The Minnesota Vikings have had the New Orleans Saints number in the past few years, including the Minneapolis Miracle Game, and diehard Vikings fans were hoping for another victory with some Christmas magic. Unfortunately, that Christmas magic was not there this time around. When you look at the National Football League this season, it is pretty clear that the Kansas City Chiefs have set the bar as the standard of what it is going to take to win a Super Bowl. Now, anything can happen in the NFL, and every week is a new week where there usually is a surprise or two each week.
I am a Minnesota Vikings fan. I have been all my life and I will continue to be for the rest of my life. I am here to tell you that this team is not a playoff team. I know that people held onto hope of sneaking in as a seven seeded wildcard team, but the reality is that the team did not have the pieces in place to make a playoff run. The Vikings had been playing a game of risk when it came to the salary cap. The front office always seemed to find a way to make salaries work if there was a player to sign to an extension or a player that they wanted to bring in. However, when you are maxed out at the salary cap and your team suffers the extent of injuries that the Vikings are currently facing, all you can do is rely on your young players and second stringers. This is not an effective game plan in the NFL.
The Minnesota Vikings came into the season with major holes in their defensive secondary, mainly at the cornerback position. They drafted Cameron Dantzler and Jeff Gladney to beef up that cornerback position behind Mike Hughes, but they didn't get the opportunity to have NFL game speed experience in the preseason. I know that every NFL team faced the same scenario this season as nobody had any preseason games, but when you have no veterans at a critical position, like the cornerback position, you can't expect a player to come out of college, grow up quick, and make no mistakes when their first NFL game action is the first game of the regular season. The cornerback position became even more thin, when Mike Hughes went down with a reoccurring neck injury that, to me, is looking like it could be a career ending injury. The Vikings also suffered other critical defensive injuries to players Anthony Barr, Danielle Hunter, and Erik Kendricks. The injuries just made a mess even messier. COVID-19 was another hurdle where it caused some players to opt out of the season as well. Despite all the hurdles and challenges of the 2020 season, the future does show some hope and promise.
The first thing providing hope for next season is that your injured players and COVID-19 opt out players will return. There have been some rumors out there saying that Danielle Hunter is not happy with his current salary. He is making approximately 14 million dollars a season and he is wanting to be at the level that the other top players at his position are at, which is about 27 million dollars per season. Danielle Hunter just signed his extension just over a year ago and got paid a lot of money for not playing this season. I think he should be content with what he is making right now. After all, he chose to sign the extension when he did, so that should be the end of the conversation. If Hunter does not choose to hold out next season and Anthony Barr returns healthy, this is an instant upgrade for the defense.
The second thing providing hope for next season is that a lot of young players saw a lot of game time this season that should help them grow up sooner. Ezra Cleveland provided an upgrade on the offensive line, when he wasn't even slated to be a starter at all this season. When the Vikings made this pick in the draft, it was a curious move to draft a guy who you weren't planning on starting when the Vikings offensive line was a mess and in desperate need of instant help. Ezra Cleveland secured the starting position and has done well enough for the Vikings to release Pat Elflein. Riley Reiff decided to take a significant pay cut to avoid being released when the Vikings traded for defensive end Yannick Ngakoue, who only stayed on the team for about a month before being traded to the Baltimore Ravens. Despite the pay cut and facing being released, Riley Reiff has had his best season as a Viking. The Vikings need to continue to draft offensive line players in the upcoming draft to further add depth to the line.
The third thing providing hope is the continuing improvement of wide receiver Justin Jefferson, who is a Pro Bowl Player in his rookie season. As of today, Justin Jefferson needs only 47 yards in next week's season finale to break the team receiving yardage record held by Hall of Famer Randy Moss. He also needs 207 yards in the season finale to break the NFL Receiving Yards record. While Stefon Diggs has had another outstanding season with the Buffalo Bills, there has been no drop off in talent with Jefferson replacing Diggs. The fact of the matter is that Stefon Diggs doesn't like playing on a team where there is so much focus on the running game, and that wasn't going to change for the Vikings when you have a player like Dalvin Cook on your team, who just signed a contract extension during the season.
The fourth thing providing hope for next season is just the talent you have returning next season. Kirk Cousins will be the quarterback for the Vikings next season. His salary is going to have a 41 million dollar hit on the salary cap next season and the Vikings simply can not bench him or go with another option because of that massive number. Kirk Cousins does seem to hold on to the ball a little too long in a lot of cases, but the lack of success this season has nothing to do with Kirk Cousins. Give him a strong, healthy, and deep offensive line, and then make your judgements on Kirk Cousins. The only way the Vikings have a different quarterback next season is if the Vikings are willing to trade Cousins and get rid of his salary cap hit. It is doubtful that any team will be willing to take that risk for such a big cap hit. So having Kirk Cousins return along with Danielle Hunter (hopefully), Anthony Barr, Harrsion Smith, Dalvin Cook, Justin Jefferson, Adam Thielen, Irv Smith Jr., and C.J. Ham really makes this team look strong. Anthony Harris played on a franchise tag this season as the Vikings were not in a position to give Harris a multiyear extension due to their salary cap issues, and it looks like it may have been a blessing in disguise. Harris has not had a good season and has significantly regressed compared to last season. This regression will probably play a big factor in whether the Vikings will resign Harris or not. It may even reduce the asking price that Harris is requesting in a new contract with any team. Anthony Harris is a good player and I would love to have him back on this team for the right price. I think Harris can return to the level of play that he showed in 2019, but you can't bet the farm on him after the season he has had this year. There has to be some give and take.
Like I said earlier, the game against the Saints proved that the Vikings are not a playoff team this season. When a team gives up 52 points to any team at any point in the season, that is a huge red flag, and it's a bigger red flag when in happens during the second to the last regular season game. I don't think head coach Mike Zimmer will be fired after the season. The Vikings just signed him to an extension prior to the season, and I don't think you can hold Mike Zimmer accountable for all that has gone wrong this season. You cannot blame the coach when there is a pandemic, no preseason, a ton of season ending injuries, and having only young players at critical positions. He simply coached with what he had to work with. Bring those injured players back next season, have a preseason, and proper preparation, then hold the coach accountable by firing him and the general manager, Rick Spielman, if there still is no success. The interesting thing is that Mike Zimmer and the Vikings have made the playoffs on all of the odd numbered years he has coached the Vikings and have never made the playoffs on the even numbered years that he coached the Vikings. So, it is only fitting that he didn't make it again this dumpster fire season of 2020.
The Minnesota Vikings will always be my team and I look for them to draft appropriately in the upcoming draft so we can be ready to roll in 2021!!
Be Kind To Everyone.
