So it Begins—The Vikings Start the Offseason in Ernest
Vikings Territory Breakdown
The 14-3, one-and-done Minnesota Vikings watched the 2024-25 NFL postseason from the sidelines last weekend. They were unceremoniously bounced by the Los Angeles Rams (who then travelled to Philadelphia and came up short in a snowy divisional-round game). So where does that leave the Vikings, who exceeded expectations (certainly the expectations of the two dudes on this Purple podcast) in the regular season and then dashed them in the postseason? What appeared to potentially become a dream season, quickly reverted to a transition year and right back to where we have seen them often—unable to handle prosperity under the bright lights of the playoffs.
Head coach Kevin O’Connell said last week that he will be focusing on the interior offense line during the offseason—in an attempt to better protect whoever becomes the team’s signal caller next year and give the running backs more room to roam between the tackles. The offensive line may be the first place the Vikings look to begin building back for the 2026 season (although they did re-sign defensive lineman Jalen Redmond earlier this week), but there are plenty of other personnel units to examine as the go forward: quarterback, secondary and defensive line among them).
So many questions exist for the Purple this offseason—and in more places than just the locker room. Will the Vikings extend O’Connell and do it soon? Will defensive coordinator Brian Flores return to run a defense looking to get even better? And will GM Kwesi Adolfo-Mensah have his best free agency period as a GM, as the Vikings cap space has definitely increased without Kirk Cousin’s contract on the books?
A lot of questions indeed, and the fellas at Vikings Territory Breakdown podcast—Joe Oberle, senior writer at vikingsterritory.com and purplePTSD.com and Mark Craig, NFL and Vikings writer for the Star Tribune and startribune.com are ready to try to answer them. Tune in and check it out.
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