MINNEAPOLIS -- Even as they stocked up on veteran offensive linemen last offseason, setting up a competition they hoped would improve the group's performance, the Minnesota Vikings left themselves an escape hatch if it all went haywire in 2016.
The Vikings entered training camp with five veterans in the final year of their contracts (Matt Kalil, Phil Loadholt, Joe Berger, Andre Smith and Mike Harris), and two more (John Sullivan and Brandon Fusco) whose 2017 deals could be excised without financial penalty. They had the two things that pending free agency often guarantee in the NFL: future flexibility and motivated players. What they did not have, however, was certainty.
That's worth remembering now, as the Vikings head into another offseason where retooling their offensive line figures to be their top priority. The retirement of Loadholt and the release of Sullivan took two veterans off the depth chart; Harris' placement on the non-football illness list cost the team another. The Vikings added a year to Berger's contract two days before the start of the regular season, but they lost both Kalil and Smith to season-ending injuries, while a pair of concussions cost Fusco two games in a year where he struggled on the field.
The Vikings head into 2017, then, with no first-round pick, three free-agent tackles coming off injuries (including Jake Long), and only one player (guard Alex Boone) with guaranteed money coming his way. If the Vikings have flexibility to remake the group, they also have a host of questions about how it will look.
"I think they’re going to put the best players they can in that room," Boone said last week. "I’m excited to see what they do going forward. It’s going to be on us to kind of accept that role, accept that challenge and really step up to it.”
For a team that used eight different offensive line combinations in 2016, the position to Boone's left is the most obvious need. A hip injury sent Kalil to injured reserve, and as he hits free agency, the Vikings will have to decide whether it's worth bringing the enigmatic tackle back for another shot at age 28. He could be one of the more intriguing names in a thin free-agent market that includes the Baltimore Ravens' Ricky Wagner and the Detroit Lions' Riley Reiff, so while the Vikings could have interest in bringing Kalil back, they could have competition for him.
The Vikings will also have to figure out what the future holds for T.J. Clemmings after a disappointing second season. They have an opening at right tackle, where Smith is an unrestricted free agent and Jeremiah Sirles is headed for restricted free agency. And Harris, who did not play at all in 2016, will be a free agent as he hopes for some indication he can resume his NFL career. The 28-year-old would not discuss last week what kept him out all season, referring those questions to coach Mike Zimmer, who also declined to provide specifics.
"I honestly don’t think I should divulge this," Zimmer said. "I mean, it’s kind of a freak thing that’s happened and so we’re trying to get it taken care of. That’s all. It’s the best thing for Mike right now.”
With five picks in the second through fourth rounds, the Vikings can look for multiple linemen, or consider a trade back into the first round. But they will have to find solutions for a group that contributed to the league's second-lowest average of rushing yards before contact, according to ESPN Stats & Information, and they have a head coach who refuses to dwell on which resources might or might not be available.
"I don’t want to make excuses. Other teams have injuries," Zimmer said. "At least as long as I’m here, we’re never going to be about excuses and what we don’t have. I’ve told all the coaches, I don’t want to hear what we don’t have. I don’t care what we don’t have. I care about what we do have. To me, coaching is getting guys to play good no matter who they are."