The rate at which all franchise values are soaring is mind-boggling. Washington from the NFL was the first billion dollar franchise valuation in any U.S. league in 2004. Now every team in the top four leagues hits that mark.

Forbes noted that just six years ago, $5 billion was the benchmark for the highest-valued team in all the leagues. Now there are 51 teams valued at least that high, per Sportico.

• Minnesota franchise values lag compared to their peers. Each of the Vikings, Twins, Wild, Wolves and Minnesota United rank between No. 20 and No. 25 in their respective leagues in terms of franchise value. That means all are at least in the bottom half.
  

• But let’s not feel bad for them or their owners. The Wilf family bought the Vikings for $600 million in 2005. The Vikings are now worth 10 times that much ($6.28 billion). The Pohlad family bought the Twins for $44 million in 1984. They’re worth $1.7 billion now. The Wolves were just sold last year for $1.5 billion in a yearslong process. They’re worth almost three times as much now ($4.24 billion). The initial investment in Minnesota United for an expansion fee and stadium costs was $250 million roughly a decade ago. The Loons are worth $655 million now. Craig Leipold bought a majority stake in the Wild for $260 million in 2008. They’re worth $1.79 billion now.
  

• MLB’s economic disparity is on display in the valuations. The highest-valued team (Yankees at $8.39 billion) is more than six times as much as the lowest-valued team (Marlins at $1.3 billion). The ratio of biggest to smallest is roughly 2-to-1 in the NFL and 3-to-1 in the NBA, NHL and MLS.
  

• Every NFL team is in the top 46 and every NBA team is in the top 68 of the 154-team list. MLB and NHL values are the most comparable in terms of value. Teams in those two leagues occupy 47 consecutive spots on the list between 69 and 115. MLS franchises have the lowest valuations across the board, with Inter Miami ($1.45 billion) checking in at No. 116 as the highest-valued franchise in that league.
  

Leo Chenal, Kansas City. 6-3, 250, 25 years old, and according to this guy, better suited to a 3-4 ILB position. Youtube shorts don't embed so you'll have to click the link. 

https://youtube.com/shorts/wwJvobQ5_Jk?s...1bmpOI7Szn

https://www.si.com/nfl/texans/onsi/news/houston-texans-cj-stroud-linked-early-trade-speculation


There's some real talk in Houston on if they want to pony up a big contract extension with Stroud reaching his contract year or if they want to even pick up his 5th year option at all. If that's the case, they could be open to trade options and the Vikings are in the market. 

Thoughts on Stroud? Personally I really like him. I'm not sure what the Texans would do at the position if they traded him. I'd imagine trade compensation would likely be McCarthy, first round pick in 2026 (18th), and first round pick in 2027, or something in that range.

https://www.outkick.com/culture/bill-mah...s-far-left

"And then people got on stage and went like, ‘Everybody here should be happy to be here except for you,’" Maher said. "And they literally pointed him out by name in the crowd. It’s that kind of thing that makes me fucking hate the far left assholes who do that and their fucking bad attitude."

I am not sure why he wouldn't have raised this argument when it still mattered,  but even he sees this as a big ol nothing, except it came from a conservative, and those that viewed it otherwise were either willfully ignorant of the actual comments,  or simply blind sheep following the directions of their media masters.

Let's take for granted we can believe some of what we've been told where it pertains to the QB position:

1.  "NFL Teams fails young QBs more than young QBs fail NFL Teams" - KOC
2.  KOC had severe reservations over whether JJM was ready to take over.
3.  Kwesi ultimately was the fall guy for the Darnold/QB situation

What this tells me is ownership has been embarrassed by Darnold/Seattle's success.  They will insist on a better situation at QB next season.  Finally, they also won't want to be embarrassed twice by creating their own "Darnold" and watch him have success further down the line.

I can't see a scenario where the Vikings punt on JJM completely...unless there is more going on behind the scenes than we know.  But I also think ownership will demand more out of the QB position than we got last year.  This means REAL competition needs to be brought in for JJ.  That being said, you have to be careful the kind of competition you bring in.  If you are bringing in a 26-28 year old that's costing you a decent amount of draft capital/salary, you're essentially saying you're moving on completely from JJM.  There's no QB in that realm that's going to be a "2 Year fix" (Murray/Willis/Jones?

So that means you need to move to an older vet.  I'm not even entertaining the idea of Geno Smith because he was actively AWFUL this year or Derek Carr because he hasn't touched a football in two years.  The Aaron Rodgers ship has sailed as I think he'll go with McCarthy in Pittsburgh for another year if he does decide to play.

That leaves realistically one QB that can make you competitive and not be tied to them outside of 2 years.....and that is one Kirk Daniel Cousins.  He knows the system inside and out, could literally hit the ground running and would provide ACTUAL competition for JJM.  If JJ miraculously blossoms over the course of the offseason and beats out Cousins, best of both worlds....you have your young Franchise QB and the best possible back up you could ask for that can run the entire playbook if JJ gets hurt.  If Cousins beats out JJ, you have an entire season to evaluate a non injured JJ behind the scenes to see if he can be your guy down the line.

If you determine it's not going to work with JJ after the season, in that scenario, you'd presumably have control of Cousins for the next 1-2 years to draft and groom his replacement from the 2027 draft class.

Heard some Viking fans on twitter bitching about Donovan Jackson while praising Grey Zabel. Both rookies, Zabel was taken 18th overall and Jackson 25th. Jackson missed three games due to injury, so this isn't one-to-one. Still, it's hard to make the argument that Zabel had a far better year than Jackson. 

Overall PFF grade
Zabel 57.3
Jackson 59.4

Run blocking
Zabel 56.3
Jackson 57.2

Pass blocking
Zabel 58.6
Jackson 65.7

Penalties
Zabel 6
Jackson 4

Sacks, hits, hurries, pressures
Zabel 6, 2, 5, 26, 33
Jackson 4, 2, 5, 19, 26

Crap games (pass blocking grades under 50)
Zabel 6
Jackson 2

https://youtu.be/W8WmG9vbF2I?si=yUlzCwMaNk5GrWMx

Good listen and conversation by Judd and Chip (25:45) on the Wilfs, the "Competitive Rebuild," Ryan Poles, and what will and will not win you playoff games. It's what I've been echoing on here for years about the Wilfs and their failed philosophy of thinking we are a playoff team every year.

Absolutely brutal watch.

That is all.

Feb. 17–Mar. 3: Franchise/Transition Tag Designation Period.

Feb. 23–Mar. 2: NFL Scouting Combine, Indianapolis, IN.

Mar. 9–11: Legal Negotiation Period for Free Agents.
Mar. 11: 2026 League Year & Free Agency begins (4 p.m. ET).

Mar. 29–Apr. 1: Annual League Meeting, Phoenix, AZ.

Apr. 23–25: 2026 NFL Draft, Pittsburgh, PA.

May 1: Deadline for 5th-Year Options on 2023 1st-Round Picks.
May 19–20: Spring League Meeting.

July 15: Deadline for Franchise-Tagged Players to Sign Extensions.

Sept. 10: 2026 NFL Regular Season Kickoff.