In any walk of life there are often times two ways of looking at a situation. You might call it "micro" and "macro", maybe for you it's "short-term" and "long-term", call it whatever you want it's the differing perspectives from what's right in front of you and what's out in the distance.
For teams in the NFL this is the realm that separates the coaching staff and the front office.
The coaching staff deals with the day-to-day of who is on their roster and how to get the most out of them. For the front office, the approach is two fold. First it's how to put the best roster on the field for your team now, but there's a caveat. You have to do it in a way that doesn't mortgage your future too greatly and sets you up for long-term success as well as short-term success.
The way that the Minnesota Vikings are shaping up, everybody in the front office, coaches office and locker room should be licking their chops.
First you have two brand new state of the art facilities that you're working in. With U.S. Bank Stadium and TCO Performance Center both opened and operational, the Vikings now have all the state of the art facilities and amenities you could imagine to draw in the league's top talent.
From there you head to the field where you have a team that was one win away from the Super Bowl last season and the future might look even brighter.
After locking up another wide receiver this morning, the Vikings have locked up Kirk Cousins, Stefon Diggs, Adam Thielen, Harrison Smith, Everson Griffen, Xavier Rhodes, Eric Kendricks, Danielle Hunter, Linval Joseph and now Stefon Diggs for the long-term.
That's bonkers!
"[Roster] Continuity to me is very important," Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins said this morning. "It’s not a luxury that we have in the NFL…We’ve got to stay healthy and keep these guys on the field. I think it can make a difference if we can have it"
Specifically looking for Cousins, he now has a stud rookie running back in the backfield, a stud TE to his side and maybe the best WR tandem in the league.
That all got solidified when Diggs inked up today.
"I could stand up here a while and talk about Stef and all his attributes," Cousins said. "At the end of the day I love that he loves football and likes to work...He wants to work, he likes to practice, he likes to compete...Great natural hands, short area quickness and agility, long speed, ability to track the ball in the air really well. He's a seasoned veteran, understands the game, has played in big moments...you start to realize why there was a deal offered to him of the size that it was."
It's been a rough go being a Minnesota Vikings fan since the team came to the north back in the 60s. There's been success, but never the ultimate goal. None of these new signings guarantee anything when it comes to a Super Bowl, but what it should ensure is that the next three seasons are going to be a whole heckuva lot of fun to watch!