What must the Minnesota Vikings do in order to get back to the playoffs in 2021?
There is still one game remaining on the 2020 schedule for the Minnesota Vikings, but the result won’t have an impact on what their plans will be for the upcoming offseason.
The Vikings will either finish with six or seven wins after next weekend and an underwhelming year will come to an end. After making it to the divisional round of the playoffs in 2019, nothing went according to plan for Minnesota this season.
Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer and general manager Rick Spielman will both be entering the 2021 campaign on the hot seat, so the upcoming offseason is extremely important in terms of how it could affect their futures with the franchise.
Despite the fact that Minnesota will finish this year with a losing record, they’re not going to have a ton of holes to fill on their roster. The Vikings offense is full of youthful playmakers and the team’s defense is expected to get a number of their top contributors back for 2021.
Still, there are enough parts of the team that will need improving this offseason. Upgrading depth and planning for the future are two of the biggest things Minnesota should be focusing on during the next few months.
What are some of the other top priorities that the Vikings should have once they begin the 2021 offseason after their final game of the year next Sunday?
Figure out what Cousins’ future is with the franchise
This was a large priority for the 2020 offseason as well for the Vikings and the team decided to reward Kirk Cousins with a contract extension.
Unfortunately, Minnesota is about to miss the playoffs for the second time in Cousins’ three seasons with the team. So, once again, the Vikings will have to decide to either roll with their current starting quarterback for the next few years or add one of the top passing prospects in the 2021 NFL Draft.
Unless some team really wants Cousins to be their quarterback next season, he will most likely remain Minnesota’s starter for at least one more year. This should allow the Vikings’ to take a chance on a more raw passing prospect in the 2021 draft if that is the route they end up taking.
Drafting a quarterback might also be a way for Mike Zimmer and Rick Spielman to extend their time with Minnesota past 2021. Since Vikings ownership will know the potential future of the franchise is waiting in the wings, they might give Zimmer and Spielman the benefit of the doubt even if the team fails to make the playoffs again next season.
Find a way to create cap space
This sounds familiar, doesn’t it? The Vikings had very little cap space during the 2020 offseason and they’re expected to have even less when the new league year begins in 2021.
OverTheCap.com is currently estimating the NFL salary cap to be set at $176 million next year, which would be more than $22 million less than what it was for this season ($198.2 million). With their estimation, Minnesota would begin the year at $8.4 million over the cap.
It’s not as terrible as it’s estimated to be for some other teams around the league (Philadelphia Eagles and New Orleans Saints expected to be more than $70 million over the cap at the start of the 2021 league year), but the Vikings still have to at least figure out how to get their cap space out of the negatives before the new league year begins next March.
In order to do this, Minnesota might have to part ways with some longtime contributors including Kyle Rudolph, Riley Reiff, and Harrison Smith. The Vikings had to say their goodbyes to a number of veteran players last year in order to create cap space and they will likely have to do the same in 2021.
Invest in the offensive line
Building a solid offensive line seems like it has been the Achilles heel of Rick Spielman’s tenure with the Vikings.
No matter how much money is spent or how many draft picks are used, Spielman just hasn’t been able to construct even a decent offensive line for Minnesota since he was promoted to be the team’s general manager in 2012.
Luckily, Brian O’Neill, Garrett Bradbury, and Ezra Cleveland all seem like guys the Vikings can build around for the future. That leaves the left side of Minnesota’s offensive line that still needs to be fixed.
The Vikings have to decide if they want to keep Riley Reiff around for another season as their starting left tackle or if they want to shift Cleveland into this role instead. Then finding a new left guard isn’t a choice for Minnesota in 2021, it’s an absolute must.
Saying Dakota Dozier has performed terribly this season at left guard would be a compliment for him. Dozier’s play out on the field has been getting so bad recently that he’s just starting to sack his own quarterback.
With the Vikings not expected to have much spending money in 2021, the draft will likely be the team’s best option to find someone who can become their new starting left guard sooner than later.
Fix the defensive line
Some might think the defensive line won’t be that big of a priority for the Vikings in 2021 since defensive end Danielle Hunter and defensive tackle Michael Pierce are expected to suit up for the team next season. But Minnesota shouldn’t just twiddle their thumbs when it comes to this position group because Hunter and Pierce might play next year.
First off, no one has ever seen Pierce perform in Mike Zimmer’s defensive scheme. So there is no guarantee that he will even be a good fit for the Vikings.
However, Pierce really can’t be any worse than Minnesota’s two starting defensive tackles this season, Shamar Stephen and Jaleel Johnson. The Vikings have been terrible against the run this year and Stephen and Johnson being in the middle is a big reason why.
We also don’t know how much of an impact Hunter’s neck injury will have on his performance once he returns to the field. Even with little spending money in 2021, Minnesota should be looking to add a veteran pass rusher to their defensive line in case Hunter re-injures his neck or has to miss time due to a setback in his recovery.
After finishing with at least 48 sacks in both 2018 and 2019, the Vikings have only brought down the opposing quarterback 22 times this season.
6 QBs the Vikings could groom to be their future starter
Which quarterbacks could the Minnesota Vikings add during the 2021 offseason develop into becoming their starter under center?
Zimmer’s defense needs a solid pass rush to be successful, so improving this position group needs to be a top priority for Minnesota in 2021.