The Minnesota Vikings were not big players in the first day of the ‘legal tampering period’ which has become essentially the first day of free agency as a torrent of deals are announced.
Minnesota
OPINION EXCHANGE | Health care in Minnesota: Ensure competition in the insurance market
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Like you, I’m continuously shocked by skyrocketing prices, whether in the checkout line at the grocery store or at my kitchen table, paying monthly household bills. So, it didn’t surprise me to recently read that since enactment of the so-called Affordable Care Act, health care spending per Minnesotan has surged nearly 27% between 2013 and 2021. I know this from personal experience: Before enactment of the ACA, my once affordable monthly health care premium has doubled in less than 10 years.
And while much of the attention has focused on how much consumers spend each month to keep our families fully insured and healthy, not much attention has been paid to a very disturbing trend happening throughout greater Minnesota. Many of our rural hospitals are suffering. They are encountering a grim financial crisis and, as a result, many are forced to reduce much-needed services to those they serve or close their doors entirely.
Since 2005, six hospitals in greater Minnesota have closed their doors. Many others, such as the Fosston hospital in rural Polk County, recently announced that they must curtail some services provided at that 25-bed critical access hospital. That hospital has been operating for over a century in northwest Minnesota. And most recently, the New Prague hospital announced that it will no longer be providing labor and delivery services. Expectant mothers will need to travel one hour away to Mankato to find a hospital providing services that were until recently in their own backyards.
If no policy changes are enacted, the situation throughout greater Minnesota could get much, much worse: 42% of our rural hospitals have experienced losses in providing patient services, which undermines the hospital’s bottom line. This increases the likelihood of curtailing what services these hospitals will provide in the future or shutting their doors permanently.
The closure of a rural hospital can have a devastating negative impact on the communities it serves. Researchers at the University of Washington found that populations served by rural hospitals experienced mortality rate increases of 5.9% after closures, likely due in part to increased travel times for appointments or during health emergencies, or from patients forgoing medical appointments and/or health care providers leaving these communities.
Why is this crisis happening in our rural areas? A likely reason is that we have a broken health insurance market in Minnesota. Three insurers control 94% of the group market in the state. As a result, these insurance companies are profiting while many Minnesotans struggle with high insurance premiums, sky-high deductibles or worse — they have decided to forgo health insurance entirely. And while consumers struggle, their local hospitals are forced to contend with government and private insurance reimbursements that increasingly fail to cover even the minimum costs of patient treatment.
And despite paying more for health insurance, many consumers are getting less. A Kaiser Family Foundation study found that “nearly 17 percent of in-network claims were denied in 2021.” One major insurer was even found to be consistently underpaying reimbursements and inappropriately denying coverages, leaving hospitals to struggle with their own costs of care to patients. Considering the fact that many of our state’s rural residents are aging and live across a vast area without nearby local hospitals, we have a genuine health care crisis in the making.
Minnesota’s health care ecosystem is clearly out of balance. Progressives on the left are seizing this opportunity to push for a European-style single-payer health care system. This radical solution will only make matters worse for those in greater Minnesota who already have to drive great distances to access care: Single-payer systems famously exacerbate access to treatment, and often provide second-rate treatment, making the solution to Minnesota’s existing problem even worse.
And yet policymakers are focused on price-fixing in health care rather than problem-fixing.
Across the state, more and more of us struggle with the costs of care, have less insurance coverage than a decade ago, and hospitals can’t afford to keep the lights on and doors open due to low government and private insurance reimbursement rates.
Policymakers would be wise to focus on the biggest looming crisis facing Minnesotans: We need swift and meaningful action that will encourage competition in the insurance market that will ensure proper funding for hospitals and provide genuine health insurance choices throughout the state. Without these basic reforms, our broken insurance market will likely get sicker and more and more Minnesotans will be forced to make the worst choice: forgoing health care altogether.
Annette Meeks is CEO of the Freedom Foundation of Minnesota.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) – ATMs that deal in cryptocurrency could be banned in Minnesota soon.
Crypto ATM ban considered
The backstory:
Police across the state are urging lawmakers to pass a DFL ban on those kiosks that convert cash to crypto.
They say the machines are used extensively by criminals trying to scam people or to hide the proceeds of their crimes. In 2024, lawmakers passed a law to regulate the machines. Still, last year Attorney General Keith Ellison warned of an increase in crypto ATM scams.
At a hearing last month, Faribault police reported their residents had lost $500,000 since 2022 from crypto ATM scams. Woodbury Detective Lynn Lawrence told lawmakers about a victim she helped who had completed at least ten Bitcoin transactions over six months at crypto ATMs.
By the numbers:
Right now there are about 350 crypto kiosks in the state. They are often located in gas stations and grocery stores.
Their owners say this proposed law goes too far, but they’d support a law requiring full refunds for any customers who were victims of fraud.
How crypto ATMs work
Dig deeper:
Crypto ATMs allow users to turn fiat money into digital currency or vice versa. Users typically have to scan their identification to be able to use the machines and then the currency is sent to a wallet of their choosing.
However, the machines are increasingly used by scammers who convince elderly victims to use the ATMs to use the machines to send them money. Once the money is sent, it’s impossible to recoup the funds from the scammers.
Exchanges can blacklist scammers’ wallets and block them from withdrawing ill-gotten funds. However, most scammers will use “mixers” which wash the funds through a service that makes the coins hard to track or find ways around large exchanges like decentralized exchanges and peer-to-peer exchanges.
The other side:
At a hearing on Tuesday, Larry Lipka, counsel for digital currency platform CoinFlip, which operates 50 crypto ATMs in Minnesota, recognized scams are an issue, but pointed out scamming won’t disappear if crypto kiosks are banned.
“While I understand that scams are a problem, scams are a problem everywhere in this country,” said Lipka, “They are a problem for crypto kiosks, they are a problem for wire transfers, and they are a problem for gift cards. But no one is here today saying we should ban exchanges or gift cards or wire transfers because scammers use them.”
Instead of a ban, Lipka urged lawmakers to instead consider smarter and better controls for kiosks. According to Lipka, back in 2024, CoinFlip pushed for further protections when the previous crypto ATM bill was being discussed, arguing that legislation didn’t go far enough.
The Vikings did make some big splashes in free agency last year, and the dead cap hits to clear those moves is a big reason why they haven’t made any big splashes so far this year. That should serve as a useful reminder that often times the big splashes in free agency don’t work out and prove to be bloated contracts the team dumps in a couple years.
‘Moneyball’ Free Agency for the Vikings
The Vikings did sign a one free agent today that wasn’t previously on the team, namely cornerback James Pierre formerly with the Steelers.
The above graphic is difficult to read but the upshot is that Pierre had the lowest passer rating when targeted allowed along with the lowest completion rate when targeted allowed of all defensive backs in the league last season. That translated into the highest PFF coverage grade among cornerbacks with more than 13 coverage snaps last season as well. Pierre is an older player- 29 – but the Vikings signed him on a 2-year deal with an average annual value (AAV) of just $4.25 million. Overall, a good but overlooked player who could fill the CB3 role for the Vikings or potentially be a quality depth piece if the Vikings draft a cornerback that wins a starting job. I like this move by the Vikings a lot better than the move to sign Jeff Okudah last year.
There was no news on the Kyler Murray front as the Cardinals have not officially released him yet, which precludes any announcements from his future team, but should he end up signing with the Vikings as is widely expected, he too would be another “Moneyball” type signing as a quality starter on just a veteran minimum salary.
The Vikings didn’t seriously involved in any bidding wars either, including for their own free agents. Jalen Nailor signed with the Raiders on a 3-year, $35 million deal. There was no way the Vikings were going to pay Nailor anything near that to be WR3. Nailor will move up the depth chart with the Raiders and their likely new quarterback Fernando Mendoza. The Vikings also let punter Ryan Wright sign with the Saints on a 4-year, $14 million deal.
The Vikings were also rumored to be looking into the free agency running back market, but don’t appear to have been serious contenders for any of the higher profile names- Kenneth Walker, Kenneth Gainwell, Travis Etienne, or Tyler Allgeier. My own view on this is unless the Vikings went for a big splash and ponied up to sign Walker, the other running backs on the market really aren’t going to move the needle on the Vikings’ running game. That’s not to say they aren’t good or decent running backs, they just aren’t going to make much difference and come at higher prices. The Vikings would be better off using a mid-round pick on a running back who could rotate with Jordan Mason and possibly Zavier Scott. There are a few running backs in this year’s draft who could fill that role nicely and could surprise on the upside.
The Vikings also wisely avoided the overheated center market, highlighted by Tyler Linderbaum signing a 3-year, $81 million deal with the Raiders that is basically fully guaranteed, as the last year of the deal becomes fully guaranteed at the beginning of next season. For comparison, quarterback Kirk Cousins signed the first fully guaranteed free agent quarterback contract back in 2018- 3-years, $84 million. Now centers are getting the same deals.
The Vikings did make deals with some of their own, however. They signed linebacker/core special teamer Eric Wilson on a 3-year, $22.5 million deal with $12.5 million guaranteed. The details of the deal are not yet available, but it looks like more of a two-year deal at $6.25 AAV with a third-year club option. Wilson had one of his better seasons last year, leading the league in quarterback pressures among off-ball linebackers while still being good in run defense. He was mediocre in coverage but also a leader on special teams and highest PFF-graded among core special teamers. He may be the special teams captain this season with the retirement of C.J. Ham.
The Vikings also agreed on some Exclusive Rights Free Agent (ERFA) deals with Bo Richter, Jalen Redmond, and Zavier Scott- essentially league minimum deals- and made a tender offer on Ivan Pace Jr. on a Restricted Free Agent (RFA) deal that will likely keep Pace with the Vikings this year for $3.5 million.
What’s Next in Free Agency
Apart from the Vikings potentially/likely signing quarterback Kyler Murray at some point after he’s officially released by the Cardinals, there’s not a lot of rumors out there linking the Vikings to any particular free agent. They could potentially be looking to add to just about every position room at this point. The Vikings still have plenty available to spend in free agency, but I don’t expect any big money splashes on one particular player.
There is also rumored to be interest among at least a couple teams in trading for Jonathan Greenard. The Eagles, Patriots, and 49ers, among others, could be willing to make a strong trade offer for Greenard. The asking price is thought to be at least a Day Two draft pick this year- most likely a second-round pick- but even a late first-round pick is a reasonable comparable after the trade of Maxx Crosby to the Ravens for two first-round picks. We’ll see what happens, but it seems more likely than not the Vikings will get at least one trade offer for Greenard. Whether any will be sufficient for them to move him is another question.
The Minnesota Vikings have several positions that need attention after last season when the team went 9-8 and was third in the NFC North.
The team has informed running back Aaron Jones and defensive tackle Javon Hargrave that they will be released barring a trade, according to NFL insider Adam Schefter, and ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler said they are expected to release defensive tackle Jonathan Allen due to salary cap constraints. The reported transactions are in addition to over a dozen free agents who played for Minnesota last season.
Quarterback is a position that many Vikings fans have been talking about this offseason. Some question whether J.J. McCarthy will again lead the team’s offense. He missed 24 of 34 possible career games — the majority of which have been due to injury.
“We’re still looking at a quarterback who’s started 10 games. Ten out of, what, a possible 34 in two years? Not the ideal path for a young quarterback to develop on the field,” Coach Kevin O’Connell said at a news conference in January. “But I thought he did. I thought he did some really good things.”
The organization will be making moves without a general manager for at least the next six weeks after it fired Kwesi Adofo-Mensah in January. Owners Mark and Zygi Wilf said in a statement that the Vikings will conduct “a thorough search” for their next general manager after the draft. Executive Vice President of Football Operations Rob Brzezinski will lead the team until then, according to the Vikings.
WCCO is tracking every move Minnesota makes in free agency, including cuts, signings, retirements and potentially trades.
Ryan Kelly, center
Four-time Pro Bowl selection Ryan Kelly is retiring after 10 seasons in the league, the Vikings said. The center signed with Minnesota last year after playing nine seasons with the Indianapolis Colts. He dealt with three concussions last season and only started eight games for the Vikings.
James Pierre, cornerback
NFL Network reporter Cameron Wolfe said Monday that the Vikings agreed to terms with cornerback James Pierre, a move that will add depth to the team’s secondary. The former Pittsburgh Steelers player will get a two-year, $8.5 million deal with $3.7 million guaranteed, Wolfe, who cited Pierre’s agent Toney Scott, said.
Eric Wilson, linebacker
Eric Wilson is staying in Minnesota after the team announced Monday that they’ve reached a three-year, eight-figure deal with the 31-year-old linebacker. The NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo says the contract is worth $22.5 million — with $12.5 million “fully guaranteed.”
Wilson is in his second stint with Minnesota. He was first signed as an undrafted rookie in 2017 and spent four seasons with the Vikings.
Full list of Vikings free agents
- RB Ty Chandler
- LS Andrew DePaola
- CB Fabian Moreau
- WR Jalen Nailor (agreed to terms on three-year, $35 million deal with Las Vegas Raiders, per Schefter)
- T Matt Nelson
- CB Jeff Okudah
- OLB Bo Richter
- QB Brett Rypien
- RB Zavier Scott
- T Justin Skule
- TE Ben Sims
- S Harrison Smith
- DB Tavierre Thomas
- QB Carson Wentz
- P Ryan Wright (signing a four-year, $14 million deal with New Orleans Saints, per Schefter)
Minnesota also tendered the contracts of linebacker Ivan Pace Jr. and defensive lineman Jalen Redmond.
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