DAILY CLIPS

SUNDAY, MARCH 1, 2020 LOCAL NEWS: Sunday, March 1, 2020

Star Tribune

Entering seventh season, Vikings coach Mike Zimmer might need to overhaul team he built By Ben Goessling http://www.startribune.com/entering-seventh-season-vikings-coach-mike-zimmer-might-need-to-overhaul-team-he- built/568350042/

SKOR North

Athletic, deep tackle class should have Vikings’ attention By Matthew Coller https://www.skornorth.com/vikings-2/2020/02/athletic-deep-tackle-class-should-have-vikings-attention/

MULTIMEDIA NEWS: Sunday, March 1, 2020

US Bank Stadium Construction By KSTP http://mms.tveyes.com/PlaybackPortal.aspx?SavedEditID=b873a79c-ea10-4740-808d-ef7e3476dda6

VIKINGS ENTERTAINMENT NETWORK: Sunday, March 1, 2020

RB & OL Combine Roundup: Vikings Past & Present Influence Backfield By Craig Peters https://www.vikings.com/news/nfl-combine-rb-ol-past-present-influence-backfield

Leap-Year Linebacker Eric Kendricks Celebrates '7th Birthday' By Eric Smith https://www.vikings.com/news/eric-kendricks-leap-year-celebrates-7th-birthday

PUBLICATION: Star Tribune DATE: 3/1/20

Entering seventh season, Vikings coach Mike Zimmer might need to overhaul team he built

By Ben Goessling

INDIANAPOLIS – Six winters ago, after he took a Vikings head coaching job that became available in part because of the 480 points the team allowed the year before, Mike Zimmer surveyed his roster and readied himself for a massive fix-it job.

“We looked at the depth chart,” he said. “It was pretty ugly at that point, so we had to manipulate that.”

The Vikings parted with longtime fixtures Jared Allen and Kevin Williams, signed nose tackle Linval Joseph and Captain Munnerlyn in the first days of free agency and used the 2014 draft’s ninth overall pick on linebacker Anthony Barr. The moves began an overhaul fueled by draft capital — three first-round picks, two second- rounders and two third-rounders from 2014-18 — that turned the Vikings’ once-sordid defense into a model of consistency.

Of the 10 defenders who started at least 13 games in 2019, half had been with the team for each of Zimmer’s six seasons; the other five had been in Minnesota for five of those years. The Vikings jumped from 32nd to 11th in points allowed during Zimmer’s first season; they haven’t finished lower than ninth since.

But six years of continuity is a remarkably long time in the NFL life cycle, and the Vikings appear headed into Year 7 under Zimmer with clear-eyed realism. Their salary cap situation, pressed tight from years of sizable contracts to keep their own players and a lucrative deal for Kirk Cousins, could compel tough decisions on a number of veterans, at a time when the Vikings seem inclined to pursue updates for a defense that showed signs of slippage.

A contract extension for Cousins, who has one year left on the three-year, $84 million deal he signed in 2018, could come with a structure that provides the Vikings cap relief, and the widely held belief at the NFL scouting combine was that they could soon opt for a new deal with the quarterback both Zimmer and General Manager Rick Spielman praised openly in Indianapolis.

Such a deal wouldn’t necessarily be a panacea for the Vikings’ cap issues: Cousins, with strong leverage after a career year, seems unlikely to take a major discount when the quarterback market is as robust as ever, and rules in the final year of the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement would prevent Minnesota from paying Cousins a marginal base salary this year before stuffing large salaries into years governed by a new CBA.

That means a deal for the quarterback could be a piece — but not the entirety — of the Vikings’ cap solution.

A defensive refresh seems imminent. The architect of the defense acknowledged as much.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do, depending on what happens and where we go,” Zimmer said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do, first of all, figuring out players, and then figuring out the scheme they can do.”

Shifting defense

The major change could come in the defensive backfield, where safety Anthony Harris and and are set to hit free agency. Alexander is eager to test the market, while Waynes and Harris could price themselves out of the Vikings’ range. Harris tied for the NFL lead in last year, and even though Waynes has looked vulnerable in pass coverage at times, he’s a 27-year-old former first-round pick at a position of high demand.

Cornerback , who turns 30 in June after two disappointing seasons, could be a cap casualty. The Vikings would incur $4.8 million of dead money if they released Rhodes with three years left on his deal, but they would save $8.1 million of cap space.

“Xavier has been a Pro Bowl corner, you know?” Spielman said. “He maybe had not as great of a year as he’s had in the past, but he still helped us win games. So he’s just one of them, just like every other player. We talk about the practice squad guys. You take each one of those individual players and then assess where they’re at in their career and where they’re at financially and then you make decisions.”

The Vikings could lean more on 2018 first-rounder Mike Hughes, as well as Holton Hill and Kris Boyd. Sources told the Star Tribune in January that Hughes broke a vertebra in his neck at the end of the season, though Zimmer said this week the corner is “going to be fine.”

As for what he can expect from his young corners, Zimmer said, “They’re still a ways away, a little bit.

“Hughes and Hill and Boyd, they have the ability to do it. Like, during the season I gave them an assignment that I wanted them to do every single day and they did it. That tells me that they want to do it. I think that’s half the battle.”

New ideas possible

Defensive end voided the final three years of his deal in January (though Zimmer said this week he expects Griffen to return to the Vikings), and the team could recoup $10.4875 million in cap space by releasing Joseph. Any combination of moves could trigger a shift on defense in 2020, and Zimmer said they might have to change some of their “pressures, coverages and fronts” to suit a new group of defenders.

The Vikings could lean on new defensive assistant Dom Capers for different blitz looks, using the former and defensive coordinator’s expertise with zone blitzes and unorthodox fronts from the 3-4 scheme he ran especially with the Steelers and Packers.

The Vikings might not have as much of the plug-and-play approach they’ve enjoyed on defense in recent years.

“It is what it is,” Zimmer said of potential changes on defense. “If it is that way, then we just have to do a good job keeping guys in there and making sure they can play and trying to help them as best we can. We’re not going to cry because we don’t have some of those guys.

“Our job is to figure out how to get guys in there and get them to play.”

Contract for Cousins?

The Vikings are scheduled to carry a little less than $200 million in cap obligations into the 2020 league year, for which the salary cap has reportedly been projected between $196 million and $201 million. Cousins carries a $31 million cap hit in the final season of his fully guaranteed deal, and the widely held belief at the combine last week that the Vikings will soon pursue a new deal with the quarterback was rooted in the idea they could structure it to lower Cousins’ cap number for 2020.

The Vikings have to see if players will approve the new CBA before the start of the league year on March 18 — and if the league will operate by the rules of the new agreement in 2020, or stick with the provisions in place under the old deal. If the old CBA rules are still in place, the Vikings would face some unique parameters as they structure a Cousins deal.

The league’s 30% rule, which takes effect during the final season of a CBA, stipulates no player’s base salary can increase annually by more than 30% of what he makes in the last CBA year.

Signing bonuses do not count toward the 30% rule and hit the cap in annual increments over the life of the deal (up to five years), so the Vikings could still use that mechanism to spread out some of the contract’s cap value. But whatever base salary they gave him in 2020 would set the limits of their annual increases; if they paid Cousins a $10 million base this year, for example, they could only raise the amount by 30% — or $3 million — every year of the deal.

Touch-and-go

Cousins is guaranteed to make $29.5 million in 2020. He posted the second-highest passer rating in franchise history last year, before winning his first career playoff game. He doesn’t turn 32 until August, and has yet to appear on a Vikings injury report. There’s no reason to believe he’s going to sign a new deal without parameters that make it worth his while, either in the forms of a new guaranteed money or cash up front. The Vikings’ challenge, in other words, would be to structure a deal that saves cap value now and still pays Cousins enough for him to sign it.

“We have a lot of things on the priority list,” Spielman said. “I know, just assessing where Kirk was last year, and putting him in a system that pretty much emphasizes what he does well, with the play action, and establishing a running game, and his accuracy is second to none, I believe, in this league, when he has time in the pocket — not only short or intermediate, but also when he throws down the field.

“To go into a system for two years in a row, we just see him progressing and improving more.”

The Cousins conundrum is one of the Vikings’ highest-profile offseason issues. Spielman also hinted at extension talks for running back Dalvin Cook, while declining to talk about Zimmer’s or his own contract status; both the coach and the GM are in the final years of their deals.

The decisions the Vikings make in the coming weeks might well shape the remainder of Spielman and Zimmer’s time together.

“You don’t want to make knee-jerk decisions just because you’re mad after we didn’t play very well [in the playoffs] against San Fran, so all of a sudden, [you think] no one on your 53 can play because you’re so emotionally raw from that,” Spielman said. “So, you just want to just make sure you’re away from it and then when you come back you’ve got a whole different perspective than if you’re just trying to make knee-jerk decisions off raw emotions.” PUBLICATION: SKOR NORTH DATE: 3/1/20

Athletic, deep tackle class should have Vikings’ attention

By Matthew Coller

INDIANAPOLIS — It’s no secret that the have needs across the board on defense.

With the likelihood of losing anywhere between two and four defensive backs and possibly one or two D-linemen to the salary cap and free agency, the cupboard is in need of restocking. But when it comes to filling needs in the draft, the strength of the rookie class may dictate the direction.

This year the strongest position group outside of receiver is at offensive tackle — and after workouts it’s a tight race.

At tackle for the Vikings, Brian O’Neill is an ascending young player and veteran Riley Reiff is still under contract and coming off three years in which he ranked mid-pack by Pro Football Focus. For 2020 it might not immediately stand out as a position of desperation in comparison to those that are completely empty. But this week at the NFL Combine head coach Mike Zimmer said that he believes quarterback Kirk Cousins can sustain his career-high level of play if there are improvements on the O-line.

“I believe that if we can continually find a way to get better on the offensive line, that’s going to make him even better,” Zimmer said.

In 2019 the Vikings ranked 27th by PFF in pass blocking and Cousins’s pressure and sack rates were nearly identical to 2018 despite spending a first-round draft pick on Garrett Bradbury and signing Josh Kline. With Cousins ranking as the NFL’s slowest snap-to-release quarterback, it takes a higher caliber of play to protect him than quick- release QBs like and Andy Dalton.

Vikings GM Rick Spielman said during his side session with TC reporters that there could be some tackles in this draft who are ready to play Day 1 — which is unusual at one of the NFL’s toughest and most valuable positions.

“I think there’s some tackles out there, some of them, as we go and get to know these kids a little bit, may be ready to go right off the bat,” Spielman said. “You know, we didn’t think Brian O’Neill was ready, and all of a sudden he had to go in halfway through, and he played very well his rookie year for jumping in there. But I think there’s some tackles in this draft that will be able to step in and have significant careers. So, we’ll just have to see how it all flushes out. But every year, the positions fluctuate on the strength and weakness.”

During workouts the tackles certainly justified the hype around their position group.

In January, NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah included three tackles in his Top 25 prospects in the draft — Louisville’s Mekhi Becton, Alabama OT Jedrick Wills and Georgia’s Andrew Thomas — and ranked USC’s Austin Jackson 33rd. Pro Football Focus’s Big Board includes Houston’s Josh Jones as a top 25 player.

Those rankings could change after some incredible Combine showings. Iowa right tackle Tristan Wirfs ran a preposterous 4.85 40-yard dash at 322 pounds. Jackson may have put himself in the conversation for a first-round pick with one of the top three-cone scores. Boise State’s Erza Cleveland also turned heads with his quickness scores.

If the Vikings do look for a tackle who can start in 2020 that could mean releasing Reiff to create cap space or moving him inside to guard. He might make for a better size/strength matchup against some of the NFC North’s beast interior and five-technique defensive linemen like Zadarius Smith, Kenny Clark, Eddie Goldman and Akiem Hicks.

“I have not talked to Riley about moving because we haven’t gotten that far down in the discussions,” Zimmer said. “I think he likes being here. And he’s one of those team guys so I think he’d do whatever we want him to do. But I have not talked to him about it. Everybody is speculating O’Neill is going to left and all these other things, too. You always discuss these things but it’s not like, ‘OK. We’re going to do this.’ We’re going to wait until we figure out where we’re going with everything and go from there.”

There’s a long way to go until draft day and the Vikings have a laundry list of decisions to make but if tackle was already toward the top of their list for a first-round pick, that idea was bolstered in Indy. PUBLICATION: Vikings Entertainment Network DATE: 3/1/20

RB & OL Combine Roundup: Vikings Past & Present Influence Backfield

By Craig Peters

The influence of Vikings running backs past and present has shaped multiple prospects at this year's NFL Combine.

Maryland product Anthony McFarland turned to the Purple present when asked to name a pro that he tries to emulate. McFarland explained that Cook's impact in college made the initial impression on him.

"One of my favorite running backs is Dalvin Cook," McFarland said. "I tried to emulate him a lot when he was at Florida State. I like Devonta Freeman. I like Christian McCaffrey. Versatile guy. I like Alvin Kamara. I just like those guys. I kind of look at their game and try to take some of the things that they do and add it to my game."

Ohio State's J.K. Dobbins also mentioned McCaffrey but thought of another Vikings running back.

"A guy that I watched growing up was , and he's a Texas [native]," Dobbins said. "I'm not as big as him. So, but I still try to emulate his running style. He's a very tough runner and can be explosive as well. He can shake somebody, so I definitely like him. The guy I feel I try to emulate the most is Christian McCaffrey because he's built like me, maybe a little taller. But he's definitely a tough runner, and he can do anything, so I like his game a lot."

Wisconsin's Jonathan Taylor named a different back, choosing one that was unheralded out of college but flourished in the offensive scheme of current Vikings Offensive Coordinator Gary Kubiak.

"Growing up, my favorite running back was Arian Foster, hence the reason I [wear] 23," Taylor said. "I just think he was so smooth for his size, in and out of his cuts. That's just a guy I tried to model my game after. … I thought it was just like rhythm and poetry in my eyes."

Below are highlights from additional media sessions, on-field workouts and social media regarding running backs and offensive linemen participating in the combine this week.

AT THE MIC

Note: players that are included in this section have been listed among the top players in their position group by NFL Media analysts Daniel Jeremiah and/or Bucky Brooks, have a Vikings/local connection or have been linked to the Vikings in a mock draft by an expert or mentioned as a possibility in an interview. They are grouped by position and listed alphabetically by last name. The quotes are from sessions with multiple media members in Indianapolis.

RB J.K. Dobbins | Ohio State

Jeremiah has Dobbins as the 34th overall prospect.

42 games; 725 rushes for 4,459 yards (6.2 yards per carry) and 38 ; 71 receptions for 667 yards and five touchdowns

On his legacy at Ohio State: "I haven't really had time to just sit down and think about it because soon after the game when I was declaring [for the draft], I wanted to go start training. So I haven't had the time to sit down and think about it, but you know, a lot of guys will mention how I ran for more [career] yards than Ezekiel Elliott, Eddie George and Archie Griffin in one season. It's pretty surreal. It's definitely amazing. I'm very, very blessed. I just haven't had time to sit down and think about it."

RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire | LSU

Jeremiah has Edwards-Helaire as the 32nd overall prospect.

41 games; 370 rushes for 2,103 yards (5.7 yards per carry), 23 touchdowns; 69 receptions for 595 yards and one

On making his way up the depth chart: "I had mentors early on, especially like freshman, sophomore year. But ultimately I feel like every question was answered this year. Every week it was always something, 'Does he have breakaway speed?' And then bust an 80-yard touchdown. 'Can he make a guy miss?' Made plenty of guys miss. 'Is he going to show up [for the] 'Bama game?' Ultimately, all the questions were answered, so I feel like my resumé is all checked out."

T Mekhi Becton | Louisville

Jeremiah has Becton rated as the No. 5 overall prospect. In one of the biggest discrepancies between Jeremiah and Brooks, Becton is the fourth-best tackle in Brooks' position rankings.

34 games (33 starts); opted to skip Louisville's bowl game after the 2019 season

On why he thinks he is a franchise LT: "I feel I'm the most dominant tackle in this draft. You wouldn't go wrong picking me. … The tape shows it. It shows that I finish almost every play. It's as simple as that."

T Tristan Wirfs | Iowa

Jeremiah rated Wirfs at 13th overall but projected him to shift to guard. Brooks kept him at tackle and has him as the second-best option.

35 games (33 starts); in 2017, became first true freshman to start at a tackle position during Head Coach Kirk Ferentz's time at Iowa

On being one of two freshmen on Iowa's Leadership Council: "You know, I think it's pretty important. Growing up in a small town (Mount Vernon, Iowa), I don't want to say I was a designated leader, but being a bigger kid, guys look up to you. And coming to Iowa and being able to do that was pretty special. I've never been a rah-rah kind of guy, yelling, trying to lead people that way. It's always been more lead by example. I try my best."

C/G Lloyd Cushenberry | LSU

Brooks has Cushenberry as his top interior offensive lineman.

39 games (28 starts)

On if he thinks centers are "born not made" … and how he learned to snap: "Maybe I was born to be a center. I didn't play it in high school, so I had to teach myself how to snap and get comfortable being a vocal guy. I'm not really that vocal off the field, but on the field I'm completely different. I make a lot of the calls. I'm the main communicator, and I've gotten used to that. Now I love it. I take pride in that. … I found some videos on YouTube, and basically, I taught myself in the offseason before I enrolled. Once I got to campus, I actually stole one of the balls from the equipment room and me and my roommate (Lindsey Scott) — he was a quarterback my freshman year — would just snap. I got the rhythm, and we found it."

C/G Tyler Biadasz | Wisconsin

Brooks ranked Biadasz as the second-best option on the interior of the offensive line.

41 games (41 starts); won 2019 Rimington Trophy (nation's top center)

On playing any of the three interior OL spots: "I'm very comfortable with all three spots. … I think I have a very high football IQ. Playing center, you know what [guards] do. It's not like different combination blocks. You're not snapping a football, but … I've practiced and I've worked with tackles before. It's just as fun as working with a guard, at center.

ON THE FIELD

Sub-4.5 40s: A total of seven running backs ran the 40-yard dash in less than 4.5 seconds. Only Taylor cracked a sub-4.4 with a time of 4.39 seconds this year. Appalachian State's Darrynton Evans was second among 2020 RBs with a time of 4.41 seconds, and Louisiana-Lafayette's Raymond Calais was third with a time of 4.42 seconds. McFarland (4.44 seconds) was fourth.

Wirfs increasing worth?: Wirfs set a new combine record among offensive linemen (since 2006) with a vertical jump of 36.5 inches, which topped the mark of 36 inches by Morgan State tackle Joshua Miles last year. Wirfs also tied the broad jump record set by Kolton Miller in 2018 (10 feet, 1 inch) and had the fastest 40-yard dash of any offensive lineman (4.85 seconds) this year.

Click here to see this year's top performers in timing and testing drills.

OL SUPERLATIVES

Pro Football Network compiled official measurements in a sortable table that is available here.

According to Pro Football Network, Connecticut's Matt Peart has the longest arms (36 5/8 inches) and wingspan (86 1/2 inches) of any offensive lineman at the combine. Clemson's John Simpson and South Carolina State's Alex Taylor tied for the largest hands (11 1/4 inches). Taylor also is the tallest at 6-foot-8 3/8 inches, and Louisville's Becton is the heaviest at 364. PUBLICATION: Vikings Entertainment Network DATE: 3/1/20

Leap-Year Linebacker Eric Kendricks Celebrates '7th Birthday'

By Lindsey Young

It's a big day for Eric Kendricks.

After all, how often does an All-Pro linebacker celebrate his 7th birthday?

Well, OK. He's actually turning 28 … right?

Kendricks was born on Leap Day in 1992, meaning that his official birthday only comes around every four years. It seems like a bummer – especially as a youngster – that the calendar typically leapfrogs your birthday, but Kendricks says he actually enjoyed the uniqueness of it growing up.

"Honestly, the way that my mom made me feel, and people around me, they made it feel a little bit more special," Kendricks told Vikings.com. "Obviously it was kind of weird on the off years when I was young, that I didn't really have an identified birthday. But then again … if it was Feb. 28 or March 1 or whatever, that whole week, people told me 'happy birthday.' So, I feel like people remembered my birthday more often."

2019 Season in Photos: Vikings LB Eric Kendricks View the top photos of Vikings LB Eric Kendricks from the 2019 season.

He, of course, celebrated his birthday in years without a Feb. 29; but every four years, the parties were especially a big deal.

Kendricks recalled one year in particular – "It was probably when I was '2 or 3,' so 8 or 12" – when his mom threw an extravagant build-your-own pizza party for him and his friends in their hometown of Fresno, California.

"We had the toppings and the dough and stuff like that, and I thought it was really cool," Kendricks said.

"I always try to do something a little bit bigger on my Leap Year," he added.

And as for this year? The Vikings linebacker will recreate that memorable childhood bash with friends and family.

"We're going to have a little dinner party, and everybody's going to be involved with cooking their own meal," he explained. "It's going to be kind of a throwback to my birthday party when I was younger, but a more adult version."

In February 2016, following his rookie season with the Vikings, Kendricks celebrated his "sixth" birthday. kendricks-leap-year-3-2560 "We went to Vegas and had a big thing. I wanted to do something big again [this year] but not as hectic," Kendricks said. "I'm growing up, I guess. Seven years old."

Ever wonder exactly why Leap Years exist?

While the calendar year spans 365 days, it actually takes the earth 365 and one-fourth days to complete its orbit around the sun. Adding an extra day – Feb. 29 – to the calendar every four years accounts for the extra one-fourths.

Kendricks recalled learning the explanation during science classes and enjoying the lecture a little more than his classmates.

"I always felt special," he said. "Because I am the one-fourth that's compiled on that day."

The chances of being born on Leap Day are just one in 1,500.

According to Pro Football Reference, Kendricks is the only current NFL player to have a Feb. 29 birthday. Only 18 are listed all-time, and the most recent prior to Kendricks was tackle Dante Ellington, who played two games for the Cardinals in 2005.

One current MLB player (Diamondbacks pitcher Stefan Crichton) was born on Feb. 29; no current NBA or NHL players are Leap Day babies.

"But actually, at my high school there were three of us who shared the same birthday. Two of us were in the same class, and one was a year younger," Kendricks said. "That's really rare. That's the biggest concentration I've ever been around." kendricks-leap-year-2-2560 Being that, as a professional athlete, Kendricks' bio info is regularly available via a quick Google search, I asked the linebacker if he gets asked much about the unique birthdate.

"It's usually when someone checks my ID or when I need to prove my identification at an airport or something," he said. "Or if I'm at a doctor's office and put my date of birth. People don't believe it's real. They're like, 'No, shut up.' But I'm like, 'No, for real. It's really on the 29th.' "

For legal purposes, some states' drivers' licenses do not officially recognize Feb. 29 but instead list Feb. 28 or March 1 as the individual's birthdate. Kendricks' license has his actual birthday, and he admits that it has complicated things over the years.

In college, he accompanied friends to a California club to celebrate his 21st birthday; they arrived at 11 p.m. on Feb. 28.

"I was pleading my case. 'Listen, I am 21 years old. My birthday's on Leap Year. My birthday's in an hour. Can you just let me in? And really, in an hour it will be the 1st.' " Kendricks recounted with a laugh. "They were just looking at me, like, 'What?' It was pretty funny."

He later added: "Honestly, I love the birthday because it gives me more of an excuse to act childish and just be youthful forever."

So, does the unique birthday make Kendricks the youngest player in Minnesota's locker room – a title last season believed to belong to 21-year-old Irv Smith, Jr.?

"I assume so," he deadpanned. "I feel like I'm really just the youngest one doing it in the NFL, period."

And as he prepares to celebrate over a build-your-own-dinner party tonight with friends and family, Kendricks offered one last shout-out from the heart:

"To all the 7-year-olds out there, just know that anything is possible. You just have to put your mind to it and go grind.

"People said that I wouldn't be able to do this by 7 years old, but look where I'm at," he added. "Go ahead and go for it."