We suck. Our recipe for success is the worst in the North.

The division

Assuming the Vikings’ owners and decision makers were among the many millions who watched the NFC playoffs this year, it would have been impossible to miss the presence of the NFC North. Not only were the Detroit Lions up 14 points on the San Francisco 49ers in the second half with a team largely built on recent draft picks but the Green Bay Packers also nearly took down the 49ers behind their first-year starting quarterback Jordan Love, who looked nothing short of a star in the second half of the season and during the Packers’ playoff win in Dallas.

Combined with the Chicago Bears drafting No. 1 and No. 9 overall and having begun using their cap space to stock talent in the form of DJ Moore and Montez Sweat, the Vikings could be looking at playing in one of the NFL’s most difficult divisions for years to come. The Lions are retaining their top-notch offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, the Packers were the youngest team in the NFL in 2023 and Chicago has an opportunity to flip its long-tortured QB history on its head with the top selection.

It would be madness for the Vikings not to consider the strength of their opposition when making decisions this offseason.

Weighing the timelines of division foes doesn’t have to point toward moving on from Cousins in favor of a longer-term approach but they would need a clear plan for the remainder of the roster. Through the years Cousins has repeatedly put up good numbers and high PFF scores but hasn’t taken them over the top in part because of weaknesses in other areas, whether it was the offensive line or defensive side, the depth chart has often resembled a game of whack-a-mole where one position gets fixed and another issue crops up.

Of course, the tough division could be problematic for a bridge QB or rookie starter too. It would take a lot of things going right in order to finish anywhere but last in the North in 2024 if they lean into a rebuild-y plan. In the subsequent years that may pay out big dividends and help them catch up in the North race but in the short term it would put a strain on the organization.

“Full Rams”

One of the ways to climb out of “competitive rebuild” mode and combat their strong division rivals would be to go “Full Rams,” as it was once coined by Adofo-Mensah. He made the comment about the risks involved with the approach taken by the 2021 Rams in which they traded away tons of draft capital to acquire Matthew Stafford, Jalen Ramsey and Von Miller. They won the Super Bowl in 2021 and then went 15-19 in the next two seasons. Had they lost in the playoffs, it would have meant total disaster for L.A.

The Vikings have enough offensive talent in Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, TJ Hockenson, Christian Darrisaw and Brian O’Neill to go “Full Rams” around Cousins if they so choose. They could back up a Brink’s truck to Danielle Hunter’s house and any other free agent who could help them immediately and look for any available trades for disgruntled stars. The reality of the NFL salary cap is that any team can push money down the road to squeeze in players if they are OK with dealing with the ramifications that follow.

It’s possible the Vikings could look at defensive coordinator Brian Flores’ performance in 2023 as proof that they just need a few high end players and then they can recreate where the offense was in Week 8 at the time Cousins tore his Achilles and they would have a Super Bowl contender.

That is some very serious wishful thinking that would have potentially catastrophic consequences for years to come.

Pickle Enjoyer… This idea of competing and rebuilding has me worried that there's a mandate to bring back Kirk and draft a QB. Talk me into this making any sense, whatsoever.

Mr. Pickle Enjoyer, I’d love to do that but it doesn’t make any sense. If they bring back Cousins, they have to win right away or it was a massive waste of everyone’s time. I’m all for developing QBs but Cousins is not a “bridge” quarterback. You don’t spend $80 million guaranteed for a guy to make sure you hang around in the race while you develop your future QB. They would need to take someone to help right away on defense and then go completely bananas and blow out all of their cap space and assets to win. And if they did that and went 8-9, I’m fine finding a new GM and head coach.

The only argument for it would be structuring Kirk’s deal to make it more of a one-year contract and have JJ McCarthy develop for one year with plans to take over. Again though, why does Kirk need to be the guy to be here for that at a huge cost and pushing dead money farther into the future?

Rzuppelli… Do you think there is any truth in the idea that there is a population of league people, media and fans who are quick to blast him because his path to the GM office threatens the status quo? I am looking to try and explain the irrational level of negativity regarding KOM.

Anyone who comes along with a label as being a wizard or genius is going to get pushback. Kwesi has tried super hard to tell people he doesn’t like being called “the analytics GM” and he goes out of his way to talk about the influence of coaches and scouts on decision making and on and on but he’ll never escape that he comes from outside the football establishment. Even though he worked with guys like Harbaugh and John Lynch, the most FOOTBALL people ever, for some reason that Princeton and economics thing rubs some people the wrong way.

By the way, when has he ever threatened the status quo? Has he done anything outside the box? Maybe tearing down a 13-win team but that was the right thing to do.

Whether Kwesi succeeds or fails is going to be based on how he leads internally. That’s what people do not understand about the GM position. It’s management. The guy isn’t in the building alone cooking up formulas and then making decisions (would actually love to see how that played out if he did). He’s leading a group of hundreds of people to make difficult decisions that shape the franchise’s future. Is that leadership skill there as much as his data analysis ability?

We’re going to find out but we do not know right now, which means if you’re a staunch anti-Kwesi person it probably means you hated him from the start because he’s different and you are using everything as confirmation that you were right. Again, that doesn’t mean I’m all in, it just means I’m waiting to decide.

Speedi… Does the NFC North being a powerhouse provide the impetus for the Vikings improving personnel decisions to build an elite rooster capable of winning the Superbowl? I think the Wilf's are happy that we compete for the division and win it about once every 3 years. That's not going to happen with Detroit and Green Bay dominating until the salary cap caches up to them. If the QB Chicago picks turns out to be at least a top 10 player, then they will also be a strong contender. With our defense even with Kirk, hard to see we are much better than a 8 win team, and more likely a 6 win one.

It would be completely foolish to not take into account what the future of the division looks like. Some of you get really ticked when anyone says Jordan Love is good but you can’t make decisions based on denial. There are three teams that have much brighter futures on paper than the Vikings right now and even if one of them doesn’t work out then you’re still talking about a serious battle to even make the playoffs for years to come. They should be thinking about how they can build a team strong enough to be on par with the NFC North by 2025. Is that going to happen bringing Cousins back? Pretty hard to see that unless they stack up the defense and he plays like it’s 2019 again.

Bradley P… Would you punt on next year? I’m thinking they should. Clean up the cap, stop signing those stupid deals with dead cap, go young to see what they have and find their qb of the future.

I don’t love when playing a rookie is framed as giving up on a season. A lot of rookies have had competitive seasons at QB and every week would be super interesting with a rookie QB in place. They can also still sign people in free agency despite Kirk’s $28 million dead cap, they would just need to set up the contracts to be cheaper in the first year to fit for 2024 and then go up in 2025. The Texans approach around Stroud was admirable in the way they added some quality second-tier veterans like Robert Woods, Jimmie Ward and Dalton Schultz and then took some swings at guys who might have upside like Noah Brown and Devin Singletary. The Vikings could do the same thing and plan to swing big in 2025.

Now if you’re asking if they should tank in 2024 to try to pick No. 1 in 2025, the answer is that Jefferson/Addison/Hockenson/Darrisaw/O’Neill makes that virtually impossible. You can’t throw away a year with so much offensive talent. That’s why now is a good time to pick the QB and put him in with those guys and get rolling on the future rather than waiting any longer. The time to tank was the moment Cousins’ Achilles snapped. They didn’t do it, now we’re here.