As Free Agency's 2nd Wave Begins, Where Do Vikings Stand?
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The first wave of free agency, with all of its splashy signings and surprise cuts, is over, and teams are now navigating the second wave.
At a Wednesday morning press conference, Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said the team will "continue to be selective and patient" in this next phase.
"We feel great about the guys we have," he said. "We're excited about the players we brought in."
Still, Adofo-Mensah admitted he has "a lot of hungry people in personnel" eager to make moves.
"If the value meets the player meets all those things, we will strike, and if it doesn't, we won't," he said.
Adofo-Mensah also provided insight into some of the team's moves so far, as well as some players fans may have questions about.
DANIELLE HUNTER
"We feel great where we are with Danielle. Obviously that roster bonus was a call to come to the table and get in conversation and dialogue, and we had great conversation with Danielle, his representation Zeke, all the members of this organization, and I can say we're all in a great place."
"He's a really great player, and so you don't just move on from great players very easily. He's somebody that's been in this league for a while, produced at a really high level. Great person ... He's somebody we're excited to have back in the fold and every option's on the table for him. Again, he's a great player so he's somebody that you always want to consider bringing back under contract."
KIRK COUSINS
"When I got to this building, and when I thought about team-building with Kevin [O'Connell], it was really just about, we have a really good player ... We just talked about forming a partnership together and just seeing how high we can take this thing together."
"Getting him in the fold, getting him to buy in. I think that was really, it was a win-win solution, again. He gave up things, we -- to make this partnership work, and we're excited to have him."
ZA'DARIUS SMITH
"Great player, great person, great energy."
"We knew if we got him in this building, we knew it would be a fit."
"Fully passed our physical. Everything looks great ... We're not worried about his health, and we're excited to have him."
ANTHONY BARR
"That's going to be a tougher situation to navigate. Never say never. Obviously there are things, salary cap-related with acceleration and things like that that made kind of a challenging deal ... Those decisions are tough. Ultimately it's my job, Kevin's job, Rob's job, everybody in this organization to make smart decisions, but there is an emotional side of things, there is a relationship element to this business. Those decisions can be tough, but ultimately they just have to be made."
PATRICK PETERSON
"Pat P's a great person, a great player in this league for a long time .. You want to make sure that you respect a player of his caliber, his expertise in this league, but also the reality of the situation we're in from a salary cap standpoint. So again, those conversations are ongoing and we're trying to work those problems as we can."
