Vikings

Vikings Shift Focus Following Manic Monday

Mandatory Credit: Harrison Barden-USA TODAY Sports

The opening of the NFL’s legal tampering period — i.e. the soft launch of new league year — began in earnest on Monday, unleashing a torrent of moves that tripped Twitter machine circuits alongside the ubiquitous Coronavirus news. To say the Minnesota Vikings were active participants in the roster shuffling would be an understatement, as they checked several boxes on their offseason to-do list within the span of about 12 hours.

While several objectives were met, others were created. It was that kind of day.

Following their pre-tampering period releases of Xavier Rhodes, Linval Joseph and David Morgan, the Vikings addressed one of their biggest offseason question marks early Monday, signing Kirk Cousins to a two-year extension. The roughly $10 million in savings against the 2020 salary cap created by the Cousins deal afforded Rob Brzezinski enough room to squeeze Anthony Harris into the budget, as Rick Spielman slapped one of the best safeties in the game with the seldom-used Vikings franchise tag, thought by some to be extinct.

With Cousins wrapped up and Harris secured for at least another season — unless he’s traded — the Vikings then inked Pro Bowl fullback CJ Ham to a four-year deal, gave restricted free-agent linebacker Eric Wilson a second-round tender and agreed to terms with punter Britton Colquitt. Meanwhile, Stephen Weatherly left via free agency to sign a deal with the Carolina Panthers.

Then, with NFL news cycles churning with all the shelf life of an eight-pack of toilet paper, Stefon Diggs jumped into the fray with another pair of not-so-subtle, post-lunchtime tweets to troll the masses.

Tweet No. 1: “it’s time for a new beginning”

via @DIGGS

Said cryptic tweet garnered him the attention for which he was aiming, so he doubled down in response to another tweeter who called him a “drama queen.”

Tweet No. 2: “Nah this ain’t one of them times champ. Somethings going to happen.”

via @DIGGS

Eight hours later – before he could fire another troll-tastic tweet through the interwebs – Diggs was sent to Buffalo in a trade that gained the Vikings a bundle of draft picks and bought them roughly $5 million in salary cap relief.

Everyone’s mock draft was ruined in the process. Don’t worry; there’s more where those came from… and the 2020 NFL Draft has more quality wide receivers than any in recent memory. Now that the Vikings have two first-round picks — for now — selecting a wideout with one of them is almost a foregone conclusion.

Whether you agree with trading a receiver of Diggs’ considerable talents or not (a topic for another article), the Vikings got an absolute haul for a player who wanted to be traded – which typically pile-drives a team’s negotiating leverage. One thing’s for sure, Bill O’Brien’s unloading of DeAndre Hopkins for a well below-market value return in Monday’s marquee deal with Arizona didn’t seem to damage the Vikings’ return for Diggs.

As the sun rose on Tampering Tuesday – known in some corners as St. Patrick’s Day — the Vikings were working with somewhere between $11.5 million (according to overthecap.com) and $13.9 million (per Spotrac) in salary cap space.

The Vikings answered a lot of questions on Monday but weren’t left with a lot of money to spend when the dust settled. There are still some unchecked boxes on the to-do list.

Brzezinski will need some more magic to retain either Trae Waynes or Mackensie Alexander, who are likely both fielding lucrative offers in free agency. Everson Griffen? There’s still room for him. Dan Bailey? Yeah, the Vikings can afford him, too. Andrew Sendejo and Rashod Hill are other question marks.

There’s also still plenty of time to clear additional cap space via the release of another player such as Riley Reiff, who carries a $13.2 million cap hit in 2020, or — more likely — by making a trade. There are rumors the Vikings could turn around and deal Harris now that he’s been franchised.

Beyond that, it seems the Vikings will be spending most of free agency filling depth.

Oh, and don’t forget, it wouldn’t be the least bit surprising if Dalvin Cook followed the trail blazed by other elite running backs in recent years and held out. He’ll be looking for a new contract as he heads into the final year of his rookie deal. Whether the Vikings would be wise to pay the going rate for running backs of his caliber is an issue that has been addressed previously on Zone Coverage and will undoubtedly remain a central topic of conversation among Vikings fans. Trading Harris could free up some of the space necessary for the Vikes to meet Cook’s price tag if that’s what they decide to do.

Monday was wild, but the fun is just beginning.

The Vikings now have the most draft capital in the league, and if you think Spielman is done trading picks, have another green beer.

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Mandatory Credit: Harrison Barden-USA TODAY Sports

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