Leave it to the NFL to officially designate a time period for teams, players and agents to officially break rules they’ve most likely already been breaking... for at least the past few weeks.
As of Monday, March 12 (and for the ensuing 48-hours) agents for players headed for free agency can enter into negotiations with other teams, with neither side facing the threat of discipline from the league office.
I don’t ever remember being aware of the “legal tampering” period before, but with the Kirk Cousins saga besieging us, it’s a date I’ve had circled on my calendar since shortly after the Super Bowl.
Under the rules of “legal tampering” players still are not allowed to meet with interested teams, but their agents can, and no actual deal can be signed between an impending free agent and a new team until the new league year officially starts (and along with it the period of free agency), which begins at 3p.m. CST on Wednesday, March 14.
I expected at this late date to write about just Cousins and the latest on the numerous theories as to where he’ll be playing in the fall, but there’s an unresolved situation which gives me pause, and albeit flickering hope at the same time.
Amid the endless speculation about Cousins, there have been a few recent articles that attempt to place a financial value on the former Washington QB (or any team’s quarterback) in relation to his team’s available salary cap space. For the acquisition of Kirk Cousins to make sense the deal has to leave the Vikings enough cap space to pursue other free agents and retain valued players, meaning the Vikings have to find a way to keep Cousins cap figure to around 10-12 percent of the team’s adjusted cap space (which figures to be $191.77M for the next year).
While the Vikings 'are' in a financial position to sign Cousins and still improve the team at other key positions, it’s a delicate balance and the New York Jets (who have the most money of any team to spend on free agency) could make an offer that would push the Vikings beyond their comfort level of adding Cousins without compromising their future.
The questions NOBODY has been able to answer definitively to this point are; Is Kirk Cousins the best answer for the Vikings at quarterback, and at what cost? And on his side of the equation, what are Kirk Cousins’ priorities when determining his next team?
If money is Cousins’ top priority, then the Jets, Broncos and Cardinals are all in play for his services. If he wants the money AND the opportunity to play on a team that’s ready to contend right now, then, the Vikings are the obvious choice.
Plot Twist
Here's where the suspense starts elbowing in: Could that same logic be applied to another potential free-agent quarterback 'besides' Kirk Cousins?
While attempting to read the tea leaves regarding Cousins motivation, and to find solid footing in answering whether or not he’s the Vikings best available option at QB (and at what cost) another unresolved quarterback situation continues to gnaw at me, and I’m guessing it's gnawing at the Vikings as well.
As I write this, it’s been 9-days since New Orleans Saints GM Mickey Loomis downplayed theories about Drew Brees testing free agency by saying, “I think the important thing is Drew wants to be a New Orleans Saint and we want him to be a New Orleans Saint, so he’s going to be a New Orleans Saint.”
Well Mickey, I’d say the important thing to consider now is that the “legal tampering" period begins tomorrow, and you and the Saints still haven’t locked-up Drew Brees. What’s up with that?
The popular theory all along is that even if the Vikings get Cousins they’ll still only have the 3rd best quarterback in the division, behind Aaron Rogers in Green Bay and Matthew Stafford in Detroit. In my opinion, the addition of Brees, which I still believe is remote, would alter that pecking order and level the playing field, immediately.
Why is Drew Brees still available?
It appears the Saints, and Tom Condon, the agent for Drew Brees, have had trouble agreeing on Brees’ value to the Saints. Brees, who just set the all-time mark for completion percentage in a season and topped 4,000 yards passing for the 12th year in a row (something no other player has done in more than 8 consecutive seasons) is 39 years old, and will already count $18 million in dead money against the salary cap whenever his playing days end. At this point the Saints don’t appear eager to add any more to that figure.
The Saints do have $36 million dollars in cap space but that pales in comparison to what the Vikings are working with, and if New Orleans fails to get a deal with Brees complete by Monday he should be the Vikings FIRST call, not their second.
Bottom Line
Technically, the Vikings can’t actually talk numbers with Brees (or Cousins for that matter) but they can invite him up to take a tour of their shiny new facility in Eagan, where they can impress upon him how much they value him. And if you're talking Brees, I think Drew knows what the Vikings have to offer him in terms of being able to win right now.
If Brees hits free agency (and again, I never expected we’d be talking about it at this late date), even at age 39 he is the surest, safest best they have, and the Purple should do everything they can to get him. I don’t think there’s any argument that Brees immediately upgrades the Vikings to the elite level at the most important position in the game, on-par with Aaron Rogers if only for a few seasons.
While I’ve had a hard time feeling secure that Cousins is the right choice for the ‘Purple Gang’, I have no such uncertainty when it comes to Brees. Based on the numbers and available cap space the Vikings have, I believe they can offer Brees a three-year contract that will (temporarily) make him the highest-paid player in the game. They can do it at a price point which would leave them in position to add other free agents in this off-season, and re-sign key players in years to come.
Does Drew Brees give the Vikings the long-term answer at quarterback that every team is seeking? No. What he does offer is an immediate upside that no other available quarterback (including Kirk Cousins) can offer, and if the Saints are foolish enough to let Drew Brees hit the “legal tampering” period, I say “let’s get a Drew deal done!”
Gopher women host Selection Show Watch party
The University of Minnesota women’s basketball team is inviting fans to their 2018 Selection Show Watch Party, Monday March 12 at Williams Arena.
The Gophers are projected to earn at at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2015, but it’s something that head coach Marlene Stollings is planning to turn into an annual event.
“We want to be recognized as a program that not only qualifies for the NCAA tournament every year, but as one that goes and advances," insists Stollings. "We want to go from a culture that is happy to make it to a culture where we make it and then we do something, let’s go take it! We’re going with the intent that we’re a tough matchup for anybody and that we’re going to make some noise.”
The event is free and open to the public with doors set to open at 5:15p.m. and the selection show scheduled to begin at 6pm.
Heck of a time to try something new
I asked Gold Medalist and Golden Gopher Kelly Pannek of Plymouth if she had ever seen the wicked game-winning move that Jocelyn Lamoureux-Davidson pulled-off in the shootout of the gold medal game against Canada.
“No, I’d never seen it before”, said Pannek. “We didn’t spend a lot of time practicing for shootouts so I had no idea, but she beat (Canadian goaltender Shannon) Szabados so bad she actually could have gone either way with it. We all just started laughing.”
If we can only get him to come out of his shell
I asked three-time state wrestling champion and Gopher recruit Patrick McKee of St. Michael-Albertville how theoretically he would attack himself on the mat.
“That’s a tough question because I think it would be hard. I think it’s hard to scout me because of how much different offense I have. I have a bunch of different offense, I also have good defense, you know?" McKee reasoned. "If you get to my legs it’s going to be hard to score on me. I’m good on top, I’m good on bottom, so pretty much all positions I’d say I’m pretty solid at and I don’t do one particular move, I don’t do one particular setup. I’m not constantly 2-on-1’s, I’m not just under-hooks, and also, if you get a 2-on-1 on me to try to slow me down I’ll just clear to score or something like that, you know? So, it would be hard to scout me I think.”
Tim: “Are you lacking at all in confidence?”
Patrick: “No, not at all.”
This kid’s going to be fun to cover.
Hear more Vikings from Tim in his bi-weekly podcast "McNiff's Huddle" below:
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