Well, boys and girls. Looks like we will continue to beat that horse!<\/p>\n
The offseason fun\/drama is in full effect now. The press conferences from KAM and KOC were interesting. There are a lot of interpretations out there about what their plans are for the QB room. The consensus appears to be that they are aware of the fact that they need to upgrade that room. It does not mean that JJ is going to be gone or is not the starter. I am guessing there will be a competition. JJ has shown some really good flashes. I would not call it All Pro level yet but he is still young. The issue is that KAM and KOC are probably aware that they cannot miss the playoffs again next year no matter what happens at QB. That is good a thing. Never forget that in the end \u2026<\/p>\n
Minnesota Vikings News and Links<\/p>\n
Kevin O\u2019Connell has \u2018a lot of confidence\u2019 Vikings will retain DC Brian Flores as coaching carousel spins<\/a><\/p>\n Vikings coach Kevin O\u2019Connell told reporters Tuesday that Flores sits atop their list of priorities as they enter the 2026 offseason and feels the urgency to keep the coordinator, whom O\u2019Connell said the Vikings have \u201cbeen really aggressive\u201d in pursuing.<\/p>\n \u201cI think he\u2019s more than deserving, everything he\u2019s brought to our organization over these last three years,\u201d O\u2019Connell said, via the Minnesota Star Tribune. \u201cNot surprised people are wanting to talk to him about that role. Excited for him to do so, all while knowing our No. 1 priority — really before the season even ended — our No. 1 priority has been to get that thing done with him.\u201d \u201cHe is unique, and he does have a unique play style, but if you really look down deep, what does Flo value?\u201d Adofo-Mensah said. \u201cVersatility, physicality, the things that matter in good defensive football \u2026 that everybody values. Flo kind of takes those pieces and puts it together in an artwork that\u2019s different than most, but the core colors that are a part of that painting, a lot of people share those same things.\u201d<\/p>\n Kevin O\u2019Connell talks J.J. McCarthy, goals for Vikings\u2019 2026 QB room<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cIn the quarterback room, it\u2019s about having the deepest talented room you possibly can, each and every year,\u201d O\u2019Connell said. \u201cWhat that looks like at a pretty impactful position on your salary cap, when you\u2019re able to possibly plan for your depth chart looking in a way where you can be competitive no matter what.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think there has to be (competition),\u201d O\u2019Connell said. \u201cI think that\u2019s what\u2019s going to make everybody better in that room. I definitely want a competitive situation in that room.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked directly if he wants McCarthy to be the starter in 2026, Adofo-Mensah gave a non-committal answer, not wanting to put himself or the team in any sort of bind. O\u2019Connell wasn\u2019t asked that question directly, but he also straddled the line between expressing support for McCarthy and making it clear that competition is needed to elevate the room as a whole.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously J.J.\u2018s gonna be a major, major emphasis for our staff and our team and me personally,\u201d O\u2019Connell said. \u201cWe\u2019ll figure out what that looks like as we navigate the early part of this offseason, when it comes to managing the roster. I think ultimately, we\u2019ve gotta decide how to not only continue J.J.\u2018s progression, allow him to continue to ascend as a young player, but at the same time, I think the competition in that room will only enhance our entire team.\u201d \u201cI was really encouraged by the type of football he started to play toward the second half of the season, finishing the way he did,\u201d O\u2019Connell said. \u201cBut we\u2019re still looking at a quarterback who\u2019s started ten games. Ten out of a possible 34 in two years. Not the ideal path for a young quarterback to develop on the field, but I thought he did.\u201d<\/p>\n This is a critical offseason for McCarthy. He\u2019s got a lot of work to do to put himself in position to win an offseason competition and hold onto the starting job in Minnesota. It starts with developing consistent, repeatable mechanics that can allow him to be more accurate and stack completions together within the Vikings\u2019 offense. The one thing that neither O\u2019Connell nor Adofo-Mensah have any doubt about it how hard McCarthy will work to get to where they need him to be.<\/p>\n \u201cHe wants it more than anybody I\u2019ve ever been around, and he\u2019s got an offseason where he\u2019s going to have time to not rehab an injury,\u201d Adofo-Mensah said. \u201cAnd we\u2019re excited to see what development he takes and the steps he takes towards being available for us.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJ.J. McCarthy is a guy that wants to be great,\u201d O\u2019Connell said. \u201cI know he\u2019s going to work tirelessly to do that. I know his teammates have a lot of confidence in what he\u2019s gonna go to work to improve on this offseason and come back, have a great offseason, and be ready to hit the ground running in 2026. I think a deep and talented quarterback room will only enhance his ability to do that, and (I) look forward to being a part of that process.\u201d<\/p>\n Vikings GM admits mistakes on Daniel Jones; trusted J.J. McCarthy despite \u2018incomplete information\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n In an eye-opening press conference on Tuesday, Minnesota Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah admitted that the Vikings didn\u2019t handle Daniel Jones\u2019 free agency the right way last offseason, while also acknowledging that J.J. McCarthy started in 2025 despite \u201cincomplete information.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re trying to make sure that you don\u2019t lock yourselves into what you did and thinking that it\u2019s always right,\u201d Adofo-Mensah said. \u201cI always go back to the process and what we thought at the time. It\u2019s easier to go and be revisionist and results-based, but going to really think through what we had at the time, I still understand why we did what we did. The results maybe didn\u2019t play out the way we wanted them to, but ultimately, I think that at the end of the day, we could\u2019ve executed better in certain places.\u201d<\/p>\n Adofo-Mensah didn\u2019t give specifics initially, but he later admitted that he regrets how they handled the Daniel Jones negotiations. Here\u2019s what he said when a reporter asked if the Vikings were \u201coverconfident\u201d about Jones returning.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t want to say overconfidence, but I do think him being here was something that we kind of considered and thought would impact his decision. But ultimately, there are free agents, and to your point, learning lessons. I think, execution-wise, you have to treat it as such. No matter what the conversation is or relationships are, free agents are free for a reason, and they\u2019re allowed to vet all their options. Ultimately, we could\u2019ve executed better around that.\u201d \u201cWe talk a lot about the path of young players isn\u2019t linear, and you don\u2019t know how the first three games, four or five games are going to go. We have a lot of historical studies about what the first few games are going to look like, or that first year could look like, in a sense, and ultimately, that\u2019s why we tried to build the team, knowing those growth pains could come, to be able to overcome them and withstand them, in a certain sense,\u201d Adofo-Mensah began.<\/p>\n \u201cUltimately, a lot of this job \u2014 RG [Ryan Grigson] calls it fast eyes, and this isn\u2019t a fast-eye decision, but in a perfect world, you would have had a full sample, three years of watching him play in the NFL before. That\u2019s not how this works. And sometimes you have to go on incomplete information. And the information we had was all good, but it was admittedly incomplete and small-sampled. So ultimately, we trusted in the information we had, we trusted our coaches, we trusted in the team around him to do that. And so, it\u2019s hard to \u2014 really when you think about that and then go look back at the season, as I talked about, you saw the improvement at the end. You saw the flash of the player we thought he could be. So, in that sense, I can\u2019t say that we were overconfident. Maybe the timing didn\u2019t work out with other aspects of our team, whether that be injuries or different things like that. But ultimately, we\u2019re comfortable with where we are, and we\u2019re excited about where he can go.\u201d<\/p>\n Takeaways: Kevin O\u2019Connell & Kwesi Adofo-Mensah on Vikings 2025 Season & Coaching Staff<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThis season was not, in any way, shape or form, what we planned or hoped for,\u201d O\u2019Connell said, \u201cbut just the way they finished, the way they continue to fight, the way they stayed together and continue to strive for success through adversity, was impressive to watch. And so fortunate to be around the great group I get to be around.<\/p>\n \u201cThe same for our coaches. Total compliment to our coaching staff for helping to persevere through what was a difficult season at times and, ultimately, finishing the way we did, 5-0 down the stretch, shows a lot about those guys,\u201d O\u2019Connell continued. \u201cAnd most importantly, our players, our staff.\u201d<\/p>\n Adofo-Mensah called it \u201cobviously disappointing\u201d to be on the outside of the playoffs looking in.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s not the standard we set here for ourselves. It\u2019s not the standard we\u2019ve set for our fans,\u201d he said. \u201cAt the same time, I have a great deal of respect for how the season finished.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s a great credit to K.O. and his staff, the core group of players that we\u2019ve assembled in this locker room,\u201d Adofo-Mensah added. \u201cWe had a lot of things that showed flashes of the team we wanted to be, but ultimately we weren\u2019t consistent enough, and that\u2019s what we\u2019re going to try to do, find that consistency \u2014 find that ability to turn flash into reality over the course of a 17-game season to get us where we want to go.\u201d<\/p>\n No 1. Mike Pettine retiring<\/p>\n O\u2019Connell shared during his press conference that Assistant Head Coach Mike Pettine will be retiring.<\/p>\n O\u2019Connell noted more than once that the organization has been \u201caggressive\u201d in efforts to retain Flores while also respecting his opportunity to interview with other teams. (ESPN\u2019s Adam Schefter announced via X Tuesday that the Ravens had completed an interview with Flores for their head coach vacancy.)<\/p>\n \u201cFlo\u2019 knows exactly how we feel about him, but at the same time, we want to be really supportive. I\u2019m really excited for him,\u201d O\u2019Connell said. \u201cI think he\u2019s going to, for sure, talk to one team about their head coaching position. Would not be surprised at all if it ends up being multiple. I think he\u2019s more than deserving with everything he\u2019s brought to our organization over these past three years. It\u2019s been an awesome process to go back to when I first sat down with him, really talked about this vision and his impact and what it\u2019s inevitably ended up being. It\u2019s been a really positive thing for me. Our relationship is super strong.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re talking almost every day and just making sure he knows the intent of where we\u2019re at to have him as our defensive coordinator,\u201d O\u2019Connell continued. \u201cHe\u2019s kept no secrets about his desire to stay here doing that role, as well. But I think it\u2019s important that he totally commits to going through this process, especially the head-coaching process, and putting his best foot forward \u2014 which I know he will.\u201d<\/p>\n O\u2019Connell later added: \u201cBased upon my conversations [\u2026] I have a lot of confidence we\u2019re going to be able to get something done with him as our defensive coordinator.\u201d<\/p>\n No 3. Darrisaw and the OL<\/p>\n Minnesota used 26 (26!!) offensive line combinations during the 2025 campaign.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the lineup we thought we\u2019d have played 83 snaps together? \u2026 That\u2019s not what I expected,\u201d Adofo-Mensah said. \u201cI stand up here, partly, because I\u2019ve been accountable my whole life, and I don\u2019t think you run from opportunities to get better; so I always want to make sure I\u2019m doing that. But you can also point out context that might be an outlier \u2014 and what would it look like if they did have the ability to play together?<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s something we\u2019re thinking about, and you\u2019re trying to make sure you don\u2019t let the outlier kind of thing rob you of the lesson,\u201d he added. \u201cThat\u2019s really how I would try and phrase it.\u201d<\/p>\n Adofo-Mensah was asked specifically about Christian Darrisaw, who returned this past season from an ACL tear but continued to experience setbacks. He noted \u201ctime is on our side\u201d with Darrisaw now being more than a year removed from the initial injury.<\/p>\n \u201cAnother year of rehab, strengthening, things like that,\u201d the Vikings GM said. \u201cBut we\u2019ve seen how important he has been to our play. So when we\u2019re addressing things in the draft or free agency, we have to be mindful of that.\u201d<\/p>\n Adofo-Mensah emphasized making sure the team has ample depth at the left tackle position.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t want to say \u2018insurance,\u2019 but we\u2019re always trying to have a roster aspiration as a GM, that when that first guy goes out, the next guy comes in and is as good as [the starter],\u201d he said. \u201cIs that reality? No. But that\u2019s the mindset we\u2019ve got to take, and that\u2019s a position we\u2019ve probably got to be more mindful of.\u201d<\/p>\n Note: Kwesi continues to baffle with his ramblings. Like this \u201cyou don\u2019t let the outlier kind of thing rob you of the lesson\u201d. What lesson? Then he says this \u201cthat\u2019s a position we\u2019ve probably got to be more mindful of\u201d when talking about a backup to Darrisaw. Was he not \u201cmindful\u201d when he signed Skule?<\/p>\n Jordan Addison\u2019s legal team \u2018confident\u2019 he\u2019ll be \u2018exonerated\u2019 after arrest<\/a><\/p>\n According to Hillsborough County Jail records, Addison was arrested by Seminole Indian Police at 3:46 a.m. local time on Monday and booked into the county jail at 7:33 a.m. He was released at 2:40 p.m. Monday after posting a $500 cash bond.<\/p>\n Addison was booked for probable cause trespassing in an occupied structure or conveyance on the 5200 block of Orient Road, which is the site of the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. The alleged crime is a first-degree misdemeanor.<\/p>\n \u201cOn Jordan\u2019s behalf, his legal team has already initiated the investigation, identified witnesses, and we are reviewing the viability of a claim for false arrest,\u201d Younger & Associates said on social media. \u201cHe looks forward to the legal process and upon full investigation, we are confident Mr. Addison will be exonerated.\u201d<\/p>\n Addison\u2019s arrest hit the news cycle just before Vikings head coach Kevin O\u2019Connell and general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah were scheduled to address the media for their annual season-ending press conference.<\/p>\n O\u2019Connell said it was \u201cpremature\u201d for him to speculate on Addison\u2019s arrest, while Adofo-Mensah delivered a more nuanced response.<\/p>\n \u201cJordan is unique because 99% of the days that Jordan Addison is a Viking, he\u2019s a joy to be around,\u201d Adofo-Mensah said. \u201cHe\u2019s incredibly intelligent, confident, responsible. And then it\u2019s like all of us: What are you like on those 1% of days? Is it the type of thing that draws attention or not? Obviously that\u2019s something we have to consider when you\u2019re talking about long-term ramifications of a contract extension and different things like that, or letting somebody like Jalen Nailor leave.\u201d<\/p>\n Minnesota Vikings are linked to a potential Anthony Richardson trade, and it\u2019s bound to happen for one reason<\/a><\/p>\n Over the past few months, I have been vocal about the Vikings making one trade this offseason: Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson. Our Colts beat writer Destin Adams linked the two teams on Monday, and it makes all the sense in the world.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Vikings have their own former first-round pick who hasn\u2019t panned out the way they were hoping, in J.J. McCarthy,\u201d Adams wrote. \u201cHis struggles on the field and string of injuries caused Minnesota to miss the postseason, and the team will have to consider bringing in competition at QB for next season.<\/p>\n \u201cRichardson is set to make just $11 million on the final year of his rookie contract in 2026. Due to the Colts having to take on part of his salary to trade him, his new team would owe him less than $6 million next year.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Vikings won\u2019t find a more cost-effective option to compete with McCarthy. It\u2019s also pretty well known at this point that Vikings head coach Kevin O\u2019Connell was a big fan of Richardson during his draft process. The two even shared a touching moment after the Colts played the Vikings in 2024.\u201d<\/p>\n Note: The headline could lead someone to believe that this is more than just two goobers dreaming up trades. Apparently, the Vikings are \u201clinked\u201d to Richardson just because these bozos thought of a trade. As a long time clown myself (I prefer Homie the Clown), I do like to dream of trades.<\/p>\n
\u2026
O\u2019Connell stated he has \u201ca lot of confidence\u201d the Vikings will come to an agreement to keep Flores. General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, meanwhile, took a different approach to the matter, attempting to quell worries about a defensive decline if Flores were to leave.<\/p>\n
\u2026
At this juncture, McCarthy appears to be too talented and inexperienced to give up on, but also too flawed and injury-prone to fully commit to. That\u2019s why bringing in a veteran and letting a true competition play out feels like a logical answer.<\/p>\n
\u2026
Adofo-Mensah then said that they gave McCarthy the chance to start this season even though they had limited information to support the notion that he was ready.<\/p>\n