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Congratulations to the Chiefs and to the Eagles for giving us a pretty entertaining Super Bowl game. These are the two franchises that most teams should try to emulate.
The Chiefs have been to the AFC Championship every year since Patrick Mahomes became the starter which is five years straight. They have made three Super Bowls and won two of them. Outstanding!
They had a veteran fairly good QB in Alex Smith but made the bold move of trading up to go get Patrick Mahomes. They let Smith play one more year and then turned it over to Mahomes. That is being bold and trusting your instincts.
They have had a few top free agent signings like Tyrann Mathieu and after getting mauled by the Bucs in Super Bowl LV, they set out right after to improve their offensive line. They traded for Orlando Brown, signed the top guard in free agency Joe Thuney, drafted Creed Humphrey in the 2nd round and stole Trey Smith in the 6th round.
They had Tyreek Hill since 2016 and were rolling out Sammy Watkins, Chris Conley, Demarcus Robinson, Mecole Hardman, and Byron Pringle before trading Hill before the 2022 season. They brought in Marquez Valdes Scantling, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Justin Watson, drafted Skyy Moore, and traded for Kadarius Toney this year.
Their biggest acquisitions on defense have been the drafting of Chris Jones and Marcus Peters (traded which led to the Juan Thornhill pick), trading for Frank Clark, and signing Tyrann Mathieu as a free agent.
The Eagles won the Super Bowl in 2017 with Nick Foles who was the backup to Carson Wentz. They have made the playoffs every year besides 2020 when they finally had to bench Wentz and turn it over the Hurts. The have had to roll through many receivers like Alshon Jeffrey, Nelson Agholor, Travis Fulgham, and others before drafting Jalen Raegor, Devonta Smith, and trading for AJ Brown. They have had two good tight ends in Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert.
Their strength, as we all know, has been on the offensive and defensive lines. They drafted Jason Kelce, Lane Johnson, Isaac Seumalo, Halapoulivaati Vaitai, Jordan Mailata, Andre Dillard (bust due to injury), Landon Dickerson, and Cam Jurgens last year. I do not see where they traded or signa free agent for their line.
I could go on about all the moves they have made for their defense and the trading for Gardner Minshew.
The Vikings could be close to emulating these teams on the offensive line with home grown talent. Bradbury may not return as I expect he will have a fairly robust market. Not too many centers hit free agency that are half way decent. With only 4 draft picks, Kwesi may be forced to give him a handsome extension. he will have to sig a free agent or draft a player to compete with the two starting guards (Cleveland and Ingram) who leave a lot to be desired in the pass blocking department.
The defense is a dumpster fire and has been for two years straight with many of the same players. I am not a fan of running it back even with a “better” defensive coordinator. But if they do, so be it.
There is a lot of work to be done this offseason and some of the conversation leans toward trying to run it back one more year and taking on dead money in 2024 (aka kicking the can). I can see the team believing they got a chance still. Hard decisions will have to be made though.
Since our last Open Thread ...
2023 NFL Draft: First round order officially set
Early 2023 power rankings show different perspectives on Vikings
The Fearles Leader asks What would you like to see here at DN?
YORE MOCK
First some moves ...
Starting Cap space - ($23,295,007)
Action - Updated Cap Space
Trade Cook - ($15,396,280)
Trade Hunter - ($21,136,280)
Cut Kendricks - ($11,636,280)
Cut Hicks - ($6,636,280)
Cut Ham - ($3,586,280)
Redo Thielen - $2,413,720 (remove last two years of deal and lower salary by 6M)
Redo H. Smith - $9,325,485 (remove last two years of deal and lower salary by 7M)
Restructure O’Neill (12M) - $18,296,073
Restructure Cousins (12M) - $26,296,073
Extend Hockenson 4 yr 58M - $32,296,073
Extend Jefferson 5 yr 165M - $24,296,073
Germaine Pratt (LB) accepted your 4 year offer for $10,500,000 per year
Sean Murphy-Bunting (CB) accepted your 2 year offer for $4,500,000 per year
...
TRADES
Trade Partner: Kansas City Chiefs
Sent: Danielle Hunter
Received: Round 1 Pick 31, Round 4 Pick 32
...
Trade Partner: Miami Dolphins
Sent: Dalvin Cook, Round 4 Pick 17
Received: Round 3 Pick 21, Future Round 5 Pick
...
Trade Partner: Dallas Cowboys
Sent: Round 1 Pick 23
Received: Round 1 Pick 26, Round 4 Pick 27
...
Trade Partner: Las Vegas Raiders
Sent: Round 1 Pick 31, Round 3 Pick 21
Received: Round 2 Pick 7, Round 3 Pick 7, Round 5 Pick 10
...
Trade Partner: Green Bay Packers
Sent: Round 5 Pick 24
Received: Round 5 Pick 35, Round 7 Pick 15
...
26: R1 P26 DL Siaki Ika - Baylor 6’4” 358
38: R2 P7 DL Lukas Van Ness - Iowa 6’5” 275
70: R3 P7 QB Tanner McKee - Stanford 6’6” 230
87: R3 P24 C Steve Avila - TCU 6’3.1” 332
129: R4 P27 EDGE Will McDonald IV - Iowa State 6’3.4’ 241
134: R4 P32 S Sydney Brown - Illinois 5’10” 213
146: R5 P10 RB Kenny McIntosh - Georgia 6’1” 210
171: R5 P35 EDGE DeMarvion Overshown - Texas 6’2.3” 220
177: R5 P41 G McClendon Curtis - UT Chattanooga 6’5.6’ 331
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234: R7 P15 CB Justin Ford - Montana 6’2” 200
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