This is not 2010 for the Vikings because, well, nothing might ever top 2010 for the Vikings.
The roof metaphorically caved in that year on the Vikings’ all-in plan to run it back for another year with Brett Favre. And then it literally caved in, too.
Along the way, though, there was a brief but desperate reunion with wide receiver Randy Moss.
The Vikings were struggling and made an early October trade to inject life into their offense. A month later, the Vikings cut Moss after he berated a caterer (among other things). Head coach Brad Childress, who wouldn’t survive the rest of the season as coach, called Moss a “programmatic non-fit.”
There was much softer language and different circumstances Monday when the Vikings announced they were waiving another highly regarded former receiver who was acquired in attempt to shore up the offense.
But Adam Thielen’s departure, ostensibly so he can perhaps play the final weeks of his career for a contending team, did make me think of Moss and 2010 nonetheless — as I talked about at the start of Tuesday’s Daily Delivery podcast.
Let’s dive in during today’s 10 things to know:
- The Vikings invested a third- and seventh-round pick to get Moss before dumping him after a month. They gave less for Thielen, but it was still a move that backfired even as a “pricey contingency plan,” as Ben Goessling wrote.
- In both cases, the receivers were brought in to patch holes that came from ideas that proved to be incorrect. The Vikings almost certainly wouldn’t have traded for Thielen if they knew how the rest of this season would play out. Same with the Moss trade, which only served to underscore the 2010 team’s shortcomings.
- In both cases, the receivers were small parts of the problem but important symbols of the problem. Again, Goessling sums it up perfectly regarding Thielen: “In the forensic analysis of the Vikings’ 2025 season, the trade will be less a cause of the demise than an artifact from a strategy that didn’t work and a predicament the Vikings have yet to solve.”
- The Vikings aren’t 4-8 because Thielen has only caught eight passes (with three drops), numbers that are sure to entice any rational NFL contender. They are 4-8 because they keep throwing money at problems that could have been solved with better draft picks and a better understanding of their offensive direction in 2025.
- Moss is still a Vikings legend. Thielen will still be held in high regard for all he has done here. But it is important to note this: The 2010 Vikings crashed and burned at 6-10, and then they crashed some more in 2011, going 3-13. What do the 2026 Vikings have in store?
- I do wonder if the finger-pointing with the Vikings will get worse before it gets better. This segment from the weekend was interesting, to say the least.
- Tuesday’s podcast also featured a haunting film review with Andrew Krammer from the Vikings’ 26-0 debacle in Seattle.
- Randy Johnson will join me on Wednesday’s show to talk Gophers football.
- Lane Kiffin is a hot yoga enthusiast and he has already found a new class at his new job at LSU. The funny part? Some of the people who took hot yoga with him in Mississippi are making fun of him now.
- We have a nominee for the worst play of the year in the NFL, with Giants kicker Younghoe Koo kicking the ground and completely missing the ball. Jaxson Dart’s reaction is priceless, though Koo said after the game that the juggled snap caused him to pull up short. It didn’t go down as a missed kick, by the way, since he never kicked it.
