The Viking Age
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CBS Sports praises Minnesota Vikings offseason moves with A- grade

By Adam Carlson

EDEN PRAIRIE, MN - SEPTEMBER 17: General Manager Rick Spielman of the Minnesota Vikings speaks to the media during a press conference on September 17, 2014 at Winter Park in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. The Vikings addressed their decision to put Adrian Peterson on the commissioner's exempt list until Peterson's child-abuse case has been resolved. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
EDEN PRAIRIE, MN - SEPTEMBER 17: General Manager Rick Spielman of the Minnesota Vikings speaks to the media during a press conference on September 17, 2014 at Winter Park in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. The Vikings addressed their decision to put Adrian Peterson on the commissioner's exempt list until Peterson's child-abuse case has been resolved. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /
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The Minnesota Vikings made some great moves during the offseason and were smart in the 2018 NFL Draft to earn a high grade from CBS Sports.

The NFL is a league where teams are willing to do whatever it takes to land a franchise quarterback. For the Minnesota Vikings, that meant putting a lot of money on the table to acquire the services of Kirk Cousins in free agency.

While Cousins was the headlining move, other free agent acquisitions like Sheldon Richardson and Kendall Wright in addition to trading for backup passer Trevor Siemian from the Broncos were all calculated moves to help keep the team contenders after falling short of the Super Bowl last season.

Adding talented players in the 2018 NFL Draft, especially defensive back Mike Hughes and offensive lineman Brian O’Neill, instantly gave the team more depth and dimension and helped provide tools for the future in essential positions.

Considering the loss of players like Sam Bradford, Case Keenum, Teddy Bridgewater, Jarius Wright and others against the new acquisitions, it can be easily discerned that Minnesota likely improved their talent across the board.

These improvements didn’t go unnoticed by CBS Sports, where  handed down his NFC North offseason grades and looked upon the Vikings efforts favorably, giving the team an A-.

Wagner-McGough had several reasons to really like Minnesota’s offseason, but it all started with the move to land Kirk Cousins, something he feels could push the team to the next level.

"“The Vikings’ offseason is an unequivocal success because they found a way to upgrade their quarterback situation when they were already a damn near complete team. With Cousins, the Vikings might just be the new frontrunners in the NFC “ Minnesota Vikings The Viking Age 0d - 6 biggest draft steals in Minnesota Vikings history More headlines around FanSided: 1d - Former Vikings first-round pick could reportedly return to NFC North 1d - Bears analyst has extremely embarrassing Kirk Cousins take 1d - 6 Vikings who (maybe) won't make the 53-man roster in 2023 2d - Which teams could be drafting a quarterback next year? 2d - Predicting what the Vikings will do in the 2023 NFL Draft based on 2022 More News at The Viking Age"

After also praising the addition of Sheldon Richardson, Wagner-McGough explained why the grade for the team’s offseason wasn’t a touch higher, stating that there are still some spots on the offense that need to be addressed.

"“Losing Jerick McKinnon, even though they have Dalvin Cook, hurts. Replacing his 991 yards from scrimmage will be difficult. Meanwhile, they didn’t really upgrade on the interior of their offensive line.”"

Minnesota should be fine with Dalvin Cook and Latavius Murray during the 2018 season and until the actual depth chart for the Vikings is released, it will be hard to know exactly what the team is planning to do on the offensive line, particularly whether Mike Remmers will be a guard or tackle.

Next: 7 best moves of the Vikings' 2018 offseason

Still, it’s hard to complain about an A-. The franchise solved one of their biggest questions for the next three years by putting a lot of money on the table, plus added a Pro Bowl defensive lineman and added other talented players. Now, it all needs to come together on the field for the Minnesota Vikings.

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