has proven little outside of the ability to keep far too many people defending him thanks to flash-y records and stats when things matter least.
If people genuinely think that we’ll get different results from the exact same thing. Cool. But that doesn’t somehow mean that we’re not defending a status quo that from every angle/variable I can surmise is the wrong way to run a successful NFL franchise.