Fansided

Here’s what the Minnesota Vikings can do so this doesn’t happen again in 2019

By Brad Berreman

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - DECEMBER 30: Kirk Cousins #8 of the Minnesota Vikings on the sideline in the fourth quarter of the game against the Chicago Bears at U.S. Bank Stadium on December 30, 2018 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - DECEMBER 30: Kirk Cousins #8 of the Minnesota Vikings on the sideline in the fourth quarter of the game against the Chicago Bears at U.S. Bank Stadium on December 30, 2018 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /
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Mandatory Credit: Stacy Revere/Getty Images
Mandatory Credit: Stacy Revere/Getty Images /

1. Find A Way To Legitimately Upgrade The Offensive Line

A preseason neck injury to starting left guard Nick Easton didn’t help, and neither did the delay to center Pat Elflein’s season after he suffered an ankle injury in the NFC title game loss to Philadelphia. But paying Cousins what they did, and then making Tom Compton the only notable free agent reinforcement and waiting until the second round to draft an offensive lineman is a grave oversight by general manager Rick Spielman. That second-round pick, Brian O’Neill, eventually took over as the starter at right tackle and made some nice progress. But he was widely seen as a bit of a project when he was drafted, not as an instant starter for a team with legit Super Bowl expectations

A trade up later in last April’s draft to take kicker Daniel Carlson (who was cut after missing three field goals in Week 2, by the way) would have been better deployed in the second round, if Spielman could have or would have tried. Or the extra pick ceded in that deal could have been used on…another offensive lineman?

Riley Reiff isn’t going anywhere as a highly paid perfectly average left tackle, with Elflein and probably O’Neill inked in at center and right tackle. Right tackle-turned-right guard Mike Remmers could be done though, since the Vikings can move on fairly painlessly ($1.8 million in dead money for 2019, while clearing $4.55 million in cap space, via Over The Cap).

Easton’s progress will go a long way toward shaping the Vikings’ plan for the offensive line in 2019. But at least one starting guard spot is shaping up as a need, and possibly both. Shifting O’Neill inside is a remote possibility, which then creates a need at right tackle.

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However the dominoes fall, the Vikings have to upgrade the offensive line and protect Cousins better. Starters, depth, free agency, the draft, trades–it all has to be on the table this offseason. Otherwise, Cousins will struggle to function at his best and the risk he’ll be injured seriously goes up.

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