PurplePTSD: Questions Answered: Harrison Phillips On The Vikings, Cousins' Contract As Team-Friendly, The Exit Of Michael Pierce

Press release from the PurplePTSD:

Dustin Baker

2022-03-16

The following questions are about current Minnesota Vikings topics, answered by PurplePTSD. Today is the March 16th edition, addressed in a from-the-hip fashion. If you have questions, please email them to DustinBakerNFL@gmail.com.

Also, please note: These are opinion-based responses. Some answers will be incorrect from time to time. But we’ll try to keep that to a minimum.

Q: Why did the Vikings sign another defensive tackle? Feels like a Spielman thing to do.

A: Foremost, Rick Spielman was a wise and respected general manager. His mistake was arguably not terminating Mike Zimmer a year sooner.

Phillips was signed because the team’s run defense since 2020 has been putrid. All of a sudden, starting with the 2020 season, the Vikings could not stop chunk yards by running backs — at all — under Zimmer.

Indeed, the team has Michael Pierce, Dalvin Tomlinson, and Armon Watts on the roster. But Pierce was jettisoned yesterday, and Tomlinson and Watts can still contribute.

Phillips is a healthy, younger-than-Pierce alternative.

Q: Is Cousins’ contract considered “team-friendly?”

A: No.

If you’re pro-Cousins, his acceptance of $35 million per season prevented the Vikings from having to pay a player who generates 33 touchdowns and seven picks — around the feared $40 million figure. The anti-Cousins faction just can’t stand anything to do with him.

Per statistics, Cousins deserves the $40 million annually as the salary cap inflates. Per reputation, Cousins does not deserve that hefty sum.

The Vikings and Cousins met in the middle. He didn’t command elite-tier pay — but $35 million per season isn’t cheap either.

Q: Is the Phillips guy an upgrade over Michael Pierce?

A: Yes, for one reason. Phillips has a history of durability. Pierce, with the Vikings, emphatically did not.

Kwesi Adofo-Mensah believes in value — you know, Moneyball — so Pierce’s presence on the 2022 roster was a glaring question mark. Would he stay healthy? Maybe.

Phillips and Pierce, per recent performance, are interchangeable defenders. And good ones, at that.

Phillips just has a sturdier bill of health.

Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. His YouTube Channel, VikesNow, debuts in March 2022. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sally from Minneapolis. His Viking fandom dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).

This press release was produced by the PurplePTSD. The views expressed here are the author’s own.