Hey Vikings fans, it is still far too early to panic about 2020

After the first few days of free agency, many are starting to panic about the Minnesota Vikings and their chances for success during the 2020 season.

The 2020 free agency period just began a few days ago, but many Minnesota Vikings fans on social media have shown plenty of frustrations towards the organization already and some are even thinking the team is heading into a rebuilding season.

The Vikings giving Kirk Cousins an extension upset some fans. But this is not a surprise given how he gets plenty of blame from the team’s fan base for Minnesota’s failures from the past two seasons (some of it is deserved though).

Cousins’ extension did free up $10 million in cap space for the Vikings this year. His biggest critics can’t even dislike that part. He is not a great quarterback, but he is still good enough and bringing him back is a good move for Minnesota.

Yes, the Vikings have lost Stefon Diggs, Josh Kline, Trae Waynes, and Mackensie Alexander this offseason. But fans must also look at the positives.

Free-agent defensive tackle Michael Pierce is a very good addition and replacement for Linval Joseph for Minnesota. Joseph was a very good player during his six seasons with the Vikings, but he will be 32-years-old soon and his performance started to decline started last season.

Kicker Dan Bailey and punter Britton Colquitt were both re-signed by Minnesota recently. Both are coming off solid seasons and Colquitt’s holding was especially a huge help to Bailey, who made 27 of his 29 field goal attempts in 2019.

The Vikings also re-signed fullback C.J. Ham earlier this week, who played a critical role in the team’s rushing attack last year (sixth-best in the NFL).

Minnesota also placed the franchise tag on safety Anthony Harris, who is coming off a stellar performance in 2019. There were rumors that Harris could have been traded to the Cleveland Browns, but that interest may no longer exist due to the Browns’ recent signing of free-agent safety Karl Joseph.

The Vikings currently have 12 picks in this year’s NFL Draft, including two first-round selections. Losing Diggs definitely hurts. He is one of the best wide receivers in the league and he and Adam Thielen have been arguably the best receiving duo in the NFL for the past few seasons.

Talented wide receivers are not very hard to find though. Diggs was a fifth-round selection and Thielen was undrafted. Bisi Johnson was a seventh-round pick last year and he even showed some nice promise as a rookie.

Trading Diggs to the Buffalo Bills gave Minnesota four extra draft selections this year and there are also some talented free-agent receivers who are still available on the market. So the Vikings have options when it comes to replacing Diggs.

Minnesota’s decision to release Kline was a huge surprise since the move only saved the team about $1.6 million in cap space. The right guard was also the Vikings’ best offensive lineman in 2019 outside of Brian O’Neill and the team already needed to upgrade the unit this offseason.

Kline’s history of concussions could have been a concern for Minnesota, but the team reportedly wanted to restructure his contract and they still have some interest in bringing him back.

The Vikings are currently pretty thin at cornerback with Waynes and Alexander both heading to the Cincinnati Bengals in free agency this year.

Waynes did not have a very strong season in 2019 and he got a very nice offer from the Bengals. His departure still leaves Minnesota with a hole to fill though since he had been a defensive starter for the last few seasons.

Everson Griffen also just announced on Friday that he will be moving on after 10 seasons with the Vikings. Despite turning 32 last December, Griffen still had a strong season in 2019 with eight sacks. If Minnesota wanted to give him fewer snaps in 2020 due to the emergence of Ifeadi Odenigbo, this is something that might have caused Griffen to move on.

The Vikings also lost fellow defensive end Stephen Weatherly to the Carolina Panthers. He was a good rotational player for the past two years, but he clearly was not going to be brought back for the amount the Panthers agreed to pay him ($12.5 million over two years).

So far this offseason, Minnesota has had more positives than negatives. The draft is still in the future too and plenty of moves can still be made by the Vikings from now until the 2020 season opener.

Minnesota had a strong draft last year and they could have another in a few weeks, especially with all the picks they currently have. They could also either move up in the first round and possibly end up with a highly-rated prospect or move some picks for a current impactful player like current Washington Redskins offensive tackle Trent Williams.

Part of what makes the NFL so exciting is how unpredictable it is each season. Every year, we see some teams play much better than expected and some play much worse than expected.

Last season, many loyal Vikings fans did not expect their team to come out with a win over the New Orleans Saints in the playoffs. But Minnesota still went and got the job done.

Maybe the Vikings will struggle and miss the playoffs in 2020 or maybe they will return to the postseason and advance even further. Only time will tell.

Stay tuned, the current offseason for Minnesota is still very young.