The Minnesota Vikings have been busy this offseason. They needed to replace a starting quarterback, one of the most prolific edge rushers in the league, and more through the 2024 NFL Draft and free agency.
Whether you like or dislike what the Vikings have done this offseason, there is no argument that the team has been aggressive when looking to improve the roster. That work should help to shape the franchise in several key positions.
These days, everyone loves to grade everything or give their opinion on anything. This includes the offseason moves that Minnesota made heading into the 2024 NFL season. Some of those grades have been positive while others graded the team negatively.
Vikings given puzzling grade for their 2024 offseason decisions
Recently, Trevor Sikkema of Pro Football Focus shared an article where they graded the offseason moves of all 32 NFL teams, and the grade they gave the Minnesota Vikings is a bit baffling when looking at the other marks that were given.
Nine teams earned an A or A- grade for their offseason. 12 squads earned a B or B+. That means that 21 teams received a higher grade for their offseason moves than the Vikings, who earned a B- for their work.
Sikkema liked drafting J.J. McCarthy and Dallas Turner but didn't love the cost of moving around the draft board to acquire them. They also added that Minnesota will look different without Kirk Cousins at quarterback but this move could set them up for future success.
Free agent signings Sam Darnold, Jonathan Greenard, and Andrew Van Ginkel were mentioned but no analysis of the acquisitions was offered in the article. So much emphasis was placed on moving on from Cousins that so much of the success of this offseason seems to hinge on whether or not J.J. McCarthy can steer the Vikings' ship in the future.
Choosing a grade near the middle-of-the-road is safe. However, when over 65 percent of the league gets a better grade than Minnesota, it should make readers question where the Vikings went wrong this offseason.
Only time will tell if these signings and picks pan out for the Minnesota Vikings, but it would have been nice to get a little more information about why the team didn't receive a better grade and what could have been done differently to make general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah's offseason moves a bigger success.