Charley Walters: Are the Wilfs getting ready to sell the Vikings?
It’s beginning to look as if Vikings ownership now could be mirroring Twins ownership, which has sought to sell its team.
Figuring they were championship worthy, the Vikings a year ago spent more money on player payroll in the offseason ($350 million) than any of the NFL’s other 31 teams.
This offseason, the Vikings have spent just $226 million, second lowest in the league.
It appears Vikings owners Mark and Zygi Wilf have decided on a significant payroll slash this year. The Vikings won’t admit it, but this sure looks like a rebuilding year.
— It was clear the Vikings released defensive linemen Javon Hargrave and Jonathan Allen in March to save money, and that their first pick in the recent draft, No. 18 overall, would be a defensive lineman.
They chose 6-foot-6, 330-pound defensive tackle Caleb Banks out of Florida, a risky choice because of a twice broken left foot that was surgically repaired within the past year.
With their top third-round pick, the Vikings took another defensive lineman, Domonique Orange, from Iowa State. That’s a rookie contract.
The Vikings also traded linebacker Jonathan Greenard, who immediately received a $100 million ($50 million guaranteed) deal from the Philadelphia Eagles. In return, the Vikings got two third-round draft picks.
The Vikings saved $19 million by trading Greenard, who at 28 years old is in his prime. Surprisingly, the Vikings did not draft a third pass rusher to replace Greenard.
On Day 2 of the draft, the Vikings chose 6-8, 320-pound offensive tackle Caleb Tiernan from Northwestern. That could mean an end to Brian O’Neill’s career in Minnesota after next season. O’Neill, who turns 31 in September, will be in the final season of a $92.5 million, five-year contract.
— The Vikings needed a running back with more speed than currently-rostered Aaron Jones and Jordan Mason and took Demond Claiborne from Wake Forest in the sixth round. Claiborne, 5-10, 190, has clocked 4.37-second time in the 40-yard dash.
— The Vikings got a bargain in signing free agent quarterback Kyler Murray for $1.3 million in March. Should Murray and J.J. McCarthy fail to establish themselves next season, the Vikings could end up with a quarterback in the first round of the 2027 draft.
Unlike this year’s draft, the 2027 QB class is strong. The Vikings, based on next season’s schedule (11th toughest in the NFL, which will be released soon), are expected back in the middle of the first round in 2027. But there should be a handful of worthy QBs in the first round, including Texas’ Arch Manning, Oregon’s Dante Moore, South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers, Ohio State’s Julian Sayin and Notre Dame’s C.J. Carr, among a half-dozen others.
Manning is expected to be next year’s No. 1 draft pick, followed by Moore, Sayin and Carr. The way it looks now, Sellers might be the Vikings’ best bet.
— This is the 21st year the Wilfs have owned the Vikings. Until this year, they have made a commendable attempt at winning the Lombardi Trophy.
Meanwhile, the Twins’ Pohlad ownership isn’t unlike what Red McCombs did with the Vikings in 2005 before selling to the Wilfs. McCombs, who bought the Vikings for $246 million in 1998, cut player and coaching staff payroll to a bare minimum and waited until he got his price ($600 million) from the Wilfs.
If the Wilfs, who curiously still haven’t named a permanent general manager since firing Kwesi Adofo-Mensah last January, were to sell the Vikings today, they could get between $8 billion and $9 billion.
— Exhilarated Wild owner Craig Leipold, to the Pioneer Press after his team’s thrilling playoff series-advancing 5-2 victory over Dallas on Thursday in St. Paul: “So much fun. I’m glad we did it here.”
— Only three times in the past 60 years has an NHL goaltender won Most Valuable Player in the regular season, but nearly one-quarter of the time the playoffs’ MVP has been a goalie. The Wild’s Jesper Wallstedt has played like a playoff MVP.
— Thirty years ago, hall of fame goaltender Glenn Hall predicted that the next generation of elite goalies would not be merely “big” guys, but “huge” guys, astute hockey mind Tommy Thompson points out.
Hall was right.
Today’s NHL goaltenders average nearly 6 feet 3. The Wild’s goalies, Wallstedt and Filip Gustavsson, are 6-3 and 6-2, respectively.
— Inexplicable: Why the Chicago Bulls in February traded Ayo Dosunmu, the ex-Illinois star who is from the Chicago area, to the Timberwolves in a deal for Rob Dillingham and a second-round draft picks.
Inexplicable II: How the Twins last July could trade North St. Paul native Louie Varland, 28, and his 98-mph fastball to the Toronto Blue Jays. This season he has four saves, 26 strikeouts in 16 innings and a 0.56 earned-run average.
— The Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards’ No. 5 is the sixth best-selling jersey in the NBA this season behind Steph Curry, Luka Doncic, Jalen Brunson, Victor Wembanyama and LeBron James.
— Future hall of famer Max Scherzer, 41, of Toronto went on the disabled list last week, meaning he won’t pitch against the Twins at Target Field.
— Former Buffalo High and University of South Dakota quarterback Aiden Bouman, son of ex-Vikings QB Todd Bouman, has been invited to training camp by the Green Bay Packers.
— The life-size bronze statue of baseball hall of famer Dave Winfield from St. Paul that will be unveiled on May 30 with Dave and family at Dunning Playground will have Dave wearing a Twins cap. Winfield’s bust in Cooperstown, N.Y., is with a San Diego Padres cap.
— Another hall of famer from St. Paul, Jack Morris, will serve on the manager-coaching staff for the Hall of Fame Military Classic baseball game May 23 at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown.
— Saint Paul Saints left-handed hitting outfielder Emmanuel Rodriguez, 23, who is 5-foot-10, 210 pounds, on Tuesday clubbed a home run with an exit velocity of 118.3 mph, the hardest hit by any Triple-A player this season.
— Roseville High grad Phil Anderson, the peerless Hazeltine National general manager who the other day became Chief Operating Officer of the PGA of America, will forgo his position at the Chaska course that will host the 2029 Ryder Cup.
“I was blessed to learn from the best, Frank Fiorito,” Anderson said of the late beloved Southview Country Club pro.
— There were four major league scouts with radar guns behind home plate while Miami-bound 6-5, 215-pound right-hander Andrew Gette of Mounds View was pitching against East Ridge last week.
— Cretin-Derham Hall grad Sam Udovich, a freshman golfer at Texas Christian, has made it to the U.S. Open final qualifying on June 8 at famed Shinnecock Hills in New York.
— I’m just back from fabled St. Andrews in Scotland, where slow play at the storied “home of golf” course is disfavored. Ideally on a clear day, golfers are expected to finish 18 holes in three-and-a half hours.
And if not?
“We shoot them,” a longtime marshall said with a laugh.
— That was Larry Overskei, the former Gophers men’s basketball captain (1969-70) and avid golfer, among some 100 concerned golfers at a recent rally at the Les Bolstad Golf Course hoping to delay the University of Minnesota’s sale of the Falcon Heights property. One potential buyer is said to want the land, including the driving range, for housing and retail development. The course and driving range reportedly grossed $512,000 last year. Of concern, opponents of a sale say, is a lack of transparency during the process.
— Lauren Goldsworthy, transferring from Minnesota State Mankato to the Gophers women’s hockey team for her junior season, is daughter of Minnetonka boys hockey coach Sean Goldsworthy and granddaughter of late North Stars legend Bill “Goldy Shuffle” Goldsworthy.
— Prolific local sports author Ross Bernstein just successfully completed a last round of chemotherapy for Stage 4 colorectal-liver cancer.
— That was Edinburgh USA club golf professional Don Berry, 64, the Minnesota Player of the Year 16 times, firing a nine-under-par 63 the other day at Tatum Ranch in Phoenix.
— The Gophers men’s basketball budget is estimated in the $4.5 million range. Insiders say Connecticut’s men’s basketball budget this year was $34 million.
— That was Hastings grad Pat Fraher, in his 24th season as an NBA official, working the Timberwolves-Denver Nuggets Game 4 playoff in Minneapolis.
Don’t print that
— It will be interesting, if popular Vikings interim GM Rob Brzezinski gets bypassed for the permanent job, if the team can keep him from going elsewhere. He has been with the Vikings since 1999.
— Even though the NFL draft has ended, the Vikings still need to add a third wide receiver to replace Jalen Nailor. A lot will depend on money.
— People who know say the Twins sought $1.6 billion when they announced last August that they would consider selling the team. But the dilemma for the team remains the same: lack of cash flow.
The $1.6 billion is less than half the price for which a sale of the Padres will soon be completed. Last year, the Twins were valued at $1.65 billion by CNBC, the Padres $2.1 billion.
— The Padres’ sale of $3.9 billion should help the Pohlad ownership get its price after baseball decides on economic reform following an anticipated work stoppage for the 2027 season. But there’s no doubt that, within three years, the Twins will have new ownership.
While there were four legitimate bidders for the Padres, only one group — Justin and Mat Ishbia — seriously considered the Twins. But then they pivoted for future ownership of the Chicago White Sox.
— Target Field already is 16 years old. And there’s already whispering that eventual new ownership will push for a remodeled ballpark to include a retractable roof.
— The Twins hoped to profit from two-time Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal’s appearance for the Detroit Tigers last month at Target Field. A little birdie says word was sent to both clubs that any Skubal-related baseballs taken out of play during the game should be tossed into either dugout to be authenticated by the team and sold. No balls that Skubal touched were tossed into the crowd, which is unusual.
After the game, Twins Authentics had five balls that Skubal had thrown for sale for $300 each. Skubal kept the ball from his 900th strikeout. By the way, the Twins beat Skubal 4-2 that day.
— If Shohei Ohtani pitches for the Los Angeles Dodgers against the Twins at Target Field next month, any such memorabilia fans can acquire related to him will be invaluable. Ohtani is hitting .261; pitching, he’s 2-1 with a 0.60 earned-run average.
— Bars near Target Field aren’t happy about the Twins’ new $2 pregame beer specials. Also, because Target Field is cash free, vendors at the ballpark now only get 40 cents on an automated 20 percent tip on a $2 beer, 80 cents for two beers.
— No doubt former Cretin-Derham Hall and University of St. Thomas point guard Sean Sweeney, associate head coach of the San Antonio Spurs, received serious consideration for the Milwaukee Bucks’ head coaching job that last week went to Taylor Jenkins.
— Ex-Twins manager Rocco Baldelli, who is from Woonsocket, R.I., and now a special assistant for the Dodgers, will get serious consideration for the Boston Red Sox permanent job, made vacant by last week’s firing of Alex Cora.
— Nolan Minessale’s NIL deal to leave the University of St. Thomas for Marquette is for slightly more than $1 million for next season, which will be his junior year. Besides the money, the point guard gets to play in his hometown as well as the Big East Conference.
— Musings from Terry Kunze, the smartest basketball mind I know: “(Denver Nuggets star Nikola) Jokic’s conditioning is questionable. He jogs up to the top of the circle, doesn’t really go down deep unless it’s a pick and roll situation. He can’t block shots — he’s too slow.
“(Jamal) Murray cannot get a shot off without a pick from Jokic. That’s the big key. The slower the game, the better Jokic is. (Wolves’ Rudy) Gobert showed you how gassed Jokic was.
“(Wolves’ Ayo) Dosunmu — I don’t know that there’s a faster guard in the league than him. He’s great. Do you know he’s 6-4, 200 pounds?
“When (Wolves’ Anthony) Edwards isn’t in there, Minnesota makes more passes.
“The Spurs’ (7-foot-4 Victor Wembanyama) can touch the top of the backboard — think about that. With Wemby, you’ve got to make him beat you from outside. I still give the (Western Conference playoff) nod to Oklahoma City.
“The (new WNBA) salary cap per team is $7 million, so the next big step will be ticket prices — no more $25 giveaway tickets.
“(Gophers men’s coach) Niko Medved is very smart, very clever at using that zone. He had his players running around like chickens with their heads cut off. And he never says anything negative. With him, the Gophers really have an upside.
“(Gophers women’s coach Dawn Plitzuweit) is another coach who I think will get it done. She’s a winner. She got the top player out of Wisconsin (Natalie Kussow).
“You know why there are so many European players in college now? Because they get NIL money. They make more money in college here than they would in the pro leagues. What do you think Illinois paid for those five studs from the Eastern Europe and Serbia area?”
“Chaska won the state (boys 4A) basketball championship. They’ve got a natural-born point guard, junior Tyler Forrest, who I think is Big Ten.”
— With the state legislature winding down, it’s a good bet that it’ll be at least another year that Minnesota will go without legalized sports betting.
— Gophers athletes, as of last July 1, if they have an external NIL deal with any organization more than $600, must submit it to the Deloitte clearinghouse for review. Most Gophers NIL deals range from $600 to $5,000. The average NIL deal across the country now is about $12,000.
— A remodeled Williams Arena, which would include replacing its deplorable bathrooms, remains on the university’s radar. Women say the women’s restrooms also are miserable, too.
Overheard
— Wild owner Craig Leipold, asked last week by the Pioneer Press his guess on his blood pressure numbers while watching his team in the playoffs against Dallas: “I would love to know what it is. My blood pressure would be off the charts. I am so into these games right now.”
