The Wild, Timberwolves and Vikings all made the playoffs in their most recent seasons. Although they went a combined 3-9 in those postseason games and none advanced past the opening round, all three can make the case individually or collectively for a patient approach emphasizing internal improvement next season.
With Minnesota teams this offseason, a question: Where's the drama?
The Twins have given fans plenty to grouse or cheer about. But for the top Minnesota teams currently not playing, the news has been quiet.
July 17, 2023 at 6:16PM
That all three of them seem to be doing just that — albeit under their own unique set of circumstances — can be seen two ways: Indicative of well-run organizations, and incredibly boring for those of us who write and talk about those teams.
As Patrick Reusse and I talked about on Monday's Daily Delivery podcast, this has been an extremely drama-free offseason for the Wild, Wolves and Vikings. None of them have fired executives or head coaches. There haven't been massive contract buyouts, trades or free agent agreements.
The biggest news among all three teams — at least so far — might have been Naz Reid re-signing with the Wolves, a mild surprise but not an earth-shattering move for the reserve big man.
All three teams are constrained by the salary cap to some degree, which can make for a quiet offseason.
The Wild are still very much paying for the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter buyouts, which could mean another quiet offseason in 2024 before the penalties almost evaporate the following offseason.
The Vikings have shed a lot of salary and are attempting a defensive remake while leaning into their offensive continuity. They figure to sign Justin Jefferson to an extension at some point, but that expensive payday will be earned and hardly surprising.
The Wolves seem determined to get a longer look at the experiment of playing Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns together, perhaps encouraged by small samples of relative improvement at the end of last season or feeling like Towns' long calf injury a year ago robbed them of valuable information.
Add it all up, and there just hasn't been the drama to which we are accustomed with some — and sometimes all — of these teams.
Unless the Wolves suddenly have a change of heart and trade Towns, or the Vikings make some sort of significant move with Danielle Hunter, things figure to be quiet for the rest of these off-seasons.
But if you love drama, fear not: Next offseason the Vikings will face a likely decision on QB Kirk Cousins while the Wolves will almost certainly need to trade a core player.
And if you love the offseason peace and quiet, feel free to keep griping about the first-place Twins.
When he was hired after the disastrous 2016 season to reshape the Twins, Derek Falvey brought a reputation for identifying and developing pitching talent. It took a while, but the pipeline we were promised is now materializing.
