The Minnesota Vikings are facing a most critical season in the regime of general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and head coach Kevin O'Connell.
Those two individuals are in their third year at the helm of the Vikings, and the time has come for their signature to be firmly imprinted on the franchise. The first two years have been positive as they have breathed new life and optimism into a team that had been beaten down in the final years of the Rick Spielman-Mike Zimmer regime.
Both Adofo-Mensah and O'Connell are forward thinking with an underlying optimistic point of view. They believe they will make the right moves for the franchise. They teamed up to win the NFC North in Year 1, and while there was a significant regression in Year 2 — from 13-4 to 7-10 — there was a significant injury at the quarterback position that explains why the Vikings were not a playoff team.
Questions to answer in offseason
The biggest questions the team has in the 2024 offseason revolve around quarterback Kirk Cousins and pass rusher Danielle Hunter.
Cousins is ranked as the top free-agent quarterback as the start of the new league year approaches. If he is unsigned by the March 11 legal tampering deadline or the March 13 start of the new league year, it seems clear that he will not be coming back to the Vikings. That would seem to be the Vikings' choice no matter how many positive things are said by O'Connell about the quarterback and how many good things Cousins says about the Vikings.
The team may not think that Cousins is worth the heavy price tag — $40 to $45 million per season — he will likely cost to get his name on a new contract.
There may be doubts about Cousins, but there are none as far as Hunter is concerned. He is coming off a career-best 16.5 sacks, and he is clearly the best player on the Vikings defense.
Minnesota made quite a bit of progress throughout the majority of the season on defense, and they even recorded a shutout in a Week 14 games against the Raiders. While there was some slippage after that, opponents knew they had to contain Hunter or they would be in significant trouble.
Since defensive coordinator Brian Flores is coming back in 2024, he needs his top weapon if the Vikings are going to continue to improve on defense next season.
These are the two biggest areas of concern, but the Vikings have other issues as well. They must find a competent running back since they are parting company with Alexander Mattison, and they must continue to improve their defensive personnel.
They can do that by trading for a solid linebacker.
Vikings need to bring Khalil Mack into the fold
As good as Hunter is, he is not a one-man gang. Like nearly all top defensive players, he needs a partner in crime who can share some of the pass rush responsibilities as the 17-game season rolls along.
If the Vikings can trade for Khalil Mack of the Los Angeles Chargers, it could prove to be the perfect move for the team.
Mack has been one of the top pass rushers in the league throughout his career. The 33-year-old Mack has played with the Oakland Raiders, Chicago Bears and Los Angeles Chargers. While he is no longer at his peak, he has plenty of know-how and can make the Vikings a more effective defensive team.
Mack had a remarkable 17 sack season with the moribund Chargers and he also forced 5 fumbles. Because of his age, he would probably cost the Vikings a middle-round draft choice. That's a move that would clearly be worthwhile to a team that wants to continue to grow on defense.
C.J. Mosley would be a solid alternative for Vikings if they don't acquire Mack
The Vikings are not going to be the only team that will be licking its chops at a chance to acquire Mack, and there is no guarantee that they will be able to do that.
If those plans get scuttled, they need to look at linebacker C.J. Mosley of the New York Jets. Mosley is not the same kind of pass-rushing linebacker as Mack, but he is an excellent tackler. He recorded 152 tackles last year for the Jets, and he has had at least that many stops in each of the past three seasons.
Mosley also had 7 passes defensed, 1 interception and 2 forced fumbles in 2023, and that shows his versatility. Linebacker has not been a position of strength for the Vikings, and while Mosley is not a superstar, he does many of the fundamental things quite well and would be an asset if the Vikings traded for him.
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