The Minnesota RØKKR were arguably the most disappointing team from the 2022 Call of Duty League season. After keeping their entire roster together from the 2021 season, Minnesota actually finished this season with the lowest prize money out of all 12 teams. Yes, including the Paris Legion, who won a few thousand more dollars than RØKKR. Minnesota never seemed to show up on LAN at the major events, despite Dillon “Attach” Price having his best statistical season in years.
In Minnesota’s end-of-the-year press conference, executives and the pair of coaches in Saintt and Loony made it clear they weren’t looking at roster changes until after Champs. However, RØKKR did announce the team would retain both Saintt and Loony as coaches, so that area will be the same heading into 2023. What’s unclear is the rest of the roster, as Minnesota has some tough decisions to make.
The Minnesota RØKKR’s Off-Season
As of right now, Minnesota has multiple impending free agents. Attach, Preston “Priestahh” Grenier, and Eli “Standy” Bentz all have their contracts expire after Champs ends in one week. Colt “Havok” McLendon and Kevin “Fame” Bonanno both have team options for next season, which RØKKR will likely exercise.
This leaves Minnesota with some interesting routes to take in the off-season. RØKKR have one of the best team environments in the CDL, sporting a full practice facility, decent player salaries (rumored), and solid backing from parent company Version1. However, it’s also been rumored that high-profile free agents might not want to move to Minnesota, which is frigid in the winter. RØKKR executive Brett Diamond said this shouldn’t play too much of a role in free agent’s decisions, though.
With all of this in mind, the organization has a few routes they can take in the 2022 off-season.
Possible moves for the Minnesota RØKKR
Minnesota has both the luxury and disadvantage of currently having the most-prized free agent of the 2022 off-season. After a phenomenal season, Attach should fetch a large sum of money from his next team. Attach is a proven winner and can play multiple roles on a team. He has said previously that he thinks of himself as a flex player and not a main AR, which is mostly what he played in Vanguard.
The back-up plan
Attach also recently said during a Twitch stream that he loves the Minnesota RØKKR and would be open to resigning with them for next season. However, the question now is will Minnesota be willing to shell out the necessary money to retain Attach? The team had nothing but high praise for Attach in their end-of-the-year press conference, making it seem like the love was mutual. Perhaps Minnesota wants to go for more of a rebuilding season, though, which would involve signing younger players.
If they don’t choose to sign Attach or lose him to another team, this is almost definitely the route the team will take. They could choose to keep both Havok and Fame and sign other up-and-coming players to develop them into stars. Amateur players, like anyone on the Toronto Ultra Academy NA team, would fit the bill for RØKKR’s culture. There are also veteran options, such as Adam “Assault” Garcia or former RØKKR player Adam “GodRx” Brown.
Keeping Attach
For argument’s sake, though, let’s say that Minnesota is able to retain Attach. If the team is able to do this, we believe they would also want to re-sign Standy. Attach and Standy have a good relationship and would fill out two bonafide roles for the RØKKR’s roster. As for Priestahh, it’s hard to envision a scenario where Minnesota brings him back. We pegged him as a solid option for the Las Vegas Legion if he does, in fact, move on from RØKKR.
With Minnesota’s roster retaining Attach and Standy, Havok’s place on the team would likely be determined by who else the team could sign. Havok plays a slaying/entry SMG role, but there aren’t currently a ton of top SMG free agents. Minnesota could look at the amateur pool but Havok should be a stronger option than most of those available SMG players. In this scenario, we see Havok staying onboard to form a solid SMG duo with Standy.
That leaves the main AR role as the only open spot on this proposed roster. Immediately, many fans will suggest James “Clayster” Eubanks as the best possible choice. Clayster and Attach teamed for three years straight and won a world championship together. We expect Clayster to receive serious interest on the free agent market. However, Clayster might be unwilling to move to Minnesota. He just bought a house in Texas and could be reluctant to move.
If we assume Clayster is out of the running, there are a couple of other options Minnesota could pursue. Both originate from the Florida Mutineers, as the pair of Joe “Owakening” Conley and Cesar “Skyz” Bueno are free agents. While both played a flex-type role in Vanguard, they have flourished in the main AR role before. Either player would be a solid fit on Minnesota, with Skyz being the better option. Skyz allows Attach to fully claim his desired flex role and gives the team a great AR slaying duo.
Arguably the biggest domino to drop in the 2022 CDL off-season will be Attach. If RØKKR is willing to sign Attach and they successfully do so, that opens up a world of possibilities for them in 2023. However, if they want to move on or don’t successfully sign him, then they’re likely looking at a mini-rebuild with younger players. Standy also presents some questions for Minnesota; do they view him as a long-term franchise player to build around or do they completely start over and let Standy walk?
These questions will be answered sometime after Champs. Depending on Attach’s decision, Minnesota could be early players in free agency. If Attach leaves, though, RØKKR will likely wait to sign players until later in the off-season.
