Tom Sykes
Posts: 5871
Joined: 7/27/2007
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ORIGINAL: fmaltes quote:
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ORIGINAL: Tom Sykes quote:
ORIGINAL: Bill Johanesen Mission statement: The Minnesota Vikings will make tough and smart decisions that gain additional draft picks, shed cap (not kick it down the road), and lead to acquiring a top tier QB. Outside of that, extended mediocrity is the most likely outcome... regardless of a Wilf periodically surfacing and toothlessly barking about being 'competitive' every year. So far in year one: fail, fail, fail. KAM-KOC were hired for their vision of the franchise and roster ... They have committed to riding the Spielman-Zimmer nurtured and bred horse for at least two more years ... with some tweaks ... a new riding crop, maybe tighter leggings ... That decision bears more on their success than some nutty Wilf proclaiming our roster to be the greatest ever assembled, including the Avengers. But do you know why they decided to this horse? According to many reports---and taking the stable owners at their word---the stable owners mandated they at least compete to show, if not actually show, because then maybe they could catch lightening and place or win. Mark Wilf said they want to get into "the dance" because then anything could happen. My impression is that Kwesi is trying to find the best way to achieve that while creating cap space and building a better roster. Do they think they could make the playoffs with no changes to the roster? I would imagine so, since that roster almost made the playoffs. Is that a good standard? Moot, because it's the owners' standard. He has created the possibility of much greater cap flexibility in 2024 while accumulating talent. I'm willing to see how it plays out. Again, the most meaningful line from Kwesi's last presser was, "Everyone has a boss." His current bosses want to establish a floor at mediocre, which often means establishing a ceiling just above mediocre. They have been mediocre as owners, winning about 50% of their games. They've spent money, but the record shows them to be mediocre. 1) I don't think that the Wilfs are ok with being mediocore. That is why they went in a very different direction in who they hired as coach/GM. Also, they have not demonstrated to being cheap. Their biggest failing was keeping Rick Spielman in charge for so long. 2) Even if the strategy is a complete rebuild, now is not the time to trade Cousins, Hunter, Hendricks etc.. All three of these players are likely to have more trade value in a year. 3) It takes about 6 to 9 months to really know your personnel. The new GM is a smart guy and will want to make his own evaluations of playersf while they are under the tutelage of his coach. 4) If you think the team is bad now, and needs a major rebuild, getting cap space this year or the next is really not very helpful. 5) Under the rules of the current cap, it really can be handled. Tampa Bay,Los Angeles, New Orleans and Denver all have won super bowls with "bad" cap situations. 1) Nobody aspires to mediocrity, many get there. Worse, many get there for a long time. I really like ownership's decision-making process for the new regime ... but if they aren't the answer, are we going to have to endure another prolonged bout with mediocrity? [the Wilfs are the constant] 2) What's more important – maximizing trade value or team-building success? 3) 6-9 months? A lot if not most of the roster and draft evaluation necessary for 'the plan' – has probably already happened by now. Some critical decisions have already been made three years out. Yes its a work in process but, certainly for this season, the heavy lifting has been done because games start in 5 months ... AND hopefully the 6-9 month evaluation period that you are talking about – moving forward – will have a bigger portion in-game / less in-practice than the previous regime. AND there is the issue of exceeding/falling short of evaluations, etc. People automatically plump up Phillips as an upgrade to Pierce because he played well at the end of last season [not before] – that was after being in a system and not starting for four seasons unless as a fill-in. Both Pierce and Tomlinson came in with a lot more established production than Phillips ... so hold your pro bowl votes, we can only hope that Phillips acclimates better than those two. 4) It wasn't an 'if / or' proposition, it was a 'dilute talent to create cap space for presumably better talent' vs 'hang on to as much talent as possible while improving cap space forward'. 5) True statement. We talk about cap space in black and white terms but there seems to be IMO more and more wriggling around it, as we go along. Plus 'kicking the can down the road' used to be a filthy cuss word ... now its just standard MO.
< Message edited by Tom Sykes -- 4/4/2022 11:37:37 AM >
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