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Welcome back after a one-week break. I'm sorry I neglected to mention in the Feb. 10 edition that we were going to take last week off.

My family enjoyed welcoming our dear friends (they are considered family) from Tennessee, and they stared down the Arctic temps without batting an eye. Bundling up helped as our kids enjoyed the neighborhood's annual pond ice games festival.

I've also tried to catch up a little bit on domestic projects and parenting time in the past two weeks.

It was a nice window to rest after the Super Bowl and recharge before the NFL descends on Indianapolis for the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine, a process that already has begun.

I'm appreciative of the opportunity to head that way today with several colleagues to help cover this year's event. Please be on the lookout for combine content this week. Make sure you try to catch Tuesday and Wednesday episodes of 9 to Noon featuring Paul Allen and Pete Bercich on KFAN 100.3-FM. If you miss those live, we'll have videos of multiple interviews.

Head Coach Kevin O'Connell and General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah are scheduled to participate in formal podium sessions Tuesday. The plan is to live stream O'Connell (12:30 p.m. ET/11:30 a.m. CT) and Adofo-Mensah (1 p.m. ET/noon CT) on Vikings.com and the app. We'll have those sessions, as well as other content on the way.

I'm certain the quarterback discussion will be front-and-center for the second consecutive year, so we'll resume our conversation there now.

It is reasonable to assume the Vikings will NOT have Sam Darnold as our QB next season (but THANK YOU Sam). The only consideration on Sam's situation is we must financially maximize his departure (likely a tag & trade). With all the costly needs the Vikes have, our strong financial position is ESSENTIAL to next season. Then let's prioritize & add (at least) two interior OL on the offensive side, and (at least) two DBs, plus a VERY strong interior DL on the defensive side. Since we'll likely only have a couple of high draft picks (counting a compensatory pick), these needs must be made mostly in free agency. Our excellent coaching staff certainly knows which of our current players are valuable & to retain them with new contracts. I foresee the Vikings getting younger, more diversified (with a strong run game & and interior pass rush) & to be set up to contend in the playoffs.

— Dan in White Bear Lake, Minnesota

Darnold obviously outplayed the one-year deal he signed a year ago and is in position to receive offers during free agency. He'll have multiple factors to consider, and the Vikings are in a familiar position to the one they were in a year ago when the team made an offer that was then surpassed by the Falcons.

Minnesota could set a price or implement the usage of the franchise tag, which has been a rarity for the Vikings. The two-week franchise tag window opened last Tuesday and closes on March 4. I put together this story about the franchise tag last week that I'm reposting in case anyone missed it.

Tag-and-trade is an option that could result in compensation more quickly than the likely compensatory pick if Darnold signs elsewhere. The tag does come at a financial cost, however, so it would affect the approach to the rest of the roster.

Dan's got quite the wish list, and it's congruent with what many have listed as spots on the roster where the Vikings might add players through free agency or the draft. Coaches and the personnel department have held some meetings, continuing to stack inputs and look for the best approaches to rounding out the roster.

Coaches are just beginning to get familiar with the college prospects and are doing studies on players who could become free agents. A team's actions in free agency almost always shape draft boards.

Congrats to the Vikings for a great season from down under in Aotearoa (New Zealand).

Lots of talk about Darnold or J.J. McCarthy — but what's the story with Daniel Jones? Is he still on the team?

If Coach Kevin can do what he did with Sam Darnold, maybe he can do something similar with Jones?

Go Vikings!

— Craig M. in Queenstown, New Zealand

So awesome to have your support in New Zealand.

McCarthy, for starters, is recovering from a torn meniscus (he had one surgery, and it wasn't an ACL tear, despite that getting misreported from time to time. I get that mistakes happen. I'm just trying to reemphasize for clarity what happened to the No. 10 pick of 2024).

The Vikings were able to sign Jones to their practice squad after his release by the Giants and then elevated him for the Wild Card game, which means he will factor into the compensatory pick formula for the 2026 NFL Draft if he signs elsewhere.

Jones is scheduled to become a free agent, as well, and I'm sure he'll survey his options like he did when he came to Minnesota instead of signing somewhere he would have played last year.

Congratulations to K.O. (for Coach of the Year) and Jared Allen (for the Pro Football Hall of Fame)! Unsure if Jim Marshall is still eligible for the HOF. Time is becoming a factor. Disappointed he was not inducted into the HOF while Coach Grant was still among us.

The question: Matthew Stafford has announced he would like to play next season. Unclear if the Rams plan to keep him. Sam Darnold will potentially be a free agent. Is it legal for teams and the players to negotiate basically a player for player trade once the calendar allows for it? Rams would have their younger QB. Vikings would have possibly a great mentor, transitional QB for J.J. McCarthy. Maybe both teams would come out winners in terms of need and cap space cost.

Happy to hear Aaron Jones, Sr., and the Vikings agreed to move the void contract date to allow more time for negotiations. JMHO, Vikings are a better team with Jones vs. with any other veteran option available.

SKOL!

— Noel in Bayfield, Wisconsin

I feel like Noel, myself and so many readers lament each year the fact that Marshall has not been added to the Hall of Fame. He is still eligible but only through the Senior Committee, which has seemed to change its process multiple times in the past few years. Stats weren't added officially until 1982, but "The Captain" has been credited with 130.5 sacks by pro-football-reference.com. And he recorded more than 120 of those while racing Hall of Famers Car Eller and Alan Page to the quarterback. Eller and Page also recorded more than 100 in Purple.

Noel's proposal was intriguing, and he outlined the perceived benefits for the teams. I'm not aware of anything that would be on the wrong side of the rulebook from such a deal. It could be worked on at any point, like other offseason trades that do not become official until the New League Year (March 12 this year).

And it was correctly reported that the Vikings and Aaron Jones moved the contract void date to allow more time. He certainly turned in a great season in his first in Minnesota and expressed interest in returning. We'll see if it's in the cards.

It's been a long time since I've written, and it seems like yesterday since our Vikes closed out the season, not with a bang but with a whimper. We have the tools, and we have the talent; however, we're running out of time. We must retool and reexamine our talent pool, which will involve some tough decisions on the part of management. O-line, QB, WR, S, CB, DL, RB, etc... This year will be a make-or-break year.

Go Vikes and Skol,

— Nicholas Balkou

Welcome back. The Vikings were able to hit on so many free agents last year that it is encouraging to see what happens this year, and how any upcoming moves impact decisions during the draft.

Cam Bynum is one of my favorite players. He is always happy and smiling. Having spent some time in the Philippines while in the Navy, I recognize that he is the embodiment of the Filipino people. I really hope the Vikings find a way to keep him on the team, but if he moves on because of the business side of the NFL, I want to wish him all the best, and I will continue to follow him wherever he ends up. He has earned his payday for the way he's played for the Vikings, and I hope the Vikings can find a way to keep him on the team.

— Mike in Oklahoma

Cam has certainly become an endearing figure in Minnesota, throughout the NFL landscape and across the globe.

This is an excellent spot to mention a great photo essay put together earlier this month by Vikings.com's Alli Rusco.

I'll also note that our offseason free agency tracker for 2025 posted this past week. We will continue to update it throughout the offseason.

I'm a life-long fan of 56 years. Being a Vikings fan is like getting a tooth pulled without Novocain. Whenever they give you hope, they pull the rug out from under you. Until the decision makers make an investment in both offensive and defensive lines it will be the same old Vikings. Also, coaches need to work on being a more physical team on both sides of the ball. How many times is the offense on the 1-yard line and can't score a touchdown? It's really hard for a fan to watch, especially when it just keeps happening over and over again. A lot of us older fans are running out of time [for the] hope of a winning a Super Bowl in our lifetime.

— Tony in Tennessee

The Eagles definitely showed value in having strong offensive and defensive lines, and this was a year after the retirements of seven-time Pro Bowl center Jason Kelce and six-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Fletcher Cox.

Boosting the ability to run the football in short-yardage situations would be a nice addition because of the opportunity to put points on the board or earn more offensive plays for a group that has great playmakers.

Just a few thoughts on what the Vikings could do between free agency and the draft. We only have three picks, plus [an expected] compensatory [pick for Kirk Cousins], but we do have a decent amount of cap space.

Now, Sam Darnold did an exceptional job last season, right up until week 18 and the Wild Card that is. But is he that much better than his previous years that he can replicate it for another team? Or does he still need K.O. and the other coaches' guidance to continue to improve and, more importantly, remain consistent all the way through the postseason next season?

Letting him walk to another team that throws a trunk full of Franklins at him nets nothing for the Vikings organization that rejuvenated (rescued) his career. Signing him to a 2-to-3-year contract would cost easily north of 30 million per year and wipe out most of that invaluable cap space we have. A tag-and-trade would net draft picks that the team is in short supply of. Yes, it would cost millions, but that could be mostly recouped by shifting it to the acquiring team.

The facts are that the Vikings need to use a sizable chunk of the cap space to re-sign as many of those difference-makers on defense that are departing in free agency as possible. And keep in mind that several of the other defenders — Mister Pick Six (Andrew Van Ginkel) for example — only have another year or two left on their own contracts, so Kwesi and K.O. need to look ahead as well.

All that being said, maybe it'd be a worthwhile option for the Vikings to trade their first round pick, to either drop lower in Round 1, or use it to snag a high pick in Round 2 and maybe a bonus pick somewhere in Rounds 3-5. I mean, let's be honest, we are too far down in Round 1, and don't have the draft picks to move higher, so treating the pick as a commodity is prudent.

In the next few months the prognosticators at NFL.com or ESPN will trot out their annual list of which teams are most deserving of a Super Bowl win. And I know that a place like Cleveland will make the cut, but to me that's hogwash. They've had their victory. It just happened in Baltimore instead. So, the Browns can wait. Same for teams that did win, even if it was before any of their current players were born. They can wait.

I see only two teams that are truly deserving of a championship, and that's either the Vikings or the Bills. Their fans have suffered through 4 Big Game losses each and sniffed their respective Conference Championship several times.

— David A., from the North Shore but stuck in the South

Possibly receiving a third-round pick in 2026 if Darnold signs elsewhere does not seem to be a high return for Minnesota, but I guess it would be better than nothing.

The salary cap is increasing again this year, but that creates room for every team to become more involved in certain discussions. The Vikings have worked their way from having limited space to being in one of the top statuses across the NFL.

What if the Vikings and Bills made the same Super Bowl? One fan base would be guaranteed of ultimate joy and the other absolute heartache, but I do believe it's had to be some other level of torture for Browns fans to see the Ravens franchise that flew the Cleveland coop to win two Super Bowls so far.