Happy St. Patrick’s Day to All Our Irish Fans
13 percent of our listeners reside in Ireland, and this show’s for them
Crush car bombs and Guinness
What are your St. Patrick’s Day plans?
Anthony: Hope to get out for a pub crawl despite the snowstorm
Mike: Get hammered and listen to the Pogues
Anthony will also listen to the Pogues and fall asleep to Boondock Saints
The Vikings Got a Cornerback and Harrison Smith Back!
In our last episode we lamented the fact the Vikings have no cornerbacks, but they signed 25-year-old Byron Murphy to a two-year, $22 million contract
PFF grades him around average in coverage, but he’s an above average run stopper
Good tackler; ninth in yards per reception allowed
Harrison Smith restructured his contract to potentially finish his career where it started
Base salary for next season will be $8 million (plus $2 million in potential incentives) rather than $14.7 million
Frees up $6.7 million in cap space, putting Minnesota almost $6 million under the salary cap according to Spotrac
Smith is a true team player: Alec Lewis of The Athletic reports Smith is intrigued by newly hired defensive coordinator Brian Flores and his aggressive style of play, which suits The Hitman’s style of play
Will Dalvin Cook be Cooking Somewhere Else?
Vikings re-sign running back Alexander Mattison
Two-year deal worth $6.35 million guaranteed (up to $8 million with incentives)
Averaged just 3.8 yards per attempt but had the fewest carries of his career (74)
Had 15 catches on 18 chances for a 6.1 yards per reception; zero fumbles
Certainly seems Dalvin Cook has played is last game in purple and gold
Cook had a career-low rushing average of 4.4 yards per carry last season, and his catch percentage dropped from 81.5% in 2020 to 69.4% in 2021, and it was 69.6% last season
The Vikings, like most NFL offenses, are running less and passing more, and Mattison is a better fit in that respect
Vikings likely to roll with committee of running backs including Ty Chandler, Kene Nwangwu, and perhaps a rookie
Decision due on whether to release Dalvin Cook and Za’Darius Smith by 3 p.m. on Friday
Smith ($5 million) and Cook ($2 million) each have guarantees that vest at that time
What Does Kirk Cousins’ Contract Conversion Mean?
$16 million of base salary converted to a bonus to get under the salary cap
Makes for more potential trade partners
San Francisco can now trade nothing but draft picks for Cousins; so can 24 other teams
Before the contract conversion, just two teams could afford to acquire him without sending salaries back in exchange
Doesn’t necessarily make a trade for Lamar Jackson more likely, but even Baltimore would save more than $22 million this season by acquiring Cousins and trading Jackson
The Vikings would then need to work out an extension that pushes Jackson's guaranteed salary payments toward the end of the contract
It does signify that a Cousins extension will not happen, so...
Will the Vikings Trade Up to Draft Kirk Cousins’ Replacement?
Matt Anderson of Yahoo! News thinks Minnesota should trade a bunch of picks to Seattle for the fifth pick in the 2023 NFL Draft and select Ohio State QB C.J. Stroud
Completed two-thirds of his passes last season, with a 44:6 TD:INT ratio; was even better as a freshman
Did so with the third-best receiver available in the draft and behind the second-best tackle and second-best guard in the draft
Could end up going #1 overall
You’d also want Stroud to start immediately, which would mean finding a taker for Cousins, who’d only approve a trade to a contender and likely demand an extension, which would get Minnesota out of paying the dead cap figure they just converted
The draft is loaded with cornerbacks who can have an immediate impact
Both The Athletic and ESPN have nine corners ranked in the top-50 overall, but the Vikings have just one pick in the top-50
Trade the 24th pick and move down 10 spots or so and the top safety in the draft, Alabama’s Brian Branch should be there
Could get a pick in the 100-110 range along with the 34th overall?
Syracuse cornerback Garrett Williams could fill an immediate need despite being drafted on Day 2, which Anderson recommended
Tore ACL toward the end of the 2022 season, effecting his draft stock
Apparently a great fit for Flores’ defense
Middle linebackers won’t be coming off the board early
Just one is ranked around the top-50, with 3-5 in the next 50
Alabama’s Henry To’oTo’o or Washington State’s Daiyan Henley should be available when the Vikings pick 87th
There’s quite a disparity in Auburn running back Tank Bigsby’s ranking (171st on ESPN, 100th on Athletic), but if DeWayne McBride (UAB) or Chris Rodriguez, Jr. (Kentucky) is available at pick 119, it’ll be a moot point
Great name for a running back, though
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