All Things 2026 Minnesota Vikings Off-Season Thread

upnorthkid said:

I think the guy that just won the Super Bowl may have shown that things are tilting a bit more again. Ditto on Vrabel and Ryans. The NFL is cyclical.

Think the OC as HC idea got put en vogue by McVay and Shanahan showing success as young guys who could do it, but they both show strong understanding of both sides of the ball. It can't be just one or you're going to flame out over and over again even if your teams have talent.

It's part of why I don't think Flores is a HC guy to me. Some guys are super good coordinators but just lose it a bit when they become HCs. Kind of seems that way to me for him based on what has been said about him. Now he may have grown and changed, but do you want to be the one taking that swing?

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True, a Defensive minded HC can succeed if he able to still identify the OC that can find & develop the talent to win. Such a coach has to do it repeatedly, because once they have good season that OC moves on to be a HC for another team.

Also needs to have a GM that can oversee to ensure both Off & Def are happy as well as productive with adequate resources.

Tough business.

Ogie Ogilthorpe said:

I've said from the beginning that I think Flores is getting some seriously bad legal advice. I just don't know what the end game is here. The burden of proof here is going to awfully hard to achieve (depending on what court he gets in front of obviously), and the fact that the Dolphins had a minority GM running their team before and after Flores' tenure won't exactly help his argument.

I also think this possibly makes it more difficult for other minority candidates to get jobs. What team wants to deal with something like this if they don't have to? Lastly, as a business owner, I can't fathom any scenario on the planet where I would consider hiring someone who has a history of suing their former employer. The circumstances would have to be extreme to even remotely consider it.

Flores holds an incredibly elite position, one of only 32 DC's in the NFL and as Howie said, more than likely one of the highest paid DC's, and he doesn't have to deal with the bullshit of being a HC. I couldn't think of a better position to be in as one of the most respected DCs in all of football

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I agree with basically most of your post.

The fact that the SC denied the NFL appeal for arbitration, especially with the current composition of SC, that the suit has merit and deserves to be litigated now is interesting.

From the article regarding the lawsuit, claims against the Dolphins weren’t included in the ruling being referenced -

In 2023, a federal judge allowed some claims in Flores’ lawsuit to go to arbitration, while others — including those against the New York Giants, Denver Broncos and Houston Texans, all teams Flores interviewed with at some point — were to remain in court. In August 2025, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan upheld that ruling, which also determined that “related claims” against the NFL could proceed in court.

Gopher_In_NYC said:

I agree with basically most of your post.

The fact that the SC denied the NFL appeal for arbitration, especially with the current composition of SC, that the suit has merit and deserves to be litigated now is interesting.

From the article regarding the lawsuit, claims against the Dolphins weren’t included in the ruling being referenced -

In 2023, a federal judge allowed some claims in Flores’ lawsuit to go to arbitration, while others — including those against the New York Giants, Denver Broncos and Houston Texans, all teams Flores interviewed with at some point — were to remain in court. In August 2025, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan upheld that ruling, which also determined that “related claims” against the NFL could proceed in court.

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I wasn't sure about Miami's part of the latest suit that is still alive.

I guess my overall thought remains the same; I just don't know what the end game is. I doubt it's money, and as far as "winning" a lawsuit like that, I don't really know what you're winning. The NFL likely does more than most to ensure minority hiring in high level positions so what are you going to gain there

And it this DOES go to court, does Flores really want all of that baggage from Miami hauled up into the public eye? I just can't imagine that's a good look and I would think he would want to avoid that. Even if the current suit isn't directly related to what happened in Miami, if I'm on the other side of the table I'm absolutely bringing it up. There were plenty of reports out there about what kind of work atmosphere there was around Flores in the building in Miami; borderline hostile, horrible treatment of subordinate staff, people walking around the building on eggshells terrified of setting him off. He treated staff like shit, plain and simple.

I just don't know what this serves. And if it is specifically related to minority hiring and any discrimination in that regard, I would sure think they could come up with coaches that got it a lot worse than Flores.

Plenty of stories out there of elite level Coordinators who just may not be good HC's; Josh McDaniels, Zimmer, Flores, Steve Wilkes, et al.

I just don't get it. Even if he absolutely positively 100% got hosed and railroaded and shafted, personally, I would still be just moving on and happy that I have one of the most highly coveted jobs in the world, making more money than like 0.001% of the population. We should all be so disrespected.