NFL 2025 Offseason

[Mike Sixel]

2 hours ago, gunnarthor said:

Sounds like the 49ers are going to get a contract with Purdy instead of letting him play on the last year of a rookie deal. SI predicts he'll get something close to 50m/yr and I suspect that's probably right. SF is in a tough place where they can't just blow it all up but probably also need an influx of talent. 50m for a solid QB is actually about what the market says right now.

Just a bad decision. Otoh.... What's an ok free agent cost, if there is one? What's the cost of not knowing if you have a QB?

 

[gunnarthor]

46 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

Just a bad decision. Otoh.... What's an ok free agent cost, if there is one? What's the cost of not knowing if you have a QB?

 

Well, they can have Purdy for a million next season if they were just "**** it, you belong to us". Might piss off some of the players, not sure.

But a normal free agent QB class usually doens't have a stud in it. Darnold could be available a year from now if we tag and keep him. This year, the best FA will be Russell Wilson and Justin Fields. (I may be missing someone). And then a lot of Mac Jones types.

[nicksaviking]

49 minutes ago, gunnarthor said:

Well, they can have Purdy for a million next season if they were just "**** it, you belong to us". Might piss off some of the players, not sure.

But a normal free agent QB class usually doens't have a stud in it. Darnold could be available a year from now if we tag and keep him. This year, the best FA will be Russell Wilson and Justin Fields. (I may be missing someone). And then a lot of Mac Jones types.

Aaron Rodgers, Derek Carr and Kirk Cousins are also likely join them. No studs, but way more capable long time starting QBs than normal.

The 49ers are old as dirt. Honestly, I'd probably give one of those cheap veterans a shot while I try to find a long term elite passer since I don't think Purdy is much better than that group and definitely not worth locking in long term.

[gunnarthor]

Pats hire Vrabel. Good news for vikings because Flores could have been a fit there. 

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/43382844/mike-vrabel-agrees-become-patriots-new-coach-sources-say

[Mike Sixel]

Vrabel seems like a bad fit to coach up a young QB?

[nicksaviking]

20 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

Vrabel seems like a bad fit to coach up a young QB?

Unless your goal is for him to have a ceiling of Ryan Tannehill.

[gunnarthor]

2 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

Vrabel seems like a bad fit to coach up a young QB?

Yeah, he wasn't my first choice. Let's see who he brings in for OC. 

[Vanimal46]

4 hours ago, gunnarthor said:

Yeah, he wasn't my first choice. Let's see who he brings in for OC. 

I liked him a lot. He's going to be a Dan Campbell CEO type this go around I would imagine. Dude won a lot of games with mediocre talent in Tennessee. 

[gunnarthor]

Interesting free agent class this offseason, and really good for the Vikings. Here's a few lists -

https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-2025-nfl-free-agent-rankings

https://www.bleacherreport.com/articles/10149530-2025-nfl-free-agency-big-board-ranking-top-50-players-before-wild-card-weekend

The Vikings have done a good job clearing cap space so they should be able to plug a few holes in free agency. Keep in mind that these lists are pretty subjective and it's more how the player fits in a scheme than their ranking. Van Ginkle wasn't a huge free agent last season but turned out really well. 

* KC's guard - Trey Smith - would look great on our offensive line. He'll be expensive - probably 21m+/year.

* I want the Vikings to resign Murphy and we'll get back Blackmon but the secondary will still need free agents. Fortunately, there are a lot of really good corners on market. Find one or two that fit Flores scheme.

* Dre Greenlaw could be a steal in free agency. He's still not all the way back from that injury but would might be a good upgrade over Pace and give some depth to the linebacking group. 

* Lastly, there's some smoke on the internet already that Miami's safety Jevon Holland will be reunited with Flores. 

[nicksaviking]

15 hours ago, Vanimal46 said:

I liked him a lot. He's going to be a Dan Campbell CEO type this go around I would imagine. Dude won a lot of games with mediocre talent in Tennessee. 

So has Mike Tomlin and I think Vrabel is much more like Tomlin than Campbell. All three are beyond stubborn, but Campbell is stubborn in how aggressive he is while Vrabel and Tomlin seem to be stubborn in trying to out 'old school' everyone else. The difference probably being Campbell comes from the offensive side and Vrabel and Tomlin coming from the defensive side.

[gunnarthor]

Sounds like Dallas might actually hire Sanders. That feels like a very Jerry Jones hire.

[Mike Sixel]

7 minutes ago, gunnarthor said:

Sounds like Dallas might actually hire Sanders. That feels like a very Jerry Jones hire.

Gonna be awkward for the team taht drafts his son, when he tries to interfere....

[TheLeviathan]

24 minutes ago, gunnarthor said:

Sounds like Dallas might actually hire Sanders. That feels like a very Jerry Jones hire.

That Dak contract seems impossible to move off.

[nicksaviking]

18 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

Gonna be awkward for the team taht drafts his son, when he tries to interfere....

Right, Deion will absolutely break tampering rules presuming his sons aren't on his team.

And I don't know how an NFL team can have a HC that insists on getting all the cameras and all the attention all the time. Yeah, Jerry Jones would love it because he cares about those things too over winning, but I'd have to think that puts the Cowboys in the cellar for the foreseeable future.

[nicksaviking]

So Justin Tucker is accused of pulling some Deshaun Watson moves:

https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/justin-tucker-calls-allegations-of-inappropriate-behavior-unequivocally-false

Terrible stuff to hear for sure, but I just couldn't help but laugh at this part:

“It is no surprise that the paper’s interactions with me were marked by journalistic failures at every turn. When I first learned that the newspaper was writing this article, they refused to reveal the full claims they were planning to make against me. It wasn’t until I was forced to hire the leading defamation law firm in the U.S. to write to the paper that they finally revealed what they were planning on writing. Then, when they did finally provide some of this information, they gave me next to no time to provide a response. It is clear why — they had no interest in what I (or anyone else) had to say.

What the hell?!?!? Is this law firm more concerned with defending their client or advertising their services? This level of self-serving propaganda is bonkers!

[gunnarthor]

16 hours ago, nicksaviking said:

So Justin Tucker is accused of pulling some Deshaun Watson moves:

https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/justin-tucker-calls-allegations-of-inappropriate-behavior-unequivocally-false

Terrible stuff to hear for sure, but I just couldn't help but laugh at this part:

“It is no surprise that the paper’s interactions with me were marked by journalistic failures at every turn. When I first learned that the newspaper was writing this article, they refused to reveal the full claims they were planning to make against me. It wasn’t until I was forced to hire the leading defamation law firm in the U.S. to write to the paper that they finally revealed what they were planning on writing. Then, when they did finally provide some of this information, they gave me next to no time to provide a response. It is clear why — they had no interest in what I (or anyone else) had to say.

What the hell?!?!? Is this law firm more concerned with defending their client or advertising their services? This level of self-serving propaganda is bonkers!

A "no comment" might have worked better.

[Vanimal46]

Myles Garrett requested a trade out of Cleveland today. Complete pipe dream, but he’s a guy I’d give 2 1st round draft picks for and not think twice about it. 

[Vanimal46]

But I got a sneaky suspicion he ends up on the Bears… They once again have a ton of draft capital, and Poles needs to make a huge splash move to keep his job. 

[Mike Sixel]

It would cost Cleveland an insane price to deal him. He'll get an extension....

[nicksaviking]

2 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

It would cost Cleveland an insane price to deal him. He'll get an extension....

Yeah, 36M in dead money? Ouch. The Browns wouldn't even bench Watson when he was terrible, they're not going to eat 36M to trade their best player.

And yes the Browns are a terrible, dysfunctional franchise, but I doubt ANY team would do that, at least for a star player.

[TheLeviathan]

2 hours ago, nicksaviking said:

Yeah, 36M in dead money? Ouch. The Browns wouldn't even bench Watson when he was terrible, they're not going to eat 36M to trade their best player.

And yes the Browns are a terrible, dysfunctional franchise, but I doubt ANY team would do that, at least for a star player.

They should try for dead money on Garret and Watson just for giggles at this point. 

Blow that franchise up.  Again.

[nicksaviking]

16 minutes ago, TheLeviathan said:

They should try for dead money on Garret and Watson just for giggles at this point. 

Blow that franchise up.  Again.

We've seen the big dead money hits for terrible contracts of players the teams didn't want any more, like Brock Oswieler, so doing that with Watson makes sense. Seems like an unreasonable ask for a 1st ballot HOFer who's still at his peak though.

[gunnarthor]

On 2/3/2025 at 12:00 PM, Vanimal46 said:

Myles Garrett requested a trade out of Cleveland today. Complete pipe dream, but he’s a guy I’d give 2 1st round draft picks for and not think twice about it. 

I'm not sure I would. He's great but he's 29. He's a 4-3 end, not sure how he'd work as a 3-4 end although I would imagine he'd do fine but I'm not sure. And we have Van Ginkle, Greenard, and Turner already. I think the cost - while not as much as two first rounders - would be excessive. 

I'd rather keep our first this year but if we were going to trade it, I'd try to steal someone like the Giants Dexter Lawrence (no idea what his contract is) who can help the interior defensive line. 

[Danchat]

2 hours ago, gunnarthor said:

I'm not sure I would. He's great but he's 29. He's a 4-3 end, not sure how he'd work as a 3-4 end although I would imagine he'd do fine but I'm not sure. And we have Van Ginkle, Greenard, and Turner already. I think the cost - while not as much as two first rounders - would be excessive. 

I'd rather keep our first this year but if we were going to trade it, I'd try to steal someone like the Giants Dexter Lawrence (no idea what his contract is) who can help the interior defensive line. 

I think Garrett would be a fine 3-4 OLB, Danielle Hunter made the transition just fine and both are crazy top tier athletes.

The demand for Garrett will be very high and it's likely the Vikings would get outbid quickly. And I think he could absolutely fetch 2 1sts.

Lawrence would be a pipe dream, but I don't think the Giants have any desire to move him. He is another guy that teams would bid up his price if it were made known that he was available.

[Mike Sixel]

37 minutes ago, Danchat said:

I think Garrett would be a fine 3-4 OLB, Danielle Hunter made the transition just fine and both are crazy top tier athletes.

The demand for Garrett will be very high and it's likely the Vikings would get outbid quickly. And I think he could absolutely fetch 2 1sts.

Lawrence would be a pipe dream, but I don't think the Giants have any desire to move him. He is another guy that teams would bid up his price if it were made known that he was available.

They already have three starters at OLB....why do they need more? I don't get this idea at all. (not aimed at you, but you were last :) )

[Vanimal46]

1 hour ago, Mike Sixel said:

They already have three starters at OLB....why do they need more? I don't get this idea at all. (not aimed at you, but you were last :) )

Just making it known that I did preface that it’s a pipe dream… In a hypothetical trade for Garrett I’d offer up the 2025 1st, Dallas Turner, and whatever mid round pick it takes to get a deal done. 

I don’t think the Vikings are realistically in on the opportunity, but the idea of acquiring an All Pro caliber DL/EDGE is interesting 

[Vanimal46]

And since y’all brought up the Watson angle, now that has me curious…

Let’s say Garrett’s value alone is a 1st round pick in the 20s, a mid round pick, and a young player on a rookie deal. Would you take a far lesser return, let’s say a 3rd round pick; if you can offload 50+% of Watson’s remaining money owed?

[Mike Sixel]

1 hour ago, Vanimal46 said:

And since y’all brought up the Watson angle, now that has me curious…

Let’s say Garrett’s value alone is a 1st round pick in the 20s, a mid round pick, and a young player on a rookie deal. Would you take a far lesser return, let’s say a 3rd round pick; if you can offload 50+% of Watson’s remaining money owed?

I'd need Garrett and Watson and multiple high picks from them to take both those salaries. 

[Parfigliano]

On 2/3/2025 at 3:45 PM, TheLeviathan said:

They should try for dead money on Garret and Watson just for giggles at this point. 

Blow that franchise up.  Again.

Relagation.

[nicksaviking]

15 hours ago, Danchat said:

I think Garrett would be a fine 3-4 OLB, Danielle Hunter made the transition just fine and both are crazy top tier athletes.

The demand for Garrett will be very high and it's likely the Vikings would get outbid quickly. And I think he could absolutely fetch 2 1sts.

Lawrence would be a pipe dream, but I don't think the Giants have any desire to move him. He is another guy that teams would bid up his price if it were made known that he was available.

I don't think Hunter did make the transition very well at all. He still got sacks, but he couldn't drop back into coverage. It's literally why they got rid of him and signed Greenard  and Van Ginkel, whom the rest of the league had previously thought of as a lesser talents.

And it is the reason why I'd be weary of Garrett.