Developing Vikings’ free agency plans, with and without Kirk Cousins
The Vikings will need several approaches to the free agency market depending on what happens at quarterback.
According to all sources, the Minnesota Vikings do not know whether
will be under center next year, which means they will have to build various free agent road maps dependent on his choice. So let’s take a look at the many paths they might take, concentrating on two ways they could handle free agency if Cousins returns and two probable pathways if they go to the draft for their future quarterback.
For our plots, we will leverage some assistance from Pro Football Focus by 1) not include players that PFF anticipates to be franchise tagged. 2) Using anticipated price tags from PFF’s top 150 free agent list (see it here).
The Vikings approach free agency in desperate need of defensive line improvement and a replacement for Jordan Hicks at linebacker. They could also use additional depth at cornerback, where a single injury ruined the team at the conclusion of last year.
There is a win-now attitude to pursuing these guys, therefore we are searching for multi-year contracts that will allow the Vikings to shift all of the money into the future and use the empty years as they see fit. They’re looking for big-game players who will give them the best opportunity of assembling a top-tier defense and filling a few key gaps to help Cousins.
Here are the players who match the description.
Sign DE Danielle Hunter for three years at $21.7 million a year.
– Sign LB Frankie Luvu for three years at $10 million per year.
– Sign DT Grover Stewart for three years at $10 million per year.
– Sign linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel for two years at $6.5 million per year.
– Sign CB Kenny Moore for two years at $6.75 million a year.
– Sign Gjon Runyan for three years at $6.67 million per year.
– Sign WR Noah Brown for two years at $3.5 million a year.
This design has two linebackers who specialize in pressuring the quarterback, which would complement Brian Flores’ explosive shape-shifting defense. Along with those versatile LBs, Danielle Hunter returns to Minnesota as a double-digit sack machine, while behemoth defensive tackle Grover Stewart, who was rated as the 22nd best DT by PFF last year, joins forces with Harrison Phillips. Kenny Moore, a versatile cornerback, was ranked 18th by PFF in 2023.
On the offensive side, a pass blocking guard is required to protect Cousins. Runyan only gave up 21 pressures last year. Brown, a veteran, with 76 receptions in the last two seasons.
This technique would offer the Vikings a considerably deeper pass rush and secondary than in previous seasons while keeping the offense intact. The concern is that these players will have strong markets. To persuade certain free agents that Minnesota is the place to be, they may have to go above and above these rates.
Danielle Hunter
In the Super Bowl, we saw two strong defenders hurl haymakers at each other, but in previous years, the NFL has only welcomed exceptional offenses to championship weekend. With Cousins as quarterback, the Vikings have finished 19th, 8th, 11th, 14th, 8th, and 22nd in scoring. If they want a ticket to the dance, it must be better than this. How do they get there? By spending every penny on attack and scraping together a few defensive assistance. This is what it would look like…
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