Purple Rumor Mill: Brian Flores as an HC, Marcus Peters, Week 14 QB
VikingsTerritory’s Purple Rumor Mill is a two-day chronicle each week. All the week’s rumors are lassoed and plopped in two spots — articles on Saturday and Sunday — for review. Today is the December 3rd edition.
Purple Rumor Mill: Brian Flores as an HC, Marcus Peters, Week 14 QB
Remember — rumors are rumors. What you read on weekends in these pieces is what the world is talking about pertaining to the Vikings, not necessarily items that will come to fruition.
Here’s the second batch of the week. Yesterday’s can be read here.
Rumor: Brian Flores will command head coaching interest next month.
Flores has transformed the Vikings’ defense from 27th per DVOA in 2022 to ninth in the same metric this season. Of course he will deserve and receive some head coaching buzz.
Now, the question becomes: Is there a team that Flores will pursue?
Washington Post’s Jason La Canfora wrote this week about Flores’ shot at head coaching gig, “He has done stellar work with the Vikings as they have adapted to his heavy blitzing preferences. Flores surely learned from some of his missteps with the Dolphins, and if the Vikings make the playoffs, his work will be impossible to ignore.”
Keep an eye on the New England Patriots. Bill Belichick’s dynastic run could conclude this year, and Flores worked in New England for 15 years.
Rumor: The Vikings should sign cornerback Marcus Peters
The Las Vegas Raiders (coincidentally the Vikings’ next opponent) dropped Peters on Monday, and ESPN’s Field Yates tweeted Tuesday, “Former Raiders CB Marcus Peters has cleared waivers and now is a free agent. He can sign with any team immediately.”
The Vikings employ Byron Murphy, Akayleb Evans, Mekhi Blackmon, and Andrew Booth at corner, so they might be fully stocked. However, Evans missed the last two games, and cornerbacks always get hurt. Adding Peters would make sense, but Minnesota might’ve scooped him by now.
Peters was linked to the Vikings’ free-agent plans for much of the offseason, especially when Minnesota said goodbye to veterans like Patrick Peterson, Duke Shelley, Cameron Dantzler, and Chandon Sullivan. The Vikings signed Murphy and Joejuan Williams, drafted Blackmon, and called it good at CB.
For now, Peters-to-Vikings is just a fan-driven theory.
Rumor: Vikings fans want Jaren Hall at quarterback next weekend, but the who’s who believe it’ll be Nick Mullens.
Indeed, Vikings fans want Hall to get under center in one week.
Yet, for a prediction, many Vikings analysts believe Mullens will get the nod. Star Tribune’s Ben Goessling, for example, said this week about Mullens as QB1 after the bye, “If your biggest issue is we’re turning the ball over, we’re not executing our offense the way we want it to run. The best way to get some semblance of that back is to put in the guy that has the most experience in your offense… a guy that can play the offense in a somewhat similar fashion to Kirk Cousins. A guy that Kirk Cousins has praised as helping him learn the nuances of the offense.”
NBC Sports’ Chris Simms also predicted Mullens as Kevin O’Connell’s decision.
3 Big-Name Vikings Who Could Be in Final Stretch with Team
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sal Spice. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band).
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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