Purple Rumor Mill: The Kevin O’Connell Rumor, Kurt Warner’s Endorsement for Vikings, Cine and Booth
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 September 22nd edition.
Purple Rumor Mill: The Kevin O’Connell Rumor, Kurt Warner’s Endorsement for Vikings, Cine and Booth
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: The Vikings are close to a contract extension for head coach Kevin O’Connell.
This week, the rumor mill began to chirp about an extension for the young coach, as his current contract expires at the end of the 2025 season — along with general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah. Both men signed four-year deals upon taking over for Mike Zimmer and Rick Spielman after the 2021 campaign.
Thanks to tidbits from KSTP’s Darren Wolfson, O’Connell’s extension could arrive sooner rather than later. “I’m telling you, it’s coming,” Wolfson said on SKOR North airwaves this week.
O’Connell’s Vikings have started the season 2-0 — rather unexpectedly — defeating the New York Giants on the road by 22 points to start the 2024 campaign, along with an impressive six-point triumph over the Super Bowl runner-up San Francisco 49ers in Week 2. The time feels ripe for a new deal, indeed.
The young head coach is also rapidly becoming accepted by national media as one of the sport’s best. An extension soon checks out.
Rumor: Kurt Warner is a believer in Sam Darnold.
The Hall of Fame quarterback pounded the table for Darnold a couple of weeks ago and now looks vindicated for his endorsement. He’s also doubling down.
“A long way to go in season but fun to watch Sam Darnold play at this level & to hear coach O’Connell talk of the confidence he has in him! Always amazing to me what being somewhere you’re WANTED surrounded by people who BELIEVE in you can do for a person’s CONFIDENCE!!” Warner tweeted on Tuesday, two days after Minnesota knocked off the Super Bowl runner-up 49ers.
Warner was high on Darnold two weeks ago, too. He said that he expected Darnold to have the best debut of any Week 1 quarterback in the NFL when Minnesota traveled to New Jersey for a date with the New York Giants. “I always like great stories. This is a guy that was drafted in New York. He’s going back to New York with a different team. I love his supporting cast, this being Sam Darnold. His supporting cast in Minnesota,” Warner declared.
Darnold waltzed out of that particular game as the NFL’s top passer per EPA+CPOE. Warner nailed it.
Rumor: Lewis Cine and Andrew Booth have made no impact in Buffalo and Dallas, respectively.
Cine is trapped on the Bills’ practice squad and hasn’t been promoted to the gameday roster. Instead, these men are taking all safety snaps in Buffalo:
- Taylor Rapp
- Damar Hamlin
- Mike Edwards
- Cole Bishop
And in Texas, Booth, although on the active roster, isn’t playing, either. These Cowboys CBs are receiving snaps ahead of Booth in Dallas:
- Israel Mukuamu
- Trevon Diggs
- Caelen Carson
- Jourdan Lewis
- C.J. Goodwin
There’s still time for both men to emerge at their new destinations, but they’re pitching shutouts so far. Zero playing time.
Popular Vikings Defender Wants to Stay in Minnesota Forever
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 MIN 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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