Vikings Bookkeeping

The Minnesota Vikings offseason started suddenly and sadly just over a week ago. There's really no time for pouting in the NFL as the business of the 2020 season started immediately. On the Sunday following their Divisional round loss, the Vikings announced the signing of seven of their practice squad players to reserve/future free agent contracts.

Tony Brooks-James, RB, Oregon
Jake Browning, QB, Washington
Davion Davis, WR, Sam Houston State
Brandon Dillon, TE, Marian
Mark Fields, CB, Clemson
Kemon Hall, CB, North Texas
Dillon Mitchell, WR, Oregon

The Vikings also signed a couple of players that played the last two seasons in the Canadian Football League to reserve/future free agent contracts.

Marcus Sayles, CB, West Georgia
Bralon Addison, WR, Oregon

Marcus Sayles looks like an intriguing player. At 5'10" and 175 lbs, he's a little than the cornerbacks that typically interest the Vikings. From his style of play in some highlight videos he looks like he could play the nickel position a little like Antoine Winflield. He's an agressive tackler despite his smallish size. He can blitz, play the run, and cover. He couldn't stick with the Buffalo Bills and Los Angeles Rams in 2017 but he excelled in the CFL the last two seasons with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

2018
72 tackles
1 sack
3 interceptions
2 forced fumbles

2019
64 tackles
1 sack
3 interceptions
3 forced fumbles

He was a CFL All-star in 2019 as he helped lead the Blue Bombers to the Grey Cup title. The CFL isn't the NFL but there's something about Sayles that's intriguing. He just looks like a football player. Mackensie Alexander has improved each season as the Vikings nickel corner. He's improved to the point that he's probably been the team's most steady corner since the middle of the 2018 season. He's a free agent this year. Id' like to see Alexander return but if he doesn't Sayles could be a candidate to replace him. Who knows? Perhaps Sayles brings a Cameron Wake-like career arc to Minnesota.

Bralon Addison spent training camp with the Denver Broncos in 2016. The Chicago Bears signed him to their practice squad in December of that year. He was bumped to the active roster for a late season game. His lone NFL reception came against the Vikings. Addison signed with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 2018. His first CFL season was modest but he broke out with an All-Star season in 2019.

2018
8 receptions
113 yards
1 TD

2019
95 receptions
1236 yards
7 TDs

The Vikings receiver group is topped by Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen. Olabisi Johnson had a nice rookie showing as the third receiver. Chad Beebe was supposed to be the third receiver but was injured early and spent nearly all of the season on injured reserve. After Diggs, Thielen, and perhaps Johnson the Vikings receiver group is wide open. Addison joins that group.

The above player moves are just the first (little) steps of the building of the 2020 roster. Before the Vikings get to the heavy lifting of that process they will have to put together their coaching staff. For the fifth time in his seven years as the head coach, Mike Zimmer is looking for an offensive coordinator. Norv Turner couldn't take it and left the team during the 2016 season. Pat Shurmur replaced Turner on the fly and kept the job for 2017 season. The New York Giants hired Shurnur as their head coach after a Vikings run to the 2017 NFC Championship game. John DeFilippo was hired to replace Shurmur. The offense struggled under DeFilippo and he was fired before the 2018 season was done. Kevin Stefanski finished the season and was named the team's offensive coordinator for the 2019 season. The Cleveland Browns hired Stefanski last week as their head coach. Gary Kubiak was hired as assistant head coach last offseason. He was tasked with working with Stefanski. Kubiak brought a few coaches with him. Son, Klint Kubiak worked with the quarterbacks. Rick Dennison coached the offensive line and coordinated the running game. Brian Pariani coached the tight ends. Zimmer has raved about the communication and compatibility of last year's offensive coaches. He has stressed that he wants to maintain that continuity. The implication appears obvious. The Kubiaks are staying in Minnesota. So, who will be the offensive coordinator? My guess is that, as he did last year, senior Kubiak will oversee the process from a distance. I get the feeling that he's more content with that setup, that he doesn't want the day-to-day grind of NFL coaching. He once retired from the game due to the physical toll that it took on him. That leaves junior Kubiak and Dennison as offensive coordinator possibilities. Despite being 32 (33 next month), my guess is that Klint Kubiak gets the offensive coordinator job. There's been a league-wide trend toward younger offensive play-callers so a 32/33-year old offensive coordinator shouldn't be shocking. Junior Kubiak will have a lot of support around him. While Zimmer has seen a lot of offensive coordinators parade through the building, he's seen nothing but stability with his defensive coaching staff. That changes this year. George Edwards has been Zimmer's only defensive coordinator. His contract was up and wasn't renewed. Jerry Gray has been Zimmer's only defensive backs coach. He's gone as well. The Vikings defense is Zimmer's defense in every sense. He designed it. He calls the plays. Being the defensive coordinator of the Vikings isn't really the same as being the defensive coordinator for most teams. That probably played a role in Edwards moving on to other opportunities. It's expected that a current position coach (defensive line coach Andre Patterson or linebacker coach Adam Zimmer) will be promoted. Current assistant defensive backs coach Jeff Howard could be promoted to replace Gray. In his season-ending press conference, Zimmer said that he wanted to get away for a few days before doing player evaluations and making decisions on his coaching staff. It's been a week. So, the coaching decisions could come any day.

Unless an NFL team plays in the Super Bowl, the offseason always comes too soon. For the Vikings, the offseason started a week ago. Too soon. The work toward Super Bowl LV started a week ago.