Monday Open Thread: March 29, 2021

Happy Monday, everyone!

Another fun-filled work week is upon us, and another week of waiting for news of Vikings activity to get excited about, or complain about, or something somewhere in between those two. Hey, the Vikings made another free-agent signing over the weekend, as they signed Xavier Woods to a one-year deal for $1.75 guaranteed and $2.25 million overall. I like the signing, I think Woods will be a good safety opposite Harrison Smith, and I think the Vikings got a great deal to land him at $2.25 million. Some are talking about how Woods “regressed” last year, mainly based on the fact that his stats were down. I agree that his stats were down, but I think that speaks more to being on a very bad defensive unit last year, and I could see him rebounding in 2021 playing on Zimmer’s defense. I like his versatility, he can cover the slot, and Vikings’ opponents have had success in the recent past when they’ve tried to exploit their slot coverage, so I think Woods will be a good addition to the defense, a defense which has been improved significantly so far in this off-season. I offer criticism when warranted, and I offer praise when warranted as well, so kudos to Rick for adding those improvements with very little cap space to work with.

Around the DN since our last open thread:

The DN has an activity tracker where you can see all the latest moves made by the team.

From Chris, the NFL is expected to approve a 17-game regular season sometime this week.

Chris brings you v6.0 of his Minnesota Vikings Mock Draft Database.

As mentioned above, the team signed S Xavier Woods to a one-year deal, GASkol has the details.

Other Vikings/NFL news and random oddities and annoyances:

After two big trades on Friday which reshuffled the top of the draft order, FoxSports speculates that Garoppollo may have a homecoming in New England in 2021.

Brett Favre opened up about the addiction he struggled with, and eventually overcame, a great piece by the Sporting News.

We come to today’s media selection:

Here’s a highlight reel of Xavier Woods career. Enjoy!

Again, we all know the rules, but in case someone is new:

-No discussion of politics or religion-
-No feeding of the trolls
-Take the gender hatred elsewhere, it won’t be tolerated
-Keep the bad language to a minimum (using the spoiler tags, if you must)
-If discussing a newer show or movie, please use spoiler tags
-No pictures that could get someone fired or in serious trouble with their employer
-If you can’t disagree in a civil manner, feel free to go away
-While navigating the open thread, just assume it’s sarcasm.

With that, the beer light is on and the bar is open. Belly up & tie one on, don’t forget to tip the cows, and settle in, it’s starting to get exciting.