Throughout the course of the week, teams will be allowed to interview players to help them make their choices easier when it comes time for the NFL draft in April. In essence, it’s one more piece of the puzzle.
On Saturday, the media was able to interview the offensive linemen and specialists, as they will be working out on Sunday afternoon.
Here are some of the main takeaways from those interviews.
Throughout the course of the week, teams will be allowed to interview players to help them make their choices easier when it comes time for the NFL draft in April. In essence, it’s one more piece of the puzzle.
On Friday, the media was able to interview the quarterbacks, running backs and wide recievers, as they will be working out on Saturday afternoon.
Here are some of the main takeaways from those interviews.
Both Minnesota Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and head coach Kevin O’Connell will be speaking at the Scouting Combine on Tuesday
Each year at the NFL Scouting Combine, coaches and general managers will hold a small press conference allowing members of the media outside of the normal beat to ask them questions.
On Tuesday, February 27th, both Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell and general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah will both be speaking at podium seven with the former speaking at 12:30 p.m. and the latter at 1:00 p.m. central time.
These press conferences can shed some light on what the franchise is going to be doing in the draft but it often leads to questions that have already been answered due to the nature of who is asking the questions.
Stay tuned to Vikings Wire as we will be breaking down both press conferences on Tuesday afternoon.
Kevin O’Connell Kwesi Adofo-Mensah had their in their season-ending press conference on Wednesday
The Minnesota Vikings finished their season on Sunday afternoon with a 30-20 loss to the Detroit Lions.
On Wednesday afternoon, both head coach Kevin O’Connell and general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah spoke to the media about the season that just passed, the offseason and beyond.
Adofo-Mensah wants to bring back Cousins, but it’s far from a guarantee for this reason
The Minnesota Vikings had their year-end press conference with both head coach Kevin O’Connell and general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah. One of the questions asked was about starting quarterback Kirk Cousins and the possibility of his return.
Adofo-Mensah said he wanted Cousins to return but there was a catch in that process.
“Can you find an agreement that works for both sides?”
Last offseason, the Vikings and Cousins tried to come to an agreement before the 2023 season but they were unable to come to one mainly with the guaranteed money. Cousins’ camp wanted both 2024 and 2025 guaranteed but the Vikings were only willing to guarantee 2024.
Will that change after the season the Vikings just had? That’s doubtful considering the torn Achilles he suffered back in October against the Green Bay Packers.
The contract discussion with Cousins and his camp is going to be interesting to follow. The Vikings need a quarterback and everyone in the building likes and loves Cousins but can they make it work?
Smith is set to have a near $20 million cap hit in 2024 and could retire due to his age
There will be a lot of tough decisions that face the Minnesota Vikings this offseason. From the quarterback position to fixing the front seven, there are a lot of questions.
Arguably the biggest decision is going to surround future Ring of Honor member and potential Hall of Fame safety Harrison Smith. He likely will not play on the $19,215,882 cap hit he is set to have and would save $11,384,116 by releasing or trading him.
In talking to reporters after the game, Smith was adamant in not being ready to talk about the future and if he wants to play football in 2024.
“I’ll say this, it’s hard to have the ability to play and not have a desire. I’m not trying to be ominous. Right now my shoulder hurts.”
ESPN’s Kevin Seifert reported that Smith had been nursing a shoulder injury that had caused him a “fair bit of pain.”
Last offseason, there were whispers that Smith would retire but instead signed the amended contract that still gave him a base salary of $7.5 million and a total value of $8 million. With the money owed to Smith that significant for a player of his age, there are a lot of things to consider.
In the meantime, Smith is going to take his time until he needs to have a decision. The Vikings likely won’t need one until the beginning of March anyway.
The quarterback decision isn’t something that Justin Jefferson seems to be worried about
The Minnesota Vikings are in a position where the quarterback position is in flux for the 2024 season and beyond.
Kirk Cousins’ contract voids out on March 15th and the NFL draft has some potential options, including Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. What ends up happening will come to fruition over the next few months and it could be any number of directions.
“It’s not really in my control…I’m confident they’re going to make the right decision up there (front office). If it’s Kirk (Cousins), perfect. If it’s whoever they choose, it’s not my decision. I’m always going to continue to just be myself regardless and just play my best ball whenever I’m out there on the field.”
There has been a lot of discussion about Jefferson and the potential of his departure if the Vikings don’t keep Cousins. While it’s obvious that Jefferson, like the rest of the team, likes Cousins, he certainly doesn’t give the impression that the loss of Cousins would bring any form of discontent. He should remain in purple for a long time.
Kevin O’Connell took accountability for Minnesota’s subpar performance against the Green Bay Packers.
After a lifeless 33-10 beating to a hated divisional rival, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell took accountability for his staff’s subpar showing on primetime in his postgame press conference.
“I’ll look at how we prepared, I’ll look at what our plan was, get with the coordinators in all three phases, and talk about areas where we could have been better as a coaching staff and where we could have better put the plan together to ultimately see where did the failure happen. Was it the play calls? Was it the technique and fundamentals? Was it ownership of the plan? You have to take inventory on it. It’s not an easy process, it’s not a fun process but we as a coaching staff, starting with me, have to have the accountability and ownership…”
Sunday night was an embarrassing showing, made even more so when understanding the stakes involved. Win this game, and the playoffs are in your hands as you take on the Detroit Lions next week. Lose it, and you’re at the mercy of up to five different outcomes to continue the journey this season.
O’Connell is taking ownership and that’s what’s necessary with a performance like this one. His team was woefully unprepared when LaFleur’s game plan came to fruition on both sides of the football, the only bright spot coming from a three-play sequence that started with the effort from Najee Thompson. Outside of that, the performance was stiff and spiritless. It’s back to the drawing board for Minnesota as they look to play spoiler and take one last gasp at the postseason.
This is the third time that O’Connell has done that this season, doing so after losses against the Las Vegas Raiders and Lions. Each time he did, O’Connell announced the starting quarterback mid week.
Who will be the starter against the Lions? That remains to be seen, as all three quarterbacks have merit to get the start. Mullens looks to be the best option to get the win, Dobbs is a major changeup that could give a spark to the offense and Hall would be the choice if you want to keep learning about what he could be in the future.
That answer will come in time but don’t expect it quite yet.
The former Vikings QB enjoyed the win on Saturday just a little bit more
Saturday’s matchup between the Minnesota Vikings and the Cincinnati Bengals wasn’t just a battle of backup quarterbacks, it was a chance for quarterback Jake Browning to face off against his former team.
The Vikings signed Browning as an undrafted free agent in 2019 with a $100,000 signing bonus. He was waived during final cuts in 2021, and that motivated him against the Vikings on Saturday.
"I've been cut my fair share of times, but that was probably the shi**iest one."
– Jake Browning, on getting cut by the Vikings 2 years ago
Jake detailed what happened – and said he screamed into a TV camera after today's win: "THEY NEVER SHOULD'VE CUT ME!"
Browning didn’t like the way things were handled on the way out, saying that he was at a hotel waiting to see if he would be added to the practice squad but heard from his agent instead.
Naturally, the win meant just a little bit more to Browning.
“That one felt good,” Browning said after helping the Cincinnati Bengals come from 14 down to defeat the Vikings 27-24 in overtime.
“I think after we made the field goal,” he said, “I screamed at a camera and said, ‘They never should have cut me.’”
