Purple Rumor Mill: Harrison Smith Retirement, Theo Jackson, QB Stipulation
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 August 4th edition.
Purple Rumor Mill: Harrison Smith Retirement, Theo Jackson, QB Stipulation
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: This season, 2024, is Harrison Smith’s last in the NFL.
Pioneer Press’ Charley Walters wrote emphatically about Smith’s future last weekend, claiming the six-time Pro Bowler would call it quits after 2024. And he didn’t leave much to imagination or hedge the bet with any outlet wording.
“No doubt the coming season will be safety Harrison Smith’s last of 13 prolific seasons in Minnesota. There also is reason to believe this season will be the last for [Adam] Thielen after 11 distinguished years,” Walters wrote on Saturday.
Smith has not publicly announced 2024 as his swan-song season, but conventional logic suggests the end is near. The Hitman will turn 36 next February, and based on his style of play — yes, it takes hits to earn the nickname Hitman — it’s a mini-miracle that he’s still playing. Safeties rarely last until age 35.
So, Walters’ reporting probably isn’t wrong.
Rumor: Theo Jackson is a lock to make the 53-man roster.
Defensive coordinator Brian Flores showered praise on Jackson Tuesday, the team’s fourth or fifth safety on the depth chart. “There’s been an incredible amount of growth, an incredible amount of just improvement. That’s probably the best term to use for him, improvement,” Flores told reporters when asked about the young defender.
Selected by the Tennessee Titans in the 6th Round of the 2022 NFL Draft, Jackson joined the Vikings in October 2022 and has played in 26 games since. His role spiked in 2023 after predominantly serving as a special teams asset in 2022, seeing the field on 126 defensive snaps last season. Jackson also accounted for 260 special teams plays in 2023.
“Anyone who watches Theo work, from a meeting standpoint, from a training standpoint, from just an understanding of concepts and a knowledge of the game, I think he’s starting to put a lot of things together,” Flores continued. “And he’s growing in confidence, which that comes with preparation and he prepares the right way. And it’s showing up on the field.”
This guy will make the September roster. Again.
Rumor: The Vikings want to see Sam Darnold elevate second-teamers amid the current quarterback battle.
“It will be good for Sam to mix in some of those other huddles besides just having Justin [Jefferson] and Jordan [Addison] and that offensive line,” head coach Kevin O’Connell said Tuesday. “I want to see him go in and elevate that [second] group as well.”
The O’Connell mindset makes all the sense the world — “let’s see what he can do with non-stars” — but nobody knew that was officially a criterion until this week.
That also means J.J. McCarthy will eventually get extended run with the first-teamers.
One New Viking Appears to Have Taken a Backseat
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the purple team, with 4-7 episodes per week. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL.
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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