Since the speculation is getting a bit out of control, here is what’s going to happen

So the Kwesi is a nerd, but in a good way.

What I mean by that is he has a very specific process for handling contracts and it has been extremely consistent for his entire tenure with the Vikings… here is how it works.

First, they benchmark the player. Essentially they look at all of the historical context, analytics and and risks to come up with a number they are comfortable with.

Next, they go to the player and say hey this is what we are comfortable paying you, if this doesn’t work for you we are going to let you explore the market. If you can’t find a deal you like we would love to have you back, but we can’t go higher than this number.

Sometimes the player comes back IE: Harrison Smith.

Sometimes the player leaves IE: Cousins, Hunter, Thielen

But the process has been the same on every single free agent or contract is not working kind of deal. Not once have they let emotion into it and overpaid for a guy.

It’s because of this that the decision will be completely on Sam. They are going to give him and offer on an extension. They will not franchise him or use the franchise tag as a threat.

My guess is that the contract would only have guaranteed money 2 seasons out (this has also been a theme) and be somewhere in the 40m APY area.

Then the decision is on Sam. Does he want to chase the bag or not?

My guess is that he stays with everything that he has been thought but this is also likely his only opportunity to maximize his earnings in the NFL so who knows.

Anyways, there is no reason to speculate further. They will offer him a reasonable extension and at the end of the day just like Kirk he will have to decide. If he stays, great…. If not it’s JJs show.