In a big way, too
We are less than a week away from the start of the “legal tampering” period of NFL free agency, and exactly one week away from the new league year getting underway. We know what positions the Minnesota Vikings will be looking to patch holes at, and one outlet has them fixing one of those holes in a pretty major way.
ESPN has “simulated” the free agency process for seven of the top free agents on the market. Those players were:
- LB Zach Baun
- QB Sam Darnold
- S Jevon Holland
- CB D.J. Reed
- OT Ronnie Stanley
- OLB Josh Sweat
- DL Milton Williams
This simulation consisted of the beat writers from each team serving as the General Managers from the team they cover, and ESPN writer Dan Graziano serving as the “agent” that selected the best offer for each “client.”
When the simulation was completed, the Vikings emerged with Williams after ESPN Vikings beat writer Kevin Seifert offered a four-year, $96 million deal with a whopping $75 million guaranteed. Their competition came from the Denver Broncos (3 yr/$73M, $40M guaranteed) and the New England Patriots (4 yr/$97M, $55M guaranteed).
Graziano had this to say about the decision:
It was between Minnesota and Denver, and the fourth year on the deal and the stronger guarantee push this toward the Vikings. This is also a team that won 14 games last season, and while there’s a lot to like about Denver’s trajectory, the Vikings are already a contender. They give Williams the best chance to get back to the Super Bowl soon.
Now, a few weeks ago I said that Williams was the one player that I wanted the Vikings to target in free agency, so obviously this scenario would make me pretty happy. With the way Williams emerged this past season in Philadelphia, he would be worth the significant investment that the Vikings would be making in this scenario.
As far as Darnold is concerned, only two teams in ESPN’s scenario made offers to him: the Tennessee Titans and the Las Vegas Raiders. Graziano has Darnold moving on to Tennessee on a 3-year, $120M deal with $85 million in guarantees. Now, I’m not sure how much this directly reflects on the attitude of NFL front offices, but the fact that only two teams made an offer in this scenario. . .and there are a lot more than two quarterback-needy teams in the NFL. . .might help to explain why the Vikings didn’t explore a tag-and-trade scenario with Darnold ahead of the franchise tag deadline.
What do you think of either or both of these scenarios, folks?
