What moves will help the Minnesota Vikings get back to being a playoff contender in 2021?
The 2020 season is in the books for the Minnesota Vikings, clearing the way to an offseason full of possibilities. As the favorite part for anyone who has ever played a Madden NFL video game, everyone has a theory of what their favorite team should do and how they can improve for the following year.
For the Vikings, they’ll be looking to make the jump following a disappointing 7-9 season. Although the additions of Anthony Barr, Michael Pierce, and Danielle Hunter should help in 2021, there are more issues to fix such as a leaky offensive line, a non-existent pass rush, and an offensive system reverting back to 1998.
Even with these issues, Minnesota’s offense is loaded with talent, and the young players that contributed on defense, such as Cameron Dantzler and Jeff Gladney, will have a year of experience under their belt.
To help this group reach its potential next season, the Vikings will have to make some tough decisions over the next couple of months. So what are some of the options Minnesota has to help them get back into playoff contention in 2021?
Zimmer will remain Vikings head coach, but there will be changes
There were many disappointments throughout the 2020 season, but the biggest one may be the job Mike Zimmer did as head coach.
While the Vikings were able to finish with a 7-9 record, Zimmer did a poor job of adapting to his roster, opting to lean on a defense that was missing five starters from a year ago and even more due to injuries.
With an offense that only turned it on when it was behind on the scoreboard, Zimmer’s old-school style seems archaic and needs a change to bring Minnesota into the modern era of football.
For those hoping for a change at the top, they probably won’t get it this offseason. Zimmer’s ability to pull the Vikings out of a 1-5 start and have them in playoff contention will entice ownership to keep him around.
As the third-winningest head coach in franchise history behind Bud Grant and Dennis Green, he also has the track record to suggest he can do so.
What may have to change is some of his coaching staff. While offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak helped lead an offense that ranked fourth in total yardage, they only ranked 11th in points scored.
With Kubiak reportedly leaning toward retirement, Minnesota’s top priority should be finding an offensive coordinator that has a more modern approach to play-calling.
Minnesota will have another overhaul along the offensive line
In what seems like a decade-long struggle, the Vikings will once again have to adjust in the trenches after another bad year for the offensive line. With Minnesota expected to have limited funds to work with, it appears they’ll also have to get creative if they want to give Kirk Cousins some added protection.
The first order of business will have to deal with Riley Reiff. The veteran tackle had to take a pay cut to accommodate the Yannick Ngakoue trade, but he turned in one of the best seasons of his career.
The fact Ngakoue lasted just six games before being traded probably leaves a bad taste in Reiff’s mouth and this could hamper negotiations with the Vikings on a restructured contract.
With Minnesota having a potential replacement in Ezra Cleveland, who played left tackle in college at Boise State, there’s a good chance the team moves on from the veteran offensive lineman this offseason.
Of course, that leaves the issue at guard. “Can he play guard?” has become a common meme for Vikings fans in recent years, but it might be the best way for the team to approach the subject. With several signings and maybe even a draft pick, Minnesota needs to create legitimate competition during training camp to fix their situation.
A good example could be how the Buffalo Bills built their offensive line heading into this season. By landing a bunch of castoffs through free agency and waivers, the Bills gave themselves a legitimate group in the trenches plus a surplus that could be used to gain assets.
This actually led to Buffalo landing Wyatt Teller, who was Pro Football Focus’ top-graded lineman this offseason, before trading him to the Cleveland Browns.
The bottom line is that what the Vikings currently have isn’t good enough and Minnesota needs to make a legitimate push to fix it ahead of 2021.
Minnesota will say goodbye to Rudolph
Since being selected in the second round of the 2011 NFL Draft, Kyle Rudolph has had a tremendous career with the Vikings, ranking fifth in franchise history in receptions and receiving touchdowns and 10th in receiving yards. As is the case with many great players, their time eventually runs out.
It seems like Minnesota has reached that point with Rudolph. In 2020, the 31-year-old Rudolph posted just 28 catches for 334 yards and one touchdown, plus he suffered a foot injury that forced an early end to his season. The total effort was one of his worst campaigns since his first year with the Vikings.
With Rudolph set to have a $9.45 million cap hit in 2021, the production just doesn’t match the cost for Minnesota to keep him around. Irv Smith Jr. and Tyler Conklin have both seemed capable of replacing Rudolph and with the Vikings looking for more explosiveness on offense, the veteran could be the odd man out.
There is a chance that Minnesota and Rudolph will agree on a restructure due to his status as a leader in the locker room and in the Twin Cities community. But it feels like the Vikings will close the book on one of the greatest tight ends in team history.
Minnesota will let Harris walk
We’ll forgive you if this feels like deja vu, but the Vikings are unlikely to make the same mistake twice with Anthony Harris.
The talented safety appeared to be ready to cash in on the free-agent market last offseason, but then Minnesota surprised many by using the franchise tag for the first time since 2011 and just the second time since 2003.
It’s unclear what the Vikings’ plan was with Harris as they reportedly shopped him before the 2020 NFL Draft and then they tried to work out a long-term extension with the safety when that didn’t work. In the end, Harris wound up playing on the one-year, $11.7 million franchise tender, and then he had one of the worst seasons of his career in 2020.
Although Harris slipped to 39th in PFF’s overall safety grades this season, his track record as a safety that ranked in the top five in 2018 (fifth) and 2019 (second) should entice someone to pay him on the free-agent market this year.
The decline in performance, the potential steep cost to retain him, and his age (he’ll turn 30 next October) make him expendable and Minnesota will likely try to replace him by committee in 2021.
Smith, O’Neill, and Hunter will all get paid
One thing that has gotten the Vikings in trouble with the salary cap is their tendency to dole out contract extensions this time of the year. Although it seems like Minnesota executive vice president of football operations Rob Brzezinski is a wizard when it comes to the salary cap, it tends to have its limits as the team has basically put these contracts on the company credit card.
Despite the long-term effects of these deals, there’s a good chance that Harrison Smith, Brian O’Neill, and Danielle Hunter could all see new contracts this offseason if Brzezinski can fit them under the cap.
O’Neill is the youngest of the group, but the 25-year-old (who will turn 26 in September) is one of the few building blocks the Vikings have on the offensive line. It’s unlikely that O’Neill will get top of the line money, but he expects to get a good chunk of change considering his importance to Minnesota’s offense.
Smith may be a surprise to some, but he continues to be one of the Vikings’ most valuable pieces on Mike Zimmer’s defense. Smith graded 15th among qualifying safeties this season per PFF and with no guaranteed money remaining on his contract, Minnesota will likely try to do something to create salary-cap relief and make him a Viking for the remainder of his career.
The most interesting name in the group is Hunter, who missed the 2020 season with a neck injury. After going under the knife, his agent expressed that his client would like to be paid like one of the top defensive ends in the NFL. But the 26-year old also has three years remaining on his contract.
In previous situations, Minnesota has done whatever they’ve needed to do to keep their star players happy. For a defense whose sack leader wasn’t even on the team past Week 6, doing the same with Hunter feels like a wise choice.
Minnesota will not draft their quarterback of the future
This might be the biggest question fans have heading into the offseason. Despite a rough start, Kirk Cousins put up one of the best statistical seasons of his career with 4,265 yards, 35 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions.
But that start, where Cousins led the league with 10 interceptions and helped put the Vikings in a 1-5 hole could make a case for the team to plan for the future.
If Minnesota is planning on doing this, it would be a good year to dip their toes in the water as this year’s draft class is loaded with passing prospects.
Although the Vikings weren’t bad enough to land Trevor Lawrence, they have the draft capital to make a move up to get Justin Fields or Zach Wilson. If that doesn’t appeal to them, they could even wait until the 14th overall pick to see Mac Jones or Trey Lance fall into their lap.
But the odds are Minnesota won’t be interested in any of them.
As we’ve seen from past Vikings moves, they’re willing to mortgage their future for the sake of going 10-6 with a playoff loss. Whether Minnesota should make a move to elevate that ceiling is up for debate, but Mike Zimmer and Rick Spielman are more interested in winning in 2021 than three or four years from now.
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With plenty of holes to fill, Cousins should be good enough to help the Vikings win games. It’s not what some of their fan base wants, but it’s how Minnesota has decided to operate.