MINNEAPOLIS -- The Minnesota Vikings' decision to sign Alex Boone, to a four-year $26.8 million contract in the opening hours of free agency last March, came as part of a multi-layered effort to revamp the offensive line. Boone, who got $10 million guaranteed to leave the 49ers for the Vikings, had followed coach Tony Sparano from San Francisco to Minnesota as coach Mike Zimmer sought to add some grit to a group he said had lacked it in 2015.
Nearly 10 months later, as Boone cleaned out his locker following an 8-8 season, the towering guard spoke more of regret than resurgence. The Vikings had used eight different offensive line combinations during a 16-game season, and some players in the group struggled even when they were healthy, as a team that started 5-0 collapsed over the course of the next 10 games. Boone had a solid season after fighting through a difficult start to the season, but even he recounted with striking precision the blocks that might have changed the season.
"There’s times where being such a loose cannon at times got me in trouble; maybe I got Sam [Bradford] hit too much. You look back and think maybe if I got the one block, maybe it springs. The one block I regret this year is in Washington. We ran a reverse to [Adam] Thielen. I blocked the linebacker, but I saw the corner traveling with him. I think just maybe if I would’ve dove and got in his way, Thielen would’ve scored for sure. Things like that. It’s a cruel, cruel business. It’ll just sit there forever and haunt you for a while.
“Howie Long told me a long time ago, 'It’s a brief existence, but it’s a tortured existence -- what if I would’ve done this? There’s times where maybe if I would’ve just changed this.' The tiniest things will drive you nuts.”
A year after signing Boone and Andre Smith, the Vikings' offensive line could change again. All four of the group's unrestricted free agents -- left tackles Matt Kalil and Jake Long, right guard Mike Harris and Smith -- were on injured reserve or the non-football illness list by the end of the year. And while the Vikings traded away their first-round pick for Bradford, the need for a reinvestment in young talent is as clear as ever after the team has used just two picks above the fourth round on linemen since 2009.
Boone turns 30 in May, and center Joe Berger will be 34 later that month. The Vikings would recoup $3.2 million in cap space by releasing Brandon Fusco, and they'll have to decide whether it's worth bringing back Kalil after a hip injury ended his season.
The group could be in flux again, and even Boone seemed to know that equanimity for the group could be a ways off. After the Vikings' reclamation project was met with some snags, the line will try again next year.
"I think they’re going to put the best players they can in that room," Boone said. "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.”