Minnesota Vikings
Being cap-strapped affected the Minnesota Vikings this offseason as they were unable to retain Sheldon Richardson, who joined the Cleveland Browns. They do believe in their depth to replace him but that was a talented defender who left.
They did lock up Adam Thielen long-term and somehow pulled a rabbit out of their hat to get Anthony Barr to back out of a contract agreement with the New York Jets. In the draft, they bulked up their offensive line with the talented North Carolina center Garrett Bradbury. He fills a huge need and will help them get the most out of Dalvin Cook and Kirk Cousins — who really struggled last season after signing a massive free agent deal.
Irv Smith was added in Round 2 and he’s a great receiving threat at tight end, but might make things awkward with Kyle Rudolph. Teams are calling about him now, and the discussions with him on a contract extension also ended. However, this was a move with the future and the salary cap in mind and really was a wise one — even if it hurts feelings in the short-term.
In the third, they landed Alexander Mattison who was a good runner at Boise State. They lost Latavius Murray in free agency and this is a solid replacement. Cook will continue to be the bell cow, but they could do much worse behind him.
Minnesota was one of the bigger disappointments in 2018 and they hope that shoring up the offensive line will propel them forward. Still, it would have been nice to see them replace Richardson and they also had a failed attempt to trade Everson Griffen hit the news wire which wasn’t great considering he’s staying put.
Grade: B-