Valhalla Villager: News, Rumors and Gossip

[wcblack34]

1 hour ago, vike daddy said:

O'Connell spoke briefly before Tuesday's voluntary Organized Team Activity practice, explaining how Ellefson will be able to explore coaching, scouting and player development opportunities this year:

"Ben and I have had some communication, and his intent to still stay involved with our team and be around our team, we're kind of putting our heads together and kind of come to a conclusion. We're going to have him with us but no longer as a player. He is going to retire and join us in a little more of a hybrid, associate role, get his feet wet in the coaching world. He loves the idea of being around his teammates in the player engagement world, as well as possibly getting his toe in the scouting waters.

"When you have players like Ben and a lot of players that we have on our roster, you just want to continue to be a resource for these guys, and he came to the conclusion that he still wants to be part of our organization and I sure as heck want him to be here as well. You guys will see him, probably around training camp, back out around our team, which will be really exciting, and as that role kind of progresses, he'll be with us through the year in that role, and I'm really excited about it."

https://www.vikings.com/news/ben-ellefson-tight-end-retires?fbclid=IwAR3L9KF-DuEV3-o9mGAikWYYhiQ7pVp3l5Xrsg3wdYTbcksANCiBiiylkho

This is the type of thing that speaks volumes about the kind of organization you run and your willingness to create a culture that entices players to come and to stay. 

[vike daddy]

1 hour ago, wcblack34 said:

This is the type of thing that speaks volumes about the kind of organization you run and your willingness to create a culture that entices players to come and to stay. 

I thought that too when I first read it. As in, this is why the players give the Vikings an A grade.

[swede700]

Quote

 

An NFL roster is made up of 53 players, but there are a few core playmakers who serve as the cornerstones for every team. And some of these cores are better than others. We set out to rank them, as is our legal obligation for all June football musings.

13. Minnesota Vikings

Roster core: QB Kirk Cousins, WR Justin Jefferson, OLB Danielle Hunter, OT Christian Darrisaw, TE T.J. Hockenson

Average core age: 27.4

If you can't have an elite quarterback, the next-best thing is an elite wide receiver. There's perhaps no one better at the position than Jefferson, and he's the primary reason the Vikings are in this spot.

 

https://www.espn.com/nfl/insider/story/_/id/37803145/ranking-nfl-roster-cores-32-teams-top-five-players-chiefs-bengals-eagles

[swede700]

With the looming release of Dalvin, the longest tenured offensive players on the Vikings will be CJ Ham (UDFA 2016) and Brian O'Neill (2nd rd 2018), along with Kirk, who also came in 2018. 

And the funny thing is, if they move on from Danielle, there will absolutely no defensive player, outside of Harrison Smith, that arrived here before 2020 (Troy Dye, DJ Wonnum, and James Lynch in the 4th and Josh Metellus in the 6th). 

Edited June 8, 2023 by swede700

[SteelKing728]

Dang...There is hardly anybody left from that fun 2017 team😨

[vike daddy]

53 minutes ago, swede700 said:

With the looming release of Dalvin, the longest tenured offensive players on the Vikings will be CJ Ham (UDFA 2016) and Brian O'Neill (2nd rd 2018), along with Kirk, who also came in 2018. 

And the funny thing is, if they move on from Danielle, there will absolutely no defensive player, outside of Harrison Smith, that arrived here before 2020 (Troy Dye, DJ Wonnum, and James Lynch in the 4th and Josh Metellus in the 6th). 

bunch of yutes, all over the place.

[PrplChilPill]

8 minutes ago, vike daddy said:

bunch of yutes, all over the place.

It's a young man's game for sure.....

[vike daddy]

The Vikings started the offseason with huge salary cap problems. They were roughly $23 million over the cap, and no single move could get them out of that jam.

Multiple moves had to be made, and general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah pulled them off. He released Eric Kendricks, Adam Thielen, and Dalvin Cook, which saved about $24.6 million. Harrison Smith agreed to a paycut, and some of Kirk Cousins’ cap hit was pushed into 2024.

According to Over the Cap, the Vikings sit pretty with $17,809,972 in the eighth spot of the salary cap space rankings in the NFL. They are also 12th in salary cap space in 2024.

https://vikingsterritory.com/2023/news/top_news/vikings-rank-8th?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook

[swede700]

2 of the 9 ain't bad...

[swede700]

Clavelle was a 49ers scout at the time of the article that Alec is referring to.

[swede700]

 

[vike daddy]

U.S. Bank Stadium, home to the Minnesota Vikings since it opened in 2016, officially has been bought and paid for.

Via Rochelle Olson of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the state has used the stadium reserve ($366 million) and $12 million from a general fund to pay off all remaining debt on the building . It happened on Monday.

The Minnesota Legislature opted earlier this year to redirect the funds and to retire the remaining bonds that had been issued to raise the money necessary to build the stadium. The move avoids $226 million in interest payments, and it frees up $150 million in pulltab revenues that had been going to the stadium fund.

https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/u-s-bank-stadium-is-officially-debt-free-as-of-monday

[SteelKing728]

 

Acho thinks we run it back in 2024, winning the division over Detroit.

What do you guys think?

[SemperFeist]

He’s a smart man. 

[babababa]

17 hours ago, SteelKing728 said:

 

Acho thinks we run it back in 2024, winning the division over Detroit.

What do you guys think?

Pretty sure Detroit will win the division. They surged at the end of last year destroying the Vikings and ending Rodgers in Green Bay. This offseason they strengthened their roster, while the Vikings have become weaker due to cuts across the board.

The Giants are also the better team and proved it when it mattered most.

If Hunter is done this team will be lucky to make a wildcard. No pass rush = the kiss of death. This isn't a slam against the Vikings, rather that they've lost too much talent/experience and will probably look like a bunch of kids in over their heads on defense despite Flores. There's too much of an unknown being trusted to win the division. 

I see a lot of Vikings fans reacting to the media favoring the Lions calling them "overhyped and overrated". If anyone uses ancient Lions history as some kind of "smart" argument prepare for some hubris. The Vikings are on their last legs this season unless Flores is truly the answer. That's a tall order -- sorry.

I predict a total Vikings rebuild in 2024 (new QB -- Will Jefferson want to stick around?) and the Lions will have this division for many years until the Vikings figure out if their new QB is really going to work out.