Despite appearing to have little cap space this offseason, the Vikings found creative ways to make moves.
Although, some of the moves have been criticized by executives around the league. As reported by The Athletic’s Mike Sando, not all are fond of what Minnesota did this offseason.
“Zimmer’s first mistake was saying he’d never had a bad defense,” an exec said, per Sando. “His second mistake was going for the quick fix in free agency with risky vets instead of coaching those young guys they brought in. They run that complex scheme and when it doesn’t work, it’s the execution, so they sign vets.”
The Vikings brought in Dalvin Tomlinson and Patrick Peterson to fix at least some of the team’s problems on defense. Both Peterson and Tomlinson could be risky bets. Here’s what an NFL executive had to say:
“They paid an old, declining corner and they paid a nose tackle,” an exec said, per Sando. “I’m not a fan, but that’s what Zimmer wants to do with his defense, and he has had great defenses. Maybe this is what stirs the drink.”
Not everyone is worried about what Minnesota did this offseason, though:
“You do need to get quality players and not just grab the first offensive linemen that are willing to go to you,” an exec said, via Sando. “The fact they didn’t sign offensive linemen, I don’t think that is an indictment.”
Overall, it’s hard to say whether the team did enough to make the defense good again. But if the Vikings can just add a few more pieces to both sides of the ball, a bounce-back season wouldn’t be surprising.