Rick Spielman left a massive mess for the Vikings in 2022
By Luke Parrish
What were Spielman’s biggest mistakes?
Before we can even dive into the future of Kirk Cousins, we have to first understand how the roster sits in relation to his potential as a quarterback. The Vikings have not formed a good enough team on both sides of the ball during Cousins’ four years in Minnesota, though the attempts have been there.
Minnesota had a top-10 defense in each of his first two seasons with the team, but the offensive line was pathetic. In his last two seasons, the offensive line made some progress, but the defense fell off of a massive cliff and was one of the worst in the NFL. Why is that?
The Vikings have had some stars on their defense, but the gaps between them are far too common. Harrison Smith, at age 32, signed a four-year extension worth $64 million in a deal that seemed like a payment for how good he has been over his entire career. Eric Kendricks is also playing on a sizeable contract extension as one of the league’s best linebackers.
Danielle Hunter and Anthony Barr take up a big chunk of the defense’s salary, but injuries have forced them off the field for the majority of two years. Even if we exclude those two contracts, the Vikings still have some bad ones on their defense.
In back-to-back offseasons, Rick Spielman spent big money on an interior defensive lineman that could not stay on the field. Michael Pierce and Dalvin Tomlinson, both defensive tackles who have missed a lot of time in Minnesota, are taking up roughly $18 million of the Vikings’ cap sheet next season.
It is likely that one or both of them will be cut prior to the 2022 season, with Pierce being the most likely candidate at this point. Cutting him would free up about $6 million in cap space after factoring in his dead cap allotment.
Spending that much money on a position that carries very little value, especially when you pay two players at that spot, is a brutal setback for the roster. The Vikings had a ton of money set aside for a defensive line that hardly played and made a very little impact last season.
Going back to the discussion of paying aging veterans, the Vikings now have a tough decision regarding Adam Thielen. With injuries hindering him for three seasons, Thielen is now set to make over $16 million in 2022 despite turning 32 this offseason and not racking up over 1,000 yards receiving in three years.
His ties to Minnesota make for a nice story, and fans have attached themselves to Thielen, which is fair given his production over the years. However, with just two 1,000-yard seasons, a lot of injuries, and a huge cap hit, the Vikings have to break some hearts.
Cutting him will upset a lot of Vikings fans, but Thielen has not proven to be anything more than a low-end WR2 in the NFL over the past three seasons. At age 32, I don’t see him turning it around and being some superstar in 2022.