Offseason Disrespect for Vikings Continues
A few weeks ago, I reacted to the over-under win total picks by ESPN Bet that had the Vikings at 8.5 wins following their 14-win season. Among NFC North teams, that 8.5 win total ranked tied for last with the Bears coming off a 5-12 season, behind the Lions at 10.5 and the Packers at 9.5.
National media so-called expert analysts continue to pile on the Vikings. I heard three of NFL Network’s Good Morning Football panelists list the Vikings as either the third or fourth best team in the NFC North in their most recent analysis.
Offseason Disrespect for Vikings Continues
Their reasoning? Basically, it’s all about J.J. McCarthy being unproven. There were mentions of playing in the league’s best division and having the fifth-toughest schedule based on 2024 records. But little talk about a seemingly productive free agent period in which the Vikings added four starters in the trenches, two on each side of the ball (C Ryan Kelly, G Will Fries and D-linemen Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave) and the recent draft with first-round guard Donovan Jackson looking like a first-year starter to help solidify the interior offensive line.
So the major cause of the team’s undoing in the final two games against the Lions and Rams—that interior O-line that contributed heavily to Sam Darnold’s unraveling—should be much better this coming season.
As for the jabs at McCarthy, it’s understandable to a certain extent with the 2024 first-rounder coming off his meniscus injury and having never started an NFL game. But to take the Vikings from a 14-3 regular season record to predicting them to be a .500 or worse team largely because of a change at quarterback makes no sense.
It doesn’t factor in the coaching excellence of Kevin O’Connell with his recent track record of getting Pro Bowl caliber play out of Kirk Cousins and Sam Darnold and coaching them up (with help from QB coach Josh McCown last year) to the best years of their careers. Why is it far-fetched to think he can’t do similar great work with McCarthy, who showed us his talent in the 2024 training camp and his only preseason appearance against the Raiders? And let’s not forget that in his last season as a college starter, he led Michigan to the national title.
The supporting cast for the Vikings QB should be significantly better than in 2024, from the O-line to the wide receivers (led by all-pro Justin Jefferson and an excellent No. 2 WR Jordan Addison and now bolstered by free agent signee Rondale Moore and third-round rookie Tai Feltonto compete with Jalen Nailor for play time) to the tight ends with T.J. Hockenson not coming off an ACL injury to the running backs with an excellent No.2 in Jordan Mason now the backup to Aaron Jones.
As I’ve said in recent weeks, Brian Flores and the Vikings’ defense could still use some more veteran help at corner and safety after not addressing those positions in the draft.
But with a pass rush that could well be more formidable than last year’s fine performance, the secondary may not have to be great.
Overall, the Vikings look like at least an 11-win team to me. And a team that will battle the Lions and Packers for the NFC North title, with the Bears perhaps improved but still breaking in a new coaching staff led by Ben Johnson, so I’ve got them bringing up the rear in the division until QB Caleb Williams takes a big step forward.
The next test of the national view of the 2025 Vikings comes next week with Wednesday night’s release of the 2025 schedule. I’ll be anxious to see if the Vikings receive four or more national TV prime-time dates that are deserving of a 14-win playoff team or if they’re relegated to the group of lesser attractive teams in the eyes of the league office and the networks. I’ll give my reaction next week.
Around the NFL Observations
1. What’s going on in Pittsburgh? As Aaron Rodgers seemingly holds the Steelers hostage on the QB front, Pittsburgh didn’t make their case stronger for Rodgers’ consideration by trading starting wide receiver George Pickens to Dallas for a 2026 third-round pick and a swap of fifth and sixth-round picks in 2027
Pickens was the Steelers’ second-round pick in 2022, and he obviously wore out his welcome there. He’s shown flashes of greatness and WR1 ability, especially in 2023 when he had 63 catches for 1,140 yards and five TDs. He’s also been criticized for a lack of effort and unwillingness to block at times. When Pittsburgh traded for two-time Pro Bowler DK Metcalf, it appeared the combination of Metcalf and Pickens would help in the recruitment of Rodgers. Now it’s Metcalf and a bunch of so-so WRs.
For Dallas and their QB Dak Prescott, it brings a potentially excellent receiver to pair with Pro Bowler CeeDee Lamb if the Cowboys can get consistently high production from Pickens, who enters the last year of his rookie deal, so he has a lot on the line this coming season.
2. Just as the draft has become a TV spectacle for the NFL on the offseason calendar in April, so too has the league made the schedule release into a mid-May bigger deal than in my NFL front office years when we would get a call from the league office with our schedule and then release it to the local media without the great fanfare of today.
It’s clear the league does a great job of staying in the public eye throughout the offseason with free agency in March, the draft and opening of team offseason programs in April, the schedule release and OTAs in May, minicamps in June and then training camps opening in late July.
Jeff Diamond is a former Vikings GM, former Tennessee Titans President and was selected NFL Executive of the Year after the Vikings’ 15-1 season in 1998. He now works for the NFL agent group IFA based in Minneapolis and does other sports consulting and media work along with college/corporate speaking. Follow him and direct message him on Twitter– @jeffdiamondnfl
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