Now that it’s June, the Vikings will start the 2025 NFL season 14 weeks from now.
In the off-season, getting under 100 days until the season starts is always a nice milestone.
The Vikings will start their offseason today with a session of voluntary organized team activities (OTAs) that will be open to the media. Next week, they will have to go to a required minicamp.
At the end of last week, Minnesota announced that General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah would be getting a new deal. They also celebrated Head Coach Kevin O’Connell’s win of the Horrigan Award from the Pro Football Writers of America for the year. Every year, that award is given to a league, team, or other official who helps the professional football writers do their jobs with their skills and professional manner.
We also heard from J.J. McCarthy and saw Andrew Van Ginkel for the first time since he signed a one-year deal last week. It was the first time we had seen or heard from him since the preseason. Last week, O’Connell talked about a few things, such as McCarthy’s mobility, Will Fries’s situation, and the plans for “layered learning” during OTAs.
A little rain delayed the UNRL Celebrity Softball Game, but that didn’t stop the fun for the dozens of players and fans who went. The game was led again by C.J. Ham. We’ll have a full report on that this week, but for now I just want to say that it was a great night of fun fundraising and getting to know each other off the field.
The Vikings aren’t going to change anything about their outfits in 2025, but the NFL and Nike said at the draft in April that they will start a Rivalries program this fall.
This year, only the NFC West and AFC East divisions are taking part in the practice. The outfits have not been shown off yet. Once they are introduced, the Rivalries outfits will be used for three more seasons after the first one.
In 2026, the show will air in the NFC North and the AFC South. In 2027, it will air in the NFC East and the AFC West, with the NFC South and the AFC North following in 2028.
The Winter Warrior outfits, which were a huge hit when they were first worn last year, and the Vikings Classic will still be used by Minnesota.
There are confirmed rumors that Gilmore visited the Cowboys’ headquarters and that Griffin has been in talks with the Seahawks. This would give each player a chance to get back together with the other team.
Some people in the national media, even before the draft, thought the Vikings still needed to add a CB, either through the selection committee or free agency after they didn’t pick one.
But it looks like Vikings Defensive Coordinator Brian Flores might be giving too little credit to what Isaiah Rodgers can do. Rodgers helped Philadelphia win Super Bowl LIX not long ago. Minnesota also put a lot of effort into getting Byron Murphy, Jr. back for many good reasons, and they are excited about Mekhi Blackmon’s return from a torn ACL he got at the start of 2024 training camp.
Teams always think about what they can do to help their players and have backup plans in case something goes wrong.
Khyree Jackson’s death in a car accident and Blackmon’s injury in July led to the signing of Gilmore in August and Fabian Moreau in late July of last year. Griffin had joined Minnesota in March. Also, Moreau is not tied to any team.
The Vikings added Jeff Okudah this spring. He is another veteran with a strong draft history. At last week’s open to the media OTA practice, he looked good with his work.
After that, Minnesota is excited to see what Dwight McGlothern can do to build on a great camp as a rookie. They will also look at a few other players with NFL experience as well as a few rookie free agents who weren’t picked in the draft.
Anytime soon, another veteran could be added, but I think the role has more to offer than people think.
HOLLY,
— Sean in Denver
After three seasons, O’Connell, who was named NFL Coach of the Year by The Associated Press in 2024, has led the Vikings to a.667 win rate (34-17). The Chiefs (.784), Eagles (.765), Bills (.740), Lions (.706), and Ravens (.686) have better records than that. For the first time in club history, Minnesota started four different quarterbacks in the same season in 2023.
As of now, O’Connell has lost both of his playoff games, but I’m having a hard time thinking of any other coach who could have done better during what most people thought would be a “rebuild” for the Vikings.
Over the last three seasons, only nine teams have won 10 or more games and finished above.500. Seven teams have not won 20 games.
Under Flores (since 2023) the Vikings may have used some preventative ideas in some situations, but those words wouldn’t be my first choice to describe his plan and the people’s attitude.
Wow, this is really exciting! I’m thrilled that the young men and women competed at the Olympics!! Looking at this makes me wish I could have joined in. The NFL and the Minnesota Vikings should be praised for being early leaders in this exciting new venture!!
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