Another OL gone

[Wsumatt1982]

5 years $88 million, coming off a major injury

Smart move not to do that. There’s other options.

This is what JS meant by guards get overvalued. If the situation is right but that injury was a concern and that’s a huge contract

 

[Natethegreat]

Yep let's let all the top end FAs walk right past us with the 5th or 6th most cap space. Maybe we're gonna draft some more convertable Dlinemen, try that experiment again. Should work out fine.

I mean, that's definitely not true. We signed and spent on one of the top free agents.

 

[seabowl]

DRAFT OL in top rounds!!!! Typically OL draft picks in the top rounds do very well compared to other positions drafted high.

 

[Natethegreat]

Mekhi Becton, really don't see him as a wide zone guy though.

 

[Maelstrom787]

We made a run at Fries according to basically everyone, including Brady Henderson, but... yeah, that deal is hard to compete with, given the length and security it gives Fries. Just a total whopper of a contract and Minnesota has been hurting on the iOL for just as long as we have.

 

[Rat]

The plan is becoming clear: sign Brandon Scherff to the same contract Tomlinson got last year, 3rd round pick on a raw guard from a basketball school whose best competition was Holy Cross and Bucknell, 6th round guard, and then to reach the cap floor, free agent offers to Amari Cooper and Harrison Smith.

 

[Natethegreat]

We made a run at Fries according to basically everyone, including Brady Henderson, but... yeah, that deal is hard to compete with, given the length and security it gives Fries. Just a total whopper of a contract and Minnesota has been hurting on the iOL for just as long as we have.

They also have very miniscule draft capital to address it as well.

 

[James in PA]

John's moronic philosophy about O Line hasn't made us a Super Bowl contender in over a decade. The guy just doesn't learn his lesson.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

The only thing I wanted out of this FA period, as far as external signings, was for the Hawks to pick up Dalman OR Fries. That's it. It would have put so much less stress on us going into the draft. We have all this f#% cap space and John still couldn't do it. And don't tell me "maybe they just didn't wanna come here." Bull. Money talks. You offer them significantly more than the next closest team, especially if you have all this cap space and this glaring of a need. And if they still don't wanna come here after that, you are horrible at selling your organization. What kind of recruiter are you? John Schneider is failing at his job and I cannot wait until he is no longer our general manager.

I suspect every other fanbase wanted one of those two

 

[James in PA]

I suspect every other fanbase wanted one of those two

John had one job to do. Be aggressive as hell like the Bears were with regard to this achilles heel of ours. He had the resources. Either he was too cheap again or he sucks at selling his organization to potential free agents. My guess is it's some of both.

 

[Mistashoesta]

 

[Natethegreat]

John had one job to do. Be aggressive as hell like the Bears were with regard to this achilles heel of ours. He had the resources. Either he was too cheap again or he sucks at selling his organization to potential free agents. My guess is it's some of both.

Or he wasn't willing to go as high and for as many years as Minnesota was.
By the way the Vikings have the least amount of draft capital of any team.
They had to be aggressive.
There IOL was just as bad as ours.

 

[Mistashoesta]

You jettison you're starting QB and WR2. Could have incoming offensive candidates question the philosophy.

 

[TheLegendOfBoom]

Yep let's let all the top end FAs walk right past us with the 5th or 6th most cap space. Maybe we're gonna draft some more convertable Dlinemen, try that experiment again. Should work out fine.

no need to fix what’s not broken—oh wait

 

[TheLegendOfBoom]

Yeah it is frustrating to watch other NFC teams sign OL upgrades while JS made it a priority to sign a depth player that is often signed with the second or third wave of free agency. What a strange start to this off season so far...

I think I’ve seen this before….hmmmm reminds me of the last 10 off seasons with Schneider!!!

 

[hawker84]

I mean, that's definitely not true. We signed and spent on one of the top free agents.

I'm talking OLine. And I was being sarcastic. Relax bro.

 

[Shane Falco]

I was ok with losing DK, ok with whatever QB - I just want to see a decent oline for once. A bad oline truely makes the offense unbearable to watch. I hope they can figure it out.

 

[Rat]

This is frustrating, because when they asked after the earlier cap-clearing moves, I specifically said, "Yes, I would like Fries with that space."

 

[Wsumatt1982]

John's moronic philosophy about O Line hasn't made us a Super Bowl contender in over a decade. The guy just doesn't learn his lesson.

It was proven Seattle was in on Fries, that's a massive overpay though. I think in the FA 2025 thread I posted some team offered Dalman a lot more money than what he signed for but he really wanted to go to the Bears. We can speculate if that was Seattle or not but chances are it was.

Maybe this new staff has some guys on the roster and in the draft they feel they can work with.

Plus, there's still a lot of options out there. Some better fits than others. Just relax.

The sky is not falling

 

[SPOHAWK]

He had a pretty major broken leg, really no timetable for Camp...etc