NFL Spring Meeting in Eagan Creates News and Vikings OTAs Begin Next Week
As the NFL descended upon Eagan and the Omni Viking Lakes Hotel for a newsworthy spring meeting this week, plenty of NFL owners had to look enviously at the Vikings’ state-of-the-art facility adjacent to the hotel.
I’ve been in lots of NFL team facilities around the country, and the Vikings’ TCO Performance Center is the best I’ve seen. It’s an amazing upgrade over the team’s Winter Park facility in Eden Prairie, where I spent close to 20 years, and at the time that facility was built, we were thrilled with it compared to our previous setup with practices at Met Stadium and Midway Stadium and our small offices in Edina.
NFL Spring Meeting in Eagan Creates News and Vikings OTAs Begin Next Week
Before and after the lively league meeting, several owners and team executives likely were touring the Vikings’ facility if they hadn’t already seen it.
This week is another example of how the NFL does a terrific job of staying in the sports news despite so much going on this time of year with the NBA and NHL playoffs, the baseball season, the start of the WNBA season, major tournaments in pro golf, and much more on the sports landscape.
Vikings OTAs — What to Look For
Next week, the Vikings begin Phase 3 of their offseason program, and there will be plenty of reporting on the start of OTAs next Tuesday, with nine sessions scheduled over the next three weeks, plus the team’s mandatory minicamp on June 10-12.
In these sessions, teams can have full team practices with offense against defense and special teams work. No live contact is allowed, but plenty of actual contact takes place inadvertently as players are competing. Rookies and newcomers will be looking to make a good early impression to get the coaches’ attention heading into training camp in late July.
Of course, all eyes will be on projected starting quarterback J.J. McCarthy, who is healthy and excited to take the reins. Expected No. 2 QB Sam Howell will get his first live reps in Kevin O’Connell’s offense after several weeks in meetings and throwing sessions with no defenders.
The coaches will be excited to see the revamped trenches on both sides of the ball with new offensive line starters Ryan Kelly at center, Will Fries and first-round pick Donovan Jackson at the guard spots (and the continued progress of star left tackle Christian Darrisaw will be watched closely as he is lifting and running again but will likely be held out of team drills until training camp).
On the defensive line, free agent DT acquisitions Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave — both former Pro Bowlers — will take the field with the promise of adding to an already potent pass rush with Pro Bowl edge rushers Andrew Van Ginkel and Jonathan Greenard and 2024 first rounder Dallas Turner.
The cornerback position will be of great interest to DC Brian Flores and his fellow coaches as they get their first look in competitive drills at newly acquired vets Isaiah Rodgers, Jeff Okudah, and Tavierre Thomas, along with the return of 2023 third rounder Mekhi Blackmon (off his ACL injury) and second-year man Dwight McGlothern.
If this corner group does not impress the coaches, a call should be placed to last year’s starter, Stephon Gilmore or Shaq Griffin, last year’s third corner.
Further Thoughts on the League Meeting
In a testament to the power of the NFL, the fate of several potential rule changes at the league meeting was front and center in the Wednesday sports news.
1. The tush push lives on: Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie reportedly spoke for one hour on the hotly debated topic, and he brought retired all-pro center Jason Kelce to lobby the Eagles’ case further to keep their highly successful QB sneak play that the Packers proposed to outlaw.
Rule changes require 75% approval, and the tush push barely survived on a 22-10 vote, with 24 votes needed to kill the play. Even though I’m not thrilled with the play, I feel defenses have to figure out how to stop it against teams such as the Eagles, who have a powerful QB and a great offensive line. If the league can prove a significant injury risk on the play, I would favor the play being banned, but that has not been the case.
I thought the Eagles’ reaction on their website after the vote was humorous. They posted a photo of QB Jalen Hurts and their offense running the play against the Packers (to stick it to the sponsors of the proposed change) with the caption: Push On.
2. Reseeding playoff teams based on records instead of winning divisions: This proposal by the Lions was withdrawn since it didn’t have enough support.
The Vikings were the latest to be victimized by the current system that gives the top four seeds to division winners even if their record is not as good as a wildcard team. If seeding based on records was in plast season, the 14-3 Vikings would’ve been tied with the Eagles for the second-best NFC record behind the 15-2 Lions so the Purple would have been the No. 2 or 3 seed (depending on tie-breakers) with a home game in the wild card round instead of being stuck as the No. 5 seed on the road.
While I think winning your division matters, I believe a team’s record should take preference for homefield advantage in the postseason. This may get another shot next year, as could the tush push ban.
3. Otherwise not much to get excited about at the meeting. Flag football was approved for NFL players to participate in at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, and the league had Justin Jefferson speak to the media about his excitement that this opportunity to win a gold medal could occur for him and others.
The onside kickoff rule was tweaked so teams can attempt the play anytime they are trailing instead of only in the fourth quarter, and the kicking team can get one more yard of a head start by lining up on the 35-yard line instead of the 34.
While I understand the injury risk with bodies flying around on this play, it’s a play that usually happens only once a game at most, and I prefer the old rule where teams didn’t have to declare when they would attempt an onside kick, so the surprise element was in place. Thus, there were more successful onside kicks on an exciting play than in today’s NFL, when it works only a few times each season.
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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