A lot are structured in guaranteed money mainly in the first season. If they dont work out teams will probably cut them next season, but if they do, they’re happy to see out the second season.
Vikings trade for RB Jordan Mason. He was good for SF when McCaffrey was injured so like this move. Good young RB to pair with Jones.
Yeah I like that trade. Should take the Vikings out of the conversation for running back early in the draft as well Looking like defensive back is going to be the biggest need going into the draft. Vikings are really good at drafting corners and safeties in the first round
So unsurprisingly Bradbury has been released, Patriots have already signed him to a two year deal. They’ve also signed Okudah to continue the free agency trend of “if you were injured last year we’ll sign you” Okudah was the third overall pick not that long ago (he’s only 26 now) but has just constantly been injured since making it to the NFL and apparently that has affected his athleticism, which is not what you want at corner. If he can stay healthy and Flores can get something out of him could be a really good addition, lot of ifs though and more likely he doesn’t make the final roster I think
Looks like Vikings have decided to go with McCarthy and have rejected the chance to sign Rodgers. Probably the right call. Interesting thing is Vikings still have loads of cap space so can't rule out a big trade.
Cam Robinson has signed with the Texans. Which means the Vikings now have 2 comp picks for next year. Was a lot of talk that they wanted at least one so now Robinson has signed they can offset that if they want to bring in someone else (a QB2 most likely). If Robinson hasn’t signed for a few more weeks they would’ve only had the one comp pick and would’ve lost it if they signed anyone on more than $4m a year
Vikings have signed WR Rondale Moore. Another one who has had injury issues but if he stays healthy could be a very smart pick up. He's extremely rapid as well.
Kwesi doing his usual address every need in FA so not forced into anything in the draft. Really could go lots of directions with their first round pick now. I’d imagine most people would be hoping for a trade down Do you (or anyone here) look at the draft class in much detail before a draft? Or just look at mocks etc?
TBH I don't look into the draft much. Last year was an exception because of the massive hype surrounding the QB's. All I really know about this year is that it's stacked with RB's. I'll wait and see who we draft and read the experts analysis on the picks.
I’ve started getting more into college football over the last 2/3 years so recognise most of the names in the experts top 50 etc. not really too clued up beyond that. I expect trying to evaluate prospects is ****ing hard even if it is your job, let alone a fan. Based on what I’ve seen/read so far I’d like the Vikings to trade down if they can just to get more picks as they don’t have any. If they do pick at 24 I’d want them to take Starks, Ezeruike, Barron or Harmon in that order. I’m sure at least one of them should still be there at 24, if not more. Id like them to come out of the draft with a corner, a safety, a DT and a guard as a minimum. Be nice to get a receiver and running back as well if they can trade around a bit
Of course one area the Vikings have done well in is the undrafted free agents. Pace was a find and a half through that. Wouldn't be surprised if we went that way to get a RB in.
Few rumours floating around that Addison is being traded to the Bills, who knows if it’s true at this time of year. Would hope for a first for him but that’s probably too high
Less than a week to go and the smoke is clearing a little. Still think my preference is a trade down but sounding like it is unlikely as this draft class is perceived as weak overall, and not much difference in talent between players rated 20-50 so teams aren’t going to want to give up much to move up. From my original list seems unlikely Barron will be there at 24, but the others seem like they could be. I think if Banks or Nolan are there at 24 then I take them unless there is some ridiculous trade offer on the table. Players like Starks, Ezeruike and Harmon I would take a decent trade down offer and hope one of them lasts til the later pick. For whatever reason it sounds like Sanders is falling, with the top 3 looking likely to be Ward number 1 and then Hunter and Carter in some order. If Sanders has a Rodgers like slide and he is available at 24 then I’m sure the Vikings could get good offer for the pick from someone like the Browns or Giants. Unlikely he falls that far though and wouldn’t surprise me if it’s all just chat that Sanders is falling that far. I’m sure the Vikings are taking either O line or D line and O line is their preference. If they can get someone like Banks, Zabel or Donovan Jackson who all would start at left guard immediately it would mean they would’ve completely revamped their interior offensive line in one off season, which they will want to do with McCarthy coming in. There are only 2 players I absolutely don’t want anything to do with who could be there at 24 and have been mocked to the Vikings at various points and they are Booker and Emmanwori. I think both will be busts in the NFL so hopefully they end up at a rival. Booker especially would be awful in the Vikings system, heard a great quote about him from an analyst “can’t move, can’t be moved”, just a big lump. His RAS score is the lowest in history or something as well
So tonight is the night. Anyone staying up to watch it? In previous years I've tried to set an alarm to roughly just before the Vikings pick but now that I have dazn, I'm planning to watch the draft picks while at work (hurrah for dual monitor set ups), just gotta avoid social media in the morning
Will probably try to but more likely watch a recording tomorrow and avoid news. Any preference on what the Vikings do?
I'll stay up to watch and dual-screen it with the Knicks @ Pistons playoff game in the NBA. I'll probably not hang in much longer than the Colts pick (14) but do love draft night. Just wish the talking heads and reporters on the live broadcast wouldn't spoil the upcoming picks as much as they do
Anyone you particularly want the Colts to take/not take? Imagine one of the tight ends must be high up your list, latest mock drafts seem to think they are both going high, maybe won’t even make the Colts pick
I mean you're clearly far far more knowledgeable about college football than me, but I feel like a running back in the early rounds might be good to take the load off Aaron Jones. Or a corner back. I can't really remember what we did in free agency, but I think corner backs are still an issue. Though I could be wrong. Don't we only have like 4 picks or something?
Yeah only got 4 picks (a first round, third round, fifth round and sixth round), which is why most people want to trade back to get some extra picks. Issue with this draft is there are a handful of players people are projecting to be real superstars at NFL level, then a load of players who could be good or might be terrible. Once you’ve got past pick 5 or so the next 40 players are pretty much graded the same so it’s just a question of what order they go in. So if you are looking to trade back there might not be much action as why give up extra picks to trade to 24 from, say, 34 when you likely will be able to draft just as good a prospect at 34? Obviously depends how the chips are falling and if a certain position suddenly starts getting taken regularly you may get teams wanting to move up but it feels like there isn’t going to be much movement in the first round anyway. The Vikings addressed most needs in free agency so there isn’t really a position they need to take. There are still a fair few veteran corners available as free agents so they could go and sign one of those if they don’t end up drafting one. There are 2 corners (Barron and Johnson) who most “experts” think are the best two, but they both likely will be gone by the Vikings pick. Then there are a few in the next tier down who all could be good at the NFL level, but probably aren’t worth drafting at 24 if you can trade back and get one of them later. Morrison probably would’ve been a top 5 pick, but he’s recently had major surgery on his hips so teams are worried about if he will ever recover so he will get drafted in round 2 earliest I would think. The Vikings are in a decent spot where they don’t really need any position, the roster is pretty stacked across the board. I personally think safety is weakest with Smith being ancient and Bynum leaving, but they paid Jackson starter money so must see something in him. There is also an argument that drafting a safety in the first round (unless it is a generational type one) is never a good move. The two safeties who could go round 1 this year are Starks and Emmanwori, I like Starks but really don’t want Emmanwori and think he will be a flop at NFL level. In free agency the Vikings signed a centre and right guard from the Colts on big deals so I think they want to draft a left guard and completely revamp their interior offensive line for McCarthy’s first season. There are quite a few options for left guard in the first round, Banks (likely to go before the Vikings but there’s a chance he slides), Zabel, Booker and Jackson. TBH the only one I want at 24 is Banks, I don’t like Booker at all and Zabel feels too boom or bust for me, and plays for a college that doesn’t compete with the top end colleges so it’s hard to know how he’ll do against elite opposition every week. Jackson I like but would be a trade back and draft him in round 2 scenario for me. Running back and interior defensive line are the last two positions that I think the Vikings could take. This class is meant to be the best in about 30 years for running backs and also very deep at interior D line so the Vikings may wait and use their third round to address these positions. My favourite player in the draft who could be a realistic target for the Vikings is Walter Nolan and he is an interior D lineman, but it’s looking pretty unlikely he makes it to 24 and probably goes a fair bit higher. Anyway rambled on a bit then but it’s an interesting draft mainly because nobody knows how it’s going to pan out with so many similar prospects.
