#595: I WAS WRONG about Minnesota Vikings strategy with Sam Darnold | NFL

Minnesota Tim discusses the importance of honesty in sports commentary, reflecting on his previous opinions about the Minnesota Vikings and Sam Darnold. He emphasizes the need for sports commentators to be open to changing their views based on new information. Tim revisits his stance on the Vikings' potential handling of Darnold, arguing that they should not let a valuable asset like him walk away without maximizing their return. He highlights the significance of quarterbacks in the NFL and the strategic decisions teams must make regarding their roster.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
Welcome into this show today. If this is your first time,
or your second, or third, or fourth or fifth. Are
you a long time listener, Hit that subscribe button on
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(00:28):
feed six times a week, Monday through Saturday. I appreciate
you making this podcast part of your day, this podcast.
Dedicate this self to being one hundred percent honest, one
hundred percent of the time, regardless of how you feel. Okay, So,
I've done some soul searching recently, and it takes a

(00:51):
man to admit one thing that not many people want
to admit. I'll double down when i think I'm right,
tripled down, quadrupled down when i think I'm right. For example,
the Minnesota Vikings locker room celebration after they defeated the

(01:11):
Green Bay Packers. That was too far, and I will
double down, triple down, quadruple down on that take over
and over and over again. You do not celebrate like
that after a regular season victory, regardless of how your
career went to that point, because what you are doing

(01:34):
is you are admitting that you have really accomplished nothing
throughout your career if you are going to celebrate like that,
so I will do that. But it takes a man
to admit something like this that no people really want
to admit. I was wrong about how the Minnesota Vikings

(02:00):
should handle Sam Donald. The other day I made a
YouTube and podcast clip or whatever, and I said that
the Minnesota Vikings will not sign and trade Sam Donald

(02:24):
because the last thing the Vikings want to do is
sign and trade Donald and get pieces back from the Raiders.
Why would you want pieces back from the Raiders. Why
would you want whatever? A cornerback or a defensive tackle
that's going to eat up the same salary cap space

(02:46):
as Sam Donald would on the Vikings roster. So they
are going to let him walk. And I was wrong.
Take some man to admit that. We like to be prideful,
we like to think where I was right, but I
was wrong. And here's why I was wrong. When you

(03:07):
think about Quescy Adolfo Mensa, the Vikings general manager, he's
a Wall Street guy. He is in Wall Street stock guy,
numbers guy, and the number one rule from a guy
that doesn't have that much inside information. But the number

(03:29):
one rule from a guy looking from afar is you
do not let a asset go for free. If you
have a big stock or whatever the case may be.
If you have an asset, you don't just let it
walk out the door. You've got to get something back
for that. And it is all about maximizing your return

(03:52):
on an asset. And if Quesse wants to bring that
lot jick to the Vikings organization, then he needs to
not let Darnold walk out the door for free, whether
that's a second round pick or a third round pick.

(04:14):
And you think about where the Vikings stand this year
in the NFL Draft. While they traded multiiple mid round
picks last year to acquire McCarthy and Dallas Turner, so
the Vikings don't have that much room to operate in

(04:35):
the NFL draft this year. They have a first round pick,
they have a third round pick, and they have some
picks later on, but they don't have a second round pick.
And right now, the conversation is about should the Vikings
trade down in the first round so that they can

(04:55):
acquire multiple picks in the second round and add more
players defensively and offensively. And the Minnesota Vikings might be
able to avoid that if they take and trade Sam
Donald and acquire some picks from the Raiders. And the

(05:18):
logic I had before I already talked about to trade Donald,
you've got to bring pieces back because you need the
salary to align, and that's not the case in the NFL.
I applied my NBA knowledge to the NFL because in
the NBA, most of the time, these salaries have to

(05:40):
line up because there's not as much cap spacing in
the NBA as there is in the NFL. NFL's got
guaranteed non guaranteed contracts, in the NBA has guaranteed contracts.
So I was wrong about Sam Donald. And when you
look at the temperature in the room from the Vikings

(06:05):
and their comments about Sam Donald at the NFL Combine,
Quessey said, we have options. Okay, what does that even mean.
Kevin O'Connell said, Sam is in a position where the

(06:25):
NFL thinks he can play football at a very high level,
which means that he knows Donald is going to be
a cuveted free agent, and Quessey knows we have options.
Can let him walk, could resign him to a three
year deal yourself, or you could take and trade him

(06:48):
and get pieces back and also have that calorie cap
space salary cap space. So the Minnesota Vikings should not
let Donald lock out the door if they are being smart.
Donald was an MVP candidate through Week sixteen until he

(07:09):
fell apart in the final two weeks of the season.
Against the Lions and against the Rams, Donald had thirty
five touchdowns and twelve interceptions. And here's the thing about
the NFL. NFL teams desire a carter back more than

(07:30):
any other position in the NFL because that controls the
fate of a head coach and a general manager more
than any other position in the league, which means they
are going to do whatever it takes to acquire a
quarterback that can win them games. And if Donald is

(07:54):
that guy, and if they believe Donald is that guy,
they will give up some picks to acquire him. Now,
it depends on where they value Donald, meaning if they
have Aaron Rodgers and Donald on the same scale and

(08:14):
they have to give up a pick to acquire Donald,
will maybe they'll just go to Aaron Rodgers route, or
if they like a player on the draft wherever they're selecting,
and they have Sam Darnald in the same spot. Maybe
they'll just draft that player. So there's some risk with
they tag and trade, but you probably don't take them

(08:36):
unless you know you can trade them. And here were
some NFL insiders in Rapp Report was talking about it
and Tom Belsaro was on the group. Mind Garret follow
the big boys. They're talking about the situation the other day.

Speaker 2 (08:57):
If they have too right, right, I mean, if you
look at the land whateverack you just mentioned and then
we really mentioned all the names in this segment.

Speaker 1 (09:05):
It seems to me, based on.

Speaker 2 (09:06):
My conversations that in this off season, I think they
were working back to the bail Well, Sam Donald seems
it could be the best, right. I mean, we could
try to argue Matthew Saffah was a little older, but
Donald seems.

Speaker 1 (09:17):
To be the dude.

Speaker 2 (09:18):
The Vikings had him. So if they want to have
any either start that, they could do that.

Speaker 1 (09:22):
That's not that hard.

Speaker 2 (09:23):
They could tag them or they could reach a new
deal based around the tag.

Speaker 1 (09:27):
If they want to have.

Speaker 2 (09:28):
Jaj McCarthy be their starter, they're in an unbelievable position
of just being able to hold on as the guy
and say you want to get him, come come get him,
and we haven't seen this a lot of the Vikings.
It's like, you know, we'll talk about this. They had
a good free agent.

Speaker 1 (09:44):
And he goes to somewhere else.

Speaker 2 (09:46):
Money, they get a compic you know, a third rounder
in a couple of years. This is like that, but accelerate.
It's like compick plus plus an amazing, amazing relations toward
the Bikings if they come to would jaj McCarty to
be either I think.

Speaker 1 (10:02):
Company. So the Vikings could auction off Sam Donald and
basically could get returned for him. And that is what
the Vikings should do. They should not let an asset
like a quarterback who threw thirty five touchdowns and twelve
interceptions and had the Vikings competing for the number one

(10:25):
seed in the NFC. They should not let that walk
out the door. And I was wrong about that take
two weeks ago. This is a fluid podcast. I don't
end to double down on everything. And people changed their
mind all the time. Oh what do you want for dinner? Chicken? Well,
data comes around and I want stake instead. Why can't

(10:46):
I change my opinion? I learned something, I changed my opinion.
That's how it works. People hold sports announcers or guys
with sports takes to another level. Then they held themselves.
So anyway, I'm changing my take. I was wrong, and

(11:07):
I'm happy to admit that. It takes a man to
admit that. Thank you for watching, and thank you for
making this podcast a part of your day. Everyone, have
a great day, and hit that subscribe button wherever you're
watching or listening.