KAM wins the offseason

I'm not 100% sold on him yet, but I do like how he has shown no ego by admitting his first draft wasn't good and he's moved on from his failed picks a lot quicker than we ever saw from Spielman.

He's how I'd grade him the last 3 years...

2022 - D
Needed a future first trading from 12 to late first. Our first and second round picks from this draft have been cut/traded after two years. Kicked the can on Kirk and Danielle's contracts. Only reason this isn't an F is he made one good move trading for Hockenson.

2023 - C+
Moved on from Dalvin and replaced him with Mattison who was here one more year before being cut. Our lack of an explosive RB really hurt the offense. Spent a lot of money on a blocking TE, Lowry was a bust at DE, Davenport was a bust as a pass rusher. Byron Murphy was a good signing. Addison was a great pick (if he quits drunk driving), Pace was a gem as an UDFA, and jury is out on the rest of the draft class. Vikings could have explored a trade for Danielle but chose not to do it in a lost season after Kirk blew his Achilles.

2024 - A
Liked the conviction not giving in to Kirk coming or an Achilles and using the money we would have spent on an older Danielle and getting younger with Greenard. We added some dudes on defense. Darnold has been resurrected. JJ McCarthy looks like a franchise QB. We either did our research or get incredibly lucky (or both), but it appears we have more QB talent in MN than we've ever had.

Next year will make or break him IMO. We have limited draft picks, but lots of money. It seems like he's trending up and learning, but one good off-season doesn't totally offset the first two.

This is the type of offseason that prepares you for winning a SB, where you stack so many positives all in a short period of time and you can keep them together for a while. This is how you win a lot of games, by getting so much value out of relatively low cost players. While I think that KAM did a great job in bringing in guys that fit our system, I think this is really a showcase of how much coaching matters. I think none of these guys shines as brightly on other teams.

I think the thing that most surprised me was how much they invested in this year, when I thought we were looking more towards 2025. Gilmore's signing really shows how much potential they thought they had on this roster and didn't want to waste it.

I'll be extremely interested to see what KAM does with Sam if he continues to have a very solid year. JJM showed promise, but still an unknown. If Sam continues to play well, he'll have suitors. It would be bad business if Sam took a very short term deal from the Vikings even if he feels some loyalty and appreciation.