Vikings Trying To Acquire The #1 Pick From Chicago Bears?

Wobby (00:01.408) Are you tired of us yet? Hey everyone, welcome back. It's another episode of the Wobcast 2 .0, yours truly Wobby, in the middle, in the throes of free agency in the National Football League. What a fun time. My partner and co -host, Gyles is here as well. We have more things to talk to you about, so we're flipping on the recording switch and we're dropping another episode of the Wobcast 2 .0 to discuss. Hey partner, how's it going? Gyles Uhlenhopp (00:26.158) Hey, it's time to

put pen to paper today. It's Wednesday. A free agency officially opens all the legal tampering that's going to be over with. It's exciting to see some official contracts get dealt. I think I mean, obviously, yeah, the Jones News yesterday for the Minnesota Vikings drop. But other than that, it was kind of a light day for Minnesota Vikings news. But I do expect that now that free agency is officially open, you might see a little bit more of the second tier wave starting. So I do expect the Viking

s to. Wobby (00:28.544) Mm -hmm. Yes, that's right. Gyles Uhlenhopp (00:52.974) maintain their velocity here and get some more men in purple down at Eagan. So it's gonna be an exciting day, hopefully. Wobby (00:59.104) I agree. I hope so too. I hope it's a blend of re -signings like Dalton Reisner with some fresh blood. Whether it's DJ Reeder, a big name like that, or some reinforcements up front on the defensive side of the ball would be great for the Vikings. I want to talk about, and I know y

ou do too, Gyles, because we've been texting about this, and I got into a friendly neighborhood conversation last night while we're outside with the kids throwing the ball around. Gyles Uhlenhopp (01:05.166) Yep. Wobby (01:28.992) And so let's just get right to it. The Vikings and their plans for the quarterback position and how it could involve a division rival, the Chicago Bears. Gyles we have been tossing around the idea that is sensational at face value, but when you think about it and dig d

eeper, it's actually semi or fully plausible. Could the Vikings trade with the Chicago Bears? to have the draft's first overall pick this year. Now we've looked at this, we have assessed what we think the price tag for such a move would be and who the Vikings would end up grabbing and I know it sounds like unrealistic but the more we talked about it, guys, we actually think it's a feasible possibility that this could happen for the Vikings to move all the way up from 11 to one and obviously take

a quarterback. Gyles Uhlenhopp (02:23.534) Yeah, 100%. And I think it's a really important conversation to have at this specific moment in time, because when you're evaluating what you need to go truly chase a championship in the 2024 season, obviously that factors in free agency and it factors into the draft. And right now we're in free agency and you have an opportunity to assign a few players that are going to elevate your level of play to further chase that championship. And if you feel lik

e, I can't go get DJ Reader, the other option is the draft. However, If your plan is to trade up and go get a quarterback, your draft capital to do so is diminished, right? So then that further emphasizes, we need to make an even stronger push to sign someone like DJ Reader or, you know, signing a left or right guard, right? I mean, we have a whole number of needs, excuse me, number of needs on our team. And it really factors into what are you going to do with quarterback? Cause the rest of it r

elies on that. And... I think at face value, like you were mentioning, it might've seemed completely unrealistic to go try to trade up to number one. And I think that for two reasons. One, people, I think, maybe overvalue the number one overall pick, if we're being honest. That sounds like an outlandish statement, but I think people overvalue it. And secondly, I think people think, there's no way we're gonna trade with Chicago because they're division rivals. And they think that they're gonna dr

aft Caleb Williams. However, it has become evidently clear in like the last 24 hours, but more importantly, the last couple of weeks that, Wobby (03:28.704) Mm -hmm. Gyles Uhlenhopp (03:41.166) There is not any real steam about Justin Fields. It's been far more driven by Caleb Williams. And I don't think it is absolutely confirmed that the Chicago Bears are gonna go for Caleb Williams. So if you operate with that, I think there is a chance that you could try to throw into that dance. And I did k

ind of some chicken scratch notes and I put pen to paper and I even evaluated this on some tools. And I have a trade package that I'd be willing to send over to Ryan Poles and the Chicago Bears. Do you wanna hear it? Wobby (03:44.416) Yeah. Wobby (04:07.136) All right, okay, I do want to hear it. So let's, I want to hear this and we'll talk about whether or not we would do it. Did you look at last year's trade, Carolina and Chicago and yeah, Carolina and Chicago. Okay, so last year Carolina trad

es number nine, Vikings have 11, Carolina had number nine. So the Vikings traded or the Panthers traded number nine, a second rounder that year. Gyles Uhlenhopp (04:20.334) Mm -hmm. Gyles Uhlenhopp (04:35.278) Mm -hmm. Wobby (04:36.192) a first rounder, which was this year and a second rounder this year plus DJ Moore. Okay. So that's what it costs Carolina to get up to take Bryce Young. With that in mind, Gyles, you said you plugged in some numbers and did some virtual negotiation. What did you

come up with? What's a realistic package that would get the Vikings from 11 to one? Gyles Uhlenhopp (04:41.774) Mm -hmm. Gyles Uhlenhopp (05:00.398) So I believe that you have to throw in some type of player in a trade like this. I think that's kind of a requirement, but you also want to make sure you're putting yourself in a position to go chase a championship, right? So you're trying to give away things without giving away things, right? So try to evaluate our roster and evaluate the draft cap

ital that we have. And I came up with this package. In the 2024 year, we would give up our 11th overall pick. So our first rounder. Yep. Yep. Wobby (05:05.44) I think so too. Wobby (05:15.488) Yes. Wobby (05:26.144) So you, yep, you convert 11 to one and the cost to do that is. Gyles Uhlenhopp (05:31.534) Boom. Yep. So we're going to go the 11th overall pick that would go back over to the Chicago Bears. Number 42, which would be our second round pick 108, which is our fourth round pick in the 20

24 season. We would do our first rounder next year in 2025 and our second rounder next year in 2025 plus our starting safety Cameron Bynum. Now per our conversation yesterday, when you look at the safety position, there's a chance that we could get by without him. I'd much rather go get a franchise quarterback than have an above average safety. But I think the reason this is intriguing is because it's similar to last year's, Paul for the number one overall pick. but secondly, we don't have DJ mo

re to give, right? At least I would prefer not to give Justin Jefferson. If you wanted to give Justin Jefferson plus the 11, I think that would get you up there, but I would prefer not to do that. I would much rather give a few more picks, which I included one additional pick in this plus Cameron Bynum who, is a very intriguing player because last year he had a phenomenal safety play. He had a phenomenal season and he has paid like a below average safety. So for the Chicago Bears, you're getting

great value with Cameron Bynum. You're getting a borderline elite play with safety and you're getting a whole slew of picks. So what do you make of that? So we go 11 this year, 42 this year, 108 this year, and then next year's first and second rounder plus Cameron Bynum. Would you do it? Wobby (06:52.608) To move up to number one to obviously take a quarterback, probably Caleb Williams. Yes. I would do that. Yep, I would do that. Now, you have to love Caleb Williams, right? Okay, so, and I don'

t know that I do or don't. I truly haven't really dug in to evaluate him and have this opinion of him because it's never been a Gyles Uhlenhopp (07:02.862) To be honest, I think I would too. Go ahead, yeah. Gyles Uhlenhopp (07:09.486) Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm. Wobby (07:22.944) realistic possibility that the Vikings could get Caleb Williams, right? So, I mean, I just haven't done it. I mean, I think if you talk to a hundred people who really pay attention to college football, they would probably be 75,

80, 85 of them would stack the quarterbacks in a way that would have Caleb Williams on top, right? I mean, it's about as general a consensus as you can get on a player. It's not like, you know, Gyles Uhlenhopp (07:51.15) Mm -hmm. Wobby (07:52.768) And the Andrew Luck year where it was like a hundred out of a hundred would have taken Andrew Luck first, but it's about as close as you realistically get. Right. Okay. So if my, if my people, my, my scouts were convicted about Caleb Williams being a f

ranchise quarterback, being Justin Herbert like being, I'm not going to use Patrick Mahomes, but being Josh Allen like, if that's who they think he is, I would do this in a heartbeat. Absolutely. Gyles Uhlenhopp (07:59.342) Pretty close. Wobby (08:22.496) It's not that it's not a steep price and that's why I would do it. It is a steep price. In fact, the Vikings don't have a third round pick, Gyles. So what you're doing is you're forfeiting your draft this year until pick number 129. That's your

first pick in the draft. But I mean, outside of Caleb Williams, obviously. So you get Caleb Williams and then you get nothing until basically 130. Now, plus you're giving up a first. Gyles Uhlenhopp (08:38.51) Yeah. Wobby (08:50.624) next year, right? And did you say a second next year as well? Okay, so, but if you look at it from the standpoint of the intended desired end result of that is you have Justin Herbert or Josh Allen on your team, I mean, wouldn't you do that? I mean, I would give up

my first round pick every year. Gyles Uhlenhopp (08:51.854) Mm -hmm. And a second next year. Gyles Uhlenhopp (09:07.79) Mm -hmm. Wobby (09:13.504) that I have a player like, if the cost was a first round pick every single year to have Josh Allen, I would do that. I mean, yeah, so yes, I mean, I would, and so yes, I would do this trade and you don't even have to give up Justin Jefferson. Gyles Uhlenhopp (09:21.262) Mm -hmm. Yep. It's a no -brainer. Yep. Gyles Uhlenhopp (09:32.174) Yeah, you're p

utting a rookie into an amazing scenario with offensive weapons. That is the best infrastructure to get them to thrive. And yeah, yeah. Additionally, I think there is one thing that most people aren't talking about. I mean, they're kind of talking about it, but people are dancing around it. Caleb Williams physically is a borderline godsend. There are pretty strong correlations physically, to be very clear, physically to Patrick Mahomes. Wobby (09:34.994) Yeah, I think you are. So, yes, yes, I do

it. Gyles Uhlenhopp (10:02.318) If you're looking at the physicality and the mechanics, this guy could be Patrick Mahomes physically. However, the big knock against him that people aren't really willing to say loudly out loud is that the mental side of his game is lacking. He is a more or less sensitive player. He's a slow player. There's some elements of entitlement, right? So there are some asterisks next to his name that makes him... Wobby (10:07.584) Mm -hmm. Wobby (10:11.282) Yeah. Wobby (

10:20.16) Mm -hmm. Gyles Uhlenhopp (10:28.462) a little bit of a question mark in some people's heads, if I'm being honest. I think if he was able to fix those things, he would be considered the best talent of the last 20 years, right? In terms of the draft. But with that, if you're analyzing this from a realistic perspective and you look at Ryan Poles, who is considered to be kind of an analytics negotiation guru, if you're looking at this draft and you know you're Chicago, Chicago has sometime

s of a New York. New Jersey crass type feel where it's a little bit more cold -blooded and you're trying to put a sensitive quarterback in that environment There's a chance that that could flop I mean you have drafted very high in quarterbacks quite a few times in the last 20 days or 20 years and a lot of those have failed and I'm not saying that like their culture is the number one reason that quarterbacks fail But if you're getting an extra sensitive quarterback There's a chance that that coul

d flop and if you're Ryan Poles and you pull the trigger on Caleb Williams and that flops you get fired however Wobby (11:20.224) Yeah. Gyles Uhlenhopp (11:21.198) If you trade the number one overall pick, you get all that draft capital and you you kind of believe in Justin Fields. You're now building an elite Olympic size roster around him with that amount of draft capital. I think from a numbers game, if he's not in love with Caleb Williams and what that cultural aspect has to play in his lock

er room, I think he's inclined to move off of it. However, I don't think he is looking to publicly acknowledge that until closer to the draft. He's trying to build leverage like, of course, I'm going to get a Caleb Williams. but if the price is right, I'll move off of it. If he says that he's willing to move off of it, people, then he loses leverage. So all that to say, I think he's open to it. Now on the flip side of the fence, if you look at the Minnesota Vikings, we're actually maybe one of t

he best rooms in the NFL to foster a more sensitive quarterback. I mean, love him or hate him, Kirk Cousins a little bit more on the sensitive side. And like, I mean, and we accommodated towards that. Exactly, we create comfort, 100%. So if you're looking at all the rooms for Caleb Williams to thrive in, if you can... Wobby (12:09.28) Definitely. And he was comfortable here. What? Yep. Yep. Yep. Gyles Uhlenhopp (12:18.606) tease out to that physicality and reduce the mental impact, it's the Minn

esota Vikings. I mean, call me a homer, but I really think that that would be one of the only ways to tease that out of him, build out the hard work in him, get him to speed up his mechanics, get an offensive coach that can actually truly work with him. I don't know, I'm willing to entertain this conversation. Wobby (12:23.008) Yeah. Wobby (12:38.38) man, I am too. You really laid it out well there. You went a little bit deeper and assessed the sort of the culture and the atmosphere and why this

makes sense beyond just the numbers and the terms of the trade. Here's the other thing too, as it pertains to the Chicago guiles, if this trade, so first of all, the bears have to be out on Caleb Williams or at least wishy -washy on them, right? Because if the bears feel about Caleb Williams the way the Vikings would have to feel about Caleb Williams to make this deal, then the bears shouldn't do this. They should just take Caleb Williams. But if the bears don't feel that way about him, and or

if they love fields, but more so if they just don't love Caleb Williams, they should do a trade like this. And what I would love about this for Chicago, Gyles Uhlenhopp (13:09.39) Mm -hmm. Gyles Uhlenhopp (13:19.118) Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm. Wobby (13:36.672) is it would give them pick nine, pick 11. They would still have Justin Fields and they would have an additional second and fourth round pick this year. So they have a ton of cap space and a ton of draft capital, which would allow them to move. So

let's say they love Drake May, but they didn't want to take them one or they love JJ McCarthy, but they didn't want to take them at one, but they would take them at nine. Gyles Uhlenhopp (13:43.598) Mm -hmm. Gyles Uhlenhopp (13:49.39) and a ton of cap space. Gyles Uhlenhopp (13:59.278) Mm -hmm. Gyles Uhlenhopp (14:03.502) Mm -hmm. Wobby (14:06.368) they can still get a quarterback. Even if they trade out a number one and don't get Caleb Williams, they could still get a quarterback they love, or

they could move up from nine, stay at 11, keep the Vikings pick at 11 and use that extra fourth or two fourths or that extra second or whatever and upgrade number nine to say number five with the Chargers, right? So there's just so much that Chicago could do. Gyles Uhlenhopp (14:08.558) Mm -hmm. Gyles Uhlenhopp (14:26.894) Yep. Yep. Wobby (14:33.088) from the platform of having number nine, number 11 and Justin Fields. And if they just still love Justin Fields, or you mentioned yesterday, maybe

there's someone next year that teams love and the Bears might love a guy next year who's coming out, right? They could just build around, build a roster with the picks they have this year right now, knowing that they're gonna make a move next year with all the extra picks they would have from this trade. Gyles Uhlenhopp (14:38.126) Mm -hmm. Gyles Uhlenhopp (14:47.022) Mm -hmm. Gyles Uhlenhopp (14:55.406) Mm -hmm. Wobby (15:01.152) And from the Carolina trade last year to move up next year to get

the quarterback. So I love this for the Bears if they don't love Caleb Williams. And I think that Ryan polls. I think he's got. I think he's wired to want to do things like this. You know, you mentioned he's data driven and analytical. I think he he's into this. So I think it's super cool and I don't know if you follow Barstool sports very much, but. Gyles Uhlenhopp (15:08.558) Mm -hmm. Gyles Uhlenhopp (15:16.302) Mm -hmm. Gyles Uhlenhopp (15:28.894) of course. Yeah. Wobby (15:29.504) Okay, you

do. Okay, so Dave Portnoy and Big Cat, did you see their little back and forth the way they constructed a trade? Okay, with, you know, Justin Fields for a second round pick. I kind of feel like we're, you know, we're suggesting this right now for the Bears and the Vikings. Like, I don't know, like, it's one of those things where it's like, who says no to this? Who says no? And why? I mean, it kind of makes a lot of sense, but you have to not love Caleb Williams. You have to have the Bears not l

ove him. And as long as they don't love him, Gyles Uhlenhopp (15:49.646) Yep. Yep. Gyles Uhlenhopp (15:55.47) Yeah. Yep. Wobby (15:59.456) They should do this. Gyles Uhlenhopp (16:01.198) Because if Caleb Williams goes to Chicago, if he gets drafted by Chicago, number one overall, and it doesn't work, Ryan Pohl's is fired. I he's out 100 percent. So this is the hot button. So in my opinion, unless you could flip this around, unless you love Caleb Williams, you need to be off of him. Like you nee

d to trade out of the number one overall position, if you're unless you are in love, you need to you need to move on. Wobby (16:07.776) He's out, yeah. Yeah. Wobby (16:20.178) Right. Yes. Yes. Wobby (16:27.712) Yep. And so, and so people listening to this who are insisting it's too steep a price to pay or whatever. I won't hear that. That's not, to me, no. I can't even hear that opinion. It's okay if you don't love Caleb Williams, therefore you don't want to do this because it's too steep a pric

e to pay for a player that you don't love. Gyles Uhlenhopp (16:37.23) Mm -hmm. Gyles Uhlenhopp (16:43.566) Mm -hmm. Wobby (16:53.568) But if you are in on Caleb Williams, this is not too steep a price to pay. It's a franchise quarterback. It's the most important position in all of sports. And we've seen Vikings teams stacked from a roster standpoint, but not have the answer at quarterback. And it just doesn't matter. I mean, that defense that Zim had and the magical run that they went on in 2017

, I'm not blaming it on Case Keenan by any stretch of the imagination. They went to the NFC title game, but I mean, Gyles Uhlenhopp (17:14.592) Thank you. Wobby (17:23.264) Really at the end of the day, they're trying to get there with Case Keenum, right? I mean, like you can have the best roster ever constructed. If you don't have the quarterback, it does not matter. It just doesn't matter. so if you're in on Caleb Williams, this is the type of deal I think that you should do, you know, every d

ay of the week and twice on Sunday. really fun to talk about and intriguing. And it, it's the type of conversation that happens inside of facilities, guiles. This. Gyles Uhlenhopp (17:26.638) Mm -hmm. Gyles Uhlenhopp (17:33.71) Yep. Yep. Gyles Uhlenhopp (17:44.046) Yep. Wobby (17:52.992) They talk about this. I know they do. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. And you know, I don't, I generally don't think things like this happen until really close to the draft or when the draft has started because if you're

a team in the Bears position, you know, you want the best possible offer for that pick. And you feel like if I take a deal before the start, Gyles Uhlenhopp (17:54.67) Yep. What do we do this? Yep. Gyles Uhlenhopp (18:16.366) Hmm? you Wobby (18:21.088) of the draft, I don't know if I would have if I took the best possible offer because another better one could have come in. So I get that. But if a trade is going to happen before the draft starts, it would be for the number one pick because the t

eam moving up has no worries about someone jumping ahead of them after they make the trade because you're in the top spot. So, you know, and I think something's got to happen with fields here. Something has to happen or not happen with fields very soon. Gyles Uhlenhopp (18:35.47) Yes. Gyles Uhlenhopp (18:39.63) Yep. Yep. Yep. Wobby (18:50.752) It's really kind of the biggest free agency domino yet to fall. In fact, I think it is. I don't know that you could make an argument on anything else. And

I know he's not technically a free agent, but it's the biggest sort of new league year domino to not fall yet is what's going to happen with Justin Fields. And you intimated earlier, Gyles, that the Bears may not be out on Justin Fields. Nothing official has been said by anyone in Chicago about that. And in fact, Gyles Uhlenhopp (19:05.838) Yep. Wobby (19:19.712) to the contrary, there's even been some weird steam that maybe they're actually in on him from some of the Bears brass, including the

ir new president, Kevin Warren. So I don't know if that's a sophisticated smoke screen or if that's Kevin's genuine feeling on Justin Fields, but you're right. It is not a foregone conclusion that Fields is out. This is a business and the Bears have to make a business decision. And if Gyles Uhlenhopp (19:23.726) Mm -hmm. Wobby (19:48.736) The best business decision is to hang onto fields and not trade them. That's what they're going to do. So very juicy, very juicy. Loved texting about this with

you last night and this morning. And I have a, my neighbor, Tom is a big, big NFL Vikings guy. And we were talking yesterday, Geisler, last night when kids were outside playing. Gyles Uhlenhopp (19:53.55) Mm -hmm. Wobby (20:10.048) throwing football around and had a neighborhood baseball game going on. And he's, he's, he's in line with you. He thinks that Harbaugh is out potentially on, on Herbert. Yeah. Yeah. And that he, he wants to move on McCarthy. And so there's another sort of like a poss

ibility in there for the Vikings to move up. If they couldn't get to one to get a quarterback, but they liked Drake May, or they liked, Gyles Uhlenhopp (20:14.926) On Herbert. All right. Yeah. Wobby (20:36.832) Jaden Daniels as much, they could get up to five maybe and take someone. So lots of fun, juicy things to think about, you know? Gyles Uhlenhopp (20:44.942) Yeah, 100%. And all of them are just kind of playing second fiddle to the biggest free agency thing that you haven't mentioned, Dildo

n Reisner. Yeah, he's kind of popping off on social media saying that he's worth more. And like, to be honest, I'm a big advocate of signing him. He was a great pass protector from the standpoint that he allowed zero sacks when he played for us. However, and we talked - Wobby (20:54.106) yes, and you don't love what you read yesterday on the Dalton Reisner front, do you? Yeah. Gyles Uhlenhopp (21:13.55) about this, he is a player that gets it done in a sloppy fashion. He is bad at run blocking,

which was evident, you know, once we traded Ezra Cleveland, but he's good at pass protecting from a sack perspective. He allowed some pressures, he was definitely a pressure machine, but didn't allow any sacks, right? Which could be contributed by the kind of changing quarterback play and there's a whole variety of things. However, he has now taken to social media saying, I am worth more than this, which that is a... Wobby (21:14.496) Yeah. Wobby (21:26.528) Yep. Gyles Uhlenhopp (21:41.678) a sh

ot in the air. I think that is, is revealed that him and the Vikings are not only like not getting a deal done, but they seem to be pretty far apart when it comes to a contract. So I think that is a pretty clear revelation that Dalton riser is not going to suit up in purple. Wobby (21:52.064) Yeah. Wobby (21:56.992) It seems that way to me too. Now things can change, you never know, but I think you're right. Now, I don't know that Dalton Reisner, with all due respect, is like a day one, two, thr

ee, four free agent signing. He's definitely a potential second week signing. So let's maybe pump the brakes a little bit there on the Dalton Reisner popping off on social media thing. The Vikings might be very well intended with him. They just... Gyles Uhlenhopp (22:14.062) Yep. Gyles Uhlenhopp (22:20.238) Yep. Wobby (22:24.864) have to do it at the right time and now is not the right time. Or they may be very clearly on opposite sides and the Vikings may have no intention to resign them. We do

n't know where it's at. It's certainly a need, right? So if you don't bring them back, it's a thing you have to address with a new body. I don't think they have anyone on the roster who's at a comparable ability level or certainly production level. Gyles Uhlenhopp (22:27.246) Yep. Gyles Uhlenhopp (22:42.382) Yep. Yep. Gyles Uhlenhopp (22:52.206) Mm -hmm. Wobby (22:52.512) to Dalton Reisner. So if it's not Reisner, it's someone else outside the building. So it's another headache you have to deal

with it. It'd be much easier if you like the player to resign them. But you know, we'll see what happens. I have to say before all of this started, guys, and we talked about this a little bit yesterday, I was a little more like wouldn't have been surprised if they resigned cousins would have been against it, but wouldn't have been surprised and was expecting them to resign Hunter. Gyles Uhlenhopp (23:01.23) Mm -hmm. Gyles Uhlenhopp (23:10.478) I'll get that one out. Gyles Uhlenhopp (23:18.51) Mm

-hmm. Wobby (23:19.232) They didn't do either one of those and it really allowed them to address a lot of different areas and make some exciting and good moves. So I like where the Vikings are at from a roster building and improvement standpoint. I'm concerned obviously about future at the quarterback position and that's a, you know, a significant concern. But after a couple of years of not loving what's been going on, with their decisions, I think the last few days have been very good for Minn

esota. Wobby (23:59.168) Yeah. Gyles Uhlenhopp (24:03.426) had where, you know, if all things are equal, I might move off of existing players and go for some of my guys. Cause I think he's been able to, to replicate similar performance or projected performance with lesser money, right? From the numbers that we've been able to put back in purple. So I'm really, really excited about those signings. And I think we could have easily run it back and spent a lot more with fewer players. So I think he'

s really been able to stretch the dollar and we still have cap space to go around. So. Wobby (24:13.44) Yep, yep. Wobby (24:30.4) Yeah. Gyles Uhlenhopp (24:31.682) I think there are more dominoes to fall. We still have the ability to extend or restructure Brian O 'Neill. He has an $18 million cap hit. You could save upwards of 9 million this year. If you really want to play ball, obviously the Harrison Smith contract needs to be addressed. That's a 19 or $22 million cap hit. So there's a variety

of things. To be honest, if we could trade Harrison Smith to the Bears with the number on overall pick trade, that'd be best. Cause if you trade post, yeah, exactly. If you trade post June 1st. Wobby (24:45.28) Yeah, yeah. Wobby (24:53.568) Yeah, instead of buying them. Yeah. Gyles Uhlenhopp (24:58.786) I believe there's only like a $1 million dead cap hit and the rest, it's like a $10 million cap savings. So there'd be some exciting things that could happen from there. But yeah, I know I've be

en really excited thus far and excited to see what the rest of the off season looks like. Wobby (25:02.144) Yeah. Wobby (25:11.84) Yeah, me too. And we'll be here to talk about it and we'll have more episodes of course of the Wobcast 2 .0 to do so. That's the meat and potatoes of this episode. A few really quick headlines though. And then you can react to whichever one or ones you want to. Daniel Hunter to Houston, Eric Kendricks to the Niners, Derek Henry official to Baltimore, Deontay Johnson

traded to Carolina. Those were some of the moves that caught my attention. I know there were a couple of other ones that happened since we recorded yesterday, but to me those were the bigger ones. I like what Houston is doing, Gyles. They traded for Joe Mixon. They signed to Neil Hunter. I know they lost a couple of key pieces, but they signed a linebacker from San Francisco who I really like. So I like what Houston is doing. I think that division is there for the taking. I'm not anti Trevor Law

rence in Jacksonville. In fact, I really like Doug Peterson. And I think Jacksonville is not out of it, but they don't have a stranglehold on the division, which I thought they were going to have a year ago. at this time. So I think that division is definitely there for Houston to really dominate it with the quarterback and head coach situation they have. And I like what they're doing a lot. I think Deontay Johnson going to Carolina is interesting. I was kind of like feeling bad for Adam Thielen

earlier this week, you know, because it's like, you know, now Cousins goes to Atlanta. I think it really puts Atlanta over the top in that division. You know, it's them or Tampa. It just it just mushes Carolina further down, you know. Gyles Uhlenhopp (26:10.882) Hmm. Gyles Uhlenhopp (26:29.506) Wuff. Gyles Uhlenhopp (26:39.138) Yeah. Wobby (26:39.424) feeling bad for Adam Thielen, but you know, Caroline does a good job getting Deontay Johnson and now Adam, you know, paired with Adam Thielen and

maybe they got, give Bryce Young a little bit better chance. So, it's been a very sensational, juicy, newsy free agency period, guys, I think. It's been fun to follow. Gyles Uhlenhopp (26:56.418) Yeah, a hundred percent. And I think, you know, starting with the Neil Hunter, I mean, I think it's a pretty clear best tandem, the league scenario over there in Houston. I mean, when you have Will Anderson, I mean, the defensive rookie of the year and Neil Hunter, assuming Daniel Hunter has about a tw

o year window left of productivity, which just so happens to be the timeframe that they gave him for a contract. I think that is two freight trains coming from opposite sides of that line. Like that is a phenomenal scenario. I mean, Wobby (27:06.4) with Will Anderson and yeah. Wobby (27:21.696) Yeah. Gyles Uhlenhopp (27:26.306) They're going to I mean, they were already a great team last year with a lot of rookies across the board. I think they're going to really take a step forward this year. I

mean, I'm not quite to the level of projecting them to go to the Super Bowl next year. But if I had to put my short list together, I think the Texans would be one of them. To be honest, I am in love with the Texans. I think I love with what they're doing over there. So really excited about that. When it comes to our Eric or our boy, Eric Kendricks, I am very surprised he did not go to the Dallas Cowboys. Wobby (27:42.08) Yeah. Yeah. Yep. Wobby (27:49.568) Yeah. Gyles Uhlenhopp (27:52.674) becau

se I know he is a big bright spot in Mike Zimmer's head. And I was expecting those two to have a reunion. So that was a little bit of a surprise to me, but good for Kendrick's to go over to a winning franchise. He deserves to try to go chase a championship and try to live out the last few years of his NFL career. Wobby (28:10.368) Yeah, I think there might've been a couple of snags maybe in perspective on Zimmer's departure in Minnesota and some things that were said about his tenure. So there m

ight've been maybe some, not bad blood, but a cooling of the relationship there. But your point is well taken in that Kendricks was a key part of the Vikings. Gyles Uhlenhopp (28:24.034) Mmm. Gyles Uhlenhopp (28:28.066) Hmm, that's fair. Wobby (28:38.816) dominance defensively during peak Zimmer. Peak Zimmer time was about the versatility of Harrison Smith and the Kendricks bar AA gap pressure look. That was sort of the patented thing Minnesota did. Even Aaron Rodgers talked about the confusion

and the versatility that the Vikings defense had with Zimmer sort of pulling those levers. Gyles Uhlenhopp (28:50.626) Mm -hmm. Gyles Uhlenhopp (29:00.162) Hmm. Wobby (29:04.352) So yeah, Kendricks was a really productive difference making player for a long time in the inside in Minnesota and trying to recapture that form. I think he was dinged up a little bit with the Chargers and a lot of things went wrong defensively for the Chargers last few years. So hopefully a new start in San Francisco f

or Kendricks will do him some good. So, all right, I think that's it for today. I know there's going to be more soon, so we'll be back and we also... Gyles Uhlenhopp (29:15.426) Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm. Yep. Gyles Uhlenhopp (29:24.546) Yeah. Gyles Uhlenhopp (29:30.946) I'm here for it. Wobby (29:33.856) Yeah, so am I. We also have wide receivers to break down for the Vikings, Kyle. We haven't done that yet. So we got to break down the 2023 performance from the wide receivers and look ahead to how they

can improve it in 2024. So we'll have that and more free agency content for you on the Wabcast 2 .0 coming up in the very near future. For now though, that's it for yours truly and for Kyle's. Make sure you like, follow and subscribe to Wabcast 2 .0 wherever you do so with all your other favorite football content, YouTube. Spotify, Google Play, Apple Podcasts, all the places. On behalf of Gyles, this is Wobby We're signing off for now, but until next time everybody, Skull Vikings.