00:00This Minnesota Vikings star's biggest strength could hinder him when it comes to contract negotiations.
00:05Let's talk about it.
00:09Minnesota Vikings have done a great job rewarding their players for taking that next step.
00:15They did so with Andrew Van Ginkle, who signed a two-year $20 million deal ahead of the 2024 season.
00:20Way outperformed it with a second-team All-Pro nod and got rewarded with a one-year $23 million extension with 22.4 of it guaranteed.
00:28Now, that went from a $10 million average annual value deal to a $14.33 million average annual value deal over the course of all three seasons.
00:38That's a huge win for the Minnesota Vikings in that, one, they give Andrew Van Ginkle the money he'd earned,
00:43and two, it's a great PR move to show that, hey, we want to pay our guys that thrive here to stay here.
00:51And other players are going to be like, hey, if they did that for Van Ginkle, they'll do that for me.
00:56And that's a great thing to have in your back pocket.
00:58They do the same thing with Josh Oliver, three years, $27 million, right before the start of mandatory minicamp.
01:04So, they have two guys, two of their three big names that were set to be free agents at the end of the year,
01:11and the last is Josh Metellus.
01:12He's on the final year of a two-year $8 million extension where the Vikings paid him before he broke out.
01:18So, they're reaping the benefits, but they know that a deal needs to get done.
01:22But because of his unique situation, how do you get a deal done?
01:26He's a versatile player, and being a versatile player can be a hindrance.
01:31And he talked about that during an interview after practice on Tuesday.
01:35And when he was specifically mentioned by KSTP's Darren Wolfson that, hey, it's fascinating to me because how do I quantify your value?
01:44And here's what he had to say.
01:45Yeah, I mean, I kind of had to, specifically talking about playing so many positions.
01:50We had a Hall of Famer and a guy getting paid $15 million back there.
01:53I had to find a way to fit in some way.
01:55But at the end of the day, you know, I came in this league as a safety.
01:59That's forever going to be my true position.
02:01All of this stuff is just something that I think is just, you know, adds to my value by the end of the day.
02:07Man, I'm a ball player.
02:08And that was the snaps of whatever position.
02:10I'm going to do my thing to help the team win.
02:13And he talked about the fact that he was kind of holding in as well, saying that he is a football-first kind of guy.
02:19But the coaches in front office know the score.
02:21They understand.
02:22They're not dumb.
02:24They understand why he's holding in.
02:26He's coming to practice.
02:27He's showing up.
02:29And by doing so, he's making an impact because it's about chemistry building.
02:36But let's get to the money.
02:37How do you quantify it?
02:39So let's just talk about safeties first.
02:42When you look at the safety market, Kirby Joseph's at the top at $21.25 million a year.
02:46Former teammate Cam Bynum is 10th on that list.
02:49He's at $15.
02:50Going into the offseason, only six safeties were paid $15 million or more.
02:55Four of them joined that list this year.
02:57And the market takes a pretty big dip with Julian Love at 15th, making $11 million.
03:02Andre Sisco at 20th, making $8.5 million.
03:05So the reason why we talk about safety is he plays in the box 493 defensive snaps last year.
03:11Free safety, 84.
03:13But he played slot corner 320 and outside corner for 29.
03:17You kind of have to look at both.
03:19And some he played defensive line as well.
03:21But a lot of those, he was lined up on the line to start, dropped off into coverage afterward.
03:27Remember that interception against the Packers in 23?
03:30Started the line of scrimmage, sprinted straight up the seam, and got an interception on Jordan Love.
03:35It was a beautiful play.
03:36Let's talk about corner.
03:39The top slot cornerback is Kyler Gordon at $13.33 million a year.
03:43The top cornerback overall is Derrick Singley Jr., $30.
03:46But the fifth-ranked slot cornerback is Kenny Moore.
03:48He makes $10 million a year.
03:50And he's 29th tied among all quarterbacks.
03:55That matters.
03:56You're looking at a guy who plays a lot of slot corner, and he plays a lot of safety.
04:00So how do you really meld those two together?
04:03And I think one of the interesting players that we can talk about here is Julian Love, the safety from Seattle, who plays a lot in the slot.
04:11He doesn't do a lot of in-the-box, like, linebacker-y kind of stuff that Metellus does, but it's the closest comparable we can find.
04:19You could also say, hey, he's more of, like, a lesser version of, like, a Buda Baker, who's just an incredible athlete, along with playing a very similar style.
04:29So how does that quantify in the discussion when we talk about how much he's going to make?
04:35Well, I took a look at it, and I said, three years, $34.5 million, so $11.5 million average annual value, slight raise from what Julian Love got at $11 million, $23 million guaranteed.
04:46He could probably get more money total max value at the end of the day.
04:53But the way I looked at it was this.
04:56He wants to stay here.
04:57He said in that interview he wants to stay here.
05:00So you give him a little bit more on that guaranteed money to lessen the max value of the contract, and it's a good compromise.
05:08Being that Drew Rosenhaus is his agent, they'll find a way to get it done.
05:13They always do.
05:15Did so with Van Ginkle, Oliver, and Aaron Jones.
