Vikings Sign Woods, Alexander

So the Vikings added a couple more one year deals to their roster the past couple of days.

My previous evaluation of the Vikings offseason thus far and how it affects their long term future remains exactly the same.

But I love these last two deals.

Mackenzie Alexander was drafted in the 2nd round by Minnesota in 2016, played 4 seasons for the Vikings, and spent last year with Cincinnati.

Welcome back Mackenzie.

I like that you’re cheap (1 year, 900k deal.)

I like your familiarity with the system.

I like that you’re an underrated blitzer. The four sacks in your last season in Minnesota is more than almost all of the defensive lineman on last years team. (Four sacks for a corner in a season is a hell of a lot.)

I like the fact that you’re not Jeff Gladney or Mike Hughes.

I like that if you were inserted onto last year’s Vikings roster you would have immediately been the best corner on the squad.

I like that by signing you the team has more flexibility at the safety position.

Speaking of which, Xavier Woods also came aboard. The former 6th round pick and soon to be 26-year-old safety played his first few years in Dallas. He had a couple good years and tailed off last season.

Welcome Xavier.

I like that you’re cheap (1 year, 2.25 million.)

I like that you’re young.

I love the fact that you’re rejoining your old college coach (Karl Scott from Louisiana Tech) who is now the secondary coach for the Vikings. I’m hoping that means you have a familiarity and comfort level with the system, which will help you excel.

These two additions get me fired up about next season.

Barring injuries, these signings assure me I won’t be stuck watching a ton of corners out there that don’t have a clue this coming season.

And it reassures me that what I was watching last year was real, and the best defensive coach in the league saw the same thing I did…horrible secondary play. All these idiots blowing up my mentions about how the defense is so young and good and just needs another year to prosper are absolutely out of their skulls.

Are they gonna get burned? Yeah, probably more times than not—this is the NFL, the rules are slanted so it works out that way.

The difference is these guys are also going to make plays, create turnovers, and help the defense get off the field on 3rd down a hell of a lot more often than they did last year as well.

A secondary of Patrick Peterson, Woods, Harrison Smith, Alexander, and Cameron Dantzler looks and feels a hell of a lot better than anything with the names Gladney, Hughes, Kris Boyd and Anthony Harris attached to it .

I never understood what the big fan fascination with Harris was anyway. He was one of the more overrated Vikings I can recall watching. PFF ranked him high when a couple to interceptions fell into his lap two years ago and all the idiot Vikings fans went crazy.

And obviously the NFL agreed with me. All you idiot fans thought the Vikings just couldn’t afford him…Did you happen to see he sat around on the free agent market for two weeks (not taking bids by the way) and signed with the Eagles for one year, 5 million?

If Minnesota wanted him back they could’ve made that work.

Regardless, if Hunter comes back and Barr is healthy, pressure on the quarterback should increase. Stopping the run should improve with Tomlinson signed away from the Giants and Pierce coming back from the COVID reserve list.

Best of all, with guys in the secondary now that at least have some sort of clue as to what is going on, Harrison Smith will be free to roam again in 2021.

Last year he spent way too much time worrying about getting guys lined up in the right place, teaching the young guys the team defensive philosophies, and playing back on his heels worried about others in the secondary getting burned.

He’s at his best when he plays that hybrid position and floats around using his natural instincts.

He’s a 2nd coach on the field who needs the freedom to see what is happening at the line up scrimmage, read his keys, and adjust on the fly to make plays, knowing he’s free to do so because he’s covered on the back end.

He wasn’t able to do much of that last year.

Great signings.

No idea what Minnesota will do with the 14th pick in the draft. I would like them to pick the best player available regardless of the position.

But I’m sure they’ll be a severely negative outcry from other Vikings fans if they don’t select an offensive lineman.

As for free agency, Minnesota has clearly addressed the defensive side of the ball.