The Minnesota Vikings have built a Super Bowl-caliber roster

AtoZ Sports

Tyler Forness discusses the Minnesota Vikings most recent moves in free agency and details why the roster is now in line to compete for a Super Bowl.

Transcript

00:00Did Quesadilla just build a Super Bowl caliber roster for the Minnesota Vikings?

00:04Well, after 24 hours of legal tampering period, it sure seems like it.

00:11Minnesota Vikings went into free agency with some very defined needs. And let me tell you,

00:17they delivered on filling all of them. It was a really impressive first 24 hours of the legal

00:22tampering period for the Minnesota Vikings. And let's let's just break it down. The first

00:26signing was a little less sexy. Cornerback Isaiah Rogers from the Philadelphia Eagles.

00:31Let me tell you, good football player. But it was interesting to see that he was the first

00:36guy to use $15 million. And that's a max value. The Capets are very palatable. And it just proves

00:42that the Vikings have a type of cornerback. They like the small guys were feisty and going to

00:46attack the football in the air. And that's what Rogers does really well. Mainly an outside guy

00:50play less than 50 snaps in the slot in his entire career. It's the same archetype as

00:54McKay Blackman. And will they be able to utilize that in maximize? We'll find out.

01:00Then they signed Ryan Kelly, which you can go kind of look at our last video.

01:04I recommend you go do so talking about him and replacing Garrett Bradbury.

01:08I thought maybe he might be brought in to play guard, but they completely

01:11shut that down by signing his teammate at Indianapolis will fries. Yes, it's fries,

01:17not freeze agreed to terms on a five year $88 million contract. It's an interesting one,

01:24because this is the first ever five-year deal. The Quasido from MENSA has given out,

01:28not even Christian Derrison, Justin Jefferson got a five-year deal.

01:32That's a big thing here. Five years is a lot and something that Quasido from MENSA has not done.

01:38Justin Jefferson was the first four-year deal that he gave out. He wasn't even willing to do that.

01:44Sorry, Jonathan Bernard wasn't in Justin Jefferson soon after that.

01:47So they really prioritize the offensive line, which is something I wasn't sure they were going

01:51to do. Kevin O'Connell made it very clear after the loss to the Rams that he wanted

01:56to fix the interior offensive line. But a few days later at his season ending press

02:00conference, Quasido from MENSA was a little less committed to it talking about a more linear

02:06approach and how development can be a big factor. You're over your growth coaching,

02:13not just replacing players, but they did. They got a new center. They got a new right guard,

02:17and that's going to be a big factor in the Vikings taking that next step,

02:21but they didn't just do that. Tuesday morning, they signed two good interior pass rushers.

02:27They're both over the age of 30. Jonathan Allen, three years, $60 million at the age of 30,

02:32and Javon Hargrave, two-year deal, which we do not have the numbers yet at age 32.

02:37Both those guys don't count toward the compensatory pick formula, which is a really

02:40smart way of doing business. If you can't get the elite guy, which let's be honest,

02:44maybe Milt Williams isn't an elite guy because his run defense is very suspect,

02:48and that's a big factor in playing defensive line. If you got two guys that you can bring in

02:55and fortify the position, and they don't count towards the compact formula, where right now,

02:59the Vikings would be able to get a third from Sam Darnold, a fourth from Daniel Jones,

03:02who left for the Indianapolis Colts. Hell yeah, buddy. That sounds like a great way of doing

03:08business. I'm thrilled with how the Minnesota Vikings have built this. They're about to go

03:12into the NFL draft with no dire needs, and that's not even including the fact we haven't talked

03:17about Byron Murphy yet. Byron Murphy Jr. is signing a three-year, $66 million extension

03:23to save the Minnesota Vikings. That price got spiked because of the deal that J.C. Horne signed,

03:28four years, $100 million, worth up to $110 million, I believe, with incentives.

03:33Murphy was always going to get paid. They wanted to extend him after the 2023 season,

03:39going into the 2024 season. Murphy said no. He wanted to play it out, and guess what?

03:44Everything Murphy did to wait it out paid off because he was the number one free agent corner

03:49signed as far as average annual value. D.J. Reid got 16. Traverius Ward and Carlton Davis got 20.

03:55Your mileage may vary if Murphy is the best of the bunch, but he got paid like it,

03:59and he's going to return to this defense where he has thrived. And guess what?

04:03Murphy is also the youngest of that group. He's only 27 years old. That's a big factor. He's

04:09going to be able to cash in with his fourth contract at the age of 30. What a smart way

04:14to play it by Byron Murphy Jr., and the Vikings defense is going to be significantly better

04:19because they kept him. This is a Super Bowl-caliber roster. If J.J. McCarthy ends up being good,

04:24this team could be very, very dangerous. But it's all going to ride on McCarthy,

04:29because if he's bad, the defense can only take you so far as we saw last year,

04:32because when Sam Darnold played poorly, it was rough. When he played really well,

04:36it was great. This is going to be a fun, fun ride in 2025 at this Minnesota Vikings team,

04:41and a Super Bowl is clearly in their sights and grasp.

04:46I'm Tyler Pornos for the A to Z Sports. Let's go Vikings.

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