Vikings' message is clear: Opportunity to win is now. But it may not last

Whatever the Vikings' new decision-makers said about their confidence in the roster, no matter the public statements they'd made about how close the team was to contending, Adam Thielen waited to see what new General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and head coach Kevin O'Connell would do before he believed it.

"When you're in the offseason, you're trying to figure out what's going to happen — especially when you get a new staff," Thielen said. "I'd only been through it one other time, when I was a very young player. You're just trying to figure out what that means, what they're thinking, how they feel about me individually, how they feel about other guys and how they feel about this team."

After considering, at least briefly, the idea of parting with some of their highest-paid veterans and resetting the roster this offseason, the Vikings resolved to try and win in 2022 with the players they had. They signed Kirk Cousins to an extension, gave Thielen guaranteed money in 2023 in exchange for 2022 cap savings, picked up Danielle Hunter's roster bonus and brought Patrick Peterson back on a new contract. They added veterans to the defense, bringing in nose tackle Harrison Phillips, linebacker Jordan Hicks, slot cornerback Chandon Sullivan and — perhaps most notably — edge rusher Za'Darius Smith, who won NFC Defensive Player of the Month honors after recording a NFL-high 6½ sacks in October.

"You could kind of feel it through the offseason — that they knew we had a good core in place," Thielen said. "You kind of see it in the proof, not what they're saying. They can say all they want when they come in, but when they start proving it to you is when you really start believing it."

The Vikings' Tuesday trade for Lions tight end T.J. Hockenson was one of 10 across the league, a record for the most deals on a NFL trade deadline day. Adofo-Mensah said the "aggressive mindset" among NFL GMs is "approaching more of a baseball mindset," with playoff contenders looking to be buyers at the deadline.

"We've got to always be looking and constantly trying to upgrade our roster but also be aware of what our roster is right now," he said. "And we like our roster."

Hockenson is signed through 2023, and the Vikings didn't exactly mortgage their future to get him. They sent their 2023 second-rounder and 2024 third-rounder to Detroit, and will get a 2023 fourth-rounder and conditional 2024 fourth-rounder from the Lions. Trades do not need to be reckless, though, for their message to be clear: the Vikings want to make the most of the opportunity in front of them this year.

They are in the middle of a moment, between big offseason changes and the possibility of a postseason run, that means more to players like Peterson, who's played in three playoff games in his first 11 seasons.

"For most of [the young players], they come from winning programs, so they think this is normal," Peterson said. "Down the road, they'll start to appreciate seasons and moments, and things like this, because they don't happen very often. Like I tell the guys all the time, you have to embrace these moments, because you could fall off the map the next year.."

If the actions of the front office, or the words of veterans who've experienced fleeting playoff success, don't do enough to emphasize the opportunity in front of the current Vikings, perhaps a glimpse of the future should.

Including Hockenson, who'll make $9.329 million on his fifth-year option, the Vikings have more than $231 million in salary cap costs devoted to the 44 players under contract for 2023. Even if the cap jumps by $18-20 million, as is expected, the Vikings will still have to make moves to get under a cap figure of $226-$228 million.

They have five starters — Cousins, Thielen, Eric Kendricks, Harrison Smith and Za'Darius Smith — who will be at least 31 and carry cap hits of $10 million or more next season. Running back Dalvin Cook, who turns 28 in August, has a 2023 cap hit of $14.1 million. Dalvin Tomlinson and Peterson are scheduled to be free agents after 2022, as are the Vikings' top three picks from the 2019 draft (Garrett Bradbury, Irv Smith Jr. and Alexander Mattison).

There's also the seemingly evergreen question about Cousins' future; the quarterback turns 35 in August and has a $36.25 million cap hit and no-trade clause for 2023, the final year of his deal. The Vikings will have to decide whether to commit to Cousins beyond next season at the same time they consider a contract extension for Jefferson that could top $30 million per season.

Nothing is guaranteed to the Vikings beyond this season, and as O'Connell reminded them this week, their terrific start assures them nothing the rest of this year. With a healthy roster and a favorable path to at least one home playoff game in a wide-open NFC, they have an opportunity to make something happen.

Their most experienced players are intent on seizing their chance.

"When you have this opportunity that we have in front of us right now: being 6-1, leading in the division, if there's a guy out there that we feel can improve our team, why not acquire him and try to go win this thing?" Peterson said. "When you have the pieces that we have, as far as pass rushers, guys in the secondary, a quarterback, a running back, just got a tight end, a good group of receivers, an awesome special teams — we have the recipe. They felt like this was one of the missing pieces to help us get over the hump."