25 absolute worst takes about the Minnesota Vikings from 2024

During the last few months, the Minnesota Vikings have proven a lot of people wrong (like a lot, a lot). But in the age of sports coverage where everything centers around who has the hottest take, people being wrong about the Vikings in 2024 was pretty much inevitable.

Many have been surprised by Minnesota winning 14 games this season with Sam Darnold as the team's starting quarterback. Some assumed the Vikings were just going to be one of the worst teams in the NFL in 2024, and well, these people were very, very (very) wrong.

So, when we look back at everything that was said during the last 12 months about the Vikings and even about some of those with a connection to the franchise, which 25 takes deserve to be regarded as the absolute worst?

25 worst Minnesota Vikings takes from 2024

A quick note before we get started. These takes are not in any particular order and they are not ranked. All 25 are just equally as bad as the other.

With that being said, let's get started!

1. Adam Patrick - TheVikingAge.com

Vikings should re-attempt to hire Jim Harbaugh

Yes, I'm kicking this off with one of my terrible takes from 2024.

After rumors began to circulate about Jim Harbaugh wanting to become an NFL head coach again, I thought Minnesota should at least consider bringing him in to replace Kevin O'Connell.

While Harbaugh eventually landed with the Los Angeles Chargers and has helped them turn things around this season, O'Connell is likely going to win Coach of the Year and sign a lucrative extension with the Vikings after the 2024 campaign.

2. Mike Florio - NBC Sports/ProFootballTalk

Lions should sign Kirk Cousins in the 2025 offseason

This probably won't come as a surprise, but Mike Florio is on this list more than once. But Florio starts off with a bang by suggesting that Kirk Cousins would be an upgrade over Jared Goff and he would give the Detroit Lions a better chance to win the Super Bowl in 2025.

These comments were, of course, made before the Lions made it all the way to the NFC Championship last season with Goff leading the way.

3. Kyle Long - CBS Sports

The Vikings should trade Justin Jefferson

Kyle Long and CBS Sports have done their best to delete this clip from the internet, but luckily, we've still got the exact quote from the former NFL offensive lineman, and it sure is something.

"The Minnesota Vikings, you need to trade Justin Jefferson. Because you've got the best receiver in football, but you didn't win a Super Bowl.

Kirk Cousins had an awesome year, but you've got other weapons in Braylon Addison, a number of receivers, you've got a great tight end there, you've got a coordinator, a great offensive mind at head coach.

Go get rid of Justin Jefferson. Get a ton of other great players."

4. Neal Ruhl - Woodward Sports Network

Amon-Ra St. Brown is better than Justin Jefferson

Woodward Sports Network is a Michigan-based sports media company, so homer takes about the Lions are expected. But this take from Neal Ruhl is not even one that most Detroit fans would even agree with.

5. Dalton Del Don - Yahoo Sports

Kirk Cousins re-signing with the Vikings in 2024 is "the lock of the offseason"

Sorry, Dalton, but Cousins re-signing with Minnesota was, in fact, not the lock of the 2024 offseason. Silly Dalton thought Cousins was content with all the money that he had already made in his NFL career so far and would just want to return to the Vikings to "finish the job."

6. Charley Walters - Pioneer Press

Vikings could put Justin Jefferson on the trade block

Much like Florio, this is not Charley Walters's lone appearance on this list, and that probably won't surprise anyone. But for this specific take, he shared in mid-February that "steam continues that the Vikings could make Justin Jefferson available for trade" during the 2024 offseason.

Turns out Minnesota actually didn't want to trade the best wide receiver in the universe and they signed him to a multi-year extension in June.

7. Peter Schrager - NFL Network

Kirk Cousins was on his way to winning Offensive Player of the Year in 2023

Before Cousins suffered a torn Achilles in the middle of the 2023 season, Peter Schrager claimed that the former Vikings quarterback was on his way to winning the NFL's Offensive Player of the Year award for the 2023 campaign.

The award ultimately went to San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey, who would have still won the award even if Cousins was healthy for the entire season.

8. Minnesota Vikings fans

Fans freak out after Minnesota signs Sam Darnold in free agency

Look away Vikings fans. Not everyone was exactly thrilled when it was first announced that the team had agreed to a one-year contract with free-agent quarterback Sam Darnold.

Their tunes have likely changed now, but the posts below are just a few examples of Minnesota fans making their frustrations about the Darnold signing loud and clear.

9. Chris Simms - NBC Sports

What the hell were the Vikings thinking letting Kirk Cousins leave?

When Cousins eventually left Minnesota and signed a multi-year contract with the Atlanta Falcons, there were a variety of opinions on the move. Chris Simms clearly felt the Vikings made a mistake, and it turns out, that Minnesota actually made one of the best decisions in the history of the franchise by moving on from Cousins.

10. Antonio Brown - Former NFL player

"Sources" told Brown the Steelers and Vikings talked about a Justin Jefferson trade

We don't need to get into Antonio Brown's life after football, but he definitely had fun during the 2024 offseason trolling a bunch of fan bases with ludicrous claims like the one he made about "sources" telling him that the Pittsburgh Steelers and Vikings talked about a potential trade involving Jefferson.

Here's how that alleged talk likely went.

Steelers: "Hey, are you guys open to trading Justin Jefferson?"
Vikings: "Absolutely not."
Steelers: "Okay, have a great day."

11. Nick Wright - FS1

Dolphins should trade Tua Tagovailoa to the Vikings

After Minnesota moved on from an expensive quarterback in Cousins, Nick Wright suggested that the Vikings might consider trading valuable draft capital to the Miami Dolphins in exchange for quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who was expecting to sign a lucrative contract extension during the 2024 offseason.

Makes sense, right?

12. Kyle Rudolph - Former Vikings TE

Vikings should draft Joe Milton instead of a first-round QB prospect

Kyle Rudolph made a lot of plays during his career with Minnesota, and apparently, it's a very good thing that he wasn't allowed to make any roster decisions when he was with the Vikings.

13. Mike Tannenbaum - ESPN/Former NFL GM

Vikings should trade a first-round pick for Kyler Murray

Once again, after Minnesota moved on from an expensive starting quarterback, people like Mike Tannenbaum suggested that the team should just replace Cousins with another expensive signal-caller in Kyler Murray of the Arizona Cardinals.

In a 2024 mock draft, Tannenbaum had the Vikings trading one of their two 2024 first-round picks to the Cardinals for Murray and a third-round selection. Unsurprisingly, this didn't end up happening in the real 2024 NFL Draft.

14. Craig Carton - FS1

Justin Jefferson won't sign an extension with the Vikings

Craig Carton believed that since Jefferson reportedly turned down an extension from Minnesota that would have made him the second-highest-paid wide receiver in the NFL, he wasn't ever going to sign an extension with the Vikings.

Well, two months later, Carton was proven wrong.

15. Paul Allen - KFXN-FM/Vikings Radio Play-by-Play Announcer

Vikings should trade Justin Jefferson

As the rumors of Jefferson turning down extension offers from Minnesota continued to circulate, Paul Allen suggested that the team should trade the star wide receiver if they sense that he doesn't want to be with the Vikings anymore.

Of course, Jefferson eventually signed an extension with Minnesota, so he's going to be with the franchise for a long time.

16. Erin Henderson - Former Vikings LB

Vikings aren't going to win because their locker room is too nice

Erin Henderson was never a part of a Vikings team that won 14 games in a sinlge season like Minnesota's 2024 squad already has. Maybe those teams that Henderson was on should've been a little nicer?

17. Mike Florio - NBC Sports/ProFootballTalk

Vikings tried to trade up in the 2024 NFL Draft to select Malik Nabers

According to Florio, the Vikings attempted to acquire the No. 5 pick in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft from the Los Angeles Chargers in order to select former LSU wide receiver Malik Nabers.

With Jefferson and Jordan Addison already on Minnesota's roster, this report didn't make any sense when it was shared, and it still doesn't make any sense.

18. New York Jets

Jets laughed after making draft trade with Vikings

Minnesota made a deal with New York in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft in order to move up and select former Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy. After the trade was made, the Jets were still able to get the prospect they wanted, and they joked that the Vikings gave them "free money" with the deal.

Fast forward to now, and the two people laughing in the video, Robert Saleh and Joe Douglas, have already been fired by the Jets after another embarrassing season for the franchise.

19. Nick Wright - FS1

Caleb Williams could lead the Bears to the Super Bowl as a rookie

In his second appearance on the list, Wright suggested that rookie quarterback Caleb Williams could lead the Chicago Bears to the Super Bowl in his first season with the franchise.

Spoiler alert, Williams and the Bears didn't even qualify for the playoffs in 2024, and they will finish at the bottom of the NFC North, well behind the Packers, Lions, and Vikings.

20. Vic Tafur - The Athletic

Vikings have a good chance to start the 2024 season with an 0-6 record

When going over 2024 over/under win totals for every NFL team before the season, Vic Tafur picked Minnesota to win less than their 2024 projected win total of 6.5.

In fact, Tafur even went as far to claim that if the Vikings failed to beat the New York Giants in Week 1, there was going to be "a good chance" that Minnesota would begin the 2024 campaign with an abysmal record of 0-6.

21. Chase Daniel - FS1

Vikings have the worst receiving corps in the NFC North

Ranking Minnesota's pass-catchers last in anything when Justin Jefferson is on the roster is just asking for trouble, and that's exactly what former NFL quarterback Chase Daniel did before the start of the 2024 season.

22. Kevin Wildes - FS1

Vikings should trade for Mac Jones after J.J. McCarthy's injury

Everyone had a take for what Minnesota should do after rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy suffered a season-ending knee injury in the 2024 preseason, but it seems safe to say that the take from Kevin Wildes was very easily the worst suggestion of the bunch.

23. Charley Walters - Pioneer Press

Wouldn't be a shock if the Vikings used a top-five draft pick on a QB in 2025

McCarthy didn't suffer a career-altering knee injury in August, but based on Walters's reaction, he basically suffered the same knee injury that Teddy Bridgewater did in 2016.

Walters shared that if Minnesota had an unsuccessful season in 2024 and landed a top-five pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, he believed that "it wouldn't be a shock" if the Vikings used that draft pick to select another quarterback prospect.

It was a baffling take back then, and now, with Darnold's success and McCarthy still waiting in the wings, it's an even more insane take.

24. Stephen A. Smith - ESPN

Sam Darnold's success in Week 1 won't continue

After Darnold threw for two touchdowns and finished with a 113.2 passer rating in Minnesota's Week 1 win over the New York Giants earlier this season, ESPN's Stephen A. Smith was quick to shut down any optimism about the former No. 3 overall draft pick turning his career around saying, "Don’t expect the same results because it ain’t going to happen."

Smith clearly doesn't get paid the big bucks from ESPN to get everything right because he couldn't have been more wrong about Darnold.

25. Kalyn Kahler - ESPN

Bears should attempt to trade for Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell

After the Bears finally decided to fire Matt Eberflus earlier this season, everyone shared their thoughts about who Chicago should hire to be the team's next head coach.

ESPN's Kalyn Kahler shared an out-of-the-box idea for the Bears to try to trade for Minnesota head coach Kevin O'Connell. But it was just a bit too outside of the box, and as outlandish of an idea that it seemed to be at the time that it was posted, it's even more crazy at this point in the season with O'Connell leading the Vikings to a 14-2 record.

After the 2024 campaign, Minnesota is going to make sure O'Connell remains the head coach of the team for a very long time.

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