2021 Off-Season Thread

[cHawk]

  On 7/27/2021 at 11:49 PM, Danchat said:

Sure, I wanted Dennison fired for his poor job as an OL coach, but I think a transition to a consultant-like position makes sense for both sides. I don't see the point in being offended just because he's being kept around in a role that won't put the team at risk.

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Fine, just as long as he isn’t making or influencing any OL decisions (or decisions regarding the Offense at all) then we’re good.

[nicksaviking]

  On 7/27/2021 at 11:49 PM, Danchat said:

Sure, I wanted Dennison fired for his poor job as an OL coach, but I think a transition to a consultant-like position makes sense for both sides. I don't see the point in being offended just because he's being kept around in a role that won't put the team at risk.

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Seems to me the message this is sending to the players is that they condone not getting vaccinated and empathize with this reckless and selfish decision.

[Danchat]

  On 7/28/2021 at 12:00 AM, cHawk said:

Fine, just as long as he isn’t making or influencing any OL decisions (or decisions regarding the Offense at all) then we’re good.

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Well, he was also the Run Game Coordinator, which to his credit was pretty darn good last year. Hopefully his impact will be more related to scheme rather than personnel (and his/their love for Dozier).

  On 7/28/2021 at 12:23 AM, nicksaviking said:

Seems to me the message this is sending to the players is that they condone not getting vaccinated and empathize with this reckless and selfish decision.

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I didn't interpret that from this... the unvaccinated players are already having to go through a barrage of protocol if they refuse it, and they were informed about this. I highly doubt this decision will influence any of them.

[Mike Sixel]

  On 7/28/2021 at 12:23 AM, nicksaviking said:

Seems to me the message this is sending to the players is that they condone not getting vaccinated and empathize with this reckless and selfish decision.

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Agreed. Want to change the culture? Actually fn change the culture. Awful decision. 

[nicksaviking]

  On 7/28/2021 at 12:38 AM, Mike Sixel said:

Agreed. Want to change the culture? Actually fn change the culture. Awful decision. 

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Here’s Spielman’s quote on the topic, and he better hope all the reporters omitted the angry part of his quote:

“I understand it’s an individual right and that’s their decision,” Vikings general manager Rick Spielman said. “We are trying to do everything we can to educate them so they can make a good decision.”

 

Uh, where’s the part where he says you’re hurting the team being selfish by not getting vaccinated?

 

New GM please.

[cHawk]

Imagine if the Ravens were stupid enough to do this…

[TheLeviathan]

  On 7/29/2021 at 7:51 PM, cHawk said:

Imagine if the Ravens were stupid enough to do this…

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I don't think it's wise to trade an OL with experience for a 7th rounder.  

[cHawk]

  On 7/30/2021 at 3:16 AM, TheLeviathan said:

I don't think it's wise to trade an OL with experience for a 7th rounder.  

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Now that I look at it, he could make sense as a backup. But he is godawful as a starter. Last year, 9 Penalties and 6 Sacks given up? YIKES!!

[Danchat]

  On 7/30/2021 at 3:16 AM, TheLeviathan said:

I don't think it's wise to trade an OL with experience for a 7th rounder.  

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You can find guards on the FA market with similar amounts of experience, and so can the Ravens. All Dozier has is familiarity in our system, and that's about it.

[Mike Sixel]

  On 7/30/2021 at 3:16 AM, TheLeviathan said:

I don't think it's wise to trade an OL with experience for a 7th rounder.  

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Concur. No sense at all. A third or fourth, if they have no plans to keep him. Anything else is the same as an undrafted guy almost.

[Danchat]

Uh, what happened to Mason Cole, and why isn't Wyatt Davis in the conversation? We spent 3rd and 6th rounders on those two just to watch two of the worst guards in the NFL potentially start ahead of them?

[cHawk]

  On 7/31/2021 at 11:13 PM, Danchat said:

Uh, what happened to Mason Cole, and why isn't Wyatt Davis in the conversation? We spent 3rd and 6th rounders on those two just to watch two of the worst guards in the NFL potentially start ahead of them?

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Dozier and Samia should be let go before nightfall.

Edit: I didn’t see Udoh. He better win that starting job over Dozier and Samia.

I’ve heard from the Athletic that they’re trying Wyatt Davis at Center, which might push Bradbury.

 

[Danchat]

  On 7/31/2021 at 11:53 PM, cHawk said:

I’ve heard from the Athletic that they’re trying Wyatt Davis at Center, which might push Bradbury.

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If Davis is going to move to center, he probably won't compete for the starting job now, likely later in the season or in 2022. More likely, I think they're considering using him as a backup for both guard and center (teams frequently do this so they can get away with only having 7 OL active on gameday). 

[Danchat]

 

[cHawk]

  On 8/1/2021 at 12:33 AM, Danchat said:

If Davis is going to move to center, he probably won't compete for the starting job now, likely later in the season or in 2022. More likely, I think they're considering using him as a backup for both guard and center (teams frequently do this so they can get away with only having 7 OL active on gameday). 

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In any case, Zimmer and Kubiak (and Spielman) should be able to see that Dozier and Samia are their worst options and they won’t start.

[Mike Sixel]

Zimmer is pissed about vaccination levels.....

[nicksaviking]

I wonder if he and Spielman are on the same page. The team certainly could have not drafted, not signed, not extended or cut any and all anti-vaxers.

[Mike Sixel]

  On 8/2/2021 at 5:26 PM, nicksaviking said:

I wonder if he and Spielman are on the same page. The team certainly could have not drafted, not signed, not extended or cut any and all anti-vaxers.

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you aren't cutting your starting QB........no way. No how.

Imagine a team actually doing that, cutting / trading all the anti vaxxer veterans.....it just isn't realistic.

[Musk21]

  On 8/2/2021 at 5:33 PM, Mike Sixel said:

you aren't cutting your starting QB........no way. No how.

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Or your star WR and Safety. It will, however, affect players on the roster bubble. If Nate Stanley is not vaxxed, I bet Jake Browning just made the team over him.

[nicksaviking]

  On 8/2/2021 at 5:33 PM, Mike Sixel said:

you aren't cutting your starting QB........no way. No how.

Imagine a team actually doing that, cutting / trading all the anti vaxxer veterans.....it just isn't realistic.

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Maybe not, but Thielan hardly needed to be extended; they certainly could have cut him too, he's not the player he used to be. Mond didn't need to be drafted, and cutting Harrison Smith would have saved them money.

If these guys are not getting vaccinated they are NOT team leaders. At least not the kind anyone would want leading other players. Other teams are 90%+ vaccinated, this isn't acceptable. At the very least, I would have cut Thielen to send a message to the rest of the team.

As far as Cousins goes, if this team doesn't meet the vaccination threshold, I doubt they finish .500, so who really gives a crap who the QB is. I'd rather be 4-13 than 8-9.

[Danchat]

Correcting some misinformation: 

 

so we had 1 vaccinated QB... great. They’ve signed QB Case Cookus and claimed QB Danny Etling on waivers, so I imagine they are vaxed. Stanley is probably toast now.

[Danchat]

  On 8/2/2021 at 5:26 PM, nicksaviking said:

I wonder if he and Spielman are on the same page. The team certainly could have not drafted, not signed, not extended or cut any and all anti-vaxers.

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How much could Spielman have known around FA/draft? Back then most of us couldn’t get vaxed yet. Thielen wasn’t extended this year, and they haven’t extended Smith yet. 

[nicksaviking]

  On 8/2/2021 at 10:46 PM, Danchat said:

How much could Spielman have known around FA/draft? Back then most of us couldn’t get vaxed yet. Thielen wasn’t extended this year, and they haven’t extended Smith yet. 

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Questions about getting vaccinated are most certainly viable questions for draft picks. I was vaccinated in March and I was far from the first.

Thielan’s contract was reworked, not extended, but the money was spread out so now it’s near unlikely he’ll be released after the season, which would have been a likely outcome even before all this. 

Smith could have just been released, would have been about a $2M cap hit I thought. I could be off on that though.
 

These are selfish, terrible people. I can’t cheer for them anymore. They’ve put the whole team in chaos and the season in jeopardy before it even started. Regardless of the talent, the team would be better off without them.

[nicksaviking]

I’ll admit, I wanted to rebuild because the team looked bleak at season’s end but then the front office did a great job of building a viable team to shut me up.

But there was little point to that if they couldn’t get everyone on board with vaccinations. The front office knows these guys way better than the fans do, I don’t believe for a second that they were caught off guard that these three veterans plus the OL coach would pull this crap.

[Mike Sixel]

They have the lowest vaccination rate in the NFL. Losers gonna lose. 

[TheLeviathan]

Vikings cut Gladney.  What a colossal misfire that pick was.

And for what he did I hope he gets every ounce of that ten year maximum.

[nicksaviking]

  On 8/3/2021 at 9:17 PM, Mike Sixel said:

They have the lowest vaccination rate in the NFL. Losers gonna lose. 

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Just so disheartening. We talk about being jinxed or having bad calls go against our team.

But though it would have seemed intangible and unmeasurable just a year ago, we have actual documentation that as a whole, our players care less about winning than every other team in the league.

[cHawk]

Looks like FDA is planning to approve the Pfizer vaccine by next month.

Will Cousins, Thielen, and Smith get it then?

Like for “yes,” quote for “no.”

[nicksaviking]

  On 8/4/2021 at 1:56 PM, cHawk said:

Looks like FDA is planning to approve the Pfizer vaccine by next month.

Will Cousins, Thielen, and Smith get it then?

Like for “yes,” quote for “no.”

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I don't believe for a second that they aren't taking it because the FDA hasn't approved it. They've been advised by plenty of informed people that they need to. But it will certainly give them an easy out to change course and take it. 

[Danchat]

  On 8/4/2021 at 1:56 PM, cHawk said:

Looks like FDA is planning to approve the Pfizer vaccine by next month.

Will Cousins, Thielen, and Smith get it then?

Like for “yes,” quote for “no.”

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Nice, I actually just bought a bunch of shares of Pfizer, this would be great for my investment!

oh wait, this isn’t the stock market thread. But to answer your question, you would think it should be a deciding factor for players... but I get the feeling they’ve made their minds up about it already. Kirk did say it was it was a “changing situation”, so perhaps after this week’s clown show and an FDA approval, he could change his mind.