Post by Uncle on Aug 11, 2022 18:02:07 GMT -6
Here's a link to the SKOR North Purple Daily podcast that contains Darren "Doogie" Wolfson's "scoop" that the Vikings could possibly explore trades for a center - link. Fast forward to the 5-min mark for the Bradbury trade discussion...
It's important to note that although "Doogie" does have "sources" with the Vikings, this portion of the Thursday podcast is known as "Reckless Speculation Thursday", where both "Doogie" and Mackey/Judd deliver speculation "recklessly" and invite "Doogie" to do the same. It's also key to note that Wolfson doesn't come out and undeniably state the Vikings are actually exploring trades right now, just a "sense" that the Vikings are exploring the opportunity. He mentions that the audience should look more at AFC Teams that have drafted a IOL player this past draft that has worked onto being a starting OC and perhaps has pushed a veteran IOL/OC to a depth spot.
So what AFC teams have drafted a IOL in 2022 with OC reps that have possibly pushed a veteran IOL player with OC reps back on the depth chart? Here are teams that drafted a IOL player in the 2022 Draft: Baltimore (Tyler Linderbaum in 1st Rd), Jaguars (Luke Fortner in Rd 3) and Broncos (Luke Wattenburg in Rd 5) - although Cole Strange (drafted by Pats in Rd 1) and Zion Johnson (drafted by Rd 1 by the Chargers) played OC in college, they are battling for starting OG spots on their respective teams.
Fortner has beat out Tyler Shatley for the starting OC job in Jacksonville, but Shatley has transitioned to their starting LG with Ben Bartch backing him up (and seemingly not ready for the starting LG spot), so I don't see Shatley as an trade option, especially if the Jags want to protect Lawrence this season to see what he has.
Linderbaum is obviously the starting OC in Baltimore, but has been injured and they'll need backup IOL Patrick Mekari to step in if needed - who's listed as the #2 OC behind Linderbaum; Mekari is their versatile IOL depth player that can play anywhere on the interior. Their OC3 is Trystan Colon, who stepped in for Bozeman after he went down in Wk 16 of the 2021 season. Colon was an UDFA in 2020 and has had 120+ snaps in both 2020 & 2021 and has graded out decently for a UDFA. The Ravens aren't that high on him because he's not versatile (something they covet) and obviously went w/ Linderbaum in Rd 1 in the 2022 Draft. What could interest O'Connell is that Colon's pass-blocking PFF grade of 74.5 in 2021 was higher than his 58.8 run-blocking grade.
Wattenburg hasn't supplanted the starting OC in Denver (OC1 for them is Lloyd Cushenberry), but what he has done is probably push their veteran IOL player, Graham Glasgow, back behind him somewhat as an IOL depth piece. Glasgow was a starting OC in Detroit from 2016-2018, but was moved to RG when they drafted Ragnow in Rd 1 in 2019. In the 2022 offseason, Glasgow signed a 4-yr, $44m deal with Denver and was their starting LG the past 2 seasons for them, suffering a season-ending ankle injury during Wk 9 of 2021. Due to that deal he signed in 2022, he does have a base salary of $3.1m in 2022 and $9.4m in 2023 (Denver renegotiated his 2022 salary down to $3.1m and pushed money into 2023 to clear cap space). The interesting thing about Glasgow is that he does have familiarity with the Viking's OL coach Chris Kuper, who was the Broncos Asst OL coach in 2020 & 2021. Glasgow hasn't played OC in the regular season since the 2018 season with Detroit, but he was taking 2nd unit OC snaps in Training Camp before being listed as LG2 behind Dalton Risner for their first unofficial depth chart release.
Denver is intriguing, too, because they did lose WR Tim Patrick to a torn ACL last week, so they could use some WR depth behind Sutton & Hamler, and with Osborn locked-in as WR3 for the Vikings, could Minnesota send someone like Bisi Johnson to Denver for Glasgow? With Wattenburg solidly as their OC2 and Glasgow just taking up cap space as a depth player now, they probably would love the cap space back for someone they probably don't foresee on their 2023 roster anyway at that number.
Outside of possibly Glasgow, I'd bring in Matt Paradis for a workout to see how his MCL is healing. I read somewhere that he's all healed-up so he should be ready to go and I'm sure he'd jump at the chance to start for Minnesota for a smaller contract so he can prove himself before the 2023 offseason.
It's important to note that although "Doogie" does have "sources" with the Vikings, this portion of the Thursday podcast is known as "Reckless Speculation Thursday", where both "Doogie" and Mackey/Judd deliver speculation "recklessly" and invite "Doogie" to do the same. It's also key to note that Wolfson doesn't come out and undeniably state the Vikings are actually exploring trades right now, just a "sense" that the Vikings are exploring the opportunity. He mentions that the audience should look more at AFC Teams that have drafted a IOL player this past draft that has worked onto being a starting OC and perhaps has pushed a veteran IOL/OC to a depth spot.
So what AFC teams have drafted a IOL in 2022 with OC reps that have possibly pushed a veteran IOL player with OC reps back on the depth chart? Here are teams that drafted a IOL player in the 2022 Draft: Baltimore (Tyler Linderbaum in 1st Rd), Jaguars (Luke Fortner in Rd 3) and Broncos (Luke Wattenburg in Rd 5) - although Cole Strange (drafted by Pats in Rd 1) and Zion Johnson (drafted by Rd 1 by the Chargers) played OC in college, they are battling for starting OG spots on their respective teams.
Fortner has beat out Tyler Shatley for the starting OC job in Jacksonville, but Shatley has transitioned to their starting LG with Ben Bartch backing him up (and seemingly not ready for the starting LG spot), so I don't see Shatley as an trade option, especially if the Jags want to protect Lawrence this season to see what he has.
Linderbaum is obviously the starting OC in Baltimore, but has been injured and they'll need backup IOL Patrick Mekari to step in if needed - who's listed as the #2 OC behind Linderbaum; Mekari is their versatile IOL depth player that can play anywhere on the interior. Their OC3 is Trystan Colon, who stepped in for Bozeman after he went down in Wk 16 of the 2021 season. Colon was an UDFA in 2020 and has had 120+ snaps in both 2020 & 2021 and has graded out decently for a UDFA. The Ravens aren't that high on him because he's not versatile (something they covet) and obviously went w/ Linderbaum in Rd 1 in the 2022 Draft. What could interest O'Connell is that Colon's pass-blocking PFF grade of 74.5 in 2021 was higher than his 58.8 run-blocking grade.
Wattenburg hasn't supplanted the starting OC in Denver (OC1 for them is Lloyd Cushenberry), but what he has done is probably push their veteran IOL player, Graham Glasgow, back behind him somewhat as an IOL depth piece. Glasgow was a starting OC in Detroit from 2016-2018, but was moved to RG when they drafted Ragnow in Rd 1 in 2019. In the 2022 offseason, Glasgow signed a 4-yr, $44m deal with Denver and was their starting LG the past 2 seasons for them, suffering a season-ending ankle injury during Wk 9 of 2021. Due to that deal he signed in 2022, he does have a base salary of $3.1m in 2022 and $9.4m in 2023 (Denver renegotiated his 2022 salary down to $3.1m and pushed money into 2023 to clear cap space). The interesting thing about Glasgow is that he does have familiarity with the Viking's OL coach Chris Kuper, who was the Broncos Asst OL coach in 2020 & 2021. Glasgow hasn't played OC in the regular season since the 2018 season with Detroit, but he was taking 2nd unit OC snaps in Training Camp before being listed as LG2 behind Dalton Risner for their first unofficial depth chart release.
Denver is intriguing, too, because they did lose WR Tim Patrick to a torn ACL last week, so they could use some WR depth behind Sutton & Hamler, and with Osborn locked-in as WR3 for the Vikings, could Minnesota send someone like Bisi Johnson to Denver for Glasgow? With Wattenburg solidly as their OC2 and Glasgow just taking up cap space as a depth player now, they probably would love the cap space back for someone they probably don't foresee on their 2023 roster anyway at that number.
Outside of possibly Glasgow, I'd bring in Matt Paradis for a workout to see how his MCL is healing. I read somewhere that he's all healed-up so he should be ready to go and I'm sure he'd jump at the chance to start for Minnesota for a smaller contract so he can prove himself before the 2023 offseason.
