DAILY CLIPS

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2020 LOCAL NEWS: Saturday, February 15, 2020

Star Tribune

Andre Patterson's bond with extends to the next generation By Mark Craig http://www.startribune.com/andre-patterson-s-bond-with-mike-zimmer-extends-to-the-next-generation/567895852/

SKOR North

Should the Vikings be interested in ? By Matthew Coller https://www.skornorth.com/vikings-2/2020/02/should-the-vikings-be-interested-in-josh-rosen/

NATIONAL NEWS: Saturday, February 15, 2020

Maven Media

Four Free Agents The Vikings Should Not Re-Sign This Offseason By Will Ragatz https://www.si.com/nfl/vikings/news/four-free-agents-vikings-should-not-resign-offseason

Bleacher Report: Vikings Should "Jump-Start the Inevitable" and Begin Rebuilding By Will Ragatz https://www.si.com/nfl/vikings/news/bleacher-report-vikings-inevitable-rebuilding-cousins-zimmer

MULTIMEDIA NEWS: Saturday, February 15, 2020

Vikings All-Decade Team: Offensive Line By Vikings Entertainment Network https://www.vikings.com/video/vikings-all-decade-team-offensive-line

Debate Over U.S. Bank Stadium Pull Tab Surplus By KSTP http://mms.tveyes.com/PlaybackPortal.aspx?SavedEditID=da21533c-f32b-4e6e-a636-74a3172c83d9

VIKINGS ENTERTAINMENT NETWORK: Saturday, February 15, 2020

Lunchbreak: Vikings Defense Will be 'Collaborative Effort' in 2020 By Lindsey Young https://www.vikings.com/news/lunchbreak-vikings-defense-will-be-collaborative-effort-in-2020

Panel & Fans Vote on Vikings Best OL from 2010-19 By Lindsey Young https://www.vikings.com/news/minnesota-vikings-all-decade-offensive-line-2010-19

PUBLICATION: Star Tribune DATE: 2/15/20

Andre Patterson's bond with Mike Zimmer extends to the next generation

By Mark Craig

Andre Patterson was 27 and fresh out of the high school coaching ranks when he met 31-year-old Mike Zimmer at Weber State in Ogden, Utah, in 1988.

The Wildcats were coming off a 10-win season and a trip to the Division I-AA quarterfinals. Zimmer was heading into his fourth season as Mike Price’s defensive backs coach. Patterson had just been hired to coach the defensive line.

Similar in thought yet different in approach, they hit it off immediately.

“We have a common bond that we both strive every day to be great, and we both strive every day to try and overturn every rock that we can to put our players in a better position so they can succeed,” Patterson said earlier this week when he spoke to reporters for the first time since having co- added to his duties as Vikings defensive line coach.

“From the first day we got together at Weber State, I think that’s the thing that we both looked at each other and said we’re pretty similar.”

And yet they can be oh so different. So different that Patterson was asked to explain how they manage to work well together?

“You’ve heard of good cop, bad cop, right?” said Patterson, who joined Zimmer with the Vikings in 2014. “You know, I think it’s like that. There’s no gray with Mike Zimmer. There’s no gray. You know where you fit. He’s going to tell you, whether you want to hear it or not, he’s going to tell you the truth of what you’re doing good, what you’re doing bad and what you need to improve on.

“I’m more of the motherly type. I’m going to put my arm around you and teach you just like I did when I was a teacher. So I always use the analogy of if I was a math teacher and you were having problems with something, I wouldn’t stand by you and hit you in the back of the head and cuss you out. I’d pull up a chair and sit down and show you how to figure out the problem. That’s my philosophy as a coach.”

Patterson has coached football basically since the day his knees told him his playing days were over back in 1981. A defensive lineman, he transferred from Contra Costa College in San Pablo, Calif., to Montana, where he got his first coaching job as a graduate assistant in 1982.

Patterson is heading into his 39th season as a coach. He has made 18 stops — including two stints with the Vikings — in 13 states from SoCal to New England, Florida to Washington and Texas to the Twin Cities.

Other than his current seven-year run with the Vikings, Patterson hasn’t worked anywhere longer than the four years he spent in his first paid job at Renton High School in Washington. From there, he had one year as head football coach and dean of students at St. Monica Catholic High School in Santa Monica, Calif., before going to Weber State.

Patterson and Zimmer worked together for one year at Weber State and three with the (2000-02), and they are now going on seven years with the Vikings. In 17 NFL seasons, this is Patterson’s first promotion to coordinator, although he said the Browns and the Broncos blocked him from taking promotions with other teams in the mid-2000s.

“When you’re under contract, the team has to let you out,” Patterson said. “So people always tell me my problem is that I do too good of a job, so they don’t let me out. So, fortunately, Zim gave me the opportunity, and I’m very thankful for that and I’ll give him everything I got.”

Actually, it’s a co-opportunity. Faced with picking between his 32-year coaching confidant and his 36-year-old son, Adam, the team’s coach, Zimmer chose all of the above as eyebrows were raised and critics snickered with charges of nepotism.

Patterson had questions of his own. So before he accepted the offer, he said, he and Adam “got together and talked a lot of things through.”

And?

“For me, No. 1, it was to make sure that we both wanted to do it,” Patterson said. “That we both were comfortable with doing that. And then, No. 2, defining our roles.

“What part of the defense did Adam feel was his strength? What part of the defense did I feel was my strength? And then how we can bring that together to where we become one strong fist. So, we had several conversations about it, and I feel very strongly that we’re in a great situation.” PUBLICATION: SKOR North DATE: 2/15/20

Should the Vikings be interested in Josh Rosen?

By Matthew Coller

Josh Rosen’s career has gotten off to a no-good, miserable start.

After being one of the most debated prospects in 2018, he was drafted by an team in dire straits and then thrown into the fire with the worst offensive line in the NFL and virtually no offensive weapons outside of Larry Fitzgerald. Not to mention his offensive coordinator was fired a few weeks into his starting career. And then the Cards fired his head coach and hired an offensive guru Kliff Kingsbury. Presumably wanting to allow the new head coach to pick his own QB, the Cards drafted Kyler Murray and traded Rosen to the worst team in the NFL.

In Miami the former UCLA star saw only a handful of opportunities as new Dolphins head coach Brian Flores chose to roll with veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick. While the decision may have been questionable, Fitzpatrick managed to FitzMagic his way to a handful of wins despite the Dolphins ranking dead last by PFF in pass blocking grade and 28th in receiving. Rosen was abysmal in his three starts, going 0-3 with one , five and a 52.0 rating. He was sacked 16 times in just 128 dropbacks.

In two years with the league’s most putrid supporting casts, Rosen has shown nothing that would suggest he’s going to be a good NFL quarterback. Out of 45 with at least 200 pass attempts since 2018, Rosen ranks 45th in quarterback rating, 45th in yards per attempt, 44th in percentage and 45th in completion percentage.

So why would the Vikings have even the slightest interest in trading for him after Miami’s decision to send a second- round pick to the Cardinals went belly up?

First, the situation. With under contract through 2020, the Vikings will have to decide whether to sign him to a long-term contract extension. And even if they want him back, they have to negotiate a new deal with a QB who played hardball the last time he was in this spot. We could end up going into the 2020 season without a new deal for Cousins, which would mean all other options being explored.

Clearly if Cousins is signed by this offseason, there’s no reason to consider other QBs. If he’s not and the Vikings aren’t capable of trading up for a top quarterback, they’ll have to look elsewhere. Having a backup in 2020 who could ultimately become the 2021 starter might be a necessary move for the Vikings to make in the coming months.

Rosen is also younger than the presumptive No. 1 overall pick Joe Burrow.

It’s hard to say that the book is written on a player who just turned 23 and hasn’t been put in anything resembling a position to win. Sam Bradford and Ryan Fitzpatrick didn’t exactly thrive in Arizona or Miami ahead of Rosen and Ryan Tannehill graded even worse by PFF than Rosen in 2018 and saw an massive turnaround this year with the .

Taking a no-risk shot on a first-round QB who might not be anywhere near his ceiling yet makes sense, assuming the Dolphins are ready to draft a QB and move on from Rosen for a far reduced price from what they paid out to the Cards a year ago.

Is it even worth the time though? The odds of a player struggling this much in his first two years and turning into a solid-to-great starter are extremely low, even with the situation factored in. If we increase the sample size to every quarterback since 2010 with at least 200 throws, Rosen’s most comparable QBs in quarterback rating are DeShone Kizer, John Skelton, Matt Barkley, Brett Hundley, Ryan Mallet and Drew Stanton.

Other QBs like , EJ Manuel, Tim Tebow, Mark Sanchez and Blaine Gabbert also appear with QB ratings under 80.

Added into the case against the Vikings dealing for Rosen as a backup is that there were red flags when he was drafted that may be coming to fruition, including about his personality. NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein wrote:

Josh Rosen’s footwork and mechanics make him as pretty a quarterback as you will find in this year’s draft. The biggest concern with Rosen is that his on-field success requires many elements to stay on schedule. He lacks plus arm strength, so identifying coverage (pre- and post-snap) and throwing with anticipation takes on added importance. Rosen has the pocket poise, accuracy and intelligence to become a good NFL starter, but he needs to be willing to take what defenses give him more frequently. Rosen will need to quell concerns surrounding leadership and coachability early on in order to establish a strong first impression and get his career off on the right foot.

If the Vikings want to go the route of finding a 2021 quarterback, this year’s draft might provide better options in QBs like Anthony Gordon of Washington State or Oklahoma’s Jalen Hurts rather than spending a pick on a player whose performances have been so poor.

It should also be considered that backup quarterback can be a valuable position with a savvy QB like 2019 backup Sean Mannion providing help behind the scenes for the starter. Even with uncertainty over the future, it might make sense in win-now mode to continue rolling with Mannion rather than spending any draft capital on a QB.

PUBLICATION: Maven Media DATE: 2/15/20

Four Free Agents The Vikings Should Not Re-Sign This Offseason

By Will Ragatz

The Vikings are heading into what should be a fascinating free agency period. They have the least salary cap space of any team in the NFL, as they currently need to clear roughly $12 million just to get under the projected cap. Once they do that – by cutting some players and restructuring the contracts of others – they'll have to clear additional space in order to re-sign their own free agents, pay their rookie class, and potentially bring in some veterans from other organizations.

On Thursday, we gave you four free agents the Vikings should prioritize re-signing this offseason, headlined by safety Anthony Harris. Now, here are four players (all of which are unrestricted free agents) that the Vikings should not re-sign, whether for financial or performance-based reasons. This list will not include lesser players who seem unlikely to return (i.e. Laquon Treadwell) or players who have made it clear they're leaving (Jayron Kearse). We're focusing on some of the tougher decisions facing the Vikings' front office.

1. Trae Waynes, Cornerback With Xavier Rhodes seeming like a likely cap casualty this offseason (the Vikings could save $8.1 million by releasing him), the free agency of Waynes becomes a very interesting topic. Would the Vikings feel comfortable losing both of their starting corners in one offseason? Making a competitive offer to Waynes and bringing him back for a few more years would give them continuity in the secondary and a solid veteran corner on the outside.

On the other hand, the Vikings shouldn't necessarily want continuity at corner after the 2019 season. Waynes had a decent campaign, especially compared to Rhodes – out of 113 corners graded by PFF, Waynes was 46th and Rhodes 107th – but the Vikings can save money by allowing him to sign elsewhere. Waynes, the Vikings' first round pick in 2015, is expected to command at least $8-9 million annually, and the Vikings should be content to let someone else pay that. Save that money for Harris and let new defensive backs coach Daronte Jones work with Mike Hughes, Holton Hill, an early draft pick, and potentially a cheap veteran at outside corner this fall.

2. , Offensive Tackle The 6-foot-6, 309-pound Hill served as the Vikings' swing tackle in 2019, filling in for both Riley Reiff at left tackle and Brian O'Neill on the right side. But as he enters free agency, Hill figures to look for a home where he will have the chance to compete for a starting role. With O'Neill locked in as the Vikings' right tackle of the future, and Reiff likely to either be cut or restructured and moved to guard, the Vikings should look to someone other than Hill to be their next left tackle. An early draft pick in April would be a cheaper option with more upside. Second-year player should be able to fill Hill's role as swing tackle.

3. Andrew Sendejo, Safety With Kearse a near-lock to leave this offseason and Harris not a sure thing to be back, there is some talk that the Vikings could bring back Sendejo for another year or two. He knows Zimmer's system like the back of his hand and performed admirably at nickel corner (where the Vikings may lose ) in the wild card round upset over the Saints. But Sendejo will be 33 next fall and doesn't seem capable of playing a major role at this point in his career. The Vikings should move on.

4. Sean Mannion, Quarterback Kirk Cousins and the Vikings raved about Mannion's beneficial impact on preparation in the quarterback room in 2019. But the Vikings can do a lot better at backup quarterback, and should let Mannion head elsewhere. It could be Jake Browning, who was the third QB last season and has some potential. Or the Vikings might consider drafting a quarterback in April