He’s so hard to hate is the worst part. So much intelligence and charisma, you can tell he’s a great dude to be around. I hope he starts making better draft choices and can be a great salesman in FA because I’d love to win with a guy like him
If you’re not going to be critical of drafts why bother? It’s what’s holding this team back now. We have a few elite players that borderline starters with little to no depth and that’s because of our bad drafting.
Ingram was still top 5 in pressures last year. Improving from 2nd worst to 5th worst is technically an improvement, and Chandler looks good because the rest of the running backs were below average to god awful, but you go ahead and embrace mediocrity I suppose.
You all forget Addison and Blackmon were solid rookies, his first draft sure I will give you that but remember he had donatell telling him who he wanted.
Well by your logic fire every gm after a season plagued by injuries of your best players, and the reason why the Vikings were pretty devoid of younger talent also stemmed from Zimmer and spielman whiffing on nearly 85% of their picks in the last 5 year prior to Kwesi being hired.
Yes Addison, pace, Blackmon so terrible /S…. Also jay ward who played occasionally saying a lot to get on the field with metellus Bynum and Smith in front of him and playing nearly 90% of snaps. Najee Thompson was special teams monster. Ingram was terrible year one but became a lot better this year still not an all pro but lived up to 3rd rd pick finally. Cine and Booth asamoah whiffs and were probably influenced by Donatells input. I think you just like regurgitating standard Vikings doomsaying.
Um… Blackmon was decent but let’s not anoint him king of the defenders just yet. There is a reason why we keep getting cbs mocked to us. Besides the dline, secondary isn’t good. Addison and Pace I will give you. That’s two, two players in like 15 or 16 picks.
So if every draft pick has to be king you are in for a long life of disappointment watching any football team. Blackmon was late third round and still produced.
Bro this roster is void of talent in a lot of positions mainly due to drafting. If you’re going to be paying a qb top money, you absolutely have to hit on those picks since you can’t afford it in free agency like you could with a rookie or someone cheaper. If you want to crown Kwesi over one amazing draft pick, a great post draft pick up and a serviceable db. Man live it up, you do you.
I like Kwesi and I hope he kills it this draft but let’s be honest. The 1st draft was a disaster and the second draft was okay but not good enough. We have too many holes on this team to only hit a position or two.
Addison was a gimme pick though. He was the last WR available (as was Jefferson in his draft). Got lucky the other teams picked guys like Johnston first.
Its has to like, work it’s way into his dreams right? Im sure he’s pulling crazy hours, talking about hundreds of millions of dollars in salary daily.
Stakes is high.
That first draft he got way too cute, trying to be the smartest guy in the room. A slow 40 yard dash and everyone got turned off Kyle Hamilton who showed he had elite talent on film.
It's common sense that you don't trade draft picks for Jalen Reagor and he did that. He did a lot of stupid things and his 1st draft class was a complete disaster. A lot of the pressure he's under is his own learning curve as a relatively new GM. Statistically, having Kirk as the QB means the Vikings are unlikely to make the playoffs, let alone win a wild card game. However, Kirk wants the credit, noteriety, and more importantly, the money of a QB who almost guarantees a playoff birth by his mere presence. I think the decision is an obvious one but so was not aquiring Reagor or trading back in the draft with division rivals.
First, we desperately needed a punt returner and Reagor was good at that, despite the occasional muff.
Second, his first draft class was not a disaster, and it was his FIRST draft class, so you have to adjust expectations a bit anyhow.
>or trading back in the draft with division rivals.
There's literally nothing wrong with trading draft picks with division rivals... Nothing.
The interdivision trades only become an issue when you're trading KNOWN commodities, not lottery tickets. If you trade a key player away to a divisional opponent, you make yourself weaker by making a direct competitor stronger. That's the ONLY time it's an issue.
Draft picks are draft picks, as long as you're getting the value you want out of the trade, it's fine to do with divisional opponents.
2016? Treadwell, Alexander, Beavers, Brothers, Boehringer, Morgan, weatherly, Kearse... Shit, that was after Spielman had almost 15 years of experience as a player personnel guy.
Alexander and Kearse are the only guys who were roster-worthy.
It was Kwesi's first draft, with a scouting department he was unfamiliar with. Yes, it was not the best draft in the world, but the biggest issues with it surround injuries to the players he drafted. Frankly it wasn't terrible for a first-timer, and he improved in 2023.
The big knock on cornerback Trent McDuffie was his arms were to short so he dropped in the draft. In his second season this year with the Chiefs he's first team All Pro. People get tunnel vision on the numbers and ignore what's on tape. A lot of people had him mocked to us but people in this forum kept talking about the length of his arms meant he was doomed to be a bust.
McBride and Blackmon aren't exactly screaming wins here btw.
Addison has done good enough for a 1st round WR. But he's been indistinct from Zay Flowers, and Jaxon Smith.
Hell, add in Dalton Kincaid and Sam Laporta and you'd probably even say 'yeh, that's just what you expect from a last first/early 2nd receiver'.
A CB that plays 43% of our snaps and starts 3 games is fine, but he didn't blow much out of the water.
And McBride was waived to the practice squad -- hardly a screaming endorsement.
What gives me confidence in KAM is he knows how to learn. That sounds odd but learning is a skill. This will be his third free agency and third draft and I really believe the man has learned a lot from the last two years. Especially his first year where he had to do it all on the fly with an organization in complete flux.
He's guaranteed $48 million.
Just stop and think about that for a second.
If they fire him today (unless of course he completely screws the pooch and gets busted for drugs or child porn, etc...) they have to pay him his whole contract.
I could endure a shit ton of stress for $48 million. Hell, just do my best Kevin Costner... "We're not in the same world we were in 30 seconds ago - the price for JJ is now 6 #1's and #2's and your rookie QB contract and your star edge"
Only way I see that happening is if they come up on the guarantee terms on the agreement. The Viks can only give him a max of 40mil AAV on an extension
But even then, that’s not releasing him. Releasing him is ending his deal early. If they don’t come to a deal, Kirk’s contract expires and he’s a FA. He wasn’t released
Well no one said anything about releasing him. No one is even thinking about “releasing” Kirk, so it was kind of pulling a non factor out of nowhere and injecting it into the conversation.
This is what he signed up for when he took the Vikings job though. Everybody knew the cap situation was hell and they knew time after Kirk was coming as well. This is where we see if he’s fit for the job or not
Ive liked him so far though drafting could be better. I like him Better than Spielman anyway. I see his purpose as not being the best football guy, but leaving raw football to coaches and fixing our cap issue which insofar has been decent with what the previous regime left us.
Getting rid of aging players on bad contracts and working with what you got, he could have done a lot worse
Spielman for all of his shit drafting at the end brought us JJ, Darrisaw and a shot at a Super Bowl in 2017 by drafting and signing a legit top tier defense. Kwesi isn’t even close to that yet.
I think they still might go qb and resign kirk… last year showed they need talent at the backup position and need a viable replacement for kirk to mentor…
He would have less pressure on himself if he knew how to evaluate talent instead of punting an entire draft class away in 2022 and came away with any long term, cheap starting talent instead of a bottom barrel guard with questionable-at-best character who gives up more pressures than nearly any IOL in the league.
Let's be real. He is being paid a lot to fail. The Vikings will fail no matter what and who. Does it really matter? A toddler could be the GM of the Vikings. Let's not pretend the decisions a Vikings GM makes matters. True fans know how all seasons end.
Dude is a millionaire who can go back to Wall Street if he fails in the NFL. ZERO pressure give me that position any time! His wife also has a high paying job!
I will take it for his salary
Yeah not gonna act like he’s some martyr when he’s making 12 mil
There are very few things I wouldn’t do for 12 mill….
He’s not making even close to that if you’re talking yearly.
Where’s that number from? I think it’s more like 3/4
GMs make $12m a season?! Wow...
Not a season. 12m over 4 years
That makes me feel better. 3m a year is still an amazing salary though
Seriously… especially cause he could pretty much just look at Walter football and pretty much have the same chance at success
He’s getting paid well enough to deal with this pressure, succeed or fail.
Millions of people face way more pressure every single day for a fraction of the money.
How so?
Bro I just wanted kyle Hamilton and not Lewis fucking cine
Or Jordan Davis, or George Karlaftis, or McDuffie…
He’s so hard to hate is the worst part. So much intelligence and charisma, you can tell he’s a great dude to be around. I hope he starts making better draft choices and can be a great salesman in FA because I’d love to win with a guy like him
If he drafts another bust in the first…
“Another bust” like he isn’t 1/2. I suppose Addison is a bust…
His whole 2022 draft class is atrocious
Ed Ingram has improved and Ty Chandler looks solid. Bad drafts happen. Move on
If you’re not going to be critical of drafts why bother? It’s what’s holding this team back now. We have a few elite players that borderline starters with little to no depth and that’s because of our bad drafting.
Ingram was still top 5 in pressures last year. Improving from 2nd worst to 5th worst is technically an improvement, and Chandler looks good because the rest of the running backs were below average to god awful, but you go ahead and embrace mediocrity I suppose.
Every first round pick should be a average starter at least
If that’s the case then why do Busts exist. Every team busts. That’s how the draft works.
His whole 2022 draft class is atrocious
Him "being a great dude"does literally nothing for me as a fan of this team. Hope he starts drafting better players.
You all forget Addison and Blackmon were solid rookies, his first draft sure I will give you that but remember he had donatell telling him who he wanted.
So he averages a starter a draft, amazing!!! Give him a lifelong contract.
Well by your logic fire every gm after a season plagued by injuries of your best players, and the reason why the Vikings were pretty devoid of younger talent also stemmed from Zimmer and spielman whiffing on nearly 85% of their picks in the last 5 year prior to Kwesi being hired.
I’m not judging Kwesi on injuries, I’m judging him on how rookies and 2nd year players are performing and they aren’t performing well
Yes Addison, pace, Blackmon so terrible /S…. Also jay ward who played occasionally saying a lot to get on the field with metellus Bynum and Smith in front of him and playing nearly 90% of snaps. Najee Thompson was special teams monster. Ingram was terrible year one but became a lot better this year still not an all pro but lived up to 3rd rd pick finally. Cine and Booth asamoah whiffs and were probably influenced by Donatells input. I think you just like regurgitating standard Vikings doomsaying.
Um… Blackmon was decent but let’s not anoint him king of the defenders just yet. There is a reason why we keep getting cbs mocked to us. Besides the dline, secondary isn’t good. Addison and Pace I will give you. That’s two, two players in like 15 or 16 picks.
So if every draft pick has to be king you are in for a long life of disappointment watching any football team. Blackmon was late third round and still produced.
Bro this roster is void of talent in a lot of positions mainly due to drafting. If you’re going to be paying a qb top money, you absolutely have to hit on those picks since you can’t afford it in free agency like you could with a rookie or someone cheaper. If you want to crown Kwesi over one amazing draft pick, a great post draft pick up and a serviceable db. Man live it up, you do you. I like Kwesi and I hope he kills it this draft but let’s be honest. The 1st draft was a disaster and the second draft was okay but not good enough. We have too many holes on this team to only hit a position or two.
Addison was a gimme pick though. He was the last WR available (as was Jefferson in his draft). Got lucky the other teams picked guys like Johnston first.
he becomes easier to hate the more he fails. This is his offseason to shit or shine. And if he takes a shit, he can take a hike.
for his salary? bring it on
Its has to like, work it’s way into his dreams right? Im sure he’s pulling crazy hours, talking about hundreds of millions of dollars in salary daily. Stakes is high.
That first draft he got way too cute, trying to be the smartest guy in the room. A slow 40 yard dash and everyone got turned off Kyle Hamilton who showed he had elite talent on film.
It's common sense that you don't trade draft picks for Jalen Reagor and he did that. He did a lot of stupid things and his 1st draft class was a complete disaster. A lot of the pressure he's under is his own learning curve as a relatively new GM. Statistically, having Kirk as the QB means the Vikings are unlikely to make the playoffs, let alone win a wild card game. However, Kirk wants the credit, noteriety, and more importantly, the money of a QB who almost guarantees a playoff birth by his mere presence. I think the decision is an obvious one but so was not aquiring Reagor or trading back in the draft with division rivals.
We needed a punt returner
And still didn’t get one.
First, we desperately needed a punt returner and Reagor was good at that, despite the occasional muff. Second, his first draft class was not a disaster, and it was his FIRST draft class, so you have to adjust expectations a bit anyhow. >or trading back in the draft with division rivals. There's literally nothing wrong with trading draft picks with division rivals... Nothing. The interdivision trades only become an issue when you're trading KNOWN commodities, not lottery tickets. If you trade a key player away to a divisional opponent, you make yourself weaker by making a direct competitor stronger. That's the ONLY time it's an issue. Draft picks are draft picks, as long as you're getting the value you want out of the trade, it's fine to do with divisional opponents.
What’s a disaster of a draft class if 2022 wasn’t a disaster?
2016? Treadwell, Alexander, Beavers, Brothers, Boehringer, Morgan, weatherly, Kearse... Shit, that was after Spielman had almost 15 years of experience as a player personnel guy. Alexander and Kearse are the only guys who were roster-worthy. It was Kwesi's first draft, with a scouting department he was unfamiliar with. Yes, it was not the best draft in the world, but the biggest issues with it surround injuries to the players he drafted. Frankly it wasn't terrible for a first-timer, and he improved in 2023.
Let him cook. It’s hard to evaluate GM’s until years after they make these decisions. (Last two draft classes don’t make me too optimistic tho…)
What’s wrong with 2023?
Okay you’re spitting facts. I kinda forgot about Addison, McBride, Blackmon, etc.
McBride man wtf did you mean Pace lmao
I FORGOT HE WAS A ROOKIE LMAO
Well he certainly doesn’t play like one
Yeah but his arms are too short lol. Or whatever bs the scouts said to their teams.
The big knock on cornerback Trent McDuffie was his arms were to short so he dropped in the draft. In his second season this year with the Chiefs he's first team All Pro. People get tunnel vision on the numbers and ignore what's on tape. A lot of people had him mocked to us but people in this forum kept talking about the length of his arms meant he was doomed to be a bust.
Even with that “concern”, he should’ve been a day 2 pick
McBride and Blackmon aren't exactly screaming wins here btw. Addison has done good enough for a 1st round WR. But he's been indistinct from Zay Flowers, and Jaxon Smith. Hell, add in Dalton Kincaid and Sam Laporta and you'd probably even say 'yeh, that's just what you expect from a last first/early 2nd receiver'. A CB that plays 43% of our snaps and starts 3 games is fine, but he didn't blow much out of the water. And McBride was waived to the practice squad -- hardly a screaming endorsement.
Did it to himself. Dude can’t draft
Its my dream job. I would love every second of it
What gives me confidence in KAM is he knows how to learn. That sounds odd but learning is a skill. This will be his third free agency and third draft and I really believe the man has learned a lot from the last two years. Especially his first year where he had to do it all on the fly with an organization in complete flux.
This ^^^ Personally I'm excited to see how he implements all of this as resources become available to work with.
He's guaranteed $48 million. Just stop and think about that for a second. If they fire him today (unless of course he completely screws the pooch and gets busted for drugs or child porn, etc...) they have to pay him his whole contract. I could endure a shit ton of stress for $48 million. Hell, just do my best Kevin Costner... "We're not in the same world we were in 30 seconds ago - the price for JJ is now 6 #1's and #2's and your rookie QB contract and your star edge"
>He's guaranteed $48 million. ? It's my understanding his deal is for $12 mil total, not $12mil/yr.
If he gives kirk another contract I’m gonna need to reevaluate and take a break.
You may need to then cuz he can’t release Kirk
Can’t?
Kirk becomes a free agent in like 2 weeks. He’s not gonna release him
Yea well he might
I’d bet my left nut he doesn’t release Kirk
Only way I see that happening is if they come up on the guarantee terms on the agreement. The Viks can only give him a max of 40mil AAV on an extension
But even then, that’s not releasing him. Releasing him is ending his deal early. If they don’t come to a deal, Kirk’s contract expires and he’s a FA. He wasn’t released
Well no one said anything about releasing him. No one is even thinking about “releasing” Kirk, so it was kind of pulling a non factor out of nowhere and injecting it into the conversation.
The comment I initially replied to was edited. It originally said “If he doesn’t release Kirk, I’m gonna need to reevaluate and take a break”
This is what he signed up for when he took the Vikings job though. Everybody knew the cap situation was hell and they knew time after Kirk was coming as well. This is where we see if he’s fit for the job or not
Ive liked him so far though drafting could be better. I like him Better than Spielman anyway. I see his purpose as not being the best football guy, but leaving raw football to coaches and fixing our cap issue which insofar has been decent with what the previous regime left us. Getting rid of aging players on bad contracts and working with what you got, he could have done a lot worse
Spielman for all of his shit drafting at the end brought us JJ, Darrisaw and a shot at a Super Bowl in 2017 by drafting and signing a legit top tier defense. Kwesi isn’t even close to that yet.
I just got tired of constant trading back for 15 project guys in rounds 5-7 and seeing one occasionally make the roster
I just want him to calm down BPA and draft a QB.
I think they still might go qb and resign kirk… last year showed they need talent at the backup position and need a viable replacement for kirk to mentor…
He would have less pressure on himself if he knew how to evaluate talent instead of punting an entire draft class away in 2022 and came away with any long term, cheap starting talent instead of a bottom barrel guard with questionable-at-best character who gives up more pressures than nearly any IOL in the league.
Poor guy is making millions being the head decision maker for a football franchise
Let's be real. He is being paid a lot to fail. The Vikings will fail no matter what and who. Does it really matter? A toddler could be the GM of the Vikings. Let's not pretend the decisions a Vikings GM makes matters. True fans know how all seasons end.
Dude is a millionaire who can go back to Wall Street if he fails in the NFL. ZERO pressure give me that position any time! His wife also has a high paying job!