DAILY CLIPS
SUNDAY, JUNE 14, 2020
LOCAL NEWS: Sunday, July 14, 2020
Star Tribune
Vikings' social justice committee takes a leading role in the community By Ben Goessling https://www.startribune.com/vikings-social-justice-committee-takes-a-leading-role-in-community/571243112/
Dalvin Cook and Vikings should and will compromise on new contract for him By Chip Scoggins https://www.startribune.com/scoggins-cook-vikings-should-and-will-compromise-on-new-contract/571241942/
Pioneer Press
Charley Walters: Former Vikings RB Ted Brown says team should sign Dalvin Cook By Charley Walters https://www.twincities.com/2020/06/13/charley-walters-former-vikings-rb-ted-brown-says-team-should-sign-dalvin- cook/
NATIONAL NEWS: Sunday, July 14, 2020
CBS Sports
How the Vikings should approach potential Dalvin Cook holdout: A reasonable solution to make both sides happy By Jason La Canfora https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/how-the-vikings-should-approach-potential-dalvin-cook-holdout-a-reasonable- solution-to-make-both/
USA Today
Opinion: Vikings must go much further than 'unity' theme for impact in fighting racism By Jarrett Bell https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/columnist/bell/2020/06/13/vikings-vow-go-further-than-unity-theme-fight- racism/3183449001/
Maven Media
92 Days Until Vikings Football: Previewing Anthony Zettel's 2020 Season By Will Ragatz https://www.si.com/nfl/vikings/news/92-days-2020-vikings-football-countdown-anthony-zettel
Who Would the Vikings Make Available in a Hypothetical Expansion Draft? By Will Ragatz https://www.si.com/nfl/vikings/news/who-would-vikings-make-available-hypothetical-expansion-draft
MULTIMEDIA NEWS: Sunday, July 14, 2020
Minnesota Vikings Podcast (Special Edition): Minneapolis Events & Race Relations with Adam Thielen, Ameer Abdullah and Andre Patterson | Episode 47 By Vikings Entertainment Network https://www.vikings.com/audio/minnesota-vikings-podcast-special-edition-minneapolis-events-race-relations-with
Minnesota Teams Donating Millions to Social Justice Causes By ESPN SportsCenter http://mms.tveyes.com/PlaybackPortal.aspx?SavedEditID=dd4ffb0a-3600-4f3c-95b1-12ff67c3fcd0
Dalvin Cook Won’t Participate in Team Activities until he gets “Reasonable” Deal By ESPN SportsCenter http://mms.tveyes.com/PlaybackPortal.aspx?SavedEditID=ba486f18-5dd2-4186-a51b-8ed672bdc802
Unity in the Cities By WCCO http://mms.tveyes.com/PlaybackPortal.aspx?SavedEditID=91b6a5a6-cfb4-4aa3-866b-8bd544668e88
Powerful Words from Vikings Social Justice Committee By KMSP http://mms.tveyes.com/PlaybackPortal.aspx?SavedEditID=71b7f452-ba38-4156-891c-5a2acacc319d
PUBLICATION: Star Tribune DATE: 6/14/20
Vikings' social justice committee takes a leading role in the community
By Ben Goessling
Eric Kendricks spent the last days of May stewing over his thoughts, sorting through the pain he felt over George Floyd’s death and searching for the right way to respond to a statement from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell he felt hadn’t gone far enough.
The Vikings linebacker is ordinarily reticent in public, wary of attracting widespread attention. His comments to reporters are typically polite, but brief, and he’d tweeted just once in May, about an NFL Network story on how Kendricks was selling his own paintings to raise money for COVID-19 relief.
But as he played back everything he’d seen and felt — over the video of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck and the 150-word statement Goodell released on May 30 offering condolences to the families of Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor without mentioning racism or police brutality — Kendricks kept thinking of teammates on the Vikings’ social justice committee with whom he’d shared ideas and processed deep hurt.
“For about a whole day, I just really sat on it,” Kendricks said Thursday. “The thing is, this committee that I’ve been able to be a part of, and the people in the committee that I’ve learned from — Stephen Weatherly’s not on our team anymore, but he’s [been] on the committee. Hearing him and [running back] Ameer [Abdullah], they’re so educated. They’re such smart guys. I felt like, now, with my knowledge, if I say I’m standing for these issues, if I say this is the kind of change I want to make, I had to do something.”
On June 2, he posted a Twitter thread asking the NFL to take concrete steps toward creating racial justice. He released a video through the Vikings on June 3, saying, “It breaks my heart to see the people of Minneapolis not only treated like this but how hurt they are by this,” as he wiped away tears. He and teammate Anthony Barr appeared with 16 other players in a June 4 video telling the league to condemn systemic racism, in words that Goodell repeated in his own response a day later. And Kendricks joined nine teammates in a June 6 meeting with Minneapolis police Chief Medaria Arradondo and three officers to discuss how the department can improve relationships with black people.
The week of public action, in many ways, stood unique in Kendricks’ five-year career. It was prompted by Floyd’s killing in south Minneapolis, which produced worldwide outcry and, eventually, notable contrition from the largest sports enterprise in the United States. It also was the product of three years in a group that has educated many Vikings players and emboldened them to take action.
The social justice committee the Vikings founded in 2017, after discussions among defensive line coach Andre Patterson, General Manager Rick Spielman and team ownership, had two aims: Help players partner with organizations working on systemic issues in the Twin Cities, and create a haven for those players to discuss racial matters together.
It distributed $250,000 in grants from the Wilf family in both 2018 and 2019 to criminal justice reform, education, legal aid, nutrition, youth services and post-prison reintegration programs. It also stoked an activist spirit on the roster: Kendricks’ work with kids in the Hennepin County Juvenile Detention Center has taught him more about the link between food insecurity and juvenile crime, and last week safety Anthony Harris struck up a 25-minute conversation about police department structures with a white officer in his native Richmond, Va.
The Wilfs this week committed another $5 million to social justice work across the country, and the social justice committee announced a $125,000 endowment for a scholarship in Floyd’s name. In the reaction to Floyd’s death, committee members also see hope for change.
“All people were able to see, for the first time, that it does exist and that this is real,” Patterson said. “It was videoed from the beginning to the end. All the other ones that have happened before, it becomes word of mouth: ‘Was the person resisting arrest? Did the person do something to have the police be this aggressive?’ It becomes, ‘What do you believe?’ Do you believe the person’s family, or what the police is saying happened?
“This one’s different; everybody was able to see what occurred, and how far it went.”
Processing shock together
Patterson, who turned 60 on Friday, grew up in Richmond, Calif., near where the Black Panthers were founded. Now the Vikings’ co-defensive coordinator, he functions as a source of wisdom for the team’s social justice committee, often reminding younger players that change takes time.
Still, he said, “it probably took a week” before he was ready to watch the entire video of Floyd’s May 25 arrest.
“I knew what I was going to see,” he said. “It’s like I told the players — you have to be able to talk, to be able to get it out, because if you don’t, anger will eat you up inside. I had to make sure mentally I was prepared to view it, because I knew the anger and rage would come back.”
Harris first questioned whether the video was real when friends texted it to him. He realized he’d talked before with Donald Williams, an eyewitness whose account of the Floyd killing attracted national attention on CNN, when Williams was working as a security guard in downtown Minneapolis.
“I thought I recognized his voice,” Harris said. “It brought it into perspective, how close incidents like that are to you. I can just imagine him, not only seeing another African-American man, but knowing he’s someone who works in the area with law enforcement, that he wanted to help, and how helpless he could have felt.”
The Monday after Floyd’s death, the Wilfs, Patterson and two players from the social justice committee led a team meeting. Spielman spoke the next day, as did Mike Zimmer. The coach consulted Patterson, his close friend and longtime colleague, about what to say; Patterson told him to simply speak from his heart.
“He humbled himself greatly and said, ‘Man, I don’t understand and maybe I haven’t given this as much attention, but I know I love every single last one of you guys in this room and I’ll fight for you guys just like you were my sons,’ ” Abdullah said. “That meant a lot for me because coming from Alabama, I grew up Muslim and black, so I was a double minority. I didn’t have a lot of people of the other color or other religion speaking for me, even when they didn’t understand my religion, even if they didn’t understand my background. So to have Zim come out and say, ‘I don’t understand, but I stand with you’ was powerful for me.”
‘Group is built to do things’
On Thursday, Patterson and Harris could easily recount their own experiences with law enforcement: Harris recalled older family members telling him to stay still and keep his hands visible during traffic stops as a kid, while Patterson remembered police following him several times as he drove an older Mercedes home while he was Washington State’s defensive line coach in the early 1990s.
At the same time, Patterson said, he heard from black players who were routinely pulled over on the five-minute drive back from Idaho (where the legal drinking age was only 18 at the time), while white students made the short return trip to campus unchecked.
“I went to the head coach [Mike Price], and said, ‘I want you to make me the liaison to the police department,’ and he did,” Patterson said. “I wanted them to see my face. I wanted to find a way to bridge the gap between police and our players.”
He set up ride-alongs and police station visits and held barbecues between players and police; over time, the relationship warmed and the traffic stops lessened. The Vikings’ social justice committee put together similar programs, and players reached out to police on their own this month; Kendricks had a 45-minute conversation with a childhood friend who’s now an officer, and Harris’ talk with the Richmond officer gave him new perspective on the idea of defunding or dismantling police departments.
The group will help allocate the Wilfs’ newest $5 million gift and is still making decisions about next steps for community efforts. Three years of work, and three weeks of processing what’s happened in Minneapolis, seem to have Vikings players ready to step in as boldly as ever.
“That’s the thing — we are all just learning so much [from each other],” Kendricks said. “This group is built to do things, to take action to create change. … The more minds we have collectively, the more effective we’re going to be.”
PUBLICATION: Star Tribune DATE: 6/14/20
Dalvin Cook and Vikings should and will compromise on new contract for him
By Chip Scoggins
Dalvin Cook logged off from virtual workouts this past week, which represents the 2020 version of a “holdout.” No more Zoom meetings for him.
Now cast your gaze forward three months to the Vikings’ Sept. 13 opener vs. the Packers (assuming the NFL starts on time without any COVID-19 delay). First play of the game: Cook takes a handoff. Bet on it. Maybe not the mortgage, but a decent chunk of change.
The brushfire that popped up regarding Cook’s unhappiness with his contract shouldn’t obscure the reality that both sides understand that each one holds both leverage and vulnerabilities in negotiations. That leaves one likely outcome: compromise.
The Vikings will compromise. Cook will compromise. A summerlong staredown or threats of a training camp holdout are nothing more than Negotiating 101.
A new deal that pays Cook in the $11 million to $12 million range annually seems fair and reasonable for both sides.
We can label this the “Dalvin Dilemma” or the “Cook Conundrum” because the path to resolution is tricky. It’s not as simple as it seems to those who suggest the Vikings should just trade Cook and avoid any temptation to overspend because all running backs are interchangeable. Sorry, the San Francisco 49ers’ model isn’t guaranteed to work for everyone.
Cook’s decision to stop participating in the virtual offseason program did not come as a surprise. Anyone with a morsel of insight into the NFL’s business mechanics realizes there was a minuscule likelihood that Cook would play out his rookie contract this season.
The working theory is that the Vikings hold all the leverage, which is not entirely correct. The organization certainly operates from a position of strength in negotiating a contract that won’t annihilate the budget, but Cook has reason to dig in his cleats, too.
He is their best and most dynamic offensive player, a top-five running back in the NFL. Alexander Mattison proved to be a nice complement as a backup last season, but he is not in Cook’s category. To think the Vikings could just plug- and-play without a drop-off over a long stretch is being overly optimistic.
It’s no secret that the value of running backs has plummeted during the NFL’s modernization to a passing era, but Cook has the benefit of playing for a throwback coach who refuses to abandon his roots. Mike Zimmer never skips an opportunity to share his affection for a good old-fashioned running game.
John DeFilippo tried to join all the cool kids with his new-age philosophy, and how did that work out for him? He didn’t last one season as coordinator here.
Zimmer loves to run the ball. He’s effusive in his praise for Cook, and the offensive scheme was constructed with Cook’s all-around skills in mind. Therein lies Cook’s leverage. You can agree or disagree with the approach, but the boss has made clear what he wants. And what he expects.
Yet Cook plays a position that comes with a particularly high risk of injury and physical wear-and-tear. It just doesn’t make sense for a team to commit to a blockbuster contract for a running back, no matter how talented or well- respected that player is in the organization’s eyes.
In three seasons, Cook has played in only 29 of 48 games, an undeniable red flag. His camp has to know that his injury ledger affects his leverage, even if Cook believes he is the league’s best running back.
If the Vikings were blessed with an abundance of salary cap room — which isn’t remotely the case — it still would be unwise to put Cook in the same ballpark as Christian McCaffrey ($16 million average) or Ezekiel Elliott ($15 million).
Even the next tier with Le’Veon Bell and David Johnson at $13 million average salary seems risky, considering Cook’s injury history, other position needs and the potential for a lower salary cap in 2021 if games are played without fans this season.
Playing hardball is a lot more difficult these days, especially with a new CBA provision that would affect Cook’s service time if he pursued a training camp holdout. A summer stalemate is neither surprising nor alarming at this point. Just sort of inevitable. The prediction here is that the resolution will look fair to both sides.
PUBLICATION: Pioneer Press DATE: 6/14/20
Charley Walters: Former Vikings RB Ted Brown says team should sign Dalvin Cook
By Charley Walters
Ted Brown figures Dalvin Cook should be among the NFL’s top-five paid running backs.
“Definitely,” said Brown, the former Vikings running back.
That would mean Cook, the Vikings’ featured back whose anticipated holdout has been expected since the end of last season if he didn’t receive a satisfactory contract extension, would receive a new deal in the $13 million per year range. He is set to make $1.3 million this season.
“That’s a lot of money for a running back,” Brown said. “I would do whatever it took to get (Cook) signed, but I wouldn’t go overboard. I was surprised that (Dallas’) Zeke Elliott ($15 million per year) and (Carolina’s Christian McCaffrey, $16 million) got that kind of money.”
Brown played eight seasons for the Vikings, including 1981 when he rushed for 1,063 yards with 694 yards receiving. His highest salary was $330,000.
“The Vikings should sign Dalvin, but it all depends on how much money he’s asking for,” Brown said. “If Dalvin does what he’s done over the last couple of seasons and not get hurt, he’ll be worth a lot of money. But so far, running backs have been getting hurt a lot, so I don’t think (the Vikings) are going to tie a lot of money in a running back at this point.
“The other (Vikings) running backs,” Brown noted, “they’re not bad.”
That would include Alexander Mattison, Ameer Abdullah and Mike Boone.
Speaking of Brown, who lives in Shakopee, it’s been 42 years since he left North Carolina State, but his 4,602 career yards for the Wolfpack remain the most-ever in the Atlanta Coast Conference.
“It’s going to be broken this year by the kid (Travis Etienne) from Clemson — he only needs about 400 or 500 more yards,” Brown told the Pioneer Press. “He and I right now have both played a total of 46 games, so he’s going to take a few more games to break it. In my day, they didn’t allow bowl games and all that stuff, just regular-season games.
“Records are made to be broken — that’s why they make them. I’m not mad at him. The kid is very, very good and deserving of it. He’s staying in school for four years like I did. You’ve got to take your hat off to him.”
Brown also holds the Wolfpack’s single-game rushing record, 251 yards against Penn State and the nation’s No. 1 defense in 1977, when he averaged 14 yards per carry.
“Penn State was giving up about 60 yards or less per game. I had 37 carries,” he said.
Brown, 63, retired 3½ years ago from Ramsey Country. His son, J.T. Brown, is a free-agent wing who hopes to re- sign with the Minnesota Wild.
Perseverance: Brian Raabe, the former Twins infielder now Bethel University baseball coach, with program director Robb Gamm helped coach Max Meyer as a 10-year-old up until high school on an accelerated East Metro fall league team.
Meyer, the former Gophers All-American last week chosen No. 3 overall — and the first pitcher — by the Miami Marlins in the major league draft, is expected to receive a signing bonus in the $7.22 million range.
“At that time, at age 10, he wasn’t our best pitcher at all,” Raabe said. “But as he matured and his arm got stronger and he got bigger and better — he was always unbelievably competitive — and once he got close to high school, he started to take over and dominate.”
Meyer is expected to receive $100,000 of his bonus this summer, the rest in deferred payments on July 1, 2021, and July 1, 2022.
Raabe’s son Zack was a nine-year-old infielder and teammate of Meyer’s for the East Metro team. Zack, recently named an All-American (as was his father for the Gophers), is planning to leave in a couple of weeks to play for Green Bay (Wis.) in the Northwoods summer collegiate league.
Because of the caronavirus pandemic, Zack Raabe will receive another year of college eligibility and be classified next season as a sophomore, but be eligible for next year’s major league draft. He led the Gophers in hitting (.463) in the abbreviated season.
By the way, from that East Metro youth team, nine players went on to become Division I baseball players, including Anoka pitcher Trent Palmer, who last week was the third-round draft pick of the Toronto Blue Jays out of Jacksonville University. Another player became a Division II All-American, and two became Division I football players.
“We’d come out in T-shirts and different colored pants, and people would look at us like ‘what the heck,’ ” Brian Raabe said. “But when he hit the field, then all of a sudden they saw what it was. It was a high, high-powered team. It was fun.”
Brian Raabe was drafted by the Twins as a second baseman in 1990 in the 41st round. For that, he received a $1,000 signing bonus. Six years later, he was in the major leagues, during which he played parts of three seasons.
Fewer than one-third of college pitchers drafted in the first round make it to the major leagues, according to Society for American Baseball research, which also shows that generally college players are “much more valuable picks than high school players.”
It will be announced that Brooks Koepka, the No. 3-ranked golfer in the world and winner of four major tournaments the past three years, will play in the 3M Open, scheduled for July 23-26 at the TPC in Blaine.
Due to COVID-19 and uncertainty of schedules, deadlines for Gophers sports season ticket renewals will be extended. For football and volleyball, the deadline will be July 16. For men’s and women’s hockey, Aug. 6. For men’s and women’s basketball, Aug. 27.
If seasons are canceled or played without spectators in attendance, applications can be made for renewals for 2021- 22 seasons, full refunds for the 2020-21 seasons, or renewals to be converted to 100 percent charitable donations.
Meanwhile, Gophers sports this year will move to a mobile ticketing process.
That was downtown St. Paul civic leader John Regal, 56, who is senior director of public affairs for Securian Financial, knocking in a 190-yard five-iron on Keller Golf Course’s 475-yard, par-five for an albatross (double-eagle deuce) en route to a 6-over-par 78 the other day. Turns out he needed it — his opponent made eagle on the hole.
DeLaSalle grad Tyrell Terry of Stanford is the top-ranked (No. 17) prospect from Minnesota for this summer’s NBA draft, by si.com. At No. 31 is Arizona’s Zeke Nnaji of Hopkins. Duke’s Tre Jones of Apple Valley is No. 44, the Gophers’ Daniel Oturu of Cretin-Derham Hall No. 45.
Ryan O’Rourke, who last pitched for the Twins in 2016, gave heartfelt thanks on Twitter last week for having had a baseball playing opportunity, then announced he’s retiring from the game at age 32.
“Baseball takes you in, chews you up, and then decides when it is done with you,” he tweeted.
Tim Salem, the former St. Thomas Academy and Gophers quarterback, is tight ends coach at the University of Pittsburgh. Brother Brad was offensive coordinator at Michigan State, but the departure of head coach Mark Dantonio has left him seeking an assistant job elsewhere. They are sons of former Gophers head coach Joe Salem.
The St. Thomas Academy and Cretin-Derham Hall families lost fabled sports alumni the other day with the passing of Dave Preuss, 56, and Don Bies, 85. Both were high school football All-Americans and double-figure letter winners.
Seeking a defined winner rather than games ending in ties, St. Paul’s Billy Robertson, in his seventh year as WCHA commissioner, is helping lead a group of Division I hockey commissioners to unify the game’s overtime structure for all leagues.
Golf entrepreneur Curt Nelson from tiny Belview, Minn., is PGA Master Professional and GM at Sykes/Lady Overland Park and St. Andrews golf clubs in Overland Park, Kan. In order to increase revenue for his courses at 6:30 p.m. this year Monday through Thursday, his staff began offering a $1 per hole charge played with $3, $6, $9 and $12 options. The late-day offers have been so successful the courses have extended them to seven days.
Don’t print that Would the Vikings dare trade Dalvin Cook before training camp? Cook, who turns 25 in August and is signed for $1.3 million this season, is expected to hold out of camp if he doesn’t receive a satisfactory contract extension, which could cost the Vikings $13 million or so a year.
The Cook drama has been anticipated since the end of last season. If the Vikings were to try to trade the running back with a history of knee, shoulder and hamstring injuries, they would have to find a partner willing to pay him what he feels he deserves.
A trade for Cook probably could fetch a second-round draft pick.
The challenge for Cook in seeking a big new deal is finding a team, because of the injury factor, willing to pay him. Teams have recently gotten burned on some running back contracts, like, for instance, the Rams with Todd Gurley and the Jets with Le’Veon Bell.
Teams that could seem interested in Cook, who is from Miami, might be the Dolphins and Buccaneers.
Worth watching: There currently are three other running backs — the Saints’ Alvin Kamara, the Bengals’ Joe Mixon and the Packers’ Aaron Jones — each from Cook’s 2017 draft class, who all want to get paid mega millions. Their markets will affect Cook’s situation.
Also regarding Cook, there is a new change in the NFL labor agreement that could adversely affect a holdout. If he were not to report to training camp on time, he would lose a year toward unrestricted free agency.
Say, for instance, Cook were to hold out, then show up in mid-September. He would get paid his pro-rated salary, but the next year, in March of 2021, instead of being an unrestricted free agent, he would be only a restricted free agent.
That would mean the Vikings could tender him a one-year contract at about $4.6 million, and if another team signed him at that point, the Vikings would get a first-round draft pick.
Bottom line: If Cook holds out, he would be putting himself in contract jeopardy. Meanwhile, if the Vikings were to trade Cook, it would happen before training camp. If training camp starts and Cook is holding out, that would mean he and the Vikings are still fighting over money and they want to sign him.
With most NFL training camps to begin in about six weeks, free agent ex-Viking Everson Griffen is still without a contract.
Owner Glen Taylor told the Pioneer Press that Ryan Saunders will be back to coach the Timberwolves for the 2020- 21 season.
Pssst: Ex-Gophers men’s hockey coach Don Lucia and Gophers associate athletics director Tom McGinnis are finalists for the reformed Central Collegiate Hockey Association commissioner job.
The University of St. Thomas will learn Wednesday whether the NCAA will approve its jump from Division III to Division I. Meanwhile, look for the Tommies to join the Division I WCHA for women’s hockey.
Clemson junior Trevor Lawrence, at 4-to-13 odds, is favored to be the first quarterback selected in the 2021 NFL draft, according to BetOnline.ag. Gophers’ junior Tanner Morgan is 33-to-1.
Minnesota junior Rashod Bateman is 9-to-1 to be the first wide receiver picked. Favored is LSU junior Ja’Marr Chase at 5-to-4.
Ex-Vikings QB Rich Gannon, who with Kevin Harlan for years made CBS-TV as talented a NFL broadcast team as there was on the air, for some inexplicable reason won’t be paired with Harlan this season. Both return with other partners, though.
In early June, the Gophers ranked No. 9 in national football recruiting by 247Sports, and despite getting commitments from five 4-star players, have no five-stars among its 17 pledges. No. 1 Ohio State has four five-star commitments and 11 four-stars among 18 commitments. No. 5 Michigan has seven four-stars and one five-star among its 16 commitments.
Murray Warmath, who coached the Gophers to two Rose Bowls and a national championship, had a career-high salary of $37,500 a year in the mid-1960s. Current Gophers coach P.J. Fleck is signed for $375,000 a month this year.
Overheard Former Gophers QB-Vikings assistant-Super Bowl coach winner Tony Dungy on how to protest injustice in a peaceful and effective manner, to NBC Sports’ Mike Tirico: “My dad used to tell me all the time, ‘What are you going to do to make it better?’ ” PUBLICATION: CBS Sports DATE: 6/14/20
How the Vikings should approach potential Dalvin Cook holdout: A reasonable solution to make both sides happy
By Jason La Canfora
It should come as no surprise that Dalvin Cook is in a staredown with the Minnesota Vikings. We told you in this space weeks ago that this was coming to a head and that the running back wanted a new deal more in line with what Christian McCaffrey pulled down from the Panthers. And now it has come to pass.
He does not intend to show for training camp without a new deal, and, as I chronicled in the past, his franchise is in a bind. There are a lot of factors working in his favor, even despite playing a position that has been largely devalued in recent years. Cook can make a solid case for a new payday, and he and Joe Mixon of the Bengals are on a very short list of non-quarterbacks who might still be able to get a legit extension done as the league and our country continue to sort through this pandemic.
And I continue to believe that there is a reasonable solution to this problem that includes a three-year model and more money frontloaded into 2020. It will take considerable give and take to get a deal done in the current economic climate -- and reasonable expectations from both sides -- but there is a way to make both parties happy enough to make it worthwhile to execute a new deal.
What Cook has going for him The Vikings, for the past three years or so, as they transitioned into a new stadium, have paid EVERYBODY. If you were any good -- or they thought you were going to be any good -- you got paid. Period. Kirk Cousins has already been paid there twice, and he just got there in 2018. Extensions abounded. That's who they are.
Furthermore, they have a risk-averse, old-school coach who doesn't want to risk too much -- running the ball is his MO. And with Gary Kubiak further reshaping the offense, Cook is in line for more volume in the passing game and an expanded role overall. Minnesota's defense has slipped considerably from its heights and is going to have to score more to win. One could easily make the case that Cook is the most important player on that side of the ball, that the offense will run through him, and that he has far out-performed his contract.
But … He's still a running back in a pass-happy era. Almost every team that has doled out a heavy RB deal in recent years has been burned -- most absolutely scalded -- and Cook's durability has already been an issue. Injuries have been a factor and he has appeared in just 29 out of a possible 48 games through three seasons. Not ideal. Of course, he could argue that he has only been better and strong since season-ending knee surgery his rookie year, and is truly in his prime right now, but especially at this position, it can be a very tough sell.
And the Vikings could contend their finances are more uncertain than ever, who knows if fans go to games this year or if a full season is played, and the cap might fall flat in 2021, further compounding their issues as a team with serious cap woes entering 2020. Plus the GM and head coach are currently lame ducks and ownership might be hesitant to make a huge financial commitment to a running back without its long-term brain trust established (the Jets, for instance, signed Le'Veon Bell to a hefty RB deal and then fired the GM and the current coach has wanted nothing to do with that contract since). It can get complicated, and quick.
So what do they do? Cook, looking at the prospect of having to play out his rookie deal for $1.3M, can make the case for skipping out on practices and whatever else until he gets the same kind of treatment so many of his teammates have received. I get it. If I was representing him -- especially in a virtual offseason -- I'd have him shut down his laptop and Zoom right on with his day without any contact with the organization. Makes all the sense in the world to me.
I'd ask for something in the range of the $32M that McCaffrey will get in the first two years of his deal … but also be willing to take a bunch less. Tough climate to do a deal, he didn't have 1,000 yards rushing and receiving like Run CMC, has not been near that durable and the Panthers payroll and cap situation is in many ways the complete opposite of the Vikings (Carolina is shedding salary in the near term with Cam Newton and Greg Olsen let go and Luke Kuechly retiring).
The reasonable solution is the franchise tag Who knows about the 2021 cap, in such uncertain times, but we do know that the 2020 tag for running backs was a little over $10M. McCaffrey's deal moves the needle some. And eventually, the new broadcast money and gambling will kick back in and eventually fans will be in the stands again buying grossly overpriced beers and hot dogs. A three-year window is where it's at.
The Vikings purchase Cook's franchise tag year (2021) and one more year at an average value of around $12.5M or so a year. Let's say $12.5M in 2021 and $14M in 2022. So roughly $27M in new money right there. Add in the $1.3M he was already set to make this year. We're just short of $30M. Put $10M in a signing bonus that allowed him to take home $11.3M in 2020, guarantee the $12.5M in 2021 and guarantee the $14M in 2022 for everything but injury, with an injury guarantee that kicks in a we days into the 2022 league year. So were kind of playing around with the three- year, fully guaranteed structure that the Vikings gave Cousins -- QBs are different -- but with some tweaks.
Given the climate we are all in, I think it would be foolish to leave that kind of money on the table. Maybe put in an opt-out clause that is Cook achieves certain metrics in the 2021 season -- 1,600 yards rushing? 12 touchdowns? Some threshold of scrimmage yards -- then he can opt out of the deal after that season.
Go ahead get a little creative with it; these are different times after all. But this would be a bizarre time for a player, especially a running back, to turn down a significant bird in hand, and this would be a very strange time for the Wilf family to stop spending to keep their best players around.
PUBLICATION: USA Today DATE: 6/14/20
Opinion: Vikings must go much further than 'unity' theme for impact in fighting racism
By Jarrett Bell
Ameer Abdullah likened the cases of George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery -- African-American men whose recent killings in broad daylight were captured on cellphone videos and repeatedly broadcast on national television while also made available through a few clicks on the Internet – to brutal body blows.
Abdullah, 27, a backup Minnesota Vikings running back, lives in the state where Arbery was brazenly chased and shot in Brunswick, Georgia – where authorities didn’t bother to make any arrests for months. He plays football in Minneapolis, where Floyd died as a police officer kneeled on his neck.
“Two gut-punches to me,” Abdullah reflected this week. “But it was also a wakeup call. This has been a persisting and prominent issue in America for centuries. We all know change doesn’t happen overnight ... (but) we have to learn from our history and fix a lot of things that are going on.”
Abdullah joined Vikings teammates Eric Kendricks and Anthony Harris, co-defensive coordinator Andre Patterson, GM Rick Spielman and COO Andrew Miller on a Zoom conference to shed light on how they are processing the tragedies that continue to afflict African-Americans and other people of color. The death of Floyd, in the Vikings’ backyard, has fueled a massive protest movement across the nation (and internationally) that shines a light on police brutality, systemic racism and the need for reform.
Vikings' Ameer Abdullah before the NFC Divisional playoff game in 2020. Kendricks, the star linebacker whose initial reaction to Floyd’s death included publicly blasting the NFL for not using its platform and influence enough for social causes, talked about the need for “uncomfortable” conversations. Spielman, who with his wife Michelle is raising six adopted African-American children, bemoaned the stark reminder of how racism and hate still exists, and how he struggles to explain the “different worlds” within one American society to his children. Abdullah, whose father marched with MLK in Selma, Alabama and later fought in Vietnam, talked of a more focused lens now on police brutality. Patterson expressed hope that despite many instances in recent years of unarmed Black people dying while in the hands of police, Floyd’s death will have a greater impact in fueling reforms that many minorities (including, uh, Colin Kaepernick) have sought for decades.
“Through time, the Black community has been telling the world that this has been going on,” said Patterson. “And a lot of people didn’t want to believe that it was going on, that the person had to do something wrong to either get choked to death, shot or whatever. But this is the reason this one is different: The whole world got to see life leave that man’s body. So, that changed everything.”
We’ll see. The Vikings recognize that as a franchise for the most popular (and most prosperous) sports league in the nation, they are positioned with a powerful platform to send messages and seek to wield influence, among other actions. In the months after Kaepernick launched the protest movement in 2016 that not only rocked the NFL universe but furthered the national conversation, the Vikings created a social justice committee that participants contend has done much to solidify the team’s internal culture while providing impetus for community service action. Those measures will help now, amid a new crisis and movement.
After Floyd’s death, the committee quickly established a legacy scholarship fund in Floyd’s name that will benefit African-American students. Last weekend, several Vikings met with Minneapolis police chief Medaria Arradondo, reconnecting after previous meetings in recent years. Additionally, Vikings owners Zygi, Mark and Leonard Wilf pledged to donate $5 million to social justice causes.
“We can do things to create change if each individual will do their part, use their voice after listening and gaining a ton of knowledge, then we can all come together in a direction where we can make impactful change,” said Harris, 28, a sixth-year safety. “I just think it starts with a lot of dialogue from a lot of different perspectives.”
Sure, dialogue and listening are good things. It's a start. And the message the Vikings say they will promote about unity – “We’re trying to be understanding of each other and make the best decisions for society," Harris says – sounds promising.
And it sounds like a lot of what we’ve heard before, like standard calls from the playbook of addressing social unrest. A few years ago, many NFL teams promoted those unity themes with encouraging optics. The Vikings, like other teams, decided to lock arms with each other during the national anthem in a show of solidarity – and those gestures did nothing to prevent the deaths of Floyd, Arbery or Breonna Taylor, the EMT frontline responder in Louisville, Kentucky who was gunned down in her home when police rammed through the front door of her apartment.
Of course, it’s not only on NFL players and teams to change society – although Kaepernick and Players Coalition co- founders Malcolm Jenkins and Anquan Boldin, among others, have demonstrated how the NFL platform, resolve and activism can have an impact – but they are surely positioned to make a difference through their exposure and resources.
If the Vikings (and their peers and their league, too) is going enter this space of social activism with the purpose of significant change, it’s going to take much more than dialogue and the optics of unity themes. It will take some serious action.
In time, we’ll find out whether the Vikings and others have the stomach to press on the challenges in confronting the systemic racism that has been embedded in American society for generations. And (to borrow from Jay-Z), it needs to go further than kneeling as the awareness has been raised.
Asked about strategies, Kendricks talked of the unequal criminal justice system (which has been a major focus of the Players Coalition) and expounded on interest for juveniles who get stuck in the system. Harris mentioned the desire of having white people better understand what it’s like for Blacks who lived in a society with double standards. Abdullah acknowledged police reforms needed on various, but quickly circled back to wanting “open discussions” and a desire for people to “reform ourselves internally.”
No doubt, there is much to unpack and well-intentioned efforts from the Vikings can help. Yet they shouldn’t lose sight of the impact that can be had on encouraging people to engage in the political process – Abdullah’s father, after all, marched for voting rights. They should also prioritize engaging as much with community organizations established and committed to equality as they are in meeting with institutional establishments. When it comes to reforming police culture, maybe they’ll devote energy to accountability issues that include dismantling legal cover for corrupt cops. For the focus on racial harmony, they should explore, too, the psychological effects on African- Americans seeing constant images of mistreatment seemingly broadcast or streamed on a loop.
Here’s to hoping, too, that they’ll continue to recognize in the spirit of unity, that talk of racial injustice and demands for accountability, equality the eradication of systemic racism is not divisive.
Kendricks was encouraged by the message to players recently from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who intimated that the league should have better listened after the anthem protests began in 2016.
“Obviously, we play football,” Kendricks said. “We want to keep to football as much as possible, but these are issues that are facing the majority of players’ communities. So, for us to think we can’t speak up about it…it just didn’t feel right. Finally having Goodell say those things and having our back, I feel like we can all move forward now, take a deep breath and go after these issues that are plaguing our country. I truly believe that it’s going to bring out the best in all of us.”
That’s a plan – and a whale of a challenge. PUBLICATION: Maven Media DATE: 6/14/20
92 Days Until Vikings Football: Previewing Anthony Zettel's 2020 Season
By Will Ragatz
As we count down the days until the Vikings' opener against the Packers on September 13th, InsideTheVikings will be previewing every single player on the roster. The amount of days remaining corresponds with the jersey number of the player being examined on that day. Today is June 13th, and there are 92 days until kickoff for the 2020 regular season. Thus, today we're looking at a journeyman defensive lineman the Vikings added in free agency.
Countdown to Vikings-Packers on September 13th: 92 Days
Player Preview: Anthony Zettel (No. 92, Defensive End) USATSI_13990798_168388404_lowres College: Penn State Drafted: 2016 sixth round (202nd overall, Detroit Lions) NFL experience: Four years (2020 will be his fifth season) Age: 27 (Turns 28 on August 9) Size: 6'4", 265 2019 PFF Grade: 54.9 Notable 2019 stats: 6 tackles in 5 games Notable career stats: 76 tackles, 7.5 sacks, 7.5 non-sack TFL, 1 FF, 1 FR
Outside of signing nose tackle Michael Pierce, the Vikings mostly stayed quiet in free agency this offseason. With that said, they did make a handful of low-cost signings that shouldn't go overlooked. One of those was adding journeyman defensive end Anthony Zettel on a one-year, $1 million deal.
Zettel is a solid depth pickup because of his positional versatility and starting experience. He has mostly played DE over his four NFL seasons, but spent most of his college career as a pass-rushing defensive tackle. The Vikings lost two defensive ends this offseason in Everson Griffen and Stephen Weatherly, and are also set to have an open competition at three-technique DT. Zettel's versatility, experience, and athleticism are all factors working in his favor as he looks to earn a roster spot and playing time.
Zettel stuffed the stat sheet during his four years at Penn State: 20 sacks, 18 non-sack tackles for loss, four interceptions, 14 pass breakups, and two forced fumbles. He had at least four sacks every season, but really broke out as a junior in 2014. That year, he put up 8.0 sacks, 9 non-sack TFLs, and three interceptions (including a pick- six) and was named first team All-Big Ten.
He also became known for tackling a tree.
Will Ragatz @WillRagatz It’s important to remember that #Vikings DE Anthony Zettel went viral in college for tackling a tree
Short arms, smallish hands, and a lack of a clearly defined position at the NFL level caused Zettel to fall to the Lions in the sixth round in 2016. He played sparingly as a rookie, but broke out as a full-time starter in 2017. Zettel played all 16 games and racked up 6.5 sacks, 16 QB hits, and 4.5 TFLs (including two big games against Case Keenum and the Vikings). PFF gave him a solid 70.7 grade, and he looked to be trending upwards in the league.
Two and half years later, things haven't stayed on that trajectory for Zettel. He was waived by the Lions before the 2018 season, and has spent the last two years bouncing between the Browns, Bengals, and 49ers. He made just 22 appearances over that time – counting the 49ers' playoff run last year – and 22 total tackles.
Still, the tools are there for Zettel to resurrect his career in Minnesota. He has a solid combination of strength and athleticism, having posted 28 bench press reps and a 4.81 40 at the 2016 combine. Zettel has solid bend and explosiveness around the edge, and his background in mixed martial arts shows up in his ability to win with his hands. He's a high motor guy who is always in pursuit and can make plays in the backfield. However, short arms and lack of elite athleticism limit his overall ceiling.
With Griffen and Weatherly gone, the path is there for Zettel to be the Vikings' No. 3 defensive end behind Danielle Hunter and Ifeadi Odenigbo. His main competition for that job are rookies DJ Wonnum and Kenny Willekes, as well as fellow four-year veteran Eddie Yarbrough. Given the shortened offseason that Wonnum and Willekes have to deal with, Zettel's experience give him a great shot to make the team and seize a rotational role at DE. As I mentioned before, he could also factor into the competition at three-tech if the Vikings are comfortable with Yarbrough or their rookies on the edge.
Zettel tragically lost his father to cancer in 2015, but his fun-loving personality hasn't waned. He's someone Vikings fans should be rooting for to succeed in 2020. PUBLICATION: Maven Media DATE: 6/14/20
Who Would the Vikings Make Available in a Hypothetical Expansion Draft?
By Will Ragatz
If there were an expansion draft this offseason, who would the Vikings make available?
That's (obviously) not something that's going to happen, but it's a fun hypothetical scenario to think about. There hasn't been an expansion draft since the Texans joined the NFL in 2002. It's possible that the league could look to surpass 32 teams – perhaps moving internationally with a franchise in Mexico City, Canada, or London – in the not- so-distant future.
ESPN's Bill Barnwell recently took a stab at what an expansion draft this offseason would look like. Here were his rules:
All 32 teams have to make five players available in the expansion draft, and only one of those players can have 10 or more years of NFL experience. Every player nominated must have played at least one snap for their team in 2019. This eliminates any 2020 draft picks or undrafted free agents. It also means players who missed the entire season via injury, such as Alex Smith, can't be left exposed. Punters and kickers can't be included, and I'll limit myself to a maximum of two players off any one roster.
Our new franchise has to pick 30 players or acquire contracts equal to 38% of the salary cap, which is just over $75.3 million.
Here are five players he made available for the Vikings under those criteria:
C Brett Jones ($840,000) WR Davion Davis ($675,000) CB Nate Meadors ($675,000) TE Brandon Dillon ($610,000) CB Mark Fields ($610,000)
Barnwell chose Jones as one of the 30 players to add to his hypothetical 33rd NFL team.
Jones started for the Giants at center during their disastrous 2017 campaign before being sent to the Vikings the following year. I'm not sure he is an average starting center, but he is both competent and cheap, so he's well worth adding to our roster.
The Vikings get fairly lucky here in that they don't lose much. The minimum criteria is one snap played in 2019, and Minnesota has several players who come very close to that minimum. Including special teams, Dillon played seven snaps, Fields played eight, Jones and Davis played 11, and Meadors played 34. There are some interesting depth pieces here, but losing any of these players wouldn't affect the Vikings' 2020 outlook much, if at all.
Some other players I would consider including here are Jalyn Holmes, Aviante Collins, and Alexander Hollins.
Barnwell ended up with 30 players to kickstart his expansion team, which would also add players through the draft and free agency. He didn't get a ton of talent, but there were some interesting names on his squad, including Jacoby Brissett, Josh Rosen, Tyrell Williams, Adam Shaheen, Deatrich Wise, Luke Willson, and Andrew Norwell.
Here's the link to Barnwell's full story.