Vikings Rumors: Beloved Viking Gone-Gone, Aaron Rodgers, Isaiah Rodgers Smoke
The Minnesota Vikings are getting close to the still portion of the calendar — the end of minicamp and OTAs until the start of training camp in late July.
The Vikings rumors for June 9th through 13th are here, packaged by VikingsTerritory each week in an easy-to-read format.
We still have the rumor mill popping, however, with all kinds of theories in the Vikings’ orbit.
This is the purple rumor mill for June 14th.
Rumor: Najee Thompson has left the Vikings and isn’t coming back.
It feels like former Vikings special teams ace Najee Thompson has said goodbye about three times this offseason.
Well, he did it again this week — for real this time.
Thompson tweeted, “It’s surreal. Thank you all for making the first part of my dream something. I’ll never forget and very grateful to have the opportunity here. But so long, Minnesota. Officially outta here and to the cold weather you will be the only thing not missed but on to new beginnings.”
“Once again, thank you to one of the best fan bases you can ask for, and to everyone I’ve met along the way, it was a pleasure. Looking forward to this new journey.”
The once beloved Viking will evidently catch on with a new team sometime this summer. It’s “goodbye for now.”
Rumor: Minnesota absolutely did its diligence on Aaron Rodgers this offseason.
Minnesota was very much “in” on nibbling at the Aaron Rodgers sweepstakes.
Head coach Kevin O’Connell hopped on KFAN this week and told Paul Allen, “When there was an opportunity — when him and I connected this offseason just to kind of talk about what that would look like — we had a lot of great dialogue about it, but it always was centered around what was best not only for the present in the Minnesota Vikings organization, but the future.”
“I was very honest about my feelings towards J.J. McCarthy, my obligation that I felt like we were going to give him the best possible situation to begin and thrive on this NFL journey, and let’s see where it goes. We stayed in touch and had some communication.”
Deciding McCarthy was “the guy,” the Rodgers rumors fizzled.
“Out of respect for our friendship and everything, that’s about as much as really kind of happened. I still talk to him, and the next time I talk to him, it’s going to be the same old, same old. He’s different than people probably think, but I think that’s all part of it in this day and age,” O’Connell continued.
He also said about McCarthy: “He’s having a great spring. We’re pretty darn close to having a good feel for where he’s at. He’s had a great offseason. He’s healthy, strong, throwing the ball great, fundamentals — everything you hope for in the spring.”
Folks will never forget — for better or worse — that Minnesota picked young McCarthy over geriatric Rodgers.
Rumor: Isaiah Rodgers will be the Vikings’ CB2 and kick returner this season.
Two Vikings coaches spilled the beans on Isaiah Rodgers this week.
“He’s been on my radar since he was at UMass. When the opportunity presented itself that we could maybe acquire him, I was all in. I’m happy we got him. He’s got great football IQ and acumen. That’s something we’ve stressed,” defensive coordinator Brian Flores said to the media about Rodgers, his team’s first free-agent signing of the offseason.
And special teams coordinator Matt Daniels mentioned about Rodgers’ kick returning capabilities, “He’s been an elite guy back there with the ball in his hands, and obviously he’s starting at corner right now for us.”
“So, that’ll be a conversation I have to have with the upper management just in terms of good we feel about our CB2 kinda being back there returning kicks but when you look at the impact that this phase is going to have with the ball being put in play and field position mattering so much, we got to be able to kind of weight what the risk reward is going to be just in terms of trying to keep this guy healthy.”
Rodgers could do both in 2025: CB2 and KR1.
Daniels concluded, “Love to have him back there, though. He does (look good back there). There’s not too many guys that can bend and weave through traffic but still maintain good speed as well. He’s got such good hips and start-stop ability that you appreciate and, obviously, he’s got the gas to be able to take away, certain angles and be able to get the ball back to the field.”
Get familiar with Rodgers because he might be all over the place this autumn.
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