The Minnesota Vikings get consecutive games in Europe for 2025 season

The Minnesota Vikings get consecutive games in Europe for 2025 season

Purple Daily is daily Vikings entertainment. We just want the Vikings to win a Super Bowl before we die. I will ride with this group. Seriously, man. Please. And away we go. Latest Vikings news. Ah, you’ve stumbled into a latest Vikings news edition of Purple Daily here. And we wake up to some Viking schedule news. So the the full order of the opponents doesn’t come out until prime time tomorrow, but the NFL loves to sprinkle little little morsels. And so we we can already piece together at least a significant chunk of the the first half of the Viking schedule, so we’ll we’ll do that. Uh Roku TV is powering latest Vikings news here today. Anybody got any Vikings news? We sure do, Jud. Roku TV has uh all sorts of things beyond just news. They’ve got sports. They’ve got entertainment because they’ve got all of your favorite apps for you to decompress with your family, your loved ones after maybe a long day at work, whatever it may be. The Roku TV in the Mackie living room, that 65in glorious Roku Pro Series TV is what uh brings us all together. Uh we were we were binging shows over the weekend. We were watching playoffs last night late into the night. Uh, and Roku can help if you’re a sports fan. They’ve got the sport zone where you can favorite your favorite teams and it’ll show you a like what platforms those teams are playing on because it can be kind of confusing in 2025 and it’ll give you adjacent programming options. Roku.com to learn more or shop at a retailer near you. Latest Vikings news. Yes, breaking news this morning. So, the NFL announced the international games. So, they they they they’re definitely pushing out the walls and they are feeling out what is possible. It started off all those years ago. Let’s try a game in London, maybe two, make maybe make it three. So, now we have we have games in we have a game in Brazil in week one. Uh Chargers and Chiefs, Vikings and Steelers Ireland week four official. Vikings become the first team to play back-to-back international games in separate countries, not including the United States. Week five, Browns vikings. And then there’s a couple other London games involving uh like Jets, Broncos, Jaguars, Rams. We’ve got a Germany game, week 10, the Germans, the Colts, and the Falcons. And then there’s a there’s a Spain game, a Madrid game between the Dolphins and the Commanders. So, the NFL uh definitely continuing to expand their footprint across the world here. But let’s just start there. Your thoughts on week four Vikings in Ireland. It’s it’s a road game converted to a neutral sight game which really is kind of a home game because Vikings fans are prominent in that part of the uh the world as we found here on Purple Daily. And then Browns Vikings in week five. It’s interesting. I uh I don’t mind it. It’s a long It’s a long flight to Dublin, but since they’re going to stay there, as we talked about on Purple Daily yesterday, it’s a relatively short flight or travel uh to play in Tottenham Hotsour Stadium for like the third time in the past four years. It’s become damn near a Vikings home stadium. But the the Pittsburgh game is going to be intriguing in Ireland because there’s a ton of Steelers fans, too. Like that’s going to be electric. Dare I say the Browns game might not not be electric. Um, but yeah, I mean the overall conversation here is what you said, Phil. This league is trying to figure out how to eventually like have a team in London. It’s trying to figure out logistics. And so the Vikings are somewhat of a g guinea pig here being the first team ever to have international games in two different countries in two weeks. I don’t think it’s going to stop there. And I do think it’s a testament to how much respect that the league has for the Vikings and their fan base. But if you’re in the Vikings, the question is, is it worth flying seven hours to get out of having not one but two road games? So now you go from eight home games and nine road games in hostile stadiums perhaps to eight home games, seven games in hostile stadiums and then two neutral sight games. I think if you’re the Vikings, you probably take it. This is it’s a massive advantage, right? Totally. because the Steelers and the Browns go from sleeping in their own beds to also having to travel and go across an ocean. So, you you get you get that built-in uh inconvenience. Also, Kevin Seaffort noted, not that this like really matters because it’s different rosters and stuff, but the Vikings have actually never won a game at Hines Field. Yeah, that is 20 years old. Yeah, they’ve not played a bunch of games there. I covered the 2010 game uh or 2009 game that they lost, which was their first loss of that season and they haven’t played in Cleveland now since the 2009 season opener. Okay. When Peterson trucked that poor Browns uh I don’t know what I think it was a secondary guy, but that’s the last time. Yeah. Not not going to be on the field anymore. But yeah, this gives them and and on the Cleveland game too, here’s the advantage there. So you spend a week in Dublin practicing and then you take a relatively short flight to London. Cleveland has to come from here. So the Vikings by then internal clockwise, right? Get adjusted. Time difference not huge at that point. Cleveland doesn’t get that. So once you get past the initial flight and I don’t know that players care where where they play like I think once your infrastructure now it’s a pain in the ass for the equipment guys and all that training staff probably but as far as the players go yeah once you get past that that flight and you spend two weeks in one place or essentially one place I think that’s definitely an advantage if nothing else for the Browns game. Yeah, I mean it the fact they don’t have to travel to and look Cleveland’s not like too far away. Pittsburgh close or closer to the uh on on the Atlantic side, but I think this is great. I you get you get you get it was just like two years ago when they won the or three years ago when they won the 13 games, right? They they were able to still get the extra home game. They didn’t have to travel as much. They I I am I’m all for this because I I I would rather have this happen than have to go on the road and and take two different flights. I know you’re stuck in Europe for 10 days, but get acclimated and then even though they’ll likely have the early buy, which I know we talked about yesterday, which is kind of problematic. Um I think if you are able to have your schedule line up like this, I would take, you know, that week six, seven by then have to do what they’re going to do uh in the reverse fashion. Yeah, it’s almost certainly going to be a week six buy because I doubt that they would have you stay over there in Europe for two weeks and then um now you you get the Yeah, almost certainly week six unless the Vikings go to the league and say like they didn’t they do this a couple years ago they said no we don’t want game yeah we don’t want that early buy uh but the league will probably give them the week six buy. So, I guess as you’re piecing together the first six weeks, they’re very unlikely to get three consecutive home games weeks one, two, and three. So, my guess is of those first three weeks, you’re going to get two home games. So, it’d be like, let’s say, now there’s been some speculation that they would travel to Detroit in week one. I’ve seen that out there. So, let’s say it’s a road game week one against Detroit. Then, you probably come home weeks two and three. We’ll know all this in 36 hours. Uh but that would but if you have a week six buy, it would mean that you’re going to have only two home games before week seven. So you’re going to have to kind of but you’re you’re flipping a couple road games to neutral sight games, right? And the game wonky that way. And the Cleveland game at least will probably feel like a home game. It’s I I think it’s more the um I think it’s more the scattered travel at first that that’s going to be a challenge there. But uh yeah, so the rumor I believe is that the Vikings might open in a prime time window against Detroit in week one as a rematch of the debacle to end last uh regular season. Yeah. And then you would have to imagine play backtoback home games. I don’t think that they’re going to make them travel that much within a four or five week span. So, it’s going to be a tough opening, but this is also what happens when you have a good team. Is there a Is there a world is there a world where they get the week six buy and then they come back in week seven and play a Thursday night game? Uh, no. They would they would never give you a Thursday night game after a buy. No, no, no. I’m not saying for they wouldn’t though. I think that’s happened before. So they they come off the buy like you get 10 days off and then you get the Thursday night game. Uh it’s the other way around where you get a you get a Thursday night game and then you get a pseudo buy. Unless I’m wrong. Like is there an instance, Jud, that you can think of where you play a game in week five, you get a buy in week six and then your by week is your buy two weeks are cut short with a Thursday game the week after. I don’t think so, but I would have to look. And then you get a pseudo buy after mentally right now. That would be that would be a really bad beat by the schedule. But you could protest that like like you see the schedule. So, but I’m guessing that they’ll get a buy and then I’m get so I think what’s going to what logically should happen is they’ll get a buy in week six. Week seven home game because you’re going to have to get home like that. That’s the thing. The one thing if you’re the Vikings that I think through this first portion of the schedule you’re going to be incredibly cognizant of is the lack of being home. Well, like not just home games, but literally being home. Yeah. So, like for your for your rest and recovery, very important now, right? My guess is that you are going to say, “Okay, give us the buy. Give us a a home game because then it’s essentially a solid two week period where where you do get to stay home.” Yeah. you cannot and which would also mean on the front end you’re you’re likely to get a home game in week three or I guess yeah week three because four and five are the the European games. Yeah. So two and three. So if the Detroit thing is true and they’re going to open to Ford Field then you’re likely to get home games in weeks two and three. Go to Europe for for uh four and five. Get your buy and then my guess is then and stay home then in what would be what week seven or eight at that point? Yep. Week seven. Uh, okay. Jonathan Grenard has commented on Instagram here. He’s not very happy about this. Uhoh. All this is all just hot off the presses here, boys. Uhoh. So much Vikings news. Yeah. So, he’s reacting to some account called Football Forever. Okay. That posted breaking the Vikings are the first team ever to play back-to-back international games in different countries facing the Steelers in the first ever regular season NFL game in Dublin. blah blah blah blah. And Jonathan Gernard comments SMH. Shake my head. So, he doesn’t love this. I feel like someone needs to explain. Jonathan, you’re taking what would be two road games, converting them to neutral sight games, and you’re actually kind of reducing a travel week. Because what they’re going to do is they’re going to post up, right, somewhere pretty close by between Dublin and London, right? We’ll just go a quick quick shot over. Yeah, I don’t know. It’s like going from Chicago or something. I’d have we have to map out the flight, but it’s not that far. And you get to hang out now. Yeah. Okay. You’re in a different country for like 10 days. But um I think once you explain the logistics of this and even so maybe guys are like, I don’t care. I want to go home for a couple days and then this does Yeah. hang out with my family or whatever and then travel. But my guess is the Vikings in the NFL are going to be really accommodating and allowing families to travel over there like they always do. Uh the accommodations will be will be fivear. And let’s you know you know let’s be clear here too and Grant fantastic player. Everybody loves him but once the season starts the grind starts like this isn’t about your comfort. Th this is not about a fair schedule that gets you home or something like once once training camp starts it starts. So like adversity your family doesn’t exist starting on July 27th. Sorry guys. I got bad news for you John and you know you’re a hell of a player but I got some bad news. There’s a chance you’re getting Thanksgiving somewhere else. I you know Dallas for instance. I’m just I’m just saying that from a human perspective, this league does not care about that. Jud actually already had this conversation with Dawn. So, he’s just replacing Jonathan with Dawn of like, Don, training camp, and we got games and holidays. We are we’re ready to go. I always told you guys my story. 2003, first year on the Packer, and Don’s like, “Well, you you’ll be home for Christmas, right?” Like, I mean, they don’t play on Yeah, they do. And they play on Thanksgiving. I said, “This league does not care about your calendar. They’re going to put a Fourth of July game on the schedule when you least expect. They look at a holiday and they see opportunities. They don’t see church. They don’t see family time. They see opportunities to schedule about three games, which is what they now do on Christmas. One last thing on the schedule thing and then we’ll get to some other Vikings news. How do you guys feel? They they’re definitely headed toward a division or a probably a team first in London. There’s been very little talk about what the next expansion city would be. It’s been it’s been a minute. When the last time we expanded was Houston back in like that was like 20 over 20 years ago. Mhm. So the the NFL is due to to add a couple teams. We’ve had teams relocate like the Raiders. Um, I think they’re eyeing London for a team or maybe maybe they do two teams so that there’s those teams can kind of play against each other in a division or something and and it reduces the travel. But if they’re aiming for a team and let’s say London, are you guys pro or anti-NFL expending expanding to London? I think what they’re doing so yes, I agree with that. There there has been protests about well you know what free agent is going to sign to play in London and go there and practice and the time difference blah blah blah. I think we’re looking at this too a little bit too narrow though gentlemen because here’s what I think I think they are aiming for eventually a European division. Well they would Do you think they would start with a team or a or would they go all in? I think they would start with a team. I think they would start with a team, but like we’re protesting it as well, you gotta then come back to the States and play games and it’s going to be or or your team has to go to London. That might be the case at first, but I think that this is all a grand plan because I mean, you’re playing games everywhere now, which by the way is smart, but I think the grand plan here is like to start with a team in London, but eventually then continue to expand out Germany possibly. I mean, hell, they’re playing a game in Dublin. So, I think this is going the snowball’s going and we can be like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, air, you know, air travel, which by the way will probably improve as well. So, yeah, I I’m with you. I think that they’re going to London first, but I I don’t think that they’re going to come close to stopping there. I think that they they see this as a global game, and quite frankly, the race is on because the NBA sort of sees the same thing. So if there was a London team or a team in Europe in general, like would it be two weeks home, two weeks on the road, right? Like how you couldn’t be doing backtoback like you couldn’t be doing every other game. The flight just from New York to San Francisco is is 6 and a half hours. It’s like coast to coast there. Like when the Giants played the Niners, it’s a six-hour flight. Mhm. So, if you’re going to have a Europe team, I’m going to guess like it’s two if not would they do three, but then is that a competitive advantage for the London team when they’re home? I don’t know. It’s very You would what a lot of like what the West Coast teams do going east and vice versa, they’ll stay if you have a back-to-back, let’s say you’re playing the Raiders and the Seahawks or something, whatever, backto-back weeks on the road, a lot of teams will just stay out there. So, I think this is but this is why it’s interesting that the Vikings are the guinea pig because they are okay. Let’s let’s simulate this. This is a Midwest team going out to play the Steelers and the Browns, but imagine if it was a Tottenham team or a Dublin team. My other question would be, can you create a division? How would that work? Because right now there’s an even number of divisions. Wouldn’t you have to almost create Well, we’re trying to conclude two divisions. We’re We’re like ants. We’re very small here trying to figure out how the National Football League works. And they’re like, “Hold on a second here. We’ve got that plan.” It’s right in in Goodell’s uh right-hand drawer. Don’t worry. But you would need But you would need like I know that we’re all just idiots here trying to figure this out and they’ve been thinking about this, but you you can’t have an odd number of divisions, can you? Do math. You would probably have to redo things. I like but but I’m just I’m just saying I don’t think it’s going to stop with one team in London. The other thing that that I think is plausible is this too. You could alter your schedule so that the London team because if the London team is playing more East Coast games I I think the flight becomes because like London to Los Angeles would is a huge flight. Is it a shorter flight? It’s a shorter flight between London and like New Jersey. Yeah, it’s not that bad than it is from New Jersey to LA, right? And you could also, to Declan’s point, also then have the London team play two or three games away from home, just stay here and practice. I just like we’re trying to logistically figure out how the league does things right now and the league is like, “That’s not how we’re going to do that.” And we don’t see that. So, you don’t you don’t think they’re having the same exact conversation right now or they’re like, “What if like I think they’ve had it.” Could someone Google the distance between London and I think what if there’s an odd number of divisions? Bob, can that can we do that? I have been googling flights from like San Francisco to New York, New York to London, London to New York doing the last five minutes. What’s JFK to like London? London to New York is a 7 hour 55minut flight. So, almost an 8 hour flight. But that’s against the jetream. That’s against the jetreams. But a New York to London flight time is 7 hours 15 minutes. So about there you go. A little shorter. A little shorter there. What about New York and LA? New York to Los Angeles. It’s going to be four hours is no way. New York to Los Angeles is 6 hours and 10 minutes, man. That’s a long It’s four hours of San Diego from So it’s just as bad right now. So what are you talking about? It’s the It’s Well, the problem is the London to Los Angeles stuff, which obviously that wouldn’t happen very often. But anyways, I don’t know. I think we just solved it all. They should hire. Long story short, 11 hours. God, more Vikings news. JJ McCarthy is going international. He is. Yes. The flow, the hair, the meditation. Speaking of JJ McCarthy, so Rich Eisen had Kevin O’Connell on the show. It was yesterday. friend of the show, Rich and Rich and KC. Those guys are tight. Yeah, he’s on a lot. And they’re tight enough to where Eizen feels comfortable just badgering KOC and and he asked him a few questions about JJ McCarthy, you know, what’s what’s going on there? Is he is he your starter? What’s happening? And eventually Kevin Oonnell clapped back a little bit and said, quote, “I know everyone is wildly concerned about these practice reps against air because that’s all they’re doing right now is just they can’t play against the actual defense. Let me put you at peace. McCarthy is taking plenty of snaps from Ryan Kelly, who happens to be a 10-year starting offensive center in the NFL.” Mhm. So that’s that’s as far as he will go right now. Mhm. He will he will not tell Rich Eisen or anyone JJ McCarthy has been anointed. He has been crowned a QB1. Ordinarily, I uh I believe I side with our brethren in the media on stuff like this, but I am totally siding with Okonnell. Do he’s not going to nor do they usually tell you this. Like what I don’t understand what are we doing here? He’s JJ McCarthy is the starter unless he gets hurt or is ungodly bad in which case in training camp Sam Howell or Brett Ripen will take the first team reps which I don’t expect. But why are we what’s the fixation here on making him name McCarthy the starter in May or on the flip side with trying to get Kevin to say here’s why we haven’t named him quarterback one because there’s some sort of slight or deficiency but this all to KOC’s point this all just plays out there’s nobody on the roster that they are Harrison Smith everybody we’re going to hold a ceremony once again he is the number one safety on the roster. No, they put together practice plans and they just like last year, they put together the here’s the roster. Here’s the practice plan. Uh Sam, you’re going to work with the ones here. JJ, you’re going to work with the twos. Once in a while, JJ will mix in with the ones. And then once they have to submit an official depth chart going into week one or whatever it is, or the is it the first or second preseason game, they have like the unofficial depth chart. Yeah, it’s the first preseason game. So, yeah, like he’s practicing with the ones. But has there been I’m trying to think here how many coaches have come out with a firstear starter and like definitively in May said there is no competition. There is nothing that can stop him. Not even even Jaden Daniels like looks like he’s probably going to be the starter. But I don’t think coaches say that though. Like I just don’t think it’s I don’t think it’s their it’s in our it’s in our thought process. Oh, who’s the starter? Just name him. But I don’t think coaches come out and say that. And quite frankly, like, can we not read between the lines enough? Like, if if you’re going to push Oonnell on things, which I totally get at times, I’ve done it myself. But if you’re going to push him on things, are you really going to push him on something that you can see as so as clear as as day? Now, if they brought in Aaron Rogers, right, then you got something. Then it’s like, Aaron starting, huh? But I just I feel like we’re beating a completely dead horse here because McCarthy is going to start unless something happens. Yeah, it is the it is quite frankly the most exhausting, dumbest thing to worry about and we are officially going to move on from it right now. I love Vikings news. Yes, we do too, Jud. Uh Alec Lewis, one more note regarding JJ McCarthy here. Our guy Alec Lewis from the Athletic. highlighted this morning in a column some of the notable rookie quarterback performances like the the team record. These are on the high end over the last 20 years or so. Now, obviously McCarthy is not officially a rookie, but he’s a first year starter, so we’re kind of bending the rules a little bit here. uh Ben Rothosberger as a rookie starter in 2004. The Steelers were 13-0 with him at the helm. 17 touchdowns, 11 interceptions. You may remember Dak Prescott as a fourthround pick taking over for was it collarbone or something for Tony Romo. And uh in 2016, the Cowboys went 13 and3 with firstear starter Dak Prescott, who threw for 3600 yards, 23 touchdowns, four interceptions. Um Andrew Luck. Now, Andrew Luck was regarded as a generational talent. McCarthy regarded as a really good solid talent. We’ll see what happens, right? But he came in 2012 Colts, 11-5, 4,370 passing yards, 23 touchdowns. He actually had a bunch of interceptions, 18 interceptions. Uh, and that like Matt Ryan in 2008, Falcons went 11 and five, 3,400 yards, 16 touchdowns, 11 interceptions. Not a lot of guys, there’s no 30 touchdown seasons in here, and there’s only one 4,000yard passing season. Now, he’s not counting Mahomes, for instance, who was I think he got one start as a rookie or came in. Yeah. So, some of this is semantics, but there’s the the the point here is, and you can check out the full list athletic.com/vikings, Alec Lewis, there’s a lot of high-end winning seasons, 11, 13 wins with firstear starting quarterbacks who were maybe a little bit limited, but had great infrastructure. No love for Kyle Orton on that list. Who? He is on this list. Yeah. 10 and 10 and five season for Kyle Orton. QB wins, nine touchdowns, 13 picks. Uh yeah, I mean this is where if you’re insulated with a good structure like I think we’re number one we I get the Vikings fans and even I think us probably getting sick of the whole is he QB1 and also what is he what’s he going to look like? What’s the stat line going to look like? And I do think there is a probably discussion of we should set a realistic expectation bar for yards or touchdowns probably on a future episode for JJ McCarthy. Uh but there is plenty of examples of guys even like I know M. Jones is now a backup but like M. Jones led his team to the playoffs his first year with and towards the end of the Bichc era. Jaden Daniels was obviously amazing last year. So there’s plenty of examples of guys stepping in. Um now a lot of those teams were obviously really bad the year before. It’s not the case with the Vikings. Like all the guys that are on this list were one or two or top five overall picks, right, for the most part. So, right, the fact the Vikings are have have a supporting cast that is not that they’re coming off a great season, I think is good news for McCarthy. Rothlessberger is probably the closest example. There might be another one on here, too, where the Steelers were like pretty darn good for and he was insulated very well. Yes. And and he comes in. Didn’t he take Did he take over for Tommy Maddox? Didn’t Maddox start that season? Pretty sure. Uh but they had a defense. They had Bill Cower. Yeah. And they were they were one of the better teams in the AFC. Um and I don’t even remember because did they trade up? Because I thought Ben was like a fringe top 10 pick, but uh you know that’s great infrastructure and he didn’t have to do a whole lot. later in his career, he became a guy that was putting up big-time numbers and kind of carrying right the offense. So, there’s an interesting uh discussion here, though, and it’s when it comes to the Vikings, it’s this. We do probably need to set realistic and obtainable expectations for McCarthy, but the flip side is the expectations internally and externally for the 2025 Vikings are skyhigh. like like I understand it’s you don’t need to and this roster is built so that all of those expectations certainly don’t get dumped on a first year starting quarterback but make no mistake when training camp opens the expectations in my opinion from Vikings fans and the Vikings I don’t care about the national pundits but I think the expectations are very very high and McCarthy is at least going to get somewhat caught up in that but when you have done what this team did. When you go out and get a a free agency class and spend the type of dollars that the Vikings spend, it’s veteran players. It’s not like, hey, try to do as good as you can and in 25 and in 26 are we going to show them? So, it does create a really interesting um discussion, I think, because yeah, if you say, well, JJ McCarthy has to lead this team. He’s got to throw, you know, blank amount of yards and blank amount of touchdowns. you’re probably setting yourself up to be disappointed. But I also think that we can have a very realistic conversation about I don’t think it’s out out of bounds at all on the opening day of training camp to say that this is the year that with this roster Kevin Oonnell probably should get his first playoff win. Yeah. I mean, hey, Kay Adams went on uh the internet yesterday and said Vikings win in the Super Bowl. Did she? She loves McCarthy. I know McCarthy about McCarthy. Yeah. And then she was fighting with people on Twitter throughout the day that disagreed with her take. I K Adams, it’s going after people. So, a couple other nuggets here for Vikings news and then we will get to our weekly hot Vikings take. But, uh, last Monday we had former head trainer, Vikings Eagles, two and a half, three decades in the NFL, Eric Sugarman on the podcast. He told some stories, gave his thoughts on some injuries. Uh, and he’s running a company now called Neos Elite Performance. Jud. Yep. In indeed. And if you are an ex athlete, let’s say you loved golf at one time, basketball, I don’t don’t know. But you know what? If you’re now in pain and you can’t participate in this sports, have I got the answer for you. Neosites cutting edge regenerative medicine and cellular IV therapy is designed to get you going again. And here’s the best part. Without invasive procedure, it’s also white glove service. That means they are going to come to you. No trip to the doctors or the hospital. Neos comes to you and Neos helps stop that pain. They’re elite therapies designed to reduce the pain, restore function, and get you back to doing what you you love. In other words, get back on the basketball court, get back on the golf course. Uh if you reference our show, Purple Daily, you’re going to get $500 off a cellular IV therapy treatment and find out just how well this works. No downtime, no surgery, just results. Neosite.com, neosite.com. a lot of cutting edge things to help you get back on your feet and back on the field. Yeah, a black stack beer might not help you get back on the maybe it will help you get back on the field just in a very different different way. uh world-renowned craft beer that you can find inside uh most liquor stores around Minnesota from the South Edge, Rochester all the way up to Grammaray of course in the Twin Cities and now expanded distribution into Wisconsin, Nebraska and South Dakota. Some of the best beer you’re going to find. Black Stack at Tap Room, the second largest tap room in the state of Minnesota that we had a couple months ago, a great Purple Daily Unplugged event at uh they if you if you’re not as into beer, you go to the Tap Room. You can also get hard seltzer cocktails, boozy slushies, uh Rick beer that they brew themselves as well. Blackstackbrewing.com to find out what they are up to. And a shout out to Federated Insurance. If you’re a business owner out there, whether you’re in the state of Minnesota or whether you are in any of the other 49 states, Federated’s been around for over 120 years, helping businesses stay focused on safety and preventing claims. They’re all about helping your business grow through risk management. It’s like having a great offensive line, protecting your business. And you can find out more about the industries they specialize in and the work that they do at federated insurance.com where it’s our business to protect yours. I love Vikings news. Okay. The Purple Daily Anonymous tip line was very aggressive with the Asante Samuel Jr. scheme throughout March and early April. And Jeremy Fowler has an update on the 25-year-old talented quarterback who’s run into some major injury issues. He only played a handful of games last year for the Chargers and he had like long-term stinger symptoms, some neck and shoulder stuff. That has been a big question. Yep. And Jeremy Fowler from ESPN says, “Asant Samuel Jr., one of the top free agent cornerbacks in this year’s free agent class. Free agency uh twice there. My doing, not Jeremy’s. He’s a great journalist. Just I mean, we all make mistakes, Phil. I mean, waiting to sign with a new team after undergoing neck surgery in April, according to sources. Samuel, who visited the Saints on Monday, has a checkup in early July, after which he will reconvene with several interested teams. He plans to return to the field for the 2025 season. So, he had a surgery, he has a checkup in July, and so this is going to be something that kind of runs into training camp, but uh Asante Samuel Jr. is still sitting out there and that gives some clarification on just where he’s at with that injury. and and we do know for sure that he’s at the Florida clubs. So if he’s at the Florida clubs rocking a Vikings hat, it was a Vikings uh neck brace. Actually, a do poor guy. I wonder if they uh I wonder if the July appointment becomes like the tipping point because like if it’s stingers and neck problems, that’s in football terms that’s bad. Like that’s a tough thing. But if he comes out clean, like again, could he be around where the Vikings say, you know what, we could definitely use some more depth here, sign a guy like that. I’m just trying to think, you know, Stefon Gilmore, Shaq Griffin’s still out there. So, there are definitely options. There are definitely guys who because we’re through the second wave now. Like, if you’re out there, are we third wave now? Is there a third wave or is is the third wave just the waiting wave where you just sort of hang on your couch, you go Well, how do we know that the second wave is over? When did the second wave end? I feel like the second wave ends around the draft. Okay. I feel like if you haven’t been signed yet, you are no long you’re not a first wave. You’re not even a second wave. I feel like that. I mean, correct me if you guys kind of shattered. I feel like there I feel like there’s a third wave, I guess, is my push back cuz I mean it’s just sporadic now. guys who are still left like it’s just a group here and there and they’re scattered out but they’re certainly not going to break the bank. And I always too the third wave always gets me curious because a lot of times it’s veteran guys who have no interest in coming to your OTAAS or your mini camp. Yeah. And you know what? If you’re a quarterback, I think you can make that. There’s certain positions. If you’re if you’re a quarterback, unless you really know the system, like like Brett Favre at 39, he he spoke the same system language that Brad Childers had. All right, you show up three weeks before the season, we can make it work. Aaron Rodgers, all right, whatever. We’ll figure it out. Right. If you’re if you’re a depth quarterback. Now, the Flores system’s a little more complicated. So that’s where I would probably the Shaq Griffin thing though like cuz he knows the language. Step right back in. Yeah. Rest. Is Gilmore Gilmore I mean Gilmore is older. He’s like 35, right? So is he he was threatening to retire, but that might have been so that that you didn’t call him and request that that he come to OTAAS. Don’t plan on me. Let’s talk in early July. Exactly. I really like I really like to be around the locker room and game day, but I hate practices and there’s nothing worse than offseason practices when I can be on a boat. That’s how I interpret the existence of Stefon Gilmore right now. Yeah. Okay. So, there’s your uh I guess that that’s your Purple Daily Anonymous tipline update and your Asante Samuel Jr. update kind of all in one there. More Vikings news. And then one more thing we’re gonna We’re going to put some things in latest Vikings news that are just interesting to us too that like little stats or trends or things as we as we dig into the 2025 Vikings and digest the moves that they’ve made. And uh one thing that we were talking about on our text or email thread recently was that the Vikings offensively, their their passcatching unit was tied for 27th in the NFL in yards after the catch per reception. So the Vikings were at 4.9 yards after the catch per catch, which was, like I said, 27th. The top teams in the NFL in that category are like a yard and a half or two yards better per reception. The Lions, the Bills, those teams were six and a half, close to seven yards after the catch per catch. Ravens, Packers, Bucks, all those teams were over six yards after the catch. So, they were at least a yard or two better than the Vikings. Now, some of this, there’s so many factors, right? There’s scheme, there’s depth of throw. If your scheme has a lot of crossing routes underneath, like the Lions for instance, that and you have an accurate quarterback that knows where to place the football, uh, yeah, you’re going to get more yards after the catch. If you’re hunting down the field and you’re throwing 15 yard passes to a tight end up the seam, probably not going to get as much yards after the catch, but maybe your air yards a little bit bigger. So, there’s a lot of factors here, but the Tai Felton draft pick is interesting and that he was a he was kind of a short airs receiver who used his 4.38 40 yard dash speed to uh create opportunities. So, any thoughts on the Vikings being near the bottom of the NFL in yak and how they may go about fixing it into next year? I think the Felton one is I think Felton was drafted um in particular with the thought that he could help this out. And let’s talk some football here. Okay, let’s let’s break this down. Sure. Football. I don’t know that the Vikings have and this is not to say that Jefferson and Addison are incapable of Yak. We’ve seen them get it. Okay, but bear with me here. I don’t know the Vikings have a receiver like Felton currently who can put his foot in the ground after like a let’s say eight yard catch and explode. You know, they’ve got guys with great hands. I don’t know that that is that I would not call that Jefferson’s forte. I mean, he’s a marvelous player. He’s a wonderful route runner. He is. And he’s got phenomenal hands and he is one of, if not the best in the game at what he does. But, you know, and and this is certainly not Jaylen Naylor who’s incredibly fast, but I don’t know he puts his foot in the ground and explodes. That that’s a different skill set. So, I think Felton I think there’s an eye towards the fact that Felton can do do that. And dare I say that that makes him a little bit in some ways almost a hybrid running back receiver cuz like I think of that and I think of a running back who you know catches a short pass screen pass or something and just takes off. So I do believe that Ty Felton was drafted at least for the future with a thought process that he would give them an element of their game that they’re lacking now. and Yak’s incredibly important like like if if you can get Yak now a play that ends at the 28 you’re in the red zone something like that. So yeah, I think there is a definite eye internally towards towards improving that. And if you look too it’s not a huge difference like like it’s not like the leading Yak team gets 10 more yards or you know 15 more yards. It’s a fairly close statistic. So to make up the deficiency doesn’t exactly require having to move heaven and earth. Yeah. But it does it is when you’re talking an extra yard or two yards per catch. That’s some of that is like really important for setting up third and shorter or more advant or scoring a touchdown. And I was curious, were the Vikings better at this when they had a more precise and accurate intermediate passer in Kurt Cousins? Because Sam Darnold, Sam Darnold was great on long passes and and he hit more home run balls than any quarterback in recent Vikings history. When it came to some of the shorter intermediate stuff, uh there were some ball placement issues, accuracy issues, you know, interceptions and things like that. Yep. But what’s kind of crazy is the Vikings were actually worse in terms of yards after the catch per uh per reception. It was 4.7 in Kurt Cousins first year to in only full year in Kevin Oonnell system. So I do some of it might just be the weapons they have aren’t necessarily the the like you said stick your foot in the ground and get the extra couple yards and some of it might be scheme related. Kevin Oonnell might have to tweak his scheme. Do do you have um um statistics on a Viking success rate in a screen game? I always have that in front of me just waiting because well no here here’s my thought and th this goes back to I think Dex was the first guy to talk about this. It was like two years ago or something. But the Vikings lack of a consistent screen game to me is the is the most damaging Yak statistic cuz if you think about Yak like you get a pass screen pass, right? It’s like f five yards, okay? And you got to sort out the laundry then to explode. Like it takes putting a foot in the ground, but it also takes uh being adept enough to do that and then get out of that cluster. So, I’m just thinking if a guy like Felton can catch a screen pass and and if the one thing the Okonnell administration has taught us is if is as good as he is, the lack of consistency I think in the screen game has been the one thing where it’s like if you could get that down pat, you would be you would be really dangerous in another area that I think would give you a huge advantage. I’m going to save that one. We’ll do a deeper dive maybe next week on latest Vikings news. Should this be latest Vikings news or like I feel like this this needs a sounder and a category of its own here cuz it’s like musings or thoughts. We’ll workshop it. Yeah. Why don’t you put together Why don’t you put together this information? We need I love Vikings news. It’s like your wife says, “Honey, it’s time to eat.” And you’re like, “Honey, not right now.” Why? Hey, what’s wrong? I’m pondering some Viking statistics here. Yeah, let Why don’t you workshop some You send in some some voiceover sounders and we’ll put some Yeah. Yeah. We’ll put some stuff behind it. I just don’t know if it’s news. It feels to me like another Like It feels like we’re in the lab. What if it was tidbits? Yeah. It’s not dinner. It’s supper, right? Like I It just feels like we’re in the lab now. like like the news. We’re we’re hashing it out and it’s coming from other places. I think you you need to record something that specifies not really Vikings news, more of a Vikings tidbit, more of a Vikings anecdote. Deep thoughts, tidbits. Okay. All right. I’m working on it right now. Uh Declan this week has the hottest Vikings take presented by Standard Heating and Air Conditioning. Yeah, it’s like 90 degrees. Okay. And in fact, I I hung out with my friends from Standard yesterday. They said they had over 190 calls of people having to deal with air conditioning maintenance, man. Because the air conditioner is uh maybe on the fritz as the warm weather comes. How about this? Whether that air conditioner is obviously on the fritz, you need to get it fixed or you want to make sure that that thing’s going to be okay for the summer. You should contact Standard. You do not want to DIY your HVAC and air conditioning needs. If you’re a dummy like me, you do not want to do that type of stuff. Let the pros handle that at Standard Heating. And when you join their smart club, too, this will give you a discount on repairs. It gets you priority booking in the event something does go wrong, too. So, go to standard heating.com. Shout out to Standard Heating for powering our hottest takes. Okay, so this comes from, and I know you guys discussed it a little bit when I was gone last week, the whole Colin Coward, Vikings last in the NFC North. Now, I know he said that more of just like it’s not like they’re going to be dead last and and looking up from the standings. I think it was more of it’s a very competitive division, and he thinks the Vikings are more of the fourth place team. Well, here’s my hottest take. The Detroit Lions are by far the most likely team to finish dead last in the NFC North. That is my hottest take. Have you guys looked at the Detroit Lions road schedule this season? Not specifically yet. So they get their three teams against division until Wednesday night. Yeah, I was I Yeah, delayed gratification. I need to see it. I need to see the order of the opponents is very important. I would even say it uh it doesn’t even matter the order because their road games this year are a gauntlet. They’ll get the three teams against the North. They’ll also get at Washington against Jaden Daniels, at Philadelphia against Jaylen Herz, at Cincinnati against Joe Burrow, at Baltimore against Lamar Jackson, at Kansas City against Patrick Mahomes, at the Rams against Matthew Stafford. Wow. So, what’s what’s their hardest or what’s their easiest? Well, the Bears, I guess, would be their easiest game. What’s their second easiest road game? Is there is there is there a world? Are they playing all like the hardest teams in the league in order on the road? What’ you say, Jud? So, they’re their QB schedule is a just a gauntlet. Yeah. So, like they’re they’re going to need guys to get hurt to like like burn, but they’re also a good team themselves. They’re also good teams though. Yeah. So, like they’re they’re they’re literally playing Yes. They’re playing like probably seven of the top 10 quarterbacks in the NFL on the road. Wow. Now, they’re they’re home schedule. There’s some softies here like the Giants and Cleveland. Like those should be teams that they beat. But you’re telling me a first year defensive coordinator is going to be able to try to slow down some of the best QBs in the NFL. And I just look at that and and everyone looks at the Vikings as, oh, they’re obviously going to regress. Dude, just look at the schedule there for Detroit. Is there even a world where they win more than three road games and then that basically means they would have to win seven home games just to get to 10 wins? Dude, the the Lions have the hardest path by far this year and are easily the most likely team to regress. Forget the Vikings regressing. Even with the first year quarterback, the Detroit Lions, my hottest take, is easily the uh best choice to finish last in the NFC North. I mean, there’s a lot of there’s a lot of regressing factors going against them. You mentioned schedule, and we’ll see once it’s laid out and we get to we get to touch it. we get to we get to smell it in physical form tomorrow night. But there also the fact that you lost two of the best coordinators in the NFL. I think also the fact that you’ve had this team that’s been ready to win a Super Bowl maybe the last two years and you blow a 17-point lead in the NFC Championship game followed by an early exit last year. Yeah, you’re getting some guys healthy. Uh but that that’s just a lot to shoulder and to push that rock back up the hill. I kind of felt the same way about San Francisco a year ago where man, how many times can you get that far in the video game, get beat, have to go through the entire off season, start at level one again, go all the way up. Like, it’s hard and other teams are getting better behind them. So, it’s a spicy take, but there’s a lot of interesting factors that are coming sort of crashing down on the Lions this year. Would any team in that division finishing last absolutely shock you? Like, absolutely. like I can the Lions a little. I’m not going to lie. Even Even even with those factors. So 2025 strength of schedule. Here are the top seven teams in the entire league. Okay. The Giants actually have the hardest schedule. Their opponents have a 574 win percentage. The Bears 571 are second. They’re tied with the Lions 571. The Eagles are fourth 561. The Cowboys are fifth 557. and six and seven tied the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings at 557. Yeah. So, this division is going to be one, it’s good, but second of all, it it right now things always change. But right now, it’s a killer as far as these schedules go. It’s probably going to produce four very competitive 8 to 12 win teams. Yeah. 8 8 to 11 win teams. I would agree. I think the I think the 14- win season is probably at least right now as things stack up not going to happen for a team in that division. Yeah, because unless unless the Bears just completely slip up again or Caleb Williams is a turnover machine and the because if the Bears aren’t a guaranteed two victories, here you go again. The math jumping on the Bears. Ben Johnson seems like the greatest guy in the world to me. What makes you think he’s a great guy? I don’t know. Oh, did you see those press conferences? He’s always smiling. He’s chipper. He looks so happy. He’s a robot. Uh I do have it marked in for uh whatever we label it. We will do a I promise you we will do a screen game deep dive at some point here. Okay. I I do want to hear this. I think this is one of the most It’s Yeah, dude. This is Hey, everyone else like takes the summer off from their content. Ah, this is Purple Daily 365 days a year. Jud’s camp notes are about to fire. Purple. You’re expected to grind. Like if you don’t want to do this, do something else. Yeah, that’s right. Uh, but before you go somewhere else or do something else, click that like button and the subscribe button here on the Purple Daily YouTube channel. And if you’re listening on demand on Apple and Spotify, uh, if you could give, uh, please give us a fivestar rating and a positive review, you can help us keep growing this thing. We just want the Vikes to win a Super Bowl before we die. See you.

The Minnesota Vikings get consecutive games in Europe against the Steelers and Browns; Vikings defender Jonathan Greenard isn’t a fan of the move; Will the NFL expand in Europe; Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell spoke about JJ McCarthy as QB. 1; Plus more Vikings news; Dex’s hottes take on the NFC North and more on Purple Daily.

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