Some Offseason Thoughts

Here are some thoughts on the first few weeks of the 2018 NFL offseason.

1. The Minnesota Vikings have been a passive free agency participant for nearly all of the 25 years of it's existence. In the first year of the Brad Childress era, 2006, the Vikings went on something close to a spending spree.

Steve Hutchinson
Chester Taylor
Ben Leber
Ryan Longwell
Tony Richardson

The highlight of the spending was the $49 million Poison Pill contract given to Hutchinson. This was a huge and league-shaking deal, certainly Seahawk-shaking. In both quantity and quality of the free agents signed, 2006 was an offseason rarely seen in Minnesota. 2018 might top it. It contains a quarterback.

Kirk Cousins
Sheldon Richardson
Trevor Siemian
Kendall Wright

Like the Hutchinson deal was in 2006, the Cousins deal is league-shaking as it's the first fully guaranteed contract. Not only that, the $28 million per season average makes Cousins the highest-paid player in the league. Paying that sort of money and the position that Cousins plays makes this offseason another spending outlier for the Vikings. The addition of a franchise, free agent quarterback overshadows the addition of Richardson. An addition that strengthens a very strong defense and gives the Vikings one of the best defensive lines in the league.

Based on their appearance, disappointing as it was, in the NFC Championship game the Vikings came out of the 2017 season as one of the four best teams in the league. Over the first few weeks of the offseason they got better.

2. There has been a lot of overreaction to the new "helmet" rule. "they are killing the game" "there will be mass ejections" "the games will take forever" etc., etc., etc. About four years ago the league added a rule that would penalize ballcarriers that strike defenders with the crown of their helmet. There was an uproar then. Especially from fans that were partial to running backs like Adrian Peterson. That penalty has been called about six times in the years since. I don't recall seeing Peterson penalized for leading with his helmet despite the fact that he still did so. These player safety rules, and like it or not they are rules that are necessary, are always worse in theory than they are in practice.

3. Mock Drafts. I love them. We all love them. Despite being utter nonsense, these damn things are fun. Addicting too. As much as I love mock drafts I hate the inclusion of trades into these projections. In my humble opinion, guessing at trades is pushing the guesswork of mock drafts to an absurd level. Pairing players with teams is silly enough. If the teams are no longer in a set draft spot, what's the point?

4. I like any mock that has the Minnesota Vikings picking Georgia guard Isaiah Wynn. It's optimistic but I like it.

5. The Minnesota Vikings-Philadelphia Eagles game was picked to open the 2018 NFL season. Seeing as those were the last two NFC teams standing at the end of the 2017 season it's a fine choice. As a fan of the Vikings it's disappointing to open the season and then have to wait about 1.5 weeks for game two. If it satisfies the Vikings Thursday game obligation that long early break is worth it.

6. The following teams will open the 2018 season with new starting quarterbacks

Minnesota Vikings: Sam Bradford-Kirk Cousins
Chicago Bears: Mike Glennon-Mitchell Trubisky
Washington Redskins: Kirk Cousins-Alex Smith
San Francisco 49ers: Brian Hoyer-Jimmy Garoppolo
Arizona Cardinals: Carson Palmer-Sam Bradford
Cleveland Browns: DeShone Kizer-TBD
Buffalo Bills: Tyrod Taylor-TBD
Miami Dolphins: Jay Cutler-Ryan Tannehill
Indianapolis Colts: Scott Tolzien-Andrew Luck
Houston Texans: Tom Savage-DeShaun Watson
Denver Broncos: Trevor Siemian-Case Keenum
Kansas City Chiefs: Alex Smith-Patrick Maholmes

7. Entering the 2018 offseason the Cleveland Browns had a lot of holes to fill and a lot of cap space to spend. After an 0-16 season they had to get busy. And they did.

Added in trades:
Jarvis Landry
Tyrod Taylor
Damarious Randall

Added in free agency
Chris Hubbard
Carlos Hyde
Chris Smith
T.J. Carrie
E.J. Gaines
Terrence Mithchell
Darren Fells
Donald Stephenson
Jeff Janis
Drew Stanton

These aren't high-priced additions but they are solid additions. The sort of additions that improve a team. Through trades they got nice returns on players that didn't fit their future plans (DeShone Kizer and Danny Shelton). The Browns biggest problem over the last two decades was a lack of direction. It's still early but they appear to have that now. But they have to get that quarterback pick right.

8. It's mind-numbing that a British singer named Ed Sheeran will significantly impact the 2018 NFL schedule. He has tour dates at NFL stadiums this fall that will interfere with potential games in Weeks 1-10. The Vikings won't be playing a home game in Week 7. Sheeran has booked that date. Who does this guy think he is? The Beatles?

9. Shaquem Griffen.