Minnesota Vikings: How Minnesota Can Win 2015 Free Agency
As the high school football stars across the country sign on the dotted line on national signing day, their free-agent professional counterparts in the NFL are still a little over a month away from their signing period, which begins on March 10.
And while most who follow college football recruiting are claiming that Alabama has scored the top class for 2015, the results won't truly be known until the class of 2015 has finished college football.
That's not the case in the NFL, where the results of a team's free-agent signings usually make an immediate impact on the success or failure of the club the following year.
So how can the Minnesota Vikings "win" in free agency in 2015?
Minnesota is definitely a hard to team to gauge this offseason, because so much of what it does will be predicated on the future of star running back Adrian Peterson. It's widely assumed that the Vikings will try to renegotiate Peterson's expensive contract or seek to trade or cut him if they're unable to reach a new agreement.
Minnesota is done paying Peterson the guaranteed portion of his contract, according to Spotrac.com, and it makes zero financial sense to pay him the $47.4 million owed him over the next three years.
While the team would love to have Peterson back from a football standpoint, cutting him would free up nearly $15 million more in cap space. The Vikings currently sit about $10 million under the projected cap of $140 million, according to OverTheCap.com.
The total cap number is expected to grow by as much as $10 million based on league revenues. The Vikings are sitting in a good place financially heading toward free agency and could be in excellent shape depending on several renegotiations, according to Spotrac.com.
OK, so setting financials aside (as much as we can), let's take a look at how the Vikings can win free agency in 2015. We'll go over each position of need for Minnesota and talk about a couple of players who would make both financial and football sense for Minnesota in free agency.
Offensive Line
1 of 6
Mike Iupati is the jewel of the offensive line market, and the fact that he plays left guard should make him target No. 1 for the Vikings in the 2015 free-agent class.
The 6'5", 331-pound giant was named to his third straight Pro Bowl this season and is one of the most highly regarded run-blockers in the NFL. He'll be just 28 years old heading into the 2015 season and could give Minnesota four or five outstanding years at left guard.
It would be a remarkably similar signing to when the Vikings nabbed All-Pro left guard Steve Hutchinson in 2006.
Iupati has mentioned wanting to stay in San Francisco, but the 49ers have several high-profile free agents who they'll have to make tough decisions on.
Signing Iupati would do wonders for Minnesota. First and foremost, it would put an established star next to left tackle Matt Kalil and help ease the burden for him, who struggled in 2014.
If the Vikings were able to bring back Peterson at a reduced rate and add a star run-blocker, it would be an ideal boost for the offense and second-year quarterback Teddy Bridgewater.
Iupati won't come cheap, but he'd be a sound investment for Minnesota.
Other guards who might be on the Vikings' radar include Orlando Franklin and Clint Boling.
Priority: High. The Vikings need to find a starter at left guard to replace Charlie Johnson, who's underperformed for the last two seasons.
Wide Receiver
2 of 6
The Vikings need to find a No. 1 wide receiver.
How do you best help your franchise player, second-year quarterback Teddy Bridgewater? You find him a wideout with star capability.
Minnesota's receiving corps currently consists of Greg Jennings, Charles Johnson, Jarius Wright, Cordarrelle Patterson and Adam Thielen.
Those are five pretty good players, but none of them comes close to striking fear into a defense.
Johnson and Patterson have the most upside of the group, and hopefully one or both of them can become elite, but neither has shown nearly enough to have that expectation at this point.
There are certainly stars available in free agency, but the betting line is that the guys at the top of the list will be retained by their current teams.
Dez Bryant will stay in Dallas. Denver isn't going to let Demaryius Thomas go anywhere. Green Bay will bring back Randall Cobb. It's hard to see Chip Kelly moving forward in Philadelphia without Jeremy Maclin.
Following those four players, you hit a point where you might be overpaying for a guy who may or may not be worthy of No. 1 receiver status.
Who among the next four receivers (as ranked by Rotoworld.com) intrigues you enough to throw big money at him?
Among Torrey Smith, Michael Crabtree, Kenny Britt and Cecil Shorts, only Smith's 11 touchdowns and downfield speed make him an upgrade over Jennings.
Considering his potential, wouldn't you still rather have Patterson than any of those four players? The bet here is that the Vikings would.
Priority: Low, given that the top-end guys will probably all get huge deals to stay where they are.
Running Back
3 of 6
Obviously, the Vikings' need at running back is entirely dependent on what happens with Peterson.
In the best-case scenario, Minnesota and Peterson are able to renegotiate his contract, and he returns to the Vikings for around $8-9 million per year for three years.
Will that happen? Who knows?
Will Peterson's ego allow him to take a pay cut and return to the city where his off-the-field transgressions were under the biggest microscope? Or is it best for both parties to go their separate ways and get a fresh start?
Time will tell.
If Peterson isn't back with the Vikings, they'll need to add a running back. Matt Asiata isn't good enough to get more than a handful of carries in a game, and while Jerick McKinnon was impressive in his rookie season, he's a guy who's probably most effective splitting carries with another effective runner.
Assuming DeMarco Murray's price tag will be way too high and that he's not a guy who's going to want to share the ball with McKinnon, it's doubtful Minnesota would have any interest in him.
C.J. Spiller might be intriguing to Minnesota. He's had his share of injuries but has also shown big-play ability when healthy. He's used to splitting time, and he and McKinnon might make for a more-than-capable duo in the backfield.
Justin Forsett and Mark Ingram might be worth kicking the tires on, but the Vikings might do just as well by looking for a back in the draft.
Priority: It depends on Peterson's future. There's no interest at all if he's back—medium to high if he's gone.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Defensive Line
4 of 6
When Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer examines his team's statistics from the 2014 season, two defensive numbers should be particularly galling to him.
Minnesota finished 25th in the league against the run and 24th in third-down conversion against.
For a coach who prides himself on having a tough, stingy defense, those rankings won't sit well.
The Vikings defense doesn't have any glaring weaknesses, but it can get better at certain spots. Each level—the defensive line, linebackers and secondary—could use an upgrade through free agency or the draft.
Defensive end Brian Robison had a disappointing season with just 24 tackles and 4.5 sacks. He will almost certainly be back in 2015, but he may lose reps to second-year player Scott Crichton, or the Vikings may surprise people and go after an end in free agency.
While Justin Houston will be far too expensive for Minnesota, several other defensive ends might fit the Vikings budget if they want to spend money there.
Jerry Hughes has revived his career in two seasons in Buffalo, piling up 19.5 sacks and 99 tackles. Jason Pierre-Paul had a nice bounce-back season with the New York Giants, getting 12.5 sacks and 77 tackles.
Priority: Probably low. Nobody really saw much of third-round pick Crichton during his rookie season, which isn't a great sign, but the hope has to be that he'll be ready for a more significant role in 2015.
The hope has to be that he can at least rotate in with Robison, and the Vikings may look for a less expensive free agent for depth (the role Corey Wootton was disappointing in this past year).
Linebacker
5 of 6
Minnesota could use an upgrade at middle linebacker. Jasper Brinkley had a decent season as a guy who is solid against the run, but he has to leave the field in passing situations.
What's unclear is if the Vikings think they might have a new starter already on hand in Chad Greenway or Audie Cole. Greenway might not add a whole lot in terms of pass coverage, and while Cole has played well every time he's been given an opportunity, Minnesota seems hesitant to hand him a starting role for some reason.
Brandon Spikes, Mason Foster and Rey Maualuga are three of the top-rated free-agent middle linebackers, but one has to wonder if the price tag would be worth it on any of those guys.
Last season, they made $3.25, $1.5, and $3.8 million, respectively, while Brinkley made just $830,000 with the Vikings.
Brinkley's 75 tackles were 13 more than Foster, 16 more than Maualuga and 21 more than Spikes. While tackles numbers don't tell the whole story, the fact that Brinkley comes so much cheaper than those guys raises a red flag.
Priority: Low. The guess here is that the Vikings go after a middle linebacker in the early rounds of the draft rather than free agency. While the crop of free agents has some appeal, none of them provides enough bang for the buck to spend a lot of money on.
It wouldn't be the worst news in the world if the Vikings opened up with Cole starting at middle linebacker either.
Secondary
6 of 6
In cornerback Xavier Rhodes and safety Harrison Smith, the Vikings have two above-average cornerstones in the secondary.
It's at the other two starting spots where Minnesota needs to improve.
Captain Munnerlyn is best-suited for the slot corner role and was disappointing in pass coverage last season. Safety Robert Blanton is a fine tackler but is also below average against the pass.
Simply put, Minnesota is in the market for a couple of new starters in the secondary.
Plenty of intriguing cornerbacks are hitting the market, and it wouldn't be a big surprise if the Vikings made a serious play for one of them.
Byron Maxwell of Seattle, Brandon Flowers of San Diego and Chris Culliver and Perrish Cox of San Francisco could all step into the Vikings' starting lineup and be big upgrades against the pass.
Safety Devin McCourty of New England might be a bit too expensive, but Stevie Brown of the New York Giants and Marcus Gilchrist of San Diego would be of help.
Priority: Pretty high, especially at cornerback where several quality players are hitting the free-agent market. The Vikings have to improve on their number of takeaways (just 19 last season), and the quickest way to do that is to add a player who can come up with some interceptions.
As much as Rhodes improved in his second season, he still has just one career interception. It would be nice to add a player opposite of him who could pitch in with four or five picks to help the Vikings offense get more possessions.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
.png?w=480)
