The Vikings invested $11 million in Matt Kalil last spring, and coach Mike Zimmer liked the early preseason returns from tweaked footwork in pass protection sets.
Then Kalil injured his hip in practice, starting the left tackle down a path leading to surgery and 14 games on injured reserve. The hefty bet on making one more evaluation on Kalil as a long-term solution fell flat.
Now, the Vikings have a hole at left tackle with no heir apparent on the current 2017 roster. So where does that leave Kalil, a pending free agent, and the Vikings?
An improved running game and a more explosive passing game top the Vikings' priority list on offense, coordinator Pat Shurmur said last week at the team's WinterFest in Prior Lake. How the Vikings achieve that will undoubtedly start along last year's tattered offensive line. Shurmur declined to get into specifics about Kalil.
"Certainly anything you do on offense starts up front," Shurmur said. "So obviously there will be changes at all the position groups."
What's clear is the Vikings' need at tackle is dire, it faces a draft with little fanfare at tackle and the reality that proven left tackles don't become available very often.
Cincinnati's Andrew Whitworth, ahead of his age 35 season, looks like the market's top potential option, should he even reach free agency as the Bengals reportedly sought to discuss a new deal with Whitworth this month. Denver's Russell Okung and Miami's Brandon Albert are other veterans currently under contract who could be made available next month. A trade is another route, though swaps can't be made official until the new league year begins March 9.
The Vikings have had a propensity to bet on the known over the unknown under General Manager Rick Spielman by keeping many deals, whether lucrative extensions or prove-it contracts, for their own players.
