This offseason, Minnesota will have to make a number of important decisions.
The NFL season of 2023–24 is coming to an end, and in less than two weeks, the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs will square off in the Super Bowl.
When one season ends, a new one begins, with the offseason getting underway as soon as a Super Bowl champion is declared. Teams can start identifying franchise or transition players on February 20. A week later, the scouting combine gets underway, and free agency is scheduled to start in March.
After a terrible 2023 season, the Vikings have a lot of questions heading into the offseason, especially at the quarterback position.
Furthermore, overthecap.com reports that Minnesota will only have $25 million in cap space, which means additional difficult choices will need to be made this offseason.
Taking everything into account, the following seven free agents are ones the Vikings ought to look at signing this offseason:
Cousin Kirk
Without a doubt, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, the general manager of the Vikings, will have to make the most decisions this summer about the quarterback position. Before suffering a season-ending Achilles tear in 2023, Cousins, the starting quarterback for the Vikings for the previous six seasons, was having a stellar year.
In eight games, he passed for 2,331 yards, 18 touchdowns, and just five interceptions. His score of 86.1 on Pro Football Focus placed him seventh out of 38 quarterbacks that were rated. This offseason, the organization has Cousins ranked as the No. 2 free agent.
But not only is Cousins coming off an Achilles tear, he’ll also be 36 years old when he steps onto the football field for the first time in 2024. Sooner or later, the Vikings do need to address life after Cousins, and it would behoove them to select their quarterback of the future in this year’s NFL draft.
Having said that, the Vikings would effectively be relying on a rookie quarterback to lead the team in 2024 if they choose to let Cousins depart and choose not to pursue another free agent quarterback. This is because the draft takes place after free agency. The Vikings cannot promise they will select their preferred quarterback with the No. 11 pick or that they will find a willing trade partner to advance further in the draft.
The Vikings would have the best chance of winning now if they could re-sign Cousins to a two-year, $60 million contract, which is PFF’s current projection for his contract. In addition, the Vikings would still be able to take a chance on a quarterback with the No. 11 pick in the draft, giving the young quarterback a year or two to develop behind an experienced veteran. The Vikings may sign a less expensive veteran quarterback in free agency if they feel Cousins’ price tag is too high, but Cousins is unquestionably a more desirable choice than someone like Ryan Tannehill or Baker Mayfield.
Danielle Hunter
Hunter’s free agency is scheduled to begin, just as Cousins’. Similar to Cousins, Adofo-Mensah ought to consider re-integrating Hunter into the team.
Before the season, Hunter and the Vikings were embroiled in a contract dispute; however, after settling on a $20 million, one-year deal, Hunter emerged as the team’s most productive pass rusher and most certainly earned himself a raise.
With 16.5 sacks, Hunter ranked fourth in the NFL in 2023. He also had 83 tackles, 23 of which were for loss, and four forced fumbles. Nobody on the team could come close to matching his output. With eight sacks, D.J. Wonnum led the team; Harrison Smith and Harrison Phillips tied for third place with three each.
