The Minnesota Vikings hope to improve or maintain their fresh new 14-win standard after nearly winning the NFC North in 2024 with Sam Darnold at the helm.
3 Certainties of the Vikings Offseason So Far
The club now has precious cap space to spend — finally — and can open a Super Bowl window if quarterback J.J. McCarthy turns out to be the real deal.
NFL free agency begins in about four weeks, and the 2024 NFL Draft is 74 days away, so there is plenty of time to speculate about the franchise’s plans. But these are the three items onlookers know for sure about the 2025 offseason. They’re ranked in ascending order (No. 1 = most important).
3. Interior Offensive Line Is a Priority
The Los Angeles Rams set an NFL playoff record for nine sacks, knocking Sam Darnold flat nine times in Minnesota’s Round 1 postseason loss.
Head coach Kevin O’Connell was sure to call out the trenches after the loss. “There’s no question that we got to be able to find a way to give a quarterback time. Especially with players like Jordan Addison, Justin Jefferson, T.J. Hockenson, we got to find a way to solidify the interior of the pocket, starting first and foremost,” O’Connell told reporters.
O’Connell added, “There can be a thousand excuses made. But, for me, it’s the foundation of the interior of the pocket that we’re going to have to take a long look at.”
While iOL change is not absolutely guaranteed, it would be weird for O’Connell to name-drop that section of his depth chart as needing improvement … and then do nothing about it during the offseason.
Minnesota will likely end up with a new center + guard or two.
2. Brian Flores Will Be Back for Year No. 3
Flores interviewed for jobs with the Chicago Bears, Jacksonville Jaguars, and New York Jets. Those teams later hired other candidates.
One NFL vacancy remains open: the New Orleans Saints’ top job. Flores has not interviewed for that position and probably wouldn’t want to if asked. Kellen Moore, the Philadelphia Eagles’ offensive coordinator, is the odds-on frontrunner to fill it.
Therefore, barring a last-minute reversal around the NFL, Flores will be back in Minnesota for Year No. 3.
1. Kevin O’Connell Here for the Long Haul
On January 21st, about one week after the Vikings’ season prematurely ended, ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweeted, “More years in Minnesota: Vikings and head coach Kevin O’Connell have reached an agreement on a multi-year contract extension, per sources. He was scheduled to be entering the last year of his contract, but no longer. Now that their head coach extension is done, the Vikings also working an extension for their GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah.”
The offseason didn’t get too far along before Minnesota’s brass locked in O’Connell for the next five years.
The man won Coach of the Year 2.5 weeks later.
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.