All Things 2026 Minnesota Vikings Off-Season Thread

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My apologies if this was already posted:

Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports reports that they want to have second meetings with their executive vice president of football operations Rob Brzezinski, Broncos assistant GM Reed Burckhardt, Bills assistant GM Terrance Gray, Rams assistant GM John McKay, and Seahawks assistant GM Nolan Teasley. Brzezinski has been doing the job in Minnesota on an interim basis since they fired Kwesi Adofo-Mensah.

49ers assistant GM RJ Gillen, Titans assistant GM Dave Ziegler and Lions Assistant GM Ray Agnew were also involved in the first round. Chargers assistant GM Chad Alexander declined an interview request.
www.nbcsports.com

Report: Vikings want second interview with five GM candidates

Vikings owner Mark Wilf said on Tuesday that the team is ready to move on to a second round of General Manager interviews and the team has reportedly picked five candidates to continue in the search process.
www.nbcsports.com www.nbcsports.com
 

GopherGrit said:
What does a GM actually do that actually earns him the big bucks?

I guarantee that there isn't a GM in the NFL, and hasn't been for a long time, that would (dare) openly defy the desires of a head coach (and coordinators) on which players they want.

I don't believe for a second there is a GM out there saying "you look here coach, I know better. These are the guys I want for our roster, and I'm going to go sign them. Now you go make it work"

No such thing.


So why not just let KOC be in charge of what offensive players are on the roster, Flores do the same for the defense, and Rob B goes out and signs them and works the cap.


What more do we "need" out of it, than that???
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When Coaches are the one's making those decisions it's almost always short term as in "how do I win enough games in the upcoming season to avoid being fired or to obtain a contract extension".

General Managers (ones that know what they are doing) and have demonstrated past competency and should be looking at the bigger picture, how to win this year, next year, year after etc to build something towards a Championship.

21+ years and the Wilfs have never found such a leadership group to win playoff games in consecutive seasons. They have not even advanced to the post season in back-to-back years since 2009.

How they doin'?
 
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Gopher_In_NYC said:
Great article about how Golday has similar characteristics to The Gink; discusses the cognitive testing teams do at the combine now.

www.nytimes.com

The Vikings identified several special traits in LB Jake Golday. They weren’t alone

The Vikings see Golday, a rookie out of Cincinnati, as an instinctive linebacker who could eventually play an Andrew Van Ginkel-like role.
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com
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I read that too. Just a great piece from Lewis, and hard not to get excited about Golday. That's why I sprinkled a little pizza money on him for Def ROY!!
 


TNGophfan said:
All i would say is they really didnt hit on the round 3 - 7 picks. You need to get a couple players each year from those picks.
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Sure you do.

And I think it is well known that Vikings over Kwesi's tenure were one of the lowest in the league in starts by players they drafted. Something like that, can't remember the exact stat.

But I also think that stat highly depends on who the team already had as starters and then of course how many free-agent starters they chose to bring in. Both paths can pay off. Doing all your own draft picks is not a guaranteed success path.
 

Ope3 said:
When Coaches are the one's making those decisions it's almost always short term as in "how do I win enough games in the upcoming season to avoid being fired or to obtain a contract extension".

General Managers (ones that know what they are doing) and have demonstrated past competency and should be looking at the bigger picture, how to win this year, next year, year after etc to build something towards a Championship.

21+ years and the Wilfs have never found such a leadership group to win playoff games in consecutive seasons. They have not even advanced to the post season in back-to-back years since 2009.

How they doin'?
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Every head coach, coordinator, and GM, on every team, every single year should be looking at that year as "how do we get to the Super Bowl this year".

If they aren't doing that each and every year, they should be fired.
 

GopherGrit said:
Every head coach, coordinator, and GM, on every team, every single year should be looking at that year as "how do we get to the Super Bowl this year".

If they aren't doing that each and every year, they should be fired.
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Disagree wholeheartedly.

Selling out to go "all in" to just slightly improve a teams chances in the present but also severely limit their ability to compete for 3-5+ years after that is malpractice.

Mike Lynn snookered by Jimmy Johnson horrible.
 
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Ope3 said:
Disagree wholeheartedly.

Selling out to go "all in" to just slightly improve a teams chances in the present but also severely limit their ability to compete for 3-5+ years after that is malpractice.

Mike Lynn snookered by Jimmy Johnson horrible.
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All it takes is one year with a good team but far more importantly good luck, and you're in the Super Bowl.

Win it ... and all else is automatically forgiven.


In Minnesota especially, just making the SB is probably 30 years of good will. Win it, and you're talking 50 years.


So then your statement really makes no mathematical sense.
 



Just like the vikes, only plan for the next season. The sad truth is the you have coaches and players whose #1 goal is to play for themselves and their paycheck. See greenard. Tough to build anything around that mindset.
 

Spaulding!No! said:
Just like the vikes, only plan for the next season. The sad truth is the you have coaches and players whose #1 goal is to play for themselves and their paycheck. See greenard. Tough to build anything around that mindset.
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LaFluffy😉
 

Damn. Brutal words from crazy person Antonio Brown. I can see where he's coming from though. AB is absolutely nuts on X, one of the most entertaining accounts I've seen on X actually. This is brutal words about the Vikings 1st round pick

 

Ogie Ogilthorpe said:
Damn. Brutal words from crazy person Antonio Brown. I can see where he's coming from though. AB is absolutely nuts on X, one of the most entertaining accounts I've seen on X actually. This is brutal words about the Vikings 1st round pick

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AB just needs attention 🤷‍♂️. Him calling anyone dumb with all the shenanigans he’s pulled in his life, is hilarious.

That chain is less than 5% of the value of his contract. AB’s Twitter profile pic shows him wearing a big ass chain himself.

The ultimate nuthing burger, my friend.
 



GopherGrit said:
All it takes is one year with a good team but far more importantly good luck, and you're in the Super Bowl.

Win it ... and all else is automatically forgiven.

In Minnesota especially, just making the SB is probably 30 years of good will. Win it, and you're talking 50 years.

So then your statement really makes no mathematical sense.
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Sure IF the team wins, all is forgiven. Worked out wonderfully for the Rams earlier this decade.

However, if 8 teams sell out and go "all in" to win in a given season then at least 7 are going to fail to win a Super Bowl and as many as 6 will not even win their Conference.

It's possible all 8 fail and teams just staying the course make it to the Big Game. Failing while squandering future assets such as Draft picks, young talent or even salary cap flexibility is the double whammy.

Mike Lynn went all in for Vikings in 1989, following 2 seasons of at least winning Playoff games and a season removed from the NFC Championship. Those '89 Vikings got into the Playoffs on the final day of the season and got subsequently clobbered by the 49ers at the end of their Montana Era Dynasty.

It would take until 1997 for the Vikings to even win a Playoff game. Having all that Draft capital that was sent to Dallas would have likely improved their fortunes throughout the 90s.

The Cowboys, who went the opposite of trying to win a Super Bowl in 1989, won 3 during the next decade.
 
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Spaulding!No! said:
Those live ad reads on the power trip are abysmal. Just write the spot and note the ad lib part. 2 min every morning.
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At some point that's on you for listening. Like multiple decades ago.
 

Gopher_In_NYC said:
AB just needs attention 🤷‍♂️. Him calling anyone dumb with all the shenanigans he’s pulled in his life, is hilarious.

That chain is less than 5% of the value of his contract. AB’s Twitter profile pic shows him wearing a big ass chain himself.

The ultimate nuthing burger, my friend.
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Well, it's late May and it's Vikings related. Outside of the GM search and some meaningless OTA updates, any content at all....
 






Interested info on how bad the Cards were in supporting Murray’s last three seasons (from a column in Zthe Athletic regarding the best offseason move by each team) -

Minnesota Vikings​

Adding Kyler Murray on the cheap

Murray signed with Minnesota for $1.3 million per year without financial guarantees beyond the 2026 season (the Vikings agreed not to use the franchise tag on him). That’s a cheaper-than-cheap quarterback contract for a player who struggled to win in Arizona largely because the Cardinals defense was so bad.

Murray is one of 29 quarterbacks with at least 30 starts over the past three regular seasons. He ranks 17th among them in QB EPA per start but last among them in per-game combined support from his defense and special teams. That helps explain his 13-17 record as a starter over that span.

The Vikings still have not solved their QB situation for the long term, but for a team in survival mode at the position, landing Murray on the cheap made sense.
 
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NFL owners including the Wilfs expect the Vikes to have a season that ends coaching careers. All part of the plan.
 



Gopher_In_NYC said:
Interested info on how bad the Cards were in supporting Murray’s last three seasons (from a column in Zthe Athletic regarding the best offseason move by each team) -

Minnesota Vikings​

Adding Kyler Murray on the cheap

Murray signed with Minnesota for $1.3 million per year without financial guarantees beyond the 2026 season (the Vikings agreed not to use the franchise tag on him). That’s a cheaper-than-cheap quarterback contract for a player who struggled to win in Arizona largely because the Cardinals defense was so bad.

Murray is one of 29 quarterbacks with at least 30 starts over the past three regular seasons. He ranks 17th among them in QB EPA per start but last among them in per-game combined support from his defense and special teams. That helps explain his 13-17 record as a starter over that span.

The Vikings still have not solved their QB situation for the long term, but for a team in survival mode at the position, landing Murray on the cheap made sense.
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I saw Chris Simms podcast recently, he's counting down the NFL QBs from #43 (Carson Beck with Arizona, yikes!) to #1. Not very flattering for the Vikings

He had JJ McCarthy at #37 and Kyler Murray at #30 if I recall correctly.

I like Simms, he's entertaining, but he can be all over the map. Going into the draft, if I recall, he had Behren Morten from Texas Tech as his 2nd or 3rd best QB going into the draft. Morten went in the 7th round at #234, 11 picks behind former Gopher Athan Kaliakmanis. Sheez!
 

Spaulding!No! said:
NFL owners including the Wilfs expect the Vikes to have a season that ends coaching careers. All part of the plan.
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Another year, another team winning the North
Ogie Ogilthorpe said:
I saw Chris Simms podcast recently, he's counting down the NFL QBs from #43 (Carson Beck with Arizona, yikes!) to #1. Not very flattering for the Vikings

He had JJ McCarthy at #37 and Kyler Murray at #30 if I recall correctly.

I like Simms, he's entertaining, but he can be all over the map. Going into the draft, if I recall, he had Behren Morten from Texas Tech as his 2nd or 3rd best QB going into the draft. Morten went in the 7th round at #234, 11 picks behind former Gopher Athan Kaliakmanis. Sheez!
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I think Kyler is going to be good from the first snap; he knows this is last shot to be more than a novelty act.
 
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About what I would have expected, JJM will most likely be getting next to zero mentoring from Kyler Murray. Which is completely fine

 

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