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Vikings Discussion & Random Thoughts
I hope everyone had a safe, relaxing, and enjoyable Memorial Day weekend. We ate some good food (a couple times), visited my parents’ grave, and had a good baseball practice last night. It’s unseasonably warm here in the greater Dakota with highs in the 90s (our average high is around 68 this time of year), so we did our best to stay hydrated & cool.
Opinion
It’s no secret that I hate soccer, so I may have a bias here, BUT I think it’s dumb as hell that they’re going to insist on going forward with the World Cup when there is a real danger of an Ebola outbreak. Just cancel the stupid thing. Idiots.
Poll Question
T.J. Hockenson will have the highest cap hit in the NFL for the tight end position in 2026, per Spotrac. He’s coming off of a low production year in 2025, but the struggles at the QB position likely contributed to that. The Vikings also have arguably the best WR trio in the NFL entering the season, but Hockenson can be another weapon and has produced at an elite level in prior years, and is still young at 29 years of age.
Keeping all that in mind, please answer the following question:
Loading ...Vikings & NFL News
From the Star-Tribune, rookie FB Max Bredeson no stranger to following in big footsteps as he replaces C.J. Ham.
Sports Illustrated reported that new ssistant HC Frank Smith offered a non-answer on whether he thinks Murray or McCarthy will win the QB1 spot. I hope this didn’t surprise the folks at SI. Did they really think he was going to publicy pick one QB over the other?
An NFL news roundup from NFL.com includes news that Giants DL Roy Robertson-Harris tore his Achilles in OTAs. That stinks, you hate to see guys get hurt, especially in practice.
CBS has OTA observations from around the NFL.
The Buffalo Bills acquired D.J. Moore from the Bears via trade, giving up a 2nd round pick for him. MSN reports that there are journalists who are critical of the trade.
Media Selection
Interesting conversation here on Russell Brand’s podcast.
Thread Guidelines
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Ben posted a new thread for us in case there is anyone on this thread.
Well, I think it is Wednesday.
Kyler looks like a midget.
That helmet sure looks big on him.
Thought he’d be taller
They don’t call him the midget for nothing…
You get me JV
Don’t want to pass judgement too soon… but looks bad.
He said-She said??
My brother was arrested when his wife accused him of pushing past her to leave the room where they were arguing causing her to fall.
He spend the night in jail and she convinced the cops to station a patrol car outside their home. She was an Evil Bitch but she had him by the balls so he stayed.
It was like six months before he could clear himself of all that mess.
Yep, too early to pass judgement. He turned himself in apparently. I hope it’s not real, or not as bad as is being presented. Diggs just won in court over a similar situation.
Jacobs, through his attorneys, denied the allegations.
“Josh vehemently denies the allegations, and this matter is in the early stages of investigation with important evidence that has not yet been made public. We ask for fairness and restraint while the judicial process takes its course,” attorneys David Chesnoff, Richard Schonfeld and Clarence Duchac said in a statement.
He will get a slap on a wrist.
Fans will love him more because they can relate,
Its puker nation.
The OTA today was locked down, so I don’t think we’ll get much reporting on it. Tomorrow is open to the media though.
‘…Walking down the street,
Shooting people that I meet,
Fully loaded tommy gun,
Here comes the deputy, try fuckin’ gettin’ me
Gotta fuckin’ get up and run
They got the sirens loose
I run right outta juice
They’re gonna put me in a cell, if I can’t go to heaven
Will they let me go to hell?
Crazy
Stone cold crazy, you know….’
Pat Boone?
OK GF… laughed out loud on that one.
Lol….
he did release a metal album in the late 90’s
After June 1st, the Vikings gain $11.2 million from Jonathan Allen’s release. The Vikings used a post-June 1 designation on Allen’s release, which defers the bulk of his dead cap hit into 2027 and makes the $11.2 million in cap savings available to Minnesota after June 1st, leaving them with $12.67 million in dead cap for that period.
They will also be getting Cap Space for the Hit Mans post 1 June release, not as much about $1.5M.
Yes. Those post 1 June designations free up cap space this year, but eventually come back as dead cap money in 2027. The expected increase in cap space in 2027 helps offset the dead cap money a little though.
Lol
Lot of Serial Killers in good ol Wisconsin. Don’t forget whats his name from Making a Murderer and many many more
Steven Avery. Dude was guilty as hell, that entire series was a farce.
Yup.
Skillful editing in trying to overcome a mountain of forensic evidence.
They did railroad the nephew though. Kid has some severe mental impairments.
“I like wrestlin”
Yes, what they did to that kid is criminal.
Just watching the news there are so many noteworthy names we could add to the left here.
Yeah you’re right.
They forgot to add:
Charles Schulz
Jessica Lange
Larry Fitzgerald
Joe Mauer
John Madden
Is the good Governor part of the list? Maybe the Mayor of Minneapolis too?
No. And why would they be?
Irony?
Thank you.
I think you might’ve missed the point.
The original post was about shitting on the state of Wisconsin – using the idea that it’s mostly known for a couple of horrific murderers – vs the list of notable Minnesotans next to it.
I get that the political leadership in Minnesota, at both the state level and in its largest city, is a shitshow. That’s not lost on me. Did you think it was? Really? It’s a topic of conversation here daily. And I’m here daily.
The post had nothing to do with the current state of affairs in Minnesota, political or otherwise.
I’m a Minnesota native. Shitting on Wisconsin is my birthright. Same for shitting on Iowa. And Michigan. Same for the Dakotas.
I assume Wisconsinites (Wisconsinards? I dunno, I barely recognize them as people) are also shitting on me. Same for the residents of Iowa, Michigan, the Dakotas. If they aren’t they should be.
Shitting on Wisconsin is a daily part of the routine here too. Well, maybe not the state in it’s entirety (we’ve got comrades residing across enemy lines) but daily on here you’ll find someone posting: FTP – and it gets recs!
So that’s why the original post didn’t add Walz or Frey – wasn’t relevant to shitting on the state of Wisconsin.
If you’d like to post your own side by sides for comparison I’m certain you can add those two on it. Along with Omar, Klobuchar, Andrew Cunanan, Kid Cann, Luke Helder (my actual cousin) and Lucy – because she always pulled the ball away from Charlie Brown when he was trying to win the big game.
‘Shitting on Wisconsin is a daily part of the routine here too’
I shit on FTP and their fans regularly but I don’t recall shitting the state.
Actually most FTP fans I meet are decent people just misguided.
I bet you don’t recall ‘shitting the state’
guessing you’d remember that experience.
It was a joke, that’s all.
Now, I can’t make a comparison as I live in the deep South and a great many of those Northern States look “less than ideal” to me.But Minnesota sure is in the news a lot.
Hope you and Goose have a nice weekend.
Wisconsin:
Chris Farley
Orson Welles
JJ Watt
Danica Patrick
Frank Lloyd Wright
Georgia O’Keeffe
August Derleth
Clifford D Simak
Laura Ingalls Wilder
Charles and John Ringling
and some of you will really recognize these names:
Valentin Blatz
Frederick Pabst
Joseph Schlitz
Wonder if Harrison Smith will show up at OTA’s?
What “damages” is he seeking?
To date, no damage amounts have been publicly revealed. Gruden is seeking $150M in his lawsuit against the NFL, so it might be somewhere around that. Total speculation there though.
Gruden was a screw job, Flores would have a better case if he were just suing the dolphins for wrongful termination, reports are they told him to tank and he refused so they fired him.
Yes, he claims he was offered $100K by the Dolphins for every game he lost. Not sure if he has the ability to prove it though.
Not sure he can prove that either, but the dolphins were disciplined for tanking
I hope Gruden and Flores both win.
Me too GF.
Yeah, Gruden was fired because of emails he sent went he wasn’t even employed in the nfl and they had nothing to do with what the league was investigating related to the Washington redskins owner, but because he called goodell a faggot in one them he got cancelled.
I think Gruden has a legitimate case. Flores, likely not. Like I said, it would be absurd to think that he didn’t get hired due to his race when there are dozens of other non-white coaches in the NFL and players are like 75+% non-white. Unless there is a specific email directly stating what he claims (I’m guessing there isn’t, it would be case closed by now), I doubt he wins anything.
Agree. Danny Boy had the goods on some other owners and threatened to do so. Thus, they needed a new fall guy.
Flores, playing the race card, can’t go with that.
I doubt that either of them goes to trial.
The NFL will not want the information that they have to disclose during Discovery to get out.
They will fight it as long as they can and if it looks like it will come out to the public they will settle.
That’s also a good point and the point I was making the other day – Flores is hoping for that exact thing, a settlement. But I don’t think he wins on merits in a trial. But he knows the history of the NFL and their propensity to keep things in-house and under cover, so they might settle.
He is overturning the rock and uncovering the rotten underbelly of the NFL. They can’t have that, better to pay out.
I don’t know all of the legal arguments of the case, but I do know that ‘Legal does not equal Logical‘.
Happens all the time in the corporate world. Someone doesn’t get a job or a big enough bonus or something, so if a minority claims race discrimination. And even if the company is innocent, the lawyers will settle just to make the case go away – pure economics.
Good, going to be fun to watch all of the rats run for cover.
As predicted, video’s of our QB’s making throws in slow motion…
Negative. Neither of those were from this years OTAs. Stop posting garbage from fake Twitter accounts.
Laughing… you don’t get that I’m doing it to stir you up… laughing so hard…
Nah, you got fooled and dont want to admit it. Its fine.
Nope, saw several comments this morning that these fake reports were being distributed. I just decided to have some fun, and of course see who took the bait.
I know people are posting fake OTA clips. I’m having fun at your expense. I guess that makes me a bit of an ass.
No you’re pretending that you didnt get fooled by a fake twitter account at the expensive of all other posters. That’s what makes you a bit of an ass.
Oh I have definitely been fooled a couple times… no doubt. But anyone who thinks these reports were real had to be somewhat touched…
I blame Ponder
Have to say… that was a tough time for our QB room.
And we’re off!!!
Underthrown, JJ (WR) had to wait for it.
Better than a poke in the eye with a shape stick though.
Well he threw it to Addison… so…
No he didnt because thats not from this year and thats not Kyler.
Potato – Patato.
Again, fake twitter post. Thats not Kyler, Fans are not allowed at OTA’s. This is from a previous seasons training camp in July/August. Gotta be able to filter out the BS folks.
Yea, been a while but sort of remember Kyler isn’t white.
I mean, there’s surgery for that haha
Maybe Kyler got the Michael treatment….
Ooof that is some nightmare fuel for multiple reasons. Thanks MJ
Hockenson falls over when somebody looks at him, and that’s if he even catches the ball. Huge waste of money IMO.
The new contract was for sure. Initial trade was not. Common theme round these parts. Its more than likely his last year on the roster so, can quit complaining about it.
Replying with my opinion from the question at top. It may not always be right like yours, but it’s what I think. I’m not “complaining about it” excessively like some here do with other players, so don’t tell me to stop.
Ahh, didn’t notice the question up top. Keep going, almost there.
Well, I’m not sure exactly what you mean by that. But I think the Vikings might be able to to replace 400 yds and 3 TD’s from other players without spending 15.6 million on him. He does get injured a lot as well.
For sure. I would have been okay with them moving on this off season but, we also dont really have any reliable depth (that has been proven) at TE so. His injuries have made that contract an anchor on the team financially for sure. I agree
They should bring Irv Smith back, I think this might be his breakout year
Any year now you know it’s going to happen.
I think his dead money hit was the only reason he wasn’t cut this year.
Yup, bingo. That and depth.
Since it’s Cousins Tuesday and all the boys are out in fine form . Here’s a thought to mull over.
I believe McCarthy and his future would have been far better if they had Brought Cousins in to compete for the position. Even if Cousins won out, he’s old will retire and then JJ can take over.
Now, with Murray here I believe things are more bleak. Barring injury, I believe Murray will have a really good year. If so, given the Darnold affair, we will resign Murray and JJ will be gone.
…and then JJ will win a Superb Owl with whomever he joins (’cause Vikings).
I know far less about QB play than most of the experts around here. But do believe JJ ain’t winning shit if he doesn’t learn to throw the ball accurately.
Murray comes with some question marks for sure. The Cardinals clearly moved on from him, so there’s that. I watched him against us, and I have to say I saw a lot of good play. His arm talent is quite good, and he can make plays with his legs. That said, running an NFL offense effectively boils down to a QB’s brain more than raw athleticism. I’m not sure if Murray is a great processor. We shall see.
He is very talented and good enough to take that crap organization Cardinals to the playoffs. If KOC can coach him he will have a great year with all the offensive firepower we have.
We definitely have a talented offensive roster. Jefferson, Addison, and Jennings are gonna be a problem for defenses. Hockensen too. If KOC ever gets a run game schemed up decently, then the QB is really in good shape. I have a lot of confidence the offense will be effective this year and score plenty of points though. Just my personal take.
Cant build a roster while paying Cousins. Think how much more broken the roster would be if we gave Cousins what he wanted and the contract Atlanta gave him. It’s lunacy. The issue has never been Cousins performance and raw numbers, its his price point and cap hits. We can play what ifs all day. “He’s old and will retire” Were 3 years past that now and he’s still playing. So no, we would still be in a bind. Also Cousins doesn’t like competition. Never has.
That’s not the point I was making here. Talking about right now, present this year. Believe Falcons are paying the bill for Cousins this year and Raiders are paying pocket change. And believe, Cousins was fully aware they were going to draft Mendoza.
This was about McCarthy’s future which I believe is more bleak with Murray here.
First, Cousins has always said nothing is given to you, and you have to earn your position every day. He beat out RGIII who was basically considered the Messiah in D.C. so yeah, he’s fine with competition.
Second, plenty of teams out there have veteran QB’s on big contracts. That’s a norm in the NFL. Lots of teams want a young QB on a rookie deal, but the reality is they spend those first four years like Bryce Young and Trevor Lawrence, learning to play in the NFL. That’s the norm. Young QB’s have to develop. So you pay a vet who knows what he’s doing, or you pay a rookie who doesn’t.
What Cousins “says” and what he actually does are two different things. If you fall for his fake, superficial, political lip service, I guess thats on you. There’s a reason the Vikings never brought in ANY legit back up that could potentially push him out the door. And sure, pay Vet QBs mid market value to stay. Not record breaking contracts or extensions with no trade clauses. Context matters.
Your emotion based commentary on this is irrational. The Vikings didn’t bring in any significant competition for Cousins because he was so solid, reliable, and competent. In other words, it wasn’t necessary or reasonable to bring in competition. They actually did bring in Kellen Mond, and RGIII famously commented that Cousins was in trouble because “Mond is everything Cousins isn’t”. RGIII himself was everything Cousins wasn’t BTW, and he was right. Mond was everything Cousins wasn’t, and he didn’t last long in the NFL. Cousins has been in the NFL 14 years, because he’s a really good QB. That’s the rational, reasonable take on him. He’s rarely been the reason for his team failing, while usually being the reason for his team succeeding. He plays at a high level, very consistently. Those facts are backed up by his production data.
Sorry Mr. Pro Cousins robot. Not reading your repetitive opinion pieces on Kwerk on this blessed Tuesday.
You are welcome
I seen an interview with Drew Bledsoe, this weekend. It may have been an older interview, but I am not sure. I did not know that the hit he took that lead the way to a guy named Brady becoming the starter, was so bad. He got up and played another down, before he was taken out for concussion protocol. But he said his heart stopped while in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.
Wow… I didn’t know that either. I thought he spent time with Brady on the sideline after he left the game, going over the play call sheet. Maybe I’m misremembering.
I believe he said he was on the sideline throughout the game, but after the game he was taken to the hospital by ambulance.
Ahhh sooo… maybe I wasn’t misremembering. I remember he took a good 6 or 7 weeks to recover from the hit Mo Lewis put on him though.
He wasn’t taken out for concussion protocol, the hit by Mo Lewis tore a blood vessel in his chest, causing internal bleeding and the injury was life threatening either way though
Don’t forget it is Tuesday
I was wondering how long before someone would bring him/it up.
Gotta do something to rattle the natives.
Have you noticed that whenever he plays for a team, they draft a new quarterback?
Like Kellen Mond?
Like Haskins, McCarthy, Penix, Mendoza.
So a team has a proven, competent vet QB, and they bring in a young guy, and that’s supposed to mean something? The Rams drafted Ty Simpson this year, so Stafford now sucks? That’s the extrapolation on reasoning I’m sensing here from you GF.
Stafford’s like 142 years old, I’m guessing that was a factor
It’s the same factor for every team in the league at some point. Have a vet QB, bring in a young guy to learn from him. It’s a sensible thing to do. Right?
I don’t think the Bears will be spending a first round pick on a quarterback next year.
Laughing… I think the Bears decided a long time ago that they want to perpetually have a young QB at the helm on a rookie contract. Trubisky, then Fields, then Williams. Next year it may be another young guy.
I believe the Bears just suck at drafting QBs.
Laughing… can’t argue that too much.
They moved on from those quarterbacks because they sucked.
But what about development?
That’s interesting, never thought about it. Yet, didn’t do the Redskins, Vikings or Falcons much good. Maybe will be different for the Raiders.
The Rams drafted Ty Simpson this year with their first round pick. Does that mean McVay is looking to replace Stafford? I think it’s pretty natural for teams to draft young QB’s.
It does mean he’s looking to replace Stafford…..after he retires.
Which is the norm in the NFL right?
Especially when your starter is 40+ and has a broken body. Not really that hard of a concept to grasp.
I agree. Bringing in a young guy to evaluate, and allow to season under a vet is a smart thing to do. It’s also the norm in the NFL.
Yeah, but you don’t spend the first round pick on a QB unless you’re looking to replace the current guy soon.
Well, it doesn’t make sense to draft a guy outside the first round when you’re thinking long term right? Get a top shelf pick to develop. Can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear as they say.
Right, and Cousins is a sow’s ear, that’s why he has to be replaced every time he goes somewhere.
15th in NFL history in passing TD’s and just 2 behind John Elway in 50 fewer games, isn’t a sow’s ear. He’s clearly a lot better than you’re willing to admit.
To be fair, don’t believe that was the reason here. He had a very good year in 22 and we won the division. In 23, the entire team started slowlly, but righted the ship after back to back wins over Niners and Packers. At that poiint, he was playing really well.
But given his age, and recent injury, they drafted a QB.
Bringing Cousins to those teams didn’t do them any good, either. It just cost them a lot of money.
It did the Vikings a lot of good. He was basically the most productive QB in the history of the franchise. 6 straight years of top shelf QB play and production, whether folks want to admit it or not.
A lot of good? LOL.
They were 13-3 and went to the NFC championship game the year before he got there.
Cousins led an offense every year that kept them in pretty much every game though. The Vikings rarely suffered a blowout under Cousins, and of course he led a large number of 4th qtr come from behind wins. Tied with Stafford for the NFL record of 8 of those in one season. NFL record. That’s impressive QB play.
I guess if their goal was to spend a lot of money and not make the playoffs, then he did them a lot of good. I’m assuming that wasn’t their goal, though.
Their goal was to have top shelf, quality QB play, and that’s exactly what they got. Cousins wasn’t the reason the team didn’t win more. He was often the reason in the 4th qtr that they didn’t lose more though.
Right having a stagnant offense for 3/4 of a game was not his fault at all.
It wont. We all know how his tenure with the Raiders will go. At least it will be entertaining to watch the wheels fall off.
Think you misread my post – I believe Mendoza is going to be a star.
Brady seems to have a big say in the QB situation there, and I think he has a pretty fair idea how to do it right.
I don’t know, isn’t he the one who decided to bring Geno Smith in?
Would guess it was more Pete Carroll. And Brady was just staring to get involved at the time.
Was referring to Kwerky boi. Mendoza has better odds of being the next Tebo then being the next Brady. And the if Kwerks his mentor, well, a lot of .500 is in his future.
Well, I’m kind of worried about a different QB being the next Tebo, but it ain’t Mendoza (hint – closer to home).
You certainly accomplished that.
OTAs start today, I wonder who will show up and who won’t. I know JJets was not there last year, but it would be nice if he was to show up to work with the QBs.
I expect we’ll get treated to some nice slow motion video’s of McCarthy and Murray throwing the ball.
All theatre.
The McCarthy saga is there to be milked by the media all year. I think it’s likely there will be somewhat endless commentary on how he looks throwing the football, vice how Murray looks. I’d bet money that this will be the primary commentary we’ll hear to start OTA’s.
We’re going to be at training camp, not sure how many days but we’ll be there. I need to work on getting press passes.
Awesome. I’m sure it will be a blast!
We always have fun there. The hotel next to training camp is nice, and then you don’t have to go into the city of Minneapolis.
Glad to hear that. Very cool that you can get a press pass. I has some envy going on.
I’m not sure if I’ll be able to get a press pass, but I’ll give it the ol’ college try
Happy
MondayTuesday, back for another wonderful work week.Gonna be a good day for me, I’m finishing up phase one of that property clean out, so I get to invoice that today. Should get a pretty nice sized check on Friday.
Before & after photos
More
The neighbors stopped over & thanked us, they were very happy to see us working there. they were amazed that we got it done so quickly.
I hope you get a nice sized check for that. You sure earned it.
It will definitely be profitable. I’m hoping we get to sell this one, too. This property management business has been a huge boom to our Real Estate business.
You earn every nickel though. You’re a great example for folks to follow. Work hard, and earn your way to a level of prosperity.
Mowing was a b**ch. it looks good now, though.
OOO i know exactly where you are at in town lol. The “Affordable housing” area there to the East could use your touch as well. We do IT for the Property Management that works there, its all hodge podge from a Networking stand point.
The intersection of 9th and Broadway, about 2 blocks from the capitol building.
Wow that’s a huge difference and a lot of work. Nice job.
Thanks! ‘Twas a lot of work, but fun, and rewarding.
I just don’t understand how people live like that.
Lazy and drunk/high.
All in all their ‘Give a Damn’ is busted.
Find any treasures in that mess worth keeping?
Yeah, a Kawasaki motorcycle and a 2011 Volkswagen Jetta. Once the foreclosure process is finished, I get to remove them.
Other than that, I found five Playboys, and a weed pipe. I kept the Playboys, I threw the weed pipe away.
‘I kept the Playboys’
I trust they were not from the ‘No Nudity Era’ around the mid 2010s or so.
https://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-no-nudes-playboy-20151013-story.html
No, from the late 90s. One of them had Shannan Dogherty in it. They actually might have some value, @that’s the only reason I kept them@.
Another one had an interview with O.J. Simpson
I don’t think he gets naked in there though. At least I hope not.
‘I don’t think he gets naked in there’
I think that they had Play Girl for that.
You and Kiddo can go thru them together and assess their worth on the resale market.
SKOL and of course FTP, FTP, FTP.
Happy work week to all you younger people.
FTP Auto Rec.
FTP Auto Rec.
FTP Auto Rec.
Good morning, SKOL!
FTP!
I’m going to work, and I’m not younger, I just act that way