Latest / The Skol Hop / Vikings Free Agency Shenanigans, Bolstering the Trenches, Return of the Hitman! | TSH Ep. 83

Transcript

Vikings Free Agency Shenanigans, Bolstering the Trenches, Return of the Hitman! | TSH Ep. 83 · The Skol Hop

0:00
Speaker 1: All right, Hey, Vikings fans, welcome in to another episode
0:03
Speaker 1: of the school.
0:03
Speaker 2: Huh.
0:04
Speaker 1: I'm Evan and I'm Austin. Were's a couple of dudes
0:06
Speaker 1: from Iowa. We like drinking beer talking about the Vikings.
0:08
Speaker 2: Yeah, we do. And tonight we had a really good
0:12
Speaker 2: beer from Millstream Brewing Company out of Amana, Iowa. We
0:15
Speaker 2: had their Shenanigan's Irish Red Ale in honor of upcoming
0:19
Speaker 2: Saint Patrick's said.
0:20
Speaker 1: Yeah, super good beer. I'm excited to talk about that
0:23
Speaker 1: here pretty soon. But we also had a lot to
0:26
Speaker 1: talk about in the earliest days of the NFL free
0:30
Speaker 1: agency window.
0:32
Speaker 3: Holy buckles.
0:32
Speaker 2: Yeah, the Vikings went off, so we took a lot more.
0:35
Speaker 2: We talked a lot about the free agency exits and
0:38
Speaker 2: additions that the Bidens had this year, and this is
0:41
Speaker 2: gonna be a fun year. Yeah.
0:43
Speaker 1: We got even more specific with that too, and talked
0:46
Speaker 1: about moves that were most and least excited about. So
0:50
Speaker 1: I think there are more like, yeah, we're super excited
0:53
Speaker 1: about this than not really than anything else.
0:56
Speaker 2: So lots of exciting things for Vikings to be looking
1:00
Speaker 2: forward to. But until then, grab a cold one, join us.
1:34
Speaker 1: All right, we're gonna give a quick shout out to
1:36
Speaker 1: show sponsor Big Top Ventures. If you're looking to take
1:39
Speaker 1: an all inclusive trip to Mexico or Jamaica, We're gonna
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Speaker 1: know when you're looking to take a trip, and they'll
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1:54
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1:58
Speaker 1: Big Top Ventures, thanks so much for sponsoring today's episode.
2:02
Speaker 2: Yeah, and listeners and watchers, you won't know. And that
2:04
Speaker 2: was what the fourth time we tried to do that
2:06
Speaker 2: ad read to the event. But yeah, I definitely go,
2:11
Speaker 2: definitely hit up Big Top Ventures. I'm going in like
2:16
Speaker 2: sixty ish days and then again like sixty ish days
2:20
Speaker 2: after that, so I'm super pumped. Obviously, something I love
2:24
Speaker 2: to do. Evan, you need to get on the all
2:27
Speaker 2: inclusive trains. So yeah, Big Top Ventures. They're they're great
2:30
Speaker 2: people to work with, really easy and the trips are
2:33
Speaker 2: a lot of fun.
2:34
Speaker 1: Somebody's gonna go rob your house while you're gone, just
2:37
Speaker 1: so you know, because you're.
2:38
Speaker 2: Like they won't. They don't know when we're recording this
2:40
Speaker 2: or when whenever to be gone. So there you go.
2:43
Speaker 3: Well, you keep bringing it up and I'm just jealous.
2:47
Speaker 2: It's really just more to rub it in. Yeah, so
2:49
Speaker 2: I thought you were going to book something.
2:51
Speaker 3: It's in the works.
2:52
Speaker 2: I made, Remember, I made a hot take.
2:55
Speaker 1: I said within the next year, calendar year, it'll have
3:00
Speaker 1: so as late as early twenty twenty six. Okay, I
3:06
Speaker 1: will go on a trip all right with Big Tap Ventures.
3:10
Speaker 1: It's gonna happen, all right.
3:11
Speaker 2: You better Another thing you better do is open up
3:15
Speaker 2: a beer with me tonight. Yes, So, I don't know.
3:19
Speaker 2: Usually we do. You know, when you bring the beer,
3:22
Speaker 2: you talk about it. So but you already did the
3:24
Speaker 2: ad Reid We kind of switch those up usually. I
3:26
Speaker 2: don't know, do you want to talk about this or
3:28
Speaker 2: do you want me to go off the cuff here?
3:30
Speaker 1: Well, I mean, I don't have a ton to say
3:32
Speaker 1: about it other than I'm excited to try it. And
3:36
Speaker 1: right now it is I think five days before Saint
3:39
Speaker 1: Patrick's Day. So I figured having a Saint Patrick's Day
3:42
Speaker 1: themed Irish beer would be pretty good.
3:45
Speaker 2: Yeah, so that's what we've got tell us about it.
3:47
Speaker 2: So we've got Millstream Brewing Company out of Amina, Iowa.
3:52
Speaker 2: We are drinking their Shenanigans Irish red ale. I like
3:57
Speaker 2: Millstream because they're packaging is usual, pretty funny. They usually
4:01
Speaker 2: have some kind of tagline on there that's I don't
4:04
Speaker 2: know what this means, but they have what by mid
4:07
Speaker 2: ag ole, I might have just swore at you in
4:11
Speaker 2: some other language.
4:13
Speaker 3: I wonder if that's just like skull or like cheers
4:17
Speaker 3: in Irish.
4:18
Speaker 2: Well, if you know what that means, let us know, listeners. Yeah,
4:22
Speaker 2: I'm excited for this. I don't know anything else about
4:25
Speaker 2: it other than it's an Irish red and it kind
4:29
Speaker 2: of packs a punch a little bit.
4:30
Speaker 3: Seven.
4:31
Speaker 2: Yeah, so I'm excited, and thank goodness, we only have
4:33
Speaker 2: two because we both have to go to work tomorrow.
4:36
Speaker 3: So yes, we did.
4:38
Speaker 2: I think you were about to taste it? Did you
4:39
Speaker 2: just taste it? I was smelling it, man, all right?
4:42
Speaker 2: So I had the perfect poor here.
4:45
Speaker 4: That was great.
4:47
Speaker 1: Mine was a little flat. But you can see the
4:49
Speaker 1: color if you're watching on YouTube or Spotify, a nice
4:53
Speaker 1: red color. Yeah, good head retention on Austin's poor He's
4:58
Speaker 1: kind of mastered the art of that.
5:00
Speaker 2: You made fun of me for so long, and I
5:01
Speaker 2: still think you're kind of like meta making fun of
5:03
Speaker 2: me a little bit, which is okay, that's fine. I'm
5:07
Speaker 2: confident in my beer pouring abilities regardless of what other
5:10
Speaker 2: people think. This is what a beer should look like.
5:13
Speaker 3: I don't disagree.
5:14
Speaker 1: I think we need to scull it up and we
5:16
Speaker 1: need to try this beer because school school.
5:25
Speaker 2: I like that. Oh that's good.
5:28
Speaker 3: That's a good red for sure.
5:30
Speaker 2: Absolutely, and in a really good way. You can kind
5:33
Speaker 2: of taste that. This isn't like a three percenter.
5:36
Speaker 3: Yeah, there is a little bit of booziness to it.
5:39
Speaker 2: Not I like it though. I think it adds to
5:41
Speaker 2: the overall flavor.
5:42
Speaker 1: It's not overpowering, but you also get the like the
5:47
Speaker 1: caramel maltiness of a red, which I like. So yeah,
5:52
Speaker 1: I'm a fan. It's it's kind of a no nonsense,
5:54
Speaker 1: pretty straightforward Irish red beer. But I think too they
6:00
Speaker 1: I think the seven percent is where they get the
6:02
Speaker 1: Shenanigan's name. You have a few too many of these.
6:05
Speaker 1: You might find yourself in some Shenanigans out on St.
6:07
Speaker 1: Patrick's Day.
6:09
Speaker 2: So I feel like usually Millstream has some kind of
6:12
Speaker 2: not only tagline but like description. This one now just
6:16
Speaker 2: just straight up Irish read so I like it a lot.
6:21
Speaker 2: If you're into this kind of you know, beer, you'd
6:24
Speaker 2: like it a lot too. Evan. This is in your
6:27
Speaker 2: territory of favorites. It's not my number one favorite territory,
6:31
Speaker 2: but I still really like this one a lot, and
6:33
Speaker 2: I will gladly drink the rest of this in the
6:36
Speaker 2: next one too.
6:37
Speaker 1: You'll have your fair share for sure. Well, you know
6:40
Speaker 1: who's been up to some shenanigans this week? Who quasi
6:46
Speaker 1: adopha mensa. That dude's been cooking man, Yeah, yeah, he
6:50
Speaker 1: has had a busy week. I don't think that guy's
6:52
Speaker 1: probably slept since last week. It's currently Wednesday, March twelfth,
6:58
Speaker 1: if you're wondering. And there's a reason why we delayed
7:03
Speaker 1: releasing an episode this week was because we didn't want
7:05
Speaker 1: to just sit there and talk about all the hypotheticals
7:09
Speaker 1: and then two days later have it all be irrelevant
7:12
Speaker 1: because free agency is now in full swing, and it's
7:16
Speaker 1: a good thing we waited, because holy buckets, Quacy's been
7:20
Speaker 1: a busy dude. He's been I'm sure he's been on
7:22
Speaker 1: the phone NonStop. He's been orchestrating deals left and right.
7:26
Speaker 1: We have a huge, long list of free agency departures
7:29
Speaker 1: from the Vikings, which we knew had happened because there
7:31
Speaker 1: was just a long list of free agents anyways, But
7:37
Speaker 1: I'm more excited to eventually talk about these free agency
7:41
Speaker 1: additions or extensions that they've offered to already Viking players. Yeah,
7:48
Speaker 1: so I think I think we first start with the
7:50
Speaker 1: departures and just talk about, like I'm sure people out there,
7:53
Speaker 1: if you're listening, you know, who's left at this point
7:57
Speaker 1: in time, and there's still plenty of time left for
8:00
Speaker 1: other players to leave. But maybe we can just kind of,
8:03
Speaker 1: you know, talk about the players were most disappointed in
8:07
Speaker 1: seeing leave and most excited to see gone. Yeah, kind
8:11
Speaker 1: of thing for departures.
8:12
Speaker 2: How you do that? So, Yeah, like you said, we're
8:14
Speaker 2: not breaking any news. If you're listening to this, you
8:17
Speaker 2: definitely were paying attention along with the Vikings news as
8:20
Speaker 2: free agency was breaking. So but just to run down
8:24
Speaker 2: really quick as of right now, again, we're recording Wednesday night,
8:28
Speaker 2: Wednesday evening, before you know too late, former Vikings or
8:34
Speaker 2: Vikings that have signed with other teams. Nick Mullen's quarterback
8:38
Speaker 2: to the Jaguars, Sam Darnold QB one from twenty twenty four,
8:44
Speaker 2: signed a pretty awesome deal with the Seahawks. Cam binam
8:48
Speaker 2: safety went to Indianapolis Johnny Munt. For all you mont
8:55
Speaker 2: fans out there, I want to say what the actual
8:57
Speaker 2: nicknames are. He also went to Jacksonville tight end went
9:01
Speaker 2: to Dack Jacksonorthe.
9:02
Speaker 3: We're a family fly program.
9:04
Speaker 2: Hey, it's a fun word. I'm I would still consider
9:07
Speaker 2: myself one of those types of fans if you know,
9:10
Speaker 2: you know Patrick Jones, who I'm pretty sure if we
9:14
Speaker 2: went back, I won't do it just because it would
9:16
Speaker 2: be a little annoying, but I'll own it. I'm pretty
9:18
Speaker 2: sure before the season I had Patrick Jones outside linebacker
9:22
Speaker 2: as like a cut candidate, and he really came out,
9:26
Speaker 2: especially the first handful of games of the season for
9:29
Speaker 2: the Vikings, and I think he had a handful of
9:31
Speaker 2: sacks right away. He got something like a two year,
9:35
Speaker 2: twenty million dollar deal with Carolina.
9:37
Speaker 1: Which I think we disagreed on that because I think
9:41
Speaker 1: I said, no, I want him back. I felt like
9:43
Speaker 1: he really started to come on at the end of
9:46
Speaker 1: the twenty one no twenty two season, and sure enough, Yeah,
9:52
Speaker 1: he really kind of picked up where he left off. Yeah,
9:54
Speaker 1: at the beginning of this season. Yeah, and again I
9:57
Speaker 1: said he was a cut candidate before the twenty four
9:59
Speaker 1: season here, and I'm happy to say I was wrong
10:01
Speaker 1: on that, Like he showed me and good for him.
10:05
Speaker 1: Twenty three season. End of twenty three season was what
10:08
Speaker 1: I was saying. Oh okay too, Yeah, yeah, get my
10:10
Speaker 1: years mixed up, but.
10:11
Speaker 2: Yeah, he went to Carolina, following DJ Wanham from a
10:16
Speaker 2: year ago, going from Minnesota Carolina Daniel Jones quarterback. I'm
10:22
Speaker 2: a little surprised by this, but not terribly surprised. I
10:26
Speaker 2: think he got like something like a fourteen million dollar
10:29
Speaker 2: one year deal with Indy. I almost assumed he would
10:34
Speaker 2: come back as QB two for the Vikings, but I've
10:36
Speaker 2: also said, we both also said if he's got a
10:38
Speaker 2: better deal elsewhere, congrats man, thanks for coming in and
10:42
Speaker 2: hopefully you learned what you needed to learn. And he
10:44
Speaker 2: worked himself at market, so hopefully he succeeds in Indy.
10:47
Speaker 2: He's gonna have to battle Anthony Richardson.
10:49
Speaker 1: But well, and if you think about his situation now
10:52
Speaker 1: in Indianapolis, he's kind of walking into not exactly the same,
10:56
Speaker 1: but a similar situation to what Sam Darnold walked into
11:00
Speaker 1: last season. With JJ McCarthy. Anthony Richardson is not a rookie,
11:06
Speaker 1: but he was a rookie that really struggled and now
11:10
Speaker 1: has to prove himself. And now they've brought in Daniel
11:12
Speaker 1: Jones who has playoff experience as a starter and has
11:17
Speaker 1: won a playoff game unfortunately.
11:19
Speaker 2: Which was.
11:22
Speaker 1: Right, but like and to get fourteen million, you know,
11:26
Speaker 1: Sam Darnold only got ten, Yeah, and ended up starting
11:30
Speaker 1: every game. And the battle was already kind of set,
11:34
Speaker 1: I think before preseason even started, and then it was
11:37
Speaker 1: finalized when JJJJ decided to stop working.
11:41
Speaker 2: So and then for the last Viking to sign with
11:46
Speaker 2: another team, Trent Sherfield wide receiver, special teams ACE and
11:51
Speaker 2: wide receiver signed with the Broncos, I think for like
11:55
Speaker 2: a two year contract. So good for all those guys.
11:59
Speaker 2: I think we can kind of go into detail a
12:02
Speaker 2: little bit more on some of them, but I think
12:04
Speaker 2: there's no hard feelings, no ill will. Most Vikings fans
12:09
Speaker 2: would be okay, you know, congrats to those guys for
12:12
Speaker 2: getting contracts with other teams. Evan, on that list of departures,
12:16
Speaker 2: who are you most? I don't think we're mad about
12:19
Speaker 2: any of them, but who would you most have wanted
12:21
Speaker 2: the Vikings to sign. Who do you wish the Vikings
12:25
Speaker 2: had worked on a little bit more.
12:27
Speaker 3: I think the answer is pretty easy. I think it's
12:29
Speaker 3: can't buy them.
12:30
Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree.
12:31
Speaker 1: And it's not the dance moves, it's not the you know,
12:35
Speaker 1: any of that. I think one, he was just a
12:38
Speaker 1: team culture guy. He was just totally bought in on
12:43
Speaker 1: everything that KOs has been trying to build since he
12:46
Speaker 1: got there. Everything centers on being positive and taking it
12:52
Speaker 1: one game at a time and just going out one
12:54
Speaker 1: play at a time, and I think he just embodied that.
12:56
Speaker 1: And he wasn't the greatest safety in the league, and
12:59
Speaker 1: he probably won't be a Harrison Smith level safety when
13:04
Speaker 1: his career is all said and done, but he's just
13:06
Speaker 1: a really darn good football player and he was fun
13:09
Speaker 1: to watch and that's what made him entertaining. So I
13:12
Speaker 1: think all of that to say, yeah, he's the easy
13:15
Speaker 1: one to like. Man, I wish they could have just
13:17
Speaker 1: worked it out with him.
13:18
Speaker 2: Yeah, I definitely agree. He's hard to beat. On this
13:22
Speaker 2: list of guys we're most upset about. If he's who
13:26
Speaker 2: I would take, But probably my next closest is Daniel Jones. Yeah,
13:31
Speaker 2: I was kind of looking forward to. As of right now,
13:34
Speaker 2: the Vikings don't have a QB two. I don't think.
13:38
Speaker 2: I think JJ is the only quarterback under contract right now.
13:41
Speaker 2: Brett Rippon he is. He on the team, okay, but
13:44
Speaker 2: even still, the Vikings don't really have a true number two.
13:48
Speaker 2: I've said Nick Mullins is the best QB two in
13:51
Speaker 2: the league. But I think Daniel Jones selfishly, as a
13:54
Speaker 2: Vikings fan, could have been really good to have backing
13:58
Speaker 2: up JJ McCarthy and then insurance. I mean, it would
14:02
Speaker 2: have been good to have Daniel Jones there if JJ's
14:05
Speaker 2: either not coming back healthy yet from his injury, which
14:09
Speaker 2: everything we've heard is he's getting good to go and
14:12
Speaker 2: he's already putting some weight back on getting on the
14:15
Speaker 2: practice field a little bit. But it would have been
14:17
Speaker 2: nice to have that insurance policy as opposed to right
14:21
Speaker 2: now it's either Brett Rippon or we don't know or
14:25
Speaker 2: oh my goodness, can you imagine the rumor of Aaron Rodgers.
14:32
Speaker 2: I can't. I wouldn't want I wouldn't want Aaron Rodgers.
14:35
Speaker 1: In the words of Michael Scott from the Office insert
14:39
Speaker 1: famous meme here, No, I really don't want that to happen,
14:45
Speaker 1: and I don't think there are many Vikings fans out
14:47
Speaker 1: there that would want that to happen. I just I
14:53
Speaker 1: think that's bad for this organization. And I think he's
14:55
Speaker 1: the type of player that tears down called doesn't build
15:00
Speaker 1: it up at this point at Aaron Rodgers, Yeah, yeah,
15:03
Speaker 1: so yeah, for that reason, I would have been perfectly
15:06
Speaker 1: happy with Daniel Jones coming back to the team, even
15:09
Speaker 1: if it was I don't maybe not that fourteen million.
15:12
Speaker 1: And I think I saw on Twitter the Vikings were trying, Yeah,
15:15
Speaker 1: and we're offering a competitive contract, but the Colts One
15:20
Speaker 1: offered him probably more money than the Vikings were going
15:22
Speaker 1: to pay for QB two and two. As far as
15:25
Speaker 1: Daniel Jones goes, I mean, you probably have a better
15:29
Speaker 1: path to being a bona fide starter in Indye right
15:32
Speaker 1: now than you are in Minnesota competing with JJ McCarthy,
15:36
Speaker 1: who seems to be handed the keys right now. And
15:39
Speaker 1: I'm perfectly fine with that. So not super mad about
15:42
Speaker 1: Daniel Jones leaving, but it would have been nice to
15:44
Speaker 1: keep him. Yeah, And honestly, I think having all of
15:48
Speaker 1: those quarterbacks on your roster last year was a luxury
15:51
Speaker 1: that you just aren't going to be able to afford
15:54
Speaker 1: long term, and so good for mallins Donald and Daniel
16:00
Speaker 1: Jones to go out and get what they can get.
16:05
Speaker 2: Did you see the pasture?
16:06
Speaker 1: Not?
16:07
Speaker 2: Josh Dobbs also got something like a two contract with
16:10
Speaker 2: the Patriots.
16:10
Speaker 3: No, I didn't see that.
16:11
Speaker 2: And good for him two years. I think it was
16:14
Speaker 2: like eight million dollars. I don't know the specific details,
16:16
Speaker 2: but that's not chump change for a guy that's not
16:19
Speaker 2: going to be the starter and is going to compete
16:22
Speaker 2: for roster spot. But good for him. It's kind of
16:24
Speaker 2: nice to see these former Vikings quarterbacks at least latching
16:28
Speaker 2: on for more than a vet minimum dal elsewhere.
16:30
Speaker 1: They're graduates of Kos's quarterback school, you know. So, No,
16:36
Speaker 1: I'm pretty confident that because Chaos is the quarterback whisper
16:42
Speaker 1: and I think he has a lot of voice in
16:45
Speaker 1: who they bring in at that position, I'm confident that
16:49
Speaker 1: they'll find that number two guy.
16:51
Speaker 3: I don't know who it'll be yet.
16:53
Speaker 1: It could be Minshew, it could be I mean, the
16:55
Speaker 1: Colts could cut Anthony Richardson in lieu of Daniel Jones.
16:59
Speaker 2: Yeah, that would be shocking, but like we've seen crazier
17:01
Speaker 2: things happen.
17:02
Speaker 1: It would be, and there are still some other options
17:06
Speaker 1: out there, to the least of which I hope is
17:10
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers. But yeah, I'm confident that they'll they'll get
17:15
Speaker 1: that squared away, and JJ will have somebody behind him
17:22
Speaker 1: ready to go. Yeah, back them up. The last thing
17:24
Speaker 1: I'll say about that is, I think if Aaron Rodgers
17:27
Speaker 1: is brought in, that is a huge red flag to
17:30
Speaker 1: us as fans that either a JJ isn't healthy enough
17:34
Speaker 1: to play, b JJ isn't ready enough to play, not physically,
17:40
Speaker 1: but just you know, mentally, you know, skill wise, which
17:43
Speaker 1: I don't think is the case. Or three, somebody in
17:47
Speaker 1: that front office is delusional enough to think that the
17:50
Speaker 1: Vikings can win with forty one year old drug addicted
17:55
Speaker 1: quarterback as opposed to this twenty something year old kid
18:00
Speaker 1: fresh out of college who won a national championship, you know,
18:03
Speaker 1: a little more than a year ago.
18:05
Speaker 2: Yeah. So it's funny that you mentioned Rogers age. And
18:09
Speaker 2: I don't want to go down this this Rogers talking
18:12
Speaker 2: point too much, but I just saw on Twitter Ryan
18:15
Speaker 2: Boser tweeted and said Aaron Rodgers is one point five
18:19
Speaker 2: years older than KOC, which is kind of crazy, Like,
18:22
Speaker 2: I know Kos's a young head coach, but Rogers, yeah,
18:25
Speaker 2: just let him. Let him go, Like if the Giants
18:28
Speaker 2: want to sign him, or if the Steelers want to
18:30
Speaker 2: sign him, let him do that. And who knows, by
18:32
Speaker 2: the time we even released this episode, this could all
18:34
Speaker 2: be just a major moot point. I just think it
18:37
Speaker 2: wouldn't be productive for the Vikings to sign Aaron Rodgers
18:42
Speaker 2: unless he came out and said, I don't plan to
18:45
Speaker 2: be QB one. I'm not going to fight for that.
18:48
Speaker 2: I'm here to help. That's not his MM and it
18:50
Speaker 2: shouldn't be like if he's still any player, if they're
18:53
Speaker 2: still ready to play like he's.
18:55
Speaker 1: He's a future Hall of Famer, and I still think
18:58
Speaker 1: he's got a lot going on up here that a
19:01
Speaker 1: lot of other quarterbacks don't.
19:03
Speaker 3: Like. He sees the game differently than anybody else. And
19:06
Speaker 3: if you.
19:06
Speaker 1: Watched his little Aaron Rodgers Enigma thing, you kind of
19:09
Speaker 1: pick up on that a little bit. And he's married
19:13
Speaker 1: to the game, which is why he's not married to
19:15
Speaker 1: a woman, you know. Like he's just one of those
19:18
Speaker 1: players that just pours so much of his time, passion,
19:23
Speaker 1: energy into his craft that a lot of people don't
19:27
Speaker 1: like him because of that, so I don't know that
19:30
Speaker 1: he's the right fit culturally for this team. The Vikings
19:34
Speaker 1: don't need a coach on the field. The Vikings need
19:37
Speaker 1: a quarterback who can take plays and be coached on
19:42
Speaker 1: the coach and see the play, make the right play,
19:45
Speaker 1: make the right read, and you know, move on to
19:49
Speaker 1: live another down, move on to live another game and
19:53
Speaker 1: hopefully get into the playoffs, you know. And I think
19:56
Speaker 1: Koci and KOs are doing that with the rest of
19:59
Speaker 1: the roster. So to me, it seems like all signs
20:02
Speaker 1: are pointing to Aaron Rodgers will not be a Viking.
20:08
Speaker 1: But you know, you go on the internet and you
20:09
Speaker 1: read things and people say stuff, and then you're like, crack,
20:13
Speaker 1: that could be a reality.
20:14
Speaker 2: You could even find people saying that the Vikings should
20:17
Speaker 2: sign Kirk Cousins again, who's technically not even available.
20:21
Speaker 3: Let's just let's stop it, guys really quick.
20:25
Speaker 1: On that list of departures, Yeah, is there any that
20:31
Speaker 1: any departing player that you're like, good, finally.
20:34
Speaker 3: Good riddance.
20:35
Speaker 2: Oh man, that's a good question now.
20:37
Speaker 1: And if there's not, like you know, and it's not
20:39
Speaker 1: like we have any ill feelings towards any of these guys.
20:42
Speaker 1: I think they were all great contributors to this team.
20:45
Speaker 1: But anybody that you're just like, good, finally it's done,
20:49
Speaker 1: it's over.
20:50
Speaker 2: I think the closest I could get to that. And
20:54
Speaker 2: this is going to probably come off initially more negative
20:57
Speaker 2: than I intended to.
20:59
Speaker 3: But Sam Darr, that's what I was gonna say.
21:01
Speaker 2: I think we've been saying it for really all season.
21:06
Speaker 2: We are Sam Donald fans. I'm gonna be a fan
21:08
Speaker 2: of Sam Donald, the quarterback, the guy forever. He gave
21:13
Speaker 2: us a magical twenty twenty four season. Yeah, the last
21:16
Speaker 2: two games really sucked, but outside of that, it was
21:19
Speaker 2: a lot of fun. And the reason I could even say, like, okay,
21:24
Speaker 2: good is that there's a lot of people, and for
21:27
Speaker 2: a good reason. He had a magical season, a really
21:30
Speaker 2: good season. But there's a lot of people saying sign
21:32
Speaker 2: him for a few more years. I probably said that starting,
21:35
Speaker 2: you know, the first half of the season. But no,
21:39
Speaker 2: like we have JJ McCarthy, he is the future. At
21:42
Speaker 2: this point, he's the future. He's not done anything to
21:45
Speaker 2: make you think you need to make sure you have
21:49
Speaker 2: insurance to let JJ sit longer. Other than the injury,
21:54
Speaker 2: which is not a small deal. But yeah, I guess
21:56
Speaker 2: I am glad that Sam Donald very quickly got a
22:01
Speaker 2: really good deal for him and I'm rooting for him
22:04
Speaker 2: unless it's against the Vikings for the rest of his career.
22:07
Speaker 2: And I'm glad that now the Vikings can focus on
22:10
Speaker 2: their plan that they started last year, which was sign
22:13
Speaker 2: a bridge quarterback, draft a high guy, and go into
22:18
Speaker 2: the future that way. So you kind of think the
22:21
Speaker 2: same way. I'm just glad the drama's over.
22:23
Speaker 1: Yeah, And I kind of felt that way with Kirk
22:26
Speaker 1: Cousins last year, and I felt I think Kirk's situation
22:29
Speaker 1: was exacerbated by the fact that he was injured, and
22:33
Speaker 1: so the conversation started earlier with him.
22:36
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, we.
22:37
Speaker 1: Were talking about it, you know, after the Packers game,
22:40
Speaker 1: you know, when he went down with his achilles tear,
22:43
Speaker 1: and it was just like, Okay, we may have seen
22:45
Speaker 1: the last of Kirk Cousins ever, or the last of
22:48
Speaker 1: Kirk Cousins in Purple at the very least, you know,
22:51
Speaker 1: And then it was just the rest of the season,
22:53
Speaker 1: What's going to happen with Kirk? And we probably mentioned
22:55
Speaker 1: it every single week on this podcast. We'd have to
22:58
Speaker 1: go back and look, but you know it was that
23:01
Speaker 1: was the talker for the long time. What's gonna happen
23:04
Speaker 1: with this guy? Where's he gonna go? Do we bring
23:06
Speaker 1: him back? Do we pay him, you know, a huge contract?
23:10
Speaker 1: Or do we you know, try to get him back
23:13
Speaker 1: for just one year? Do we try to you know,
23:15
Speaker 1: do we honor his request to be a Viking forever?
23:19
Speaker 1: You know?
23:20
Speaker 2: That was that was smoke? That wasn't he just like
23:23
Speaker 2: he said that.
23:23
Speaker 1: He says that everywhere he goes now and he's proven that.
23:28
Speaker 1: But anyways, I'm just glad that, like you said, it
23:31
Speaker 1: happened quickly. It's over, it's done. We don't have to
23:34
Speaker 1: sit here and ponder like, Okay, what's the Sam Donald situation? No,
23:39
Speaker 1: the Sam Donald situation is he's now Seattle starting quarterback.
23:42
Speaker 2: Yeah, and who knows if if he turns out to
23:47
Speaker 2: starting now be the next Mahomes and breaks records and
23:51
Speaker 2: wins super Bowls. I mean, can you imagine if Seattle
23:55
Speaker 2: wins the Super Bowl in twenty twenty five, twenty six
23:59
Speaker 2: and Sam Donald throws like fifty five hundred yards and
24:02
Speaker 2: like sixty touchdowns and he looks like the greatest quarterback
24:06
Speaker 2: to ever touch a football. Vikings fans, you and me included,
24:09
Speaker 2: will be like what the heck?
24:13
Speaker 1: To quote Layton Glowdeck from a bonus episode that we
24:17
Speaker 1: released this last week, which, by the way, if you
24:19
Speaker 1: didn't catch that, go back and check that out. It's
24:22
Speaker 1: posted on Spotify and YouTube everywhere and everywhere else you'd
24:26
Speaker 1: get a podcast. But we put out a little bonus
24:29
Speaker 1: episode with Layton Glowdeck. He said, you know, I think
24:34
Speaker 1: he mentioned several things that would be the most Vikings
24:36
Speaker 1: thing ever. That would be the most Vikings thing ever.
24:40
Speaker 1: And it's happened so many times before where the Vikings
24:43
Speaker 1: have these quarterbacks for a time and then they go
24:45
Speaker 1: somewhere else and they play really, really well.
24:48
Speaker 3: And I think we could go down.
24:49
Speaker 1: We could probably have a whole episode of quarterbacks who
24:52
Speaker 1: played for the Vikings and then went on to play
24:54
Speaker 1: better for other teams.
24:56
Speaker 2: Yeah. Well, and also on the other side of the coin,
25:00
Speaker 2: to quote other friend of the show, Dustin Baker, he
25:02
Speaker 2: was saying for a while right after Sam Donald signed
25:05
Speaker 2: a year ago, that you know, it would be the
25:08
Speaker 2: most Vikings thing ever if Sam Donald turned out to
25:11
Speaker 2: be good and then we had this big debate and
25:14
Speaker 2: this huge divide between Vikings fans on whether or not
25:17
Speaker 2: they should resign him, and he turned out in a
25:19
Speaker 2: lot of ways to be right about that opinion. But
25:22
Speaker 2: I think as things sit this very moment, Vikings fans
25:25
Speaker 2: can be happy for Sam Donald can look back on
25:28
Speaker 2: twenty twenty four with mostly fond memories and be very
25:33
Speaker 2: excited for what the future brings. And a part of
25:36
Speaker 2: that is not only going to be jj McCarthy in
25:38
Speaker 2: his development and KOC and his quarterback whispering abilities, but
25:44
Speaker 2: all of these awesome free agent additions the Vikings have
25:47
Speaker 2: made in the last few days, which we can get
25:49
Speaker 2: to in a little bit. But the future as of
25:52
Speaker 2: right now, which it always does for every team, is
25:55
Speaker 2: looking bright. As of March twelfth or whatever, the Vikings
25:59
Speaker 2: we got a lot of things to be excited about.
26:01
Speaker 2: I will say I've talked to a few people.
26:04
Speaker 1: I'm a I'm a high school coach, those of you
26:07
Speaker 1: that don't know, and so I talked to a lot
26:09
Speaker 1: of athletic minded people and people who pay attention to
26:13
Speaker 1: the NFL. And I was talking with my head coach,
26:17
Speaker 1: I'm an assistant under him right now.
26:20
Speaker 3: He was asking me last night.
26:21
Speaker 1: He goes, what are the Vikings doing because he's a
26:23
Speaker 1: Bears fan, and I kind of wanted to just reply
26:27
Speaker 1: to him, what are the Bears doing because the Vikings
26:30
Speaker 1: are doing a whole lot. And he goes, well, no,
26:31
Speaker 1: a quarterback And I'm like, it's JJ McCarthy.
26:34
Speaker 2: Duh. Yeah, like the guy that they drafted higher than
26:37
Speaker 2: any other quarterback in Vikings history, at.
26:39
Speaker 1: Least franchise history. Yeah, and he's like, you really think
26:43
Speaker 1: they're going to go through JJ? Like that's the answer,
26:45
Speaker 1: that's the solution. Yeah, it has been, and so it's
26:50
Speaker 1: it maybe not as obvious to people outside.
26:52
Speaker 3: Of Vikings fans wild but anyways.
26:57
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean anytime a team drafts a quarterback in
26:59
Speaker 2: the first round, like Lamar Jackson was the thirty second
27:04
Speaker 2: pick the year he was picked, and that was even
27:07
Speaker 2: still like Okay, he's gonna eventually be the guy. I
27:10
Speaker 2: think that the Ravens still had Flacco on the roster
27:12
Speaker 2: when they drafted him, but it was still assumed like, Okay,
27:16
Speaker 2: Lamar Jackson's the future. And that was before Jackson even
27:18
Speaker 2: took a snap. Yeap, I mean the Vikings drafted JJ.
27:22
Speaker 2: I think you're right I think the general like Sports
27:25
Speaker 2: Center consensus was like, yeah, the Vikings, they don't if
27:29
Speaker 2: they don't resign Sam Darnold, I don't know what they're
27:31
Speaker 2: gonna do. They're gonna have to get Aaron Rodgers, you know,
27:33
Speaker 2: stuff like that. But and I kind of think sometimes
27:37
Speaker 2: like is my opinion different than you know, the national
27:40
Speaker 2: media because I'm too close to this team. I pay
27:42
Speaker 2: too much attention. I think that's absolutely wrong on this.
27:46
Speaker 2: Like obviously JJ is the guy that was the plan,
27:51
Speaker 2: and I think the planned.
27:52
Speaker 1: I think this is something you've taught me. I created
27:56
Speaker 1: the monster of a Vikings fan, that is you. But
27:59
Speaker 1: you've taught bought me some things in return, at like
28:04
Speaker 1: specifically who to follow on Twitter and stuff like that.
28:06
Speaker 1: You've turned me on to some good accounts, and there's
28:10
Speaker 1: a lot of good stuff out there, and I would
28:12
Speaker 1: say we have, especially on our schoolhop account. Now we've
28:15
Speaker 1: got a pretty good mixture of people, Like we follow
28:19
Speaker 1: Paul Allen and Pete Burst, who literally follow the team
28:22
Speaker 1: everywhere they go and talk about the team for their
28:25
Speaker 1: job and broadcast that out play by play every time
28:29
Speaker 1: the Vikings play a game, and then do a whole
28:31
Speaker 1: bunch of other stuff, you know, in between interviewing coaches
28:34
Speaker 1: and players and whatnot. But then we also follow guys
28:38
Speaker 1: like us who do what we do and have.
28:42
Speaker 2: Just a few dudes or do debts and someone's basement
28:45
Speaker 2: somewhere talking about the Vikings.
28:46
Speaker 1: Yeah, And so I would like to think that we've
28:48
Speaker 1: got a pretty solid base of people that we kind
28:55
Speaker 1: of follow and we trust their opinions. And not everybody
28:59
Speaker 1: has the same opinion, but I would say the consensus
29:02
Speaker 1: inside of that Viking circle is JJ's the answer. Sam
29:09
Speaker 1: was great this year. He's the one night stand. He's like,
29:12
Speaker 1: all right, that was fun.
29:14
Speaker 3: That was good.
29:16
Speaker 1: It really kind of sucked at the end, but yeah,
29:19
Speaker 1: good for you. You know, hope hopefully you do well.
29:22
Speaker 1: Hopefully we can beat you when we play you later
29:26
Speaker 1: on this year. But JJ's the guy. Yeah, And that's
29:30
Speaker 1: I think again, that's the consensus in all of the
29:34
Speaker 1: like really committed Viking circles, whether they're like the Paul
29:39
Speaker 1: Allen's who are like literally shoulder to shoulder with the players, or.
29:44
Speaker 3: Dudes in their basement like us.
29:45
Speaker 1: I think that's what most Vikings fans are are thinking
29:50
Speaker 1: at this point.
29:51
Speaker 2: And if you need proof that that's the been the
29:53
Speaker 2: play in the whole time that JJ was going to
29:56
Speaker 2: be the guy. All you need to do is go back.
29:59
Speaker 2: You can probably go by to a better example than this,
30:01
Speaker 2: but go back to the press conference or the first
30:04
Speaker 2: media availability availability that KOC had when right when they
30:10
Speaker 2: found out, okay, JJ McCarthy his surgery was the kind
30:15
Speaker 2: that he's going to be out for a year. KOC
30:18
Speaker 2: his whole mentality was we're gonna be Okay, we got
30:21
Speaker 2: this Sam Darnold, We're rolling with him. He's QB one.
30:23
Speaker 2: But Vikings fans should and I don't know the exact quote,
30:27
Speaker 2: but he basically said, fans, we should be excited about
30:31
Speaker 2: the idea that the future of this franchise, the franchise
30:36
Speaker 2: quarterback is in the building right now. Yeah he's injured.
30:40
Speaker 2: Yeah he's got a rehab and he'll be out this year.
30:43
Speaker 2: But he's in the building right now and learning and
30:46
Speaker 2: the first steps are already being taken. So that right
30:49
Speaker 2: there tells me obviously, even other than drafting him tenth overall,
30:55
Speaker 2: trading up one spot to get him, that tells me alone. Okay,
30:58
Speaker 2: their mindset is Sam now JJ in the future, and
31:03
Speaker 2: I don't think that should be any surprise.
31:05
Speaker 1: So let's get into the moves the Shenanigans. We could
31:10
Speaker 1: say that Quaycy's been getting into on the addition side
31:14
Speaker 1: of free agency. He's subtracted some players, but he's also
31:18
Speaker 1: added some players.
31:20
Speaker 3: In this list, there are a few.
31:23
Speaker 1: That I'm kind of like, eh, okay, whatever, But there's
31:26
Speaker 1: quite a few of them on this list that I'm like, yes,
31:29
Speaker 1: and Quacy and Kosi both said we're going to reinforce
31:34
Speaker 1: the trenches. That was kind of I think they probably
31:36
Speaker 1: had a little pow wow posts.
31:38
Speaker 2: Which they should, Thank goodness, those two.
31:41
Speaker 1: Oh, they had a beer or two and said, this
31:44
Speaker 1: is what we're going to say in these press conferences
31:47
Speaker 1: when we go out and we're in the public and
31:48
Speaker 1: we are asked, Okay, what's your approach in free agency?
31:51
Speaker 3: In the draft? Trenches? Trenches?
31:54
Speaker 1: Trenches offensive and defensive, because everybody knew that that's where
32:00
Speaker 1: they needed to put their money where their mouth was.
32:02
Speaker 1: And if they're going to protect JJ on the offensive
32:05
Speaker 1: side of the ball, they needed that, and we saw
32:07
Speaker 1: it on the defensive side of the ball too.
32:09
Speaker 3: They were just kind of weak on the defensive front.
32:12
Speaker 1: He had some help there, and you definitely had help
32:15
Speaker 1: on the outside, but it was the interior of both
32:18
Speaker 1: of those lines offensive and defensive. Yeah, that needed help.
32:21
Speaker 1: So holy buckets. Yeah, they gone out and they've done
32:26
Speaker 1: some stuff.
32:26
Speaker 2: Yeah. So to that point, I think Quacy had an
32:30
Speaker 2: exact quote right after the season, maybe during the combine
32:34
Speaker 2: or a little bit before. It was like, obviously we're
32:37
Speaker 2: going to focus on the inside offensive and inside defensive line.
32:42
Speaker 2: You could go back to really the wild card game
32:45
Speaker 2: against the Rams. Yeah, Sam Donald kind of crumbled a
32:49
Speaker 2: little bit, but a lot of that was because he
32:51
Speaker 2: had nothing. He couldn't breathe the second he got the snap.
32:56
Speaker 2: That inside offensive line just crumbled. So we'll go through
33:00
Speaker 2: I don't know how do we want to do this.
33:01
Speaker 2: Do we want to list everything out and kind of
33:03
Speaker 2: do what we did with the departures or do we
33:06
Speaker 2: want to go through one by one and talk about
33:07
Speaker 2: them each as we go through.
33:08
Speaker 1: Well, let's maybe start with what we did and I
33:11
Speaker 1: can list these ones out since you did the first one,
33:14
Speaker 1: and then yeah, I think there are some that are
33:17
Speaker 1: definitely worth zooming in on and talking a little bit
33:20
Speaker 1: more about. So up to this point, kind of real
33:25
Speaker 1: time here Wednesday, March twelfth. These are the free agency
33:30
Speaker 1: additions that we know of. Ryan Kelly Center from the Colts. Yeah,
33:36
Speaker 1: that's a big one. Literally, yeah, big in more ways
33:40
Speaker 1: than one. Isaiah Rogers cornerback, Buddy Bolden, a safety. Byron
33:46
Speaker 1: Murphy Junior was extended massive that's huge. Yeah and yeah, yeah,
33:55
Speaker 1: I was really hoping cam Bine them or Byron Murphy.
33:58
Speaker 1: I was kind of hoping for both, but I knew
34:00
Speaker 1: that was kind of too good to be true. But
34:03
Speaker 1: I'm glad Byron Murphy got the nod. I'm happy for
34:06
Speaker 1: cam bying him. I think he'll do great wherever he
34:11
Speaker 1: ends up. Well he's in Indianapolis.
34:12
Speaker 2: Yeah.
34:13
Speaker 1: But Byron Murphy Man, he had a breakout season this year,
34:18
Speaker 1: so really excited that the Vikings get him back. Aaron
34:21
Speaker 1: Jones running back, getting getting to stay with the Vikings,
34:25
Speaker 1: that's a big thing. He's a big culture piece, and
34:29
Speaker 1: I think if they can find another guy to kind
34:31
Speaker 1: of come in and be the RB two or the
34:34
Speaker 1: RB one b with him Man, the Vikings running game
34:40
Speaker 1: could be pretty stout this year. Ryan Wright extended as
34:43
Speaker 1: the punter. That's good news. Just experienced, familiar with the system,
34:49
Speaker 1: and he's just a good punter, so it's good to
34:51
Speaker 1: know you've got those good specialists there.
34:53
Speaker 3: THEO Jackson, he was the first one.
34:56
Speaker 1: I think he was kind of the the tip of
34:59
Speaker 1: the iceberg in turn of all of these signings, but
35:03
Speaker 1: THEO Jackson was extended. He was kind of the one
35:06
Speaker 1: that when he got extended, it was like, well that
35:08
Speaker 1: means cam Bina's probably gone where Harrison Smith is probably retiring.
35:12
Speaker 2: Fun fact, THEO Jackson was also the first resigning of
35:17
Speaker 2: the Vikings last year too. We had a TikTok about it.
35:21
Speaker 2: Oh really just he was the first guy that they
35:23
Speaker 2: they reupped on. Maybe they had some futures players that
35:27
Speaker 2: they always do right after their season ends, which is
35:29
Speaker 2: essentially just their practice squad. But yeah, THEO Jackson after
35:32
Speaker 2: twenty three and twenty four was the first player to
35:34
Speaker 2: re sign with the Vikings.
35:36
Speaker 1: I see, I didn't even know that, but that's pretty cool.
35:39
Speaker 1: And then I think these next three really happened just yesterday.
35:42
Speaker 1: They happened like Tuesday morning. Yeah, it was just like boom,
35:47
Speaker 1: all of a sudden, we all woke up and it
35:49
Speaker 1: was like, all right, the Vikings have done some stuff.
35:52
Speaker 1: Jonathan Allen, massive big defensive tackle from where where's.
35:59
Speaker 2: Washington, Washington. He's been with the Commanders, I think his
36:02
Speaker 2: whole career.
36:03
Speaker 1: So big signing there Will Fries, a guard from Indianapolis
36:07
Speaker 1: who played next to Ryan Kelly, the center that we've
36:12
Speaker 1: already mentioned. So there's chemistry there already, and that's just
36:18
Speaker 1: added protection. And I think he's quite a bit younger
36:21
Speaker 1: then Ryan Kelly. Correct me if I'm wrong.
36:23
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think let me double check on that.
36:25
Speaker 1: But yeah, just just adding more pieces to that offensive
36:30
Speaker 1: front at the guard position. And then Javon Hargrave a
36:33
Speaker 1: little bit older, but a defensive tackle from San Francisco.
36:37
Speaker 1: Who I mean, if you've played for the Niners and
36:40
Speaker 1: you have starting experience with that team, you are a
36:44
Speaker 1: super Bowl caliber team and that's him. So to get
36:48
Speaker 1: him at defensive tackle as well. You've got now Harrison
36:52
Speaker 1: Phillips at that nose tackle position, then you've got Hargrave
36:55
Speaker 1: and Jonathan Allen at the tackle position, and then you're
36:59
Speaker 1: outside linebackers are there Jonathan Gernard and Andrew Van Kinkle
37:04
Speaker 1: Holy buckets. Yeah, And all five of those guys along
37:08
Speaker 1: the front of that defensive line are free agents that
37:11
Speaker 1: have been picked up I think, well, Harrison Phillips might
37:14
Speaker 1: have been a he wasn't a Quacy pickup, was he was?
37:18
Speaker 3: He a Rix Bielman.
37:19
Speaker 2: I don't know, because he's he's been with a team
37:21
Speaker 2: now this year. I do know Harrison Phillips just got
37:25
Speaker 2: a contract extension, I think right before the twenty four season, yeah, started,
37:31
Speaker 2: or right as it was starting. But yeah, relatively new
37:34
Speaker 2: Ish Viking.
37:36
Speaker 1: But that that is a like an entirely rebuilt defensive front.
37:41
Speaker 2: I'm really excited about that. Will Fry's twenty six years old,
37:44
Speaker 2: by the way.
37:45
Speaker 1: Yeah, so he's quite a bit younger than Ryan Kelly,
37:47
Speaker 1: because I think isn't Ryan Kerry.
37:49
Speaker 2: Keller thirty one?
37:50
Speaker 3: Thirty one?
37:51
Speaker 2: Yeah, he'll be thirty two by the time the season starts,
37:55
Speaker 2: so a little bit older. But these linemen, if they
37:58
Speaker 2: can keep you know, held, they should be okay. Although
38:01
Speaker 2: I think Kelly and Fries both had some health concerns.
38:05
Speaker 2: They missed some games last season due to health. But
38:07
Speaker 2: still the healthy versions of those guys are just well incredible.
38:12
Speaker 3: Yeah.
38:12
Speaker 1: And then you know, not to mention on the offensive
38:14
Speaker 1: side of the ball, Christian Darisaw you get him health, Yeah, I.
38:17
Speaker 2: Think he might be halfway through the season when we
38:20
Speaker 2: finally get Yeah, but boy, holy buckets, you get Ryan Kelly,
38:23
Speaker 2: Will Fryes, Christian Darisaw and then we'll talk about the
38:27
Speaker 2: other pieces of the offensive line later.
38:29
Speaker 1: But men, that could be one of the better offensive
38:33
Speaker 1: lines in football and one of the better defensive lines
38:35
Speaker 1: in football. You talk about Quaci and koc putting their
38:39
Speaker 1: money where their mouth is, they sure did that in
38:41
Speaker 1: free agency and we haven't even gotten to the draft yet.
38:44
Speaker 2: Yeah. Well, speaking of the draft, the Vikings officially got
38:47
Speaker 2: that compic that we've been talking about for a while
38:49
Speaker 2: now because they lost Kirk Cousins last year. And you know,
38:54
Speaker 2: neither of us are going to pretend that we're smart
38:57
Speaker 2: enough to understand that comp pick formula. But however, it
39:01
Speaker 2: worked out. The Vikings got the highest, like the earliest
39:05
Speaker 2: in the draft compick that was given to any team.
39:08
Speaker 2: They only got one. So now the Vikings have what
39:10
Speaker 2: four draft picks, A first that third rounder, which is
39:15
Speaker 2: the thirty third pick in the third round, so it's
39:17
Speaker 2: essentially in that gap between the third and fourth rounds,
39:21
Speaker 2: and then two fifths. Yeah, so I think two picks
39:25
Speaker 2: within the top one hundred. So this draft might not
39:30
Speaker 2: be the greatest unless they find a couple of diamonds
39:33
Speaker 2: in the rough, and you always want to find a
39:36
Speaker 2: starter level player in the first round. But man free agency,
39:42
Speaker 2: really they did it. I think they spent the most
39:45
Speaker 2: or they guaranteed the most money out of any other
39:48
Speaker 2: team in the NFL during this free agency period so far.
39:53
Speaker 2: And I think now it's the time to say it.
39:57
Speaker 2: They lost Cam Binnen, but my goodness, Harrison Smith is
40:01
Speaker 2: coming Harrison Smith, Harry the freaking hit man. Tonight we're
40:05
Speaker 2: not breaking news because you're listening to this, you know tomorrow.
40:09
Speaker 2: But tonight it was news that Harrison Smith is coming back.
40:14
Speaker 2: He was already still under contract for twenty twenty five,
40:17
Speaker 2: but it was one of those like extra years he was.
40:20
Speaker 2: His base salary is supposed to be like a million
40:22
Speaker 2: dollars or the minimum or something like that, so I
40:24
Speaker 2: think he got a significant raise. Evan, I don't know
40:26
Speaker 2: if you've seen what Harrison Smith his contract is gonna be.
40:31
Speaker 2: I think the details are out, so I.
40:33
Speaker 1: Think it's like ten a little more than ten guaranteed
40:36
Speaker 1: and then up to fourteen million in incentives, okay, which
40:42
Speaker 1: I think I think that's a really good contract for
40:44
Speaker 1: a guy as old as he is and who's still
40:48
Speaker 1: playing at a high level like he is, because I
40:51
Speaker 1: think he has every ability to go out and get
40:55
Speaker 1: all fourteen of those million dollars that.
40:58
Speaker 2: Yeah, depending on what the detail.
41:00
Speaker 3: Yeah.
41:00
Speaker 2: And it's funny because this will be his fourteenth season
41:03
Speaker 2: and maybe his last, but we've been saying it might
41:05
Speaker 2: be his last for three four years now. We are
41:08
Speaker 2: both massive Harrison Smith fans, even if he is a
41:13
Speaker 2: shell of what he once was. But last year he
41:16
Speaker 2: was as good as he's ever been. And I think
41:19
Speaker 2: at this point last year, we're one talking is he
41:22
Speaker 2: going to come back? And two talking okay if he
41:24
Speaker 2: is coming back. I think they even might have officially
41:27
Speaker 2: said he's going to be on some sort of like
41:29
Speaker 2: a pitch hound. Yeah, and that wasn't the case. He
41:32
Speaker 2: ended up the majority of the game. Yeah. Crazy, So
41:37
Speaker 2: that's probably just him you know, being hard nos and
41:40
Speaker 2: like not coming out. I don't need to, And obviously
41:42
Speaker 2: he's healthy enough to be confident to come in. We
41:46
Speaker 2: all saw his press conference, you know, or his interviews
41:50
Speaker 2: in the locker room after the loss to the Rams
41:53
Speaker 2: in the playoffs, where he you know, he was emotional
41:55
Speaker 2: and thank goodness, he wasn't making any decisions right then.
42:00
Speaker 2: I did see a funny tweet from Ben Leeber where
42:03
Speaker 2: he like quote tweeted the Vikings announcement that Harry's coming back,
42:07
Speaker 2: and Ben Lieber was like, well, I guess I cried
42:09
Speaker 2: in Arizona locker room for no reason, which saying bro,
42:13
Speaker 2: but I wasn't in the locker room. But and I
42:15
Speaker 2: didn't actually shed tears, but man, I was feeling it.
42:18
Speaker 2: I'm so pumped.
42:19
Speaker 1: I watched his postgame press conference at the end of
42:22
Speaker 1: the after the playoff loss, and like, I won't lie,
42:26
Speaker 1: there were my eyes were a little misty. I had
42:29
Speaker 1: some I had some precipitation in those in those eye
42:34
Speaker 1: sockets there.
42:35
Speaker 3: It was like, man, this is an era coming to
42:37
Speaker 3: an end. You know.
42:39
Speaker 1: If he's done that, that that's tough. That that's gonna
42:42
Speaker 1: hit me right here. And I'm just I'm pumped. I'm excited.
42:46
Speaker 1: I saw it minutes before you got here.
42:48
Speaker 2: Yeah. I was just like, yes, I think and we
42:52
Speaker 2: can go on a little little Harrison Smith tangent. I
42:55
Speaker 2: think he he has earned a mini tangent in every
42:58
Speaker 2: episode if we really want to. Yeah, I think if
43:01
Speaker 2: you just look at stats, he's a Hall of Famer. Yep,
43:06
Speaker 2: he's a sure, and not that it should matter a
43:08
Speaker 2: difference between first ballot and not first ballot, but he
43:11
Speaker 2: to me is a first ballot Hall of Famer. They
43:13
Speaker 2: might as well put his name up in the Ring
43:15
Speaker 2: of Honor at us Bank Stadium right now. I guess
43:18
Speaker 2: they don't do that, but he will be. It's just
43:20
Speaker 2: a matter of time. He is an all time Viking,
43:23
Speaker 2: and when the Vikings retire the number twenty two, it
43:28
Speaker 2: should be I don't know if this has happened before,
43:30
Speaker 2: it should officially be dual retired. This is something we
43:33
Speaker 2: both say.
43:34
Speaker 3: We've been saying this since pretty much the inception of
43:36
Speaker 3: this podcast.
43:37
Speaker 2: Yep, dueal retired for Harrison Smith and Paul Krause, arm
43:41
Speaker 2: in arm, because there those are two of the greatest
43:44
Speaker 2: Vikings of all time. And I couldn't be more happy
43:48
Speaker 2: that Harrison Smith is still on the field for the
43:51
Speaker 2: Vikings in twenty twenty five, even if this is the
43:54
Speaker 2: year that they actually do a pitch count, and even
43:56
Speaker 2: if he isn't that good this year, but like I said,
44:02
Speaker 2: the way he played last year, there's nothing to tell
44:04
Speaker 2: us that he won't be halfway decent this coming year.
44:08
Speaker 2: He's as valuable in the locker room as he is
44:11
Speaker 2: on the field. I'm so jacked about this.
44:14
Speaker 1: I so I dropped some of these stats on you
44:16
Speaker 1: as you walked into my house tonight because I was
44:19
Speaker 1: so pumped, and I was just looking at Pro Football
44:21
Speaker 1: Reference for like, okay, like, let me just remind myself
44:25
Speaker 1: how good Harrison Smith is. Four times in his career
44:29
Speaker 1: twenty fourteen, twenty seventeen, twenty twenty, and twenty twenty two,
44:34
Speaker 1: he's had five interceptions.
44:36
Speaker 2: That's wild.
44:37
Speaker 1: Which is absolutely insane to get five picks in a
44:40
Speaker 1: season is because.
44:41
Speaker 2: Those are spread out. It's not like he had a
44:43
Speaker 2: peak of like four fantastic years right in a row
44:46
Speaker 2: and then he totally dropped off.
44:48
Speaker 1: But what's crazy is twenty fourteen, he was twenty five
44:52
Speaker 1: years old. It was his third season in the league.
44:55
Speaker 1: He had five picks for one hundred and fifty yards. Granted,
44:59
Speaker 1: one of the was for eighty one yards and a touchdown.
45:03
Speaker 1: I'm assuming, but I.
45:05
Speaker 2: Might be wrong. I think he holds holds or shares
45:09
Speaker 2: the franchise record of pick sixes. I might be wrong
45:13
Speaker 2: on that, but something's ringing a bell in there. I
45:15
Speaker 2: think he is the active He's NFL leader of interceptions
45:19
Speaker 2: as far as active players goes.
45:21
Speaker 1: Yeah, so it says here italic career totals indicate indicate
45:25
Speaker 1: players the active leader. So he has the most interceptions
45:28
Speaker 1: for active players right now in the league at thirty seven.
45:32
Speaker 2: And when you play fourteen years at even an okay level,
45:35
Speaker 2: if you play, that's a longevity record. But still, every
45:41
Speaker 2: Vikings fan should be a fan of Harrison Smith. He's
45:44
Speaker 2: never done anything on or off the field to make
45:47
Speaker 2: you feel anything bad about rooting for him. He seems
45:53
Speaker 2: like a great guy. Definitely a great Viking, and I
45:56
Speaker 2: don't use that great word lightly. He's he's a maz.
46:00
Speaker 2: I'm glad that he's still on the team, and I'm
46:01
Speaker 2: glad we don't have to at least as of right now,
46:03
Speaker 2: I don't have to see him in like a Seahawks
46:06
Speaker 2: uniform or like you know that he's not like having
46:09
Speaker 2: one or two years elsewhere like he's ours. He's he's
46:13
Speaker 2: a Viking. I think he takes pride in being a
46:15
Speaker 2: Viking because I think there's been a couple of times
46:17
Speaker 2: he could have gotten more money elsewhere. A lot of
46:20
Speaker 2: respect for that guy. I'm a fan of his for life.
46:23
Speaker 1: I've also just I've read some stuff too that like
46:27
Speaker 1: when you know there's the inevitable rookie hazing that goes on,
46:33
Speaker 1: and you know, the like the big dogs will take
46:36
Speaker 1: the rookies out for dinner and then stick the rookies
46:39
Speaker 1: with the gigantic bill at the really fancy restaurant or whatever.
46:42
Speaker 1: I've heard and read like he kind of just steps
46:46
Speaker 1: in and he's like, that's on me.
46:47
Speaker 2: Guys. I don't know, was it cam bind him that
46:51
Speaker 2: somebody or I've in pace or there's something Josh Mattel's
46:54
Speaker 2: or somebody. One of those younger guys on this defense
46:59
Speaker 2: came out and said like yeah, he pulled us to
47:02
Speaker 2: the side and just said, no, I got it.
47:05
Speaker 3: I'll take care of it.
47:06
Speaker 1: It's okay. Yeah, Like, don't worry about it. They're just
47:10
Speaker 1: you know, they're just messing with you. You know, like
47:12
Speaker 1: he just he man, he's he's the consummate teammate.
47:16
Speaker 2: Hm. I found the story it was cam Bynum specifically
47:20
Speaker 2: that it came out. Yeah, cam Bynum would be up
47:25
Speaker 2: up for that bill when it came and I don't
47:28
Speaker 2: know if it was every single time or one time
47:30
Speaker 2: or a few times. Harrison Smith just you know what, Yeah,
47:34
Speaker 2: I got this. You don't need to your rookie, you know,
47:37
Speaker 2: you don't you like a fifth round or sixth round rookie. Yeah,
47:40
Speaker 2: I got this. And never said like, but you owe
47:42
Speaker 2: me or you got to carry my pats at least
47:45
Speaker 2: not publicly, you know, but like, yeah, he's he's a
47:47
Speaker 2: good guy, good teammate, good Viking. Throw him up in
47:51
Speaker 2: the ring of honor right now. Yeah.
47:54
Speaker 1: So to say that Quasi has been up to some shenanigans,
47:59
Speaker 1: I think an understatement, Like this guy's been working round
48:03
Speaker 1: the clock, NonStop. He's probably been on the phone with
48:06
Speaker 1: Harrison Smith multiple times, like hey, let's get a deal done,
48:08
Speaker 1: let's figure this out, we.
48:09
Speaker 3: Want you back.
48:11
Speaker 1: But then he's also been on the phone with other
48:12
Speaker 1: guys too, like Ryan Kelly and Will Fries from Indianapolis,
48:16
Speaker 1: like yeah, all right, let's do this, let's make this happen.
48:19
Speaker 2: What's your favorite move ev or I mean maybe I
48:24
Speaker 2: don't know, Maybe it's a few guys.
48:26
Speaker 3: I think.
48:28
Speaker 1: Right now. My favorite move plural moves, move in tandem.
48:37
Speaker 1: I guess they happen separately, but I think they're gonna
48:39
Speaker 1: have a cumulative effect. Is Ryan Kelly and Will Fries.
48:44
Speaker 1: I think solidifying the offensive line is something we need.
48:48
Speaker 1: I texted you almost right away after Ryan Kelly was
48:52
Speaker 1: signed it and I said, this means that Garrett Bradbury's gone, right, Like, well,
48:56
Speaker 1: I'm gonna ask, Yeah, it has to mean that he's gone.
48:58
Speaker 1: I think, in my opinion, my take on it is yes,
49:01
Speaker 1: Bradbury is as good as gone. The writing is on
49:04
Speaker 1: the wall. He's not going to be a Viking anymore.
49:08
Speaker 1: Ryan Kelly is a top five center I think in
49:12
Speaker 1: the league.
49:13
Speaker 2: I don't know enough about that. I just know he's
49:16
Speaker 2: solid and definitely an upgrade at center.
49:18
Speaker 1: Well, even just the size itself. Like he's just a
49:21
Speaker 1: bigger human being than Bradberry is so and I think
49:26
Speaker 1: he might be from what I've read and understand about him,
49:29
Speaker 1: he's a little more balanced.
49:30
Speaker 3: He's not.
49:31
Speaker 1: Bradbury was great when it came to pass protection, but
49:37
Speaker 1: he wasn't so good and run.
49:39
Speaker 2: Ye protection well and just every once in a while will
49:42
Speaker 2: get bold over. Bradbury didn't have quite the size. I
49:46
Speaker 2: think you mentioned it last week or sometime recently. Bat
49:49
Speaker 2: Bradbury is was just he's smart and he can make
49:53
Speaker 2: the right calls, but just sometimes, and he overall played
49:57
Speaker 2: at above average level overall, but there was enough times
50:02
Speaker 2: that he got bowled over that eventually excited to sign
50:06
Speaker 2: Ryan Kelly at thirty two years old.
50:08
Speaker 1: Mass on mass will have an effect, and he just
50:12
Speaker 1: didn't have the body mask to really hold down the
50:15
Speaker 1: fort at center. So yeah, I think the riding's on
50:17
Speaker 1: the wall there for him. I think he's a gone er.
50:21
Speaker 2: I'm going to disagree, So I agree on the the
50:24
Speaker 2: Kelly and Fry's signings as probably the most exciting so
50:29
Speaker 2: far or some of the most exciting. Man, they're all good.
50:33
Speaker 2: I'll ask you later if you hate any of them,
50:35
Speaker 2: but yeah, they're all good. I'm going to disagree and
50:37
Speaker 2: say I don't necessarily think this is an automatic brad
50:41
Speaker 2: Berry is gone. Could it absolutely happen? Sure? Yeah, I
50:44
Speaker 2: mean no player is one hundred percent safe. I think
50:48
Speaker 2: there might be a team that would be willing to
50:50
Speaker 2: give up something a six to seventh round pick for
50:54
Speaker 2: brad Berry. I think the Vikings save something like three
50:58
Speaker 2: million dollars or something thing if they just cut Bradbury outright,
51:02
Speaker 2: which I mean, they're not hurting for cab space. I
51:05
Speaker 2: think even with the Harrison Smith signing, they have something
51:09
Speaker 2: like forty million dollars in cab space left for this season.
51:13
Speaker 2: That's that's quite a bit. But I think if Bradbury
51:18
Speaker 2: could show any sense of position flexibility, and maybe he
51:24
Speaker 2: could if he's a better guard than Blake Brandell or
51:28
Speaker 2: and I don't think this will happen by any means
51:31
Speaker 2: if Ryan Kelly plays guard and is a better guard
51:35
Speaker 2: than Blake Brandell. I think there's there is a pathway
51:38
Speaker 2: for Bradbury to remain on the team. It's not an
51:43
Speaker 2: easy pathway. He's definitely got a fight for his spot,
51:46
Speaker 2: but I don't think it's an automatic gone. I think
51:50
Speaker 2: he's Bradbury has earned at least the right to fight
51:53
Speaker 2: for a job in camp or in OTAs or something
51:57
Speaker 2: like that. But I don't think it's an immediate Okay,
52:00
Speaker 2: this guy's one hundred percent out of there now.
52:03
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think we definitely disagree, and that's fine.
52:06
Speaker 2: That's fine.
52:07
Speaker 1: I think the Vikings signed Ryan Kelly for a reason.
52:11
Speaker 1: He's experienced, he's bigger. I think he's just I think
52:15
Speaker 1: he's gonna slide right in, and I think the Vikings
52:17
Speaker 1: will have no problem moving on from Bradbury. Correct me
52:21
Speaker 1: if I'm wrong. I think Bradbury was a Spielman draft pick.
52:24
Speaker 2: Yeah, and he was a first round pick and definitely
52:26
Speaker 2: a Spielman pick. But yeah, he's just undersized, and I
52:31
Speaker 2: think for his size has played amazingly, but his size
52:37
Speaker 2: has definitely got him. Yeah, it's definitely, you know, messed
52:42
Speaker 2: him up a little bit a few times, and enough
52:44
Speaker 2: times that it's like, well, he didn't need to give
52:47
Speaker 2: up that sack. Somebody with forty more pounds on him
52:49
Speaker 2: wouldn't have given up that sack. You know, like when
52:52
Speaker 2: linebackers are a little bit bigger than your center, that's
52:55
Speaker 2: saying something.
52:56
Speaker 1: It's kind of like when you live in a three
52:59
Speaker 1: bedroom high and you're like, yeah, this is good, this
53:01
Speaker 1: is fine, I can do this, and then all of
53:04
Speaker 1: a sudden you get a huge pay raise and you're like, no,
53:07
Speaker 1: I can afford that five bedroom house or that's six
53:10
Speaker 1: bedroom mount let's do that, all right. I feel like
53:12
Speaker 1: that's kind of where it's like, no, all right, we're
53:16
Speaker 1: upgrading here at that position, Like we don't have to
53:20
Speaker 1: settle for middle of the road anymore, like we've got
53:24
Speaker 1: this guy that can like or like, No, I've been
53:28
Speaker 1: driving a Honda.
53:29
Speaker 3: Cr V for however long. It's like.
53:33
Speaker 1: I drove a CRV for a long time. It works,
53:36
Speaker 1: it's great, it's reliable. And then you're just like, no, actually,
53:40
Speaker 1: there's I have a little bit more money now I
53:43
Speaker 1: can go out and buy something nicer, something a little
53:45
Speaker 1: bit more comfortable, and you know, And I think that's
53:49
Speaker 1: where the vikings are with Ryan Kelly. Who knows what
53:52
Speaker 1: will happen. They could they could flex him out to
53:57
Speaker 1: a guard position. They could flex Bradbury out to a
53:59
Speaker 1: guard Yeah, it.
54:00
Speaker 2: Really If I had to make a bet on what
54:03
Speaker 2: will probably happen, I think I would bet that you're
54:07
Speaker 2: right that brad Berry won't be on the team this year.
54:11
Speaker 2: That Ryan Kelly, I think, without question, Ryan Kelly is
54:14
Speaker 2: your center number one, like, regardless of whether or not
54:17
Speaker 2: Bradbury's on the roster. So I if I were betting
54:20
Speaker 2: on it, i'd say you're right. But I also don't think,
54:24
Speaker 2: like I said, I don't think Bradbury is one hundred
54:26
Speaker 2: percent immediately gone. I just he's not going to have
54:30
Speaker 2: the role that he had before. And for good reason.
54:33
Speaker 2: Ryan Kelly is definitely an upgrade and I'm super pumped
54:35
Speaker 2: about it.
54:37
Speaker 3: All Right, who on this list are you like? Eh?
54:41
Speaker 1: Not really that excited about him, doesn't matter. Probably won't
54:45
Speaker 1: be a Viking long term anybody so far.
54:49
Speaker 2: So I think while it's a good signing, and I'm
54:56
Speaker 2: I would root for them to still sign Like if
54:59
Speaker 2: it were up to me, i'd say, yeah, go ahead
55:01
Speaker 2: and do it the way you did it. Aaron Jones
55:05
Speaker 2: at running back, just for the reason that he plays
55:07
Speaker 2: running back, and I think he's going to be like
55:09
Speaker 2: thirty one or thirty two this year. They signed him
55:12
Speaker 2: for a two year contract. What was it like, two years,
55:15
Speaker 2: twenty million dollars. And I think it's a very team friendly.
55:18
Speaker 2: That's another thing on all of these contracts, any of
55:21
Speaker 2: the details I've seen, excuse me seen so far, they've
55:25
Speaker 2: all been pretty team friendly. Not to the point where
55:29
Speaker 2: it's like, oof, I feel bad for that player, like
55:31
Speaker 2: they took they got hosed. But I think most of them,
55:34
Speaker 2: like the Vikings, are going to be in good shape
55:36
Speaker 2: whether they pan out or not. But yeah, this Aaron Jones.
55:40
Speaker 2: I am an Aaron Jones fan as a person, as
55:44
Speaker 2: a player. I like him, I like that he's on
55:47
Speaker 2: the team, but like like I was saying a year
55:50
Speaker 2: ago today, like he's gonna get injured at some point.
55:54
Speaker 2: I'm so glad I was wrong about him for the
55:57
Speaker 2: twenty four season because he never He got banged up
56:00
Speaker 2: a couple of times, but he never missed you know,
56:04
Speaker 2: four or five, six, He never missed a lot of games.
56:07
Speaker 2: He never hurt the Vikings by being on the team
56:10
Speaker 2: and taking up a spot and cap space. But and
56:13
Speaker 2: I don't think he's going to hurt the Vikings this
56:15
Speaker 2: year by taking up a spot in cap space. But
56:17
Speaker 2: I think at some point his age is going to
56:19
Speaker 2: catch up to him as a running back, and especially
56:23
Speaker 2: if they don't do anything like draft a guy or
56:25
Speaker 2: sign someone else. The Vikings have to add to having
56:31
Speaker 2: Aaron Jones on the roster because that's such an injury
56:34
Speaker 2: prone position. So if I had to choose one that
56:38
Speaker 2: I'm not super pumped about it, it's the Aaron Jones one,
56:41
Speaker 2: even though I'm still not mad about it. What about you,
56:45
Speaker 2: any of them you're not super excited about?
56:47
Speaker 1: Yeah, And I kind of I'm gonna take this from
56:51
Speaker 1: Dustin Baker a little bit because I consulted his tweets
56:57
Speaker 1: on all of this because he just he does such
56:59
Speaker 1: a good job of summarizing everything that's happened in the
57:05
Speaker 1: last couple of days. I don't know if it's Bubba
57:09
Speaker 1: Bolden or Buddy Bolden. Oh yeah, but I don't think
57:13
Speaker 1: the guy has ever played an NFL snap, and I
57:16
Speaker 1: think he's had some suspension problems, so I'm kinda I
57:22
Speaker 1: just don't know enough about him. And according to Pro
57:25
Speaker 1: Football Reference, if it's Bubba Bolden who played for the
57:29
Speaker 1: Saints I think, but never actually played, hasn't registered a
57:34
Speaker 1: regular season no, was it the Saints.
57:37
Speaker 3: I don't know.
57:38
Speaker 2: It doesn't matter either way. This guy has not He
57:41
Speaker 2: hasn't played done much. He's bounced around quite a bit.
57:44
Speaker 2: I don't know if he's made a start at all.
57:48
Speaker 2: I can see what you're saying. This one is kind
57:51
Speaker 2: of weird because the timeline of when they signed him
57:54
Speaker 2: was at the same time as all these other signings
57:57
Speaker 2: in the NFL. On Monday were like, oh, Sam Darnold,
58:01
Speaker 2: Oh you know justin Fields, Oh, this trade's happening. Oh
58:06
Speaker 2: Bubba Bolden to the Vikings, like it just seems so
58:08
Speaker 2: out of place, like yeah, Like it was weird. This
58:11
Speaker 2: seems like, you know, the kind of announcement along the
58:15
Speaker 2: same lines as like, Okay, this undrafted free agent is
58:19
Speaker 2: signing right after the draft, like not one that's like,
58:23
Speaker 2: oh yeah, all these crazy things are happening. And just
58:26
Speaker 2: the idea that even Quasy was like taking a minute
58:28
Speaker 2: to be like oh yeah, bubba, yeah, I will offer
58:31
Speaker 2: him the minimum or whatever, ended up being like, let yeah,
58:33
Speaker 2: let's go for it like that. He took a minute
58:36
Speaker 2: to get that done for a guy like this, which
58:41
Speaker 2: we would both be jumping for joy if this guy
58:43
Speaker 2: ended up being like, holy cow, where did he come from?
58:46
Speaker 2: Like he's finally figured it out and he's the city
58:49
Speaker 2: the even pace for the Vikings, like nobody thought he'd
58:52
Speaker 2: be anything like I don't neither of us are saying
58:55
Speaker 2: that's gonna happen. He's literally your your least favorite one
58:57
Speaker 2: so far. But it was weird.
59:01
Speaker 1: I think the timing was weird, and I think the
59:03
Speaker 1: player himself is just kind of odd too, especially with
59:07
Speaker 1: now Harrison Smith resigning.
59:11
Speaker 3: And gosh, who else.
59:13
Speaker 1: Now I'm like blanking on what we've already talked about,
59:17
Speaker 1: and we've talked about a lot of stuff. THEO Jackson,
59:22
Speaker 1: that's it's the other safety. Like I think those are
59:26
Speaker 1: your two proverbial starters at this point. Harrison Smith and
59:29
Speaker 1: THEO Jackson are going to start at safety, aren't they.
59:33
Speaker 2: That's that's the thought, unless you know Josh Mattelis, which
59:37
Speaker 2: I've also heard THEO Jackson. Josh Mattelis he kind of
59:43
Speaker 2: had his own position like created for him. He's kind
59:46
Speaker 2: of like the roameries because sometimes a linebacker, sometimes a cornerback.
59:50
Speaker 2: He's list listed as a safety. Like I don't know
59:53
Speaker 2: how many actual games Josh Mattelis has started, just because
59:57
Speaker 2: he plays everywhere and like he doesn't fit into you know,
1:00:01
Speaker 2: he's a he's a square peg that they're trying to
1:00:04
Speaker 2: fit into a circle hole. But like he just plays
1:00:06
Speaker 2: everywhere and does it well. I've heard THEO Jackson as
1:00:10
Speaker 2: far as depth goes, the Vikings defense sees THEO as
1:00:15
Speaker 2: the guy right behind Josh Mattelis in that they do everything.
1:00:19
Speaker 2: We will probably see THEO Jackson play in some of
1:00:23
Speaker 2: the position. He might take a defensive tackle, you know, snap,
1:00:27
Speaker 2: just like Josh Mattelis has before. So maybe maybe it's
1:00:32
Speaker 2: gonna be Josh Mattellis and Harrison Smith has safeties in
1:00:35
Speaker 2: the backfield, could be in free agency, still not done.
1:00:38
Speaker 2: But yeah, I don't know enough about you know, specifics
1:00:42
Speaker 2: to say like, okay, here's who I would pencil in
1:00:44
Speaker 2: at starters at all these spots.
1:00:46
Speaker 1: And I mean, truthfully, I forgot about Mantelis, not because
1:00:49
Speaker 1: he's forgettable, but because he plays so many positions. It's
1:00:53
Speaker 1: just like, well, when I think of safety, I don't
1:00:55
Speaker 1: necessarily jump right to Josh Mantelis. I honestly view Mattellus
1:01:00
Speaker 1: or as a linebacker playing in the middle of the
1:01:02
Speaker 1: field and being a like you said, being able to
1:01:04
Speaker 1: go everywhere, come up onto the line, go out to
1:01:08
Speaker 1: that cornerback position, go deep in the safety like he
1:01:11
Speaker 1: just he seems like he's all over the place.
1:01:14
Speaker 2: So who knows. Maybe that's something that the Vikings address
1:01:17
Speaker 2: in the draft, is you know, a true safety, free safety,
1:01:21
Speaker 2: strong safety or whatever to actually hold the fort in
1:01:26
Speaker 2: that spot next to Harrison Smith or in lieu of
1:01:28
Speaker 2: Harrison Smith if they tried finally decide to, you know,
1:01:33
Speaker 2: throw that pitch count on him. So I don't know's
1:01:35
Speaker 2: that's kind of exciting to me, That's not something I'm
1:01:37
Speaker 2: concerned about but that safety position. Like as far as
1:01:42
Speaker 2: Flora's defense goes, especially now that they've shored up that line,
1:01:48
Speaker 2: the defensive line through free agency with Jonathan Allen and
1:01:52
Speaker 2: Javon Hargrave, I'm not concerned about it at all as
1:01:56
Speaker 2: of right now. I'm excited about it.
1:01:58
Speaker 1: And I really think on both sides the ball, and
1:02:00
Speaker 1: I think any old guy coach will tell you, and
1:02:03
Speaker 1: I'm probably starting to sound like an old man a
1:02:05
Speaker 1: little bit, and then it starts in. It starts in
1:02:07
Speaker 1: the trenches. You've got to have solidified guys up in
1:02:12
Speaker 1: front being able to hold off the other team.
1:02:16
Speaker 3: And that's what it holds.
1:02:17
Speaker 2: The Vikings added two Pro bowlers right up slightly older
1:02:21
Speaker 2: Pro bowlers, but two Pro bowlers right up front.
1:02:23
Speaker 3: I think four.
1:02:24
Speaker 1: I think you've got two on the offensive side and
1:02:26
Speaker 1: two on the defensive side.
1:02:27
Speaker 2: Yeah. I don't know what specifically, if Kelly or Fries
1:02:30
Speaker 2: have ever been.
1:02:31
Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't know if they've been Pro Bowlers, but
1:02:33
Speaker 1: I mean, shoot, they could be the Vikings this next year.
1:02:37
Speaker 1: They certainly could be. While you're looking that up really quick.
1:02:43
Speaker 1: Free agency is not over yet as of this moment
1:02:47
Speaker 1: right now, and we still have the draft to look
1:02:50
Speaker 1: forward to in a little more than a month, about
1:02:53
Speaker 1: five weeks, the draft is going to be happening. What
1:02:56
Speaker 1: else do the Vikings need to do in your opinion,
1:03:00
Speaker 1: what positions do they need to focus on, and.
1:03:04
Speaker 3: Who do you hope they go after.
1:03:06
Speaker 2: I mean, I still think they need to figure out
1:03:08
Speaker 2: the running back position a little bit, just for insurance.
1:03:11
Speaker 2: Obviously QB two. I'm not saying, you know, first round
1:03:14
Speaker 2: pick for either of these, but you need to shape
1:03:18
Speaker 2: your quarterback room. Yeah we've said JJ McCarthy he's the guy,
1:03:22
Speaker 2: but I mean, anybody is one broken ankle from now
1:03:27
Speaker 2: you got to go to the next guy. So for me,
1:03:30
Speaker 2: it's filling out that quarterback room, making sure you have
1:03:34
Speaker 2: a solid running back room, especially now that the offensive
1:03:38
Speaker 2: line is definitely upgraded. Barring injury. The offensive line should
1:03:45
Speaker 2: be way better in twenty five than they were in
1:03:48
Speaker 2: twenty four.
1:03:49
Speaker 3: That's the hope.
1:03:50
Speaker 2: All due respect to Ed Ingram, who that's one that
1:03:54
Speaker 2: I'm surprised he hasn't been cut yet, and Dalton Reisner,
1:03:59
Speaker 2: who is a fan favorite, good guy, but for whatever reason,
1:04:02
Speaker 2: the Vikings have now Will Fry's got five years. I
1:04:06
Speaker 2: think like eighty million dollars, like he's a he's a starter.
1:04:10
Speaker 2: He's a starter, which means Reisner Ingram probably gone yeah, well,
1:04:15
Speaker 2: and or Blake Brandell. Like I didn't think Brandell played
1:04:20
Speaker 2: poorly last year, but still my point is with an
1:04:25
Speaker 2: upgraded offensive line, that kind of takes the excuse away
1:04:28
Speaker 2: from the running back position. And as much as I'd
1:04:32
Speaker 2: kind of craped on it a few minutes ago, Aaron
1:04:35
Speaker 2: Jones proved that when he can be the bell cow
1:04:38
Speaker 2: even at his upgraded age. I think he had like
1:04:41
Speaker 2: eleven almost twelve hundred rushing yards this past season, his
1:04:44
Speaker 2: career high. So like he's proved he can be a
1:04:46
Speaker 2: thousand yard back even when he's not one hundred percent
1:04:50
Speaker 2: healthy all the time. So imagine having the upgraded offensive
1:04:54
Speaker 2: line that the Vikings will have this season. So fill
1:04:57
Speaker 2: out that running back room, show up QB two at
1:05:01
Speaker 2: least after that, everything else for me is gravy.
1:05:05
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I couldn't agree with that more. I think
1:05:09
Speaker 1: you have to find somebody to compliment Aaron Jones in
1:05:12
Speaker 1: the backfield, and you have to find somebody to back
1:05:15
Speaker 1: up JJ McCarthy.
1:05:18
Speaker 2: That's it.
1:05:18
Speaker 1: That's that's it, and if you do that in free
1:05:21
Speaker 1: agency or the draft, it doesn't really matter. I'm gonna
1:05:25
Speaker 1: reference friend of the show Dustin Baker really quick. Yesterday
1:05:29
Speaker 1: he tweeted something that I kind of resonated with. He said,
1:05:33
Speaker 1: the Vikings might be in a spot to truly draft
1:05:36
Speaker 1: best player available, no matter the pick number. And I
1:05:39
Speaker 1: don't remember that in my lifetime. And he's older than us,
1:05:43
Speaker 1: not by much, but like that's saying something like it's
1:05:47
Speaker 1: not like we're targeting specific things. We need a running back,
1:05:50
Speaker 1: we need a quarterback, we need offensive line, we need
1:05:53
Speaker 1: a kicker, we need whatever. Just whoever's the best available,
1:05:57
Speaker 1: pick him up, man, like nope. And to only have
1:06:01
Speaker 1: four draft picks like no sweat ombra, like we got this.
1:06:05
Speaker 2: And it's for that reason. I really think they're at
1:06:08
Speaker 2: least going to try, like hell to trade out of
1:06:11
Speaker 2: the first round.
1:06:12
Speaker 3: Yeah, to get more picks.
1:06:14
Speaker 2: Yeah, unless, like they've identified, unless a guy like Ashton
1:06:18
Speaker 2: Gen or you know, their number one guy ends up
1:06:24
Speaker 2: falling to twenty four, which is crazy, that's not going
1:06:27
Speaker 2: to happen. But unless that happens, like I think the
1:06:29
Speaker 2: Vikings would, if they can get the right value, trade down,
1:06:33
Speaker 2: get a second round pick and maybe I don't know
1:06:36
Speaker 2: what the value would be, but if they can get
1:06:38
Speaker 2: a few more picks and be able to have some
1:06:41
Speaker 2: more flexibility with depth guys, because that's what you're looking at.
1:06:44
Speaker 2: I don't think you don't need to find, you know,
1:06:50
Speaker 2: an absolute starter at really any position in this draft.
1:06:55
Speaker 2: Like you're not going to the draft saying, crap, we
1:06:58
Speaker 2: have to find our quarterback or crap, we don't have
1:07:01
Speaker 2: a number one wide receiver, Like, yeah, sure could they
1:07:05
Speaker 2: find could they really try hard to find a left guard?
1:07:07
Speaker 3: Sure?
1:07:08
Speaker 2: Could they try really hard to find I mean we
1:07:13
Speaker 2: said it earlier a safety. Sure, but it's not such
1:07:17
Speaker 2: a desperate need that they have to do it because
1:07:20
Speaker 2: they were able to sign. If they weren't able to
1:07:24
Speaker 2: get Byron Murphy Jr. Would be saying cornerback, and maybe
1:07:26
Speaker 2: that's the answer too, Like I don't know. After him,
1:07:29
Speaker 2: it's a lot of unproven guys. It's nice that you're
1:07:31
Speaker 2: getting back Makai Blackman, but I mean outside of Byron
1:07:37
Speaker 2: Murphy Jr. There's not a lot there, So maybe cornerback,
1:07:40
Speaker 2: but anywhere else, Like you're just you're looking for depth
1:07:43
Speaker 2: and competition, and the draft is just going to be
1:07:46
Speaker 2: the cherry on top. So maybe with no pressure or
1:07:49
Speaker 2: less pressure, Quacy can finally actually find the diamond in
1:07:53
Speaker 2: a rough that he's been, you know, eluding him in
1:07:56
Speaker 2: the draft for a handful of years.
1:07:58
Speaker 3: Yeah, and maybe he actually does it this year.
1:08:00
Speaker 1: Where As you know, in the past, it's been like
1:08:03
Speaker 1: you got to find them in the draft. You got
1:08:04
Speaker 1: to find them in the draft. And I think that
1:08:06
Speaker 1: was Spielman's forte which that is the way you build
1:08:09
Speaker 1: a team. The best teams ever, the Dynasties, the Chiefs
1:08:13
Speaker 1: of the league, they build their team through the draft.
1:08:17
Speaker 3: But I think anymore, too, teams are built through free agency,
1:08:23
Speaker 3: and teams aren't built for this long lasting success. I
1:08:26
Speaker 3: think what we're seeing with the Chiefs right now is
1:08:28
Speaker 3: kind of an anomaly in today's NFL.
1:08:32
Speaker 1: I don't know that we're going to see a lot
1:08:34
Speaker 1: of that sustained success long term anymore. I think we're
1:08:38
Speaker 1: going to see this like, yeah, they were good for
1:08:40
Speaker 1: a year because they had a bunch of guys on
1:08:42
Speaker 1: one year contracts and then they all left, or they
1:08:44
Speaker 1: all retired, or they all whatever, you know. I think
1:08:48
Speaker 1: that's the future of the NFL. And I think the
1:08:50
Speaker 1: NFL is going to become more and more like the NBA,
1:08:53
Speaker 1: where there's this huge carousel of free agents every year,
1:08:58
Speaker 1: and it'll create a lot of fodder for us on
1:09:01
Speaker 1: a podcast where we're like, oh, this is juicy, this
1:09:04
Speaker 1: is fun, but it'll suck for fans because we're like, no,
1:09:08
Speaker 1: because our favorite players, the ones that we get attached to,
1:09:12
Speaker 1: they're going to leave, you know, and that's gonna suck.
1:09:16
Speaker 3: Really quick.
1:09:18
Speaker 2: Final question here, Oh, I have one more question for you,
1:09:20
Speaker 2: but final question from ev.
1:09:22
Speaker 1: All right, final question from me. If you had to
1:09:25
Speaker 1: pick a quarterback to be the QB two next year,
1:09:28
Speaker 1: and I'm this is QB two. We are assuming JJ
1:09:33
Speaker 1: McCarthy is QB one. There's there's no other QB one
1:09:38
Speaker 1: you can pick, Minshew Winston, Locke, Wentz or Rogers. Who's
1:09:48
Speaker 1: your QB two to back up JJ McCarthy next year.
1:09:53
Speaker 2: I don't want to be preposterous because there's no question
1:09:56
Speaker 2: in Aaron Rodgers' future Hall of Famer.
1:10:00
Speaker 3: I threw that one in there just for fun.
1:10:02
Speaker 2: One of the greatest to ever touch a football, there's
1:10:04
Speaker 2: no doubt about that for sure. But we spent twenty
1:10:07
Speaker 2: minutes earlier ten twenty minutes earlier talking about how much
1:10:09
Speaker 2: we don't want him because at forty one, I don't
1:10:12
Speaker 2: want I would want, you know, the twenty five year
1:10:14
Speaker 2: old version of him, but not the forty one. That's fine,
1:10:16
Speaker 2: We're good of everybody else. Gimme Minshew. Honestly, Okay, So
1:10:23
Speaker 2: there's not a bad choice. There's not really a bad choice,
1:10:26
Speaker 2: especially since you're talking QB two. Maybe Drew Locke, I'd
1:10:29
Speaker 2: take two. But honestly, Minshew, he's probably the most experienced
1:10:33
Speaker 2: of the list that you just named out. I've been
1:10:35
Speaker 2: a gardener Minshew fans since the you know, the the
1:10:38
Speaker 2: Jorts era and the stash in Jacksonville. Yeah, he's had
1:10:44
Speaker 2: flashes where he's proven kind of like Nick Mullens a
1:10:48
Speaker 2: couple of times in his career that if they need
1:10:51
Speaker 2: to come in as the next guy, not the guy,
1:10:54
Speaker 2: but the next guy Minshew and Mullens two. But Minshew
1:10:59
Speaker 2: has kind of proven he can get you by he
1:11:01
Speaker 2: can he can, like Nick Mullins last year, come in
1:11:05
Speaker 2: on third and twenty four and throw a dart to
1:11:08
Speaker 2: Aaron Jones and get a first down and then come
1:11:10
Speaker 2: back out and Sam Darnold's good to go. Again, Minshew
1:11:14
Speaker 2: would be the guy on that list that got me
1:11:16
Speaker 2: the most excited as QB two.
1:11:19
Speaker 3: You know who I would pick?
1:11:22
Speaker 2: Aaron Rodgers.
1:11:23
Speaker 3: No, definitely not. I will throw up in my mouth
1:11:27
Speaker 3: if that happens.
1:11:28
Speaker 1: No. I want Jameis Winston purely, purely for the entertainment value.
1:11:36
Speaker 1: I just want to thank the Lord for the opportunity
1:11:39
Speaker 1: to play in some snow today.
1:11:41
Speaker 3: That's what I want.
1:11:43
Speaker 2: A name we haven't said that would be hilarious and
1:11:45
Speaker 2: I'd laugh at it and I'd be all for it,
1:11:47
Speaker 2: but I wouldn't choose to do it. But a name
1:11:49
Speaker 2: we haven't said as far as QB two, Joe Flacco,
1:11:53
Speaker 2: I'd be okay with that.
1:11:54
Speaker 3: I think he might be done.
1:11:56
Speaker 2: We've said that for a few years now.
1:11:58
Speaker 3: But he might be the I don't know that. I
1:12:00
Speaker 3: don't know.
1:12:00
Speaker 2: He's got a lot of football left in him. His
1:12:03
Speaker 2: little bit of magic that he sprinkled into the Browns
1:12:06
Speaker 2: a couple of years ago. There's something there.
1:12:09
Speaker 1: And then he came back with the Colts this year
1:12:11
Speaker 1: and it was like, well, Anthony Richardson isn't the answer,
1:12:14
Speaker 1: so you get it. And then it was like, well
1:12:16
Speaker 1: you're not the answer either. So let's see what Anthony
1:12:18
Speaker 1: Richardson can do.
1:12:19
Speaker 2: Yeah, but I'm just this is purely not like, Okay,
1:12:23
Speaker 2: I don't believe in JJ, so we need a good
1:12:26
Speaker 2: guy behind him. This is purely like, Okay, have a
1:12:29
Speaker 2: good guy next to him in the QB room at
1:12:32
Speaker 2: the meetings. Sure come in in a pinch if you
1:12:36
Speaker 2: need it for injury or something else.
1:12:38
Speaker 1: But Flacco is definitely that veteran presence, that super Bowl
1:12:42
Speaker 1: winning quarterback.
1:12:44
Speaker 2: Did he get an MVP?
1:12:46
Speaker 3: You know, I don't know, he might have. He's definitely
1:12:49
Speaker 3: the like.
1:12:50
Speaker 1: He's what I hoped Kirk would be someday, you know,
1:12:56
Speaker 1: with this franchise. And of course that's just not the
1:12:58
Speaker 1: way the league works anymore. And Kirk went and got
1:13:02
Speaker 1: more money elsewhere, which he should, and so did Sam Darnold,
1:13:05
Speaker 1: which he should. It's the way the league is set
1:13:08
Speaker 1: up now. But now I don't disagree with you necessarily,
1:13:13
Speaker 1: but I'd rather see I'd rather see Minshew or Winston
1:13:18
Speaker 1: or Locke. And honestly, i'd probably rather see Carson Wentz
1:13:22
Speaker 1: over Joe Flacco or Aaron Rodgers.
1:13:26
Speaker 2: Yet I just pleaded Aaron would be too much. It'd
1:13:30
Speaker 2: be different, Like I said earlier. If Aaron came in
1:13:33
Speaker 2: and said, listen, I'm not here to you know, usurp anybody.
1:13:37
Speaker 2: I don't want the attention on me, which he's never
1:13:40
Speaker 2: said before.
1:13:41
Speaker 1: He will.
1:13:42
Speaker 2: It'd be different if he was like, I am here
1:13:44
Speaker 2: to help develop JJ McCarthy, which again one isn't his job,
1:13:48
Speaker 2: wouldn't be his job. Two he's never said that before.
1:13:51
Speaker 2: I don't want him. Let him go ruin the Giants
1:13:54
Speaker 2: a little bit more. If I'll say, hot take for
1:14:00
Speaker 2: what fifth week in a row, If Aaron Rodgers signs
1:14:04
Speaker 2: with the Giants, that will be the first nail in
1:14:11
Speaker 2: the coffin, or maybe the fifth, because I think the
1:14:14
Speaker 2: nails are already starting to get pounded in the coffin
1:14:16
Speaker 2: for Dable and whoever their GM is. If Aaron Rodgers
1:14:20
Speaker 2: signs with the Giants, Rogers Dable their head coach, and
1:14:25
Speaker 2: then what's his name at GM, the three of them
1:14:28
Speaker 2: will not be Giants this time next year, guaranteed. And
1:14:33
Speaker 2: I bet money on that. But and that might be
1:14:35
Speaker 2: still the case for the coach in GM anyways. But yeah,
1:14:39
Speaker 2: that would be such a storm of just awfulness if
1:14:42
Speaker 2: wherever he goes, it's not gonna work out.
1:14:44
Speaker 1: Well, he wouldn't have to get a new apartment because
1:14:46
Speaker 1: I'm sure he's got something in New York City already.
1:14:49
Speaker 1: But anyways, no, I yeah, we don't want Aaron Rodgers
1:14:54
Speaker 1: in Minnesota.
1:14:55
Speaker 2: We've already we've stay away. We've accidentally spent like half
1:14:59
Speaker 2: this podcast talking about Aaron Rodgers. Okay, so let's your
1:15:02
Speaker 2: final question. So the Vikings. We I thought about doing
1:15:06
Speaker 2: this as a whole segment, but we can just do it.
1:15:08
Speaker 2: For one, the Vikings have a handful of players, just
1:15:12
Speaker 2: like every team does, handful of players that played for
1:15:15
Speaker 2: them last year that are now free agents. Of those players,
1:15:19
Speaker 2: which Dustin Baker on Vikings Territory dot Com put a
1:15:23
Speaker 2: good list together of those players that are still currently
1:15:27
Speaker 2: free agents that haven't resigned with the Vikings or anyone else,
1:15:31
Speaker 2: who would you most want? Who would you most be
1:15:35
Speaker 2: excited that the Vikings signed? So we don't have to
1:15:38
Speaker 2: go through the whole list. But heavy hitters are you
1:15:41
Speaker 2: know Stefan Gilmore, Kamu Grugier Hill whose spots started a
1:15:46
Speaker 2: few times, Brandon Powell, cam Akers, Dalton Reisner, Guys like that,
1:15:51
Speaker 2: who would you be okay with or pretty pumped about
1:15:55
Speaker 2: the Vikings re signing.
1:15:56
Speaker 3: You left a few off the list.
1:15:58
Speaker 1: The few that I would actually maybe consider more than
1:16:01
Speaker 1: any of the ones you listed. Questenberry. David Questenberry is
1:16:06
Speaker 1: the one that I would consider. I think he's just
1:16:10
Speaker 1: a good he's a good depth guy, and he's he's
1:16:16
Speaker 1: filled in admirably when when they've needed him. I don't
1:16:20
Speaker 1: think he's a starter, and especially with the additions to
1:16:23
Speaker 1: the offensive line, I don't know that he finds a
1:16:25
Speaker 1: starting spot. But those guys do better when they get
1:16:31
Speaker 1: breaks in games, when they have a chance to come out,
1:16:34
Speaker 1: catch their breath and someone else can go in. But
1:16:37
Speaker 1: they also those guys do better when they have the
1:16:39
Speaker 1: chemistry with the guys around them, and that's where I
1:16:42
Speaker 1: think Questenberry's pretty valuable. Like he's and he's been, he's
1:16:47
Speaker 1: kind of been the rotational guy on the line in
1:16:50
Speaker 1: different spots.
1:16:51
Speaker 3: I think he's been in a few different places, and
1:16:55
Speaker 3: I think he's even played guard a little bit.
1:16:57
Speaker 2: Yeah. I don't know about Garden, but he's been on
1:16:59
Speaker 2: the team at least the last two years. In twenty three,
1:17:03
Speaker 2: he came in for a handful of games when Brian
1:17:05
Speaker 2: O'Neill was injured definitely towards the end of the season
1:17:10
Speaker 2: and played admirably, and then obviously for a game or
1:17:14
Speaker 2: two before Cam Robinson was traded for came in and
1:17:18
Speaker 2: it definitely immediately came in once Dalton or once Christian
1:17:23
Speaker 2: Darisaw went down. He's definitely a swing tackle. I don't
1:17:26
Speaker 2: know how much guard he's played. He's getting up there
1:17:28
Speaker 2: in age. He's yet thirty two, thirty three, thirty four,
1:17:31
Speaker 2: something like that, and would be a vet minimum kind
1:17:34
Speaker 2: of guy. So that's a sneaky good I wouldn't have
1:17:37
Speaker 2: thought about that, but now I'm on board with that back.
1:17:40
Speaker 1: I think the other one in a similar spot is
1:17:43
Speaker 1: Cam Robinson, and I think the only reason you bring
1:17:46
Speaker 1: him back is because, as you mentioned a little bit ago,
1:17:51
Speaker 1: Darrisaw doesn't come back right away, probably from his knee injury,
1:17:55
Speaker 1: and if you're going to solidify that offensive line, you
1:17:59
Speaker 1: need somebody at that left tackle position that's going to
1:18:02
Speaker 1: hold down the fort and Cam Robinson was not Christian Darisaw,
1:18:07
Speaker 1: but he's probably the next best thing to Christian Darisaw
1:18:10
Speaker 1: that was available to the Vikings, and I don't know
1:18:14
Speaker 1: that you're going to replace him. I think I think
1:18:19
Speaker 1: you might be better rolling with Cam Robinson and just
1:18:23
Speaker 1: being real with him, like, hey, man, you're the guy
1:18:26
Speaker 1: to start when CD comes back, he's the guy.
1:18:30
Speaker 2: Ye. And then even if it was like, hey, we'll
1:18:33
Speaker 2: do you right, we can. We'll trade you if you
1:18:36
Speaker 2: want after CD comes back. So maybe my answer to
1:18:42
Speaker 2: that would be both question Berry and Robinson just for
1:18:47
Speaker 2: the continuity, continuity and the uncertainty with CD right now, Sorry, did.
1:18:54
Speaker 1: I I definitely cut you off there? No, No, I
1:18:56
Speaker 1: I think we're in agreement on that though. Like and
1:18:59
Speaker 1: I think that just solidifies the offensive line that I
1:19:02
Speaker 1: think was an obvious weak point for this Vikings team.
1:19:05
Speaker 1: I think Cam Robinson just to fit right in, like
1:19:10
Speaker 1: he slid right into this very needy position. The left
1:19:14
Speaker 1: tackle is one of the most important positions for a
1:19:17
Speaker 1: right handed quarterback in the league.
1:19:19
Speaker 3: Absolutely, you got to protect your blind side.
1:19:21
Speaker 1: You've got to make sure that whoever's over there isn't
1:19:23
Speaker 1: going to let anybody come take you out as your
1:19:26
Speaker 1: back turned ready to throw. You know, the movie The
1:19:31
Speaker 1: blind Side taught us that. Yeah, So I think he's
1:19:36
Speaker 1: valuable Cam Robinson is for that thing alone. And then
1:19:41
Speaker 1: question Berry as that swing tackle as you mentioned, and yeah,
1:19:48
Speaker 1: I think just solidifying the offensive line is super important, especially.
1:19:53
Speaker 3: For a rookie quarterback.
1:19:54
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, he's he's gonna have a lot of
1:19:57
Speaker 1: pressure to go out and perform. And so I think
1:20:02
Speaker 1: those two guys are those are the two I would
1:20:05
Speaker 1: try to target for sure.
1:20:06
Speaker 2: Absolutely and for me too. On that list of other
1:20:10
Speaker 2: kind of guys that might not have a robust market
1:20:14
Speaker 2: but could come back, I'd definitely be okay with Stefan
1:20:17
Speaker 2: Gilmour coming back. He's up there. He might even have
1:20:20
Speaker 2: a better market than the Bikings are able to give him.
1:20:22
Speaker 2: But if he's available at some point, he only helps
1:20:27
Speaker 2: to bring back Kamu grewsier Hill. He had a few
1:20:30
Speaker 2: spot starts between Blake Cashman coming out and I've and
1:20:35
Speaker 2: Paced being out for a little bit. Kamu only came
1:20:38
Speaker 2: in and played pretty well. Shack Griffin, he was a
1:20:43
Speaker 2: really good depth guy at cornerback. Brandon Powell, I think
1:20:46
Speaker 2: he's kind of a he can't be mad about it
1:20:48
Speaker 2: if he comes back. He's a halfway decent wide receiver
1:20:52
Speaker 2: four ish type. I think he's got some returning ability
1:20:57
Speaker 2: in there. Yeah, I mean, there's there's a lot of
1:21:00
Speaker 2: those guys that were Vikings last year that would be
1:21:02
Speaker 2: able would be available for pretty cheap this year. But
1:21:07
Speaker 2: if they get a better market elsewhere, like, good for them. Yeah,
1:21:10
Speaker 2: I don't know any other of those guys that you'd want,
1:21:14
Speaker 2: I think.
1:21:14
Speaker 1: And one more honorable mention that I would give would
1:21:17
Speaker 1: be Jerry Tillery.
1:21:18
Speaker 3: I thought, I think when he.
1:21:20
Speaker 1: Was originally signed, we were all just kind of like, okay, whatever,
1:21:26
Speaker 1: But I mean Koc saw something in that guy. He
1:21:30
Speaker 1: got countless game balls and I think I think he's
1:21:34
Speaker 1: that depth guy at that defensive tackle position. I don't
1:21:37
Speaker 1: know how much nose tackle he was playing, and I
1:21:39
Speaker 1: don't know how much of a rotation there was with
1:21:41
Speaker 1: him and Harrison Phillips, but I think he and Harrison
1:21:45
Speaker 1: Phillips developed some good chemistry. I wouldn't be surprised if
1:21:48
Speaker 1: Tillery's gone after this year. He could he could be
1:21:51
Speaker 1: a one and done kind of guy. Yeah, but I'd
1:21:55
Speaker 1: love to see him back in Purple. And I thought
1:21:57
Speaker 1: he was just he was humble, he was hard working,
1:22:00
Speaker 1: and I think that's what the coaches saw on him.
1:22:03
Speaker 1: And yeah, i'd give him an honorable mention of you know, hey,
1:22:09
Speaker 1: come back let's see what else we can do.
1:22:11
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know what gets more than an honorable mention?
1:22:15
Speaker 2: This beer, This freaking beer Man the Shenanigans Irish red
1:22:20
Speaker 2: Ale from Millstream Brewing Company out of a mana Iowa.
1:22:24
Speaker 2: Good grief. The only thing, the only thing that I
1:22:28
Speaker 2: could maybe think slightly negative about it is when you
1:22:33
Speaker 2: think Saint Patti's Day, you think not one beer, not
1:22:36
Speaker 2: two beers. You think like.
1:22:38
Speaker 1: You're starting to talk like a lebron here, not one,
1:22:42
Speaker 1: not two.
1:22:43
Speaker 2: But like on Saint Patrick's Day, if you're if you're
1:22:45
Speaker 2: having some beers, you're not having one or two, you're
1:22:47
Speaker 2: having a handful. Yeah, at seven percent, you shouldn't have
1:22:53
Speaker 2: a hand You should not have a handful of those.
1:22:55
Speaker 2: Maybe start with one of these and then go for
1:22:57
Speaker 2: the like green, you know, four percent bud Light or whatever.
1:23:01
Speaker 2: But and that's grasping for straws. That's something negative to
1:23:05
Speaker 2: say about it. This beer is delicious, super good. We
1:23:09
Speaker 2: kind of mentioned that it had kind of a boozy
1:23:11
Speaker 2: flavor to it, but I think that's more just the
1:23:14
Speaker 2: the tanginess flavor to it.
1:23:16
Speaker 1: It's yeah, you can smell it, but it's not like
1:23:19
Speaker 1: it's not overpowering. It's not something that you're gonna be like, oh,
1:23:22
Speaker 1: this is not beer. This is we're like bordering on
1:23:25
Speaker 1: like tequila or something here like, it's not that.
1:23:29
Speaker 2: So it's delicious. I will say, if you're looking for
1:23:32
Speaker 2: your your go to to buy a thirty pack of it,
1:23:36
Speaker 2: you know, beer for Saint Patrick's Day, Maybe don't buy
1:23:39
Speaker 2: a thirty pack. They don't sell a thirty pack. Don't
1:23:42
Speaker 2: buy the thirty of these. Maybe get a four pack
1:23:45
Speaker 2: and start with one or two, split the other one
1:23:47
Speaker 2: or two with your buddy, and then go for the
1:23:49
Speaker 2: you know, four percent you know, cheap beer. This is delicious.
1:23:54
Speaker 2: I would have this any day of the week, hot weather,
1:23:57
Speaker 2: cold weather, you know, sitting by the fire out on
1:24:00
Speaker 2: the boat. This is amazing. I like it a lot.
1:24:03
Speaker 3: Yeah, really good beer. For sure.
1:24:05
Speaker 1: I'll probably find at least one more of these in
1:24:09
Speaker 1: the next couple of weeks before they might flap.
1:24:11
Speaker 3: On the shelves.
1:24:11
Speaker 2: And if you really wanted, with enough green dye, it's
1:24:15
Speaker 2: a pretty caramel colored, pretty dark or pretty hazy not
1:24:19
Speaker 2: dark colored beer. But if you really wanted, you could
1:24:23
Speaker 2: turn it green. Yeah, they turned the Chicago River green
1:24:27
Speaker 2: every year. You can turn this beer green.
1:24:29
Speaker 3: I'm sure.
1:24:30
Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly. Bears fans, go ahead and go take a
1:24:35
Speaker 2: dip in the Chicago.
1:24:36
Speaker 3: River if you.
1:24:36
Speaker 2: But but yeah, I like it a lot. Thank you
1:24:39
Speaker 2: for forgetting it and bringing it. Thank you Millstream for
1:24:41
Speaker 2: brewing such a great beer. I still have yet to
1:24:45
Speaker 2: have even a mid beer from Millstream.
1:24:48
Speaker 1: Yeah, I can't complain. They've only ever been amazing. Can't
1:24:51
Speaker 1: complain about Millstream. We've been there to their brewery in Amana.
1:24:56
Speaker 2: They have a skull beer.
1:24:58
Speaker 3: What's the oh man. We tried it while we were there.
1:25:02
Speaker 2: It had it on episode fifty. It was a part
1:25:04
Speaker 2: of our brew hop. Yeah, yeah, it's They're great Millstream.
1:25:09
Speaker 2: You guys are awesome.
1:25:10
Speaker 1: Go to Millstream. Check them out Amana. There's so much
1:25:13
Speaker 1: more to do than we were able to do while
1:25:15
Speaker 1: we were there. We visited the brewery, of course, but.
1:25:17
Speaker 2: We need to go to Octoberfest twenty twenty five in Amana.
1:25:21
Speaker 2: They do it right. They got a parade and a
1:25:23
Speaker 2: bunch of beer everywhere, and it's awesome.
1:25:25
Speaker 1: Let's mark it down on the calendar right now. We're
1:25:28
Speaker 1: doing it all right. Well, I think this is a
1:25:31
Speaker 1: good time to wrap up this episode and to finish
1:25:35
Speaker 1: the last of this millstream Shenanigan's Irish.
1:25:39
Speaker 3: Red Ale that we've got.
1:25:41
Speaker 1: Where can people find us if they want to check
1:25:43
Speaker 1: out our podcast?
1:25:44
Speaker 2: Yeah, if you want to interact with us at all,
1:25:45
Speaker 2: We're on all of the social media's Twitter or x, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok,
1:25:52
Speaker 2: really everywhere. If you google the skoll Hop you will
1:25:55
Speaker 2: find us. We have a website, the Schoolhop dot com.
1:25:58
Speaker 2: And if you want to directly interact with us too,
1:26:01
Speaker 2: Twitter works, but you can send us an email at
1:26:04
Speaker 2: the schoolhot at gmail dot com and we we still
1:26:08
Speaker 2: will still do it. If you send us an email,
1:26:10
Speaker 2: we will send you a sticker if you want. So, Yes,
1:26:12
Speaker 2: we are easily available if you want to reach out
1:26:15
Speaker 2: to us.
1:26:16
Speaker 3: Yeah, so do that for sure.
1:26:19
Speaker 1: And let us know what you think about the Vikings
1:26:23
Speaker 1: free agency situation, what you hope they'll do in the draft,
1:26:28
Speaker 1: all that good stuff. We're here for it. We like
1:26:31
Speaker 1: to hear any and all takes and opinions, and who knows,
1:26:34
Speaker 1: maybe your take will be featured on the show.
1:26:37
Speaker 3: So maybe.
1:26:38
Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely, all right man, great episode, great last few
1:26:42
Speaker 2: days to be a Vikings fan for sure, best episode yet.
1:27:07
Speaker 4: Hey, Vikings fans, Evan here from the School Hop and
1:27:10
Speaker 4: we just wanted to say thank you again so much
1:27:12
Speaker 4: for listening to the School Hop. And we also wanted
1:27:15
Speaker 4: to take one more opportunity to let you know that
1:27:17
Speaker 4: this episode of the School Hop has been brought to
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