The Top 3 Vikings Developments from Offseason Week No. 4
The Minnesota Vikings’ will play their next regular season game in seven months, so the club has plenty of time to prepare for head coach Kevin O’Connell’s fourth chapter in the Twin Cities.
Minnesota finished 2024 with a 14-3 record, featuring a sad Round 1 playoff exit.
Vikings Offseason: The Top 3 Vikings Developments from 4th Week
Free agency is about four weeks away, the draft is 10.5 weeks around the bend, and the club’s schedule will be released in May.
And to keep track, these were the top three developments of Offseason Week No. 4, ranked in ascending order (No. 1 = most important).
3. Vikings Cook at Awards Show
After frontrunner status to win the NFL’s Coach of the Year award for two months, Kevin O’Connell brought it home. He held off Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell by six first-place votes, and for the first time since 1969, the Vikings have a Coach of the Year. Bud Grant was the last guy — pretty magnificent company.
Then, on his fifth try — it took too damn long — Jared Allen waltzed into the Hall of Fame. Allen had been snubbed in his previous four attempts, an odd circumstance because Allen’s resume for the Hall of Fame wasn’t controversial. He had the numbers and accolades to back it up.
“It’s a nod to doing it the right way. It’s a reassurance you played it right, so I can look back and say, ‘I played this game my way.’ I tried to honor those before [me], and I did it the right way, and this is the pay off,” Allen told Vikings.com.
“From a legacy standpoint, it’s great. You’re cemented in football immortality, which is great. Once I get to Canton, it will probably sink in.”
The week was momentous for Vikings awards.
2. J.J. McCarthy Calls for a “Fair Shot” at QB1
McCarthy has one request this offseason, speaking with Rich Eisen this week: he just wants his chance to lead the franchise.
“There’s a lot of things that are certainly above my pay grade and some things above his pay grade,” McCarthy replied when asked about his teammate Sam Darnold’s impending free agency.
Darnold held down the QB1 position in 2024 during McCarthy’s absence, delivering 4,319 passing yards, 36 total touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. Under the bright lights, however, in Week 18 and the playoffs, Darnold’s performance drove off a cliff, and the Vikings retreated from the postseason tournament in the Wildcard Round.
McCarthy told Eisen, “All I could ask for is a fair opportunity. That’s the one thing I feel like everybody’s given and it’s fundamental. When money gets involved, things get complicated and reps get skewed and there’s different things that come into the whole political world that everyone talks about. I really just have to focus on controlling what I can control.”
That’s the ask — the man wants a shot at the throne.
1. Grant Udinski Bolts to JAX
Udinski, Minnesota’s assistant quarterbacks coach from the last few seasons, has left the franchise. He accepted a promotion in Jacksonville.
The Jaguars’ main social media wrote this week, “The Jacksonville Jaguars have agreed to terms with Grant Udinski to become the team’s offensive coordinator, the team announced today.”
Coen said about Udinski as his new OC, “Grant will bring a wealth of knowledge, energy and a winning mindset to help lead our offense here in Jacksonville. He is a rising star in this league that has been a pillar of success for the Vikings organization and we can’t wait to have him lead our offense.”
Udinski is the first coach to be plucked from O’Connell’s staff this offseason.
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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