Tag: Mike Zimmer

Report: Vikings are finalizing ‘a multi-year contract extension’ with Mike Zimmer

Minnesota is reportedly finalizing a multi-year contract extension with Vikings coach Mike Zimmer.

Minnesota coach Mike Zimmer is entering his seventh season as head coach of the Vikings.

Zimmer is in the last year of his contract with the team, but according to a report from NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, that might change soon.

Pelissero reported that the Vikings are finalizing a multi-year contract extension with Zimmer.

There was a report from Chad Graff of The Athletic earlier this offseason that “there’s growing tension” between Zimmer and the Vikings regarding a new deal.

Zimmer has a record of 57-38-1 as coach of the Vikings. He has made the playoffs three times with Minnesota. Most recently, the team finished 10-6 in the regular season, and followed that up with a playoff victory over the Saints. The Vikings then lost to the 49ers in their next playoff game.

1 preseason game will add more challenges for new-look Vikings

This offseason has been a challenging one for players joining new teams.

The NFL has proposed playing just one preseason game in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The league originally proposed just two preseason games, down from the four that teams normally play.

I wrote about how two preseason games could be a challenge for the Vikings, a team that just selected 15 players in the 2020 NFL Draft.

Obviously, that’s enhanced when you cut that number in half.

With less in-person activities in the offseason due to the pandemic plus just one preseason games, that presents a huge challenge to a team like the Vikings.

Out of teams who consider themselves contenders, the Vikings probably went through more overhaul than any other team this offseason. Replacing players like Stefon Diggs, Trae Waynes and Xavier Rhodes will be rookies Justin Jefferson, Jeff Gladney and Cam Dantzler.

Being a rookie is hard. Being a rookie without any time around your new team and teammates is nearly impossible.

Mike Zimmer and his coaching staff will have to take advantage of the limited time he has with his team before the season starts if he wants the young players to contribute in a positive way early in the season.

This stat for Cameron Dantzler over his last two years with Mississippi State is insane

If Cameron Dantzler translates this stat to the NFL, the Vikings have found a stellar cornerback in the draft.

Minnesota desperately needed help heading into the 2020 NFL Draft within its secondary. 

After losing the majority of their secondary this offseason, the Vikings addressed the cornerback position twice in the first three rounds. TCU product Jeff Gladney was taken in the first round and Cameron Dantzler, out of Mississippi State, was selected in the third round in an attempt to patch up the defensive back corps.

Both cornerbacks bring a physical style of play with them to Minnesota. The Vikings drafting those two in the early rounds is great, because Vikings coach Mike Zimmer has been known for turning cornerbacks into stars. There is a lot of buzz around both of the young corners and there is a good chance that both will need to play significant time in 2020. 

Although Dantzler was taken towards the end of the third round, there’s still plenty to be excited about. During his last two seasons at Mississippi State, Dantzler had a passer rating when targeted of 43.6. 

This stat is absolutely crazy, especially when you consider that if a quarterback spiked the ball on every play his passer rating would be 39.6. 

Not only did he put up one of the craziest statistics a cornerback can have, but he did so against the No. 1 overall selection in his draft class and likely the top receiver in the 2021 class: Ja’Marr Chase. 

With the amount of key departures the Vikings had within their secondary this offseason, they needed to find multiple players that can come in and make an impact on day one. Dantzler has that ability and it’s going to be exciting to see Zimmer get to work with one of the youngest cornerback groups in the NFL.

Report: Mike Zimmer and Vikings have ‘growing tension’ regarding new deal

Vikings coach Mike Zimmer is in the final year of his contract.

Mike Zimmer is entering his seventh season with the Vikings. He’s coming off a 2019 in which he led his team to a 10-6 regular season record and a playoff victory against the Saints.

It’s safe to say that if the Vikings want to repeat that success, they will have to do so with a more unknown roster. There’s also the added uncertainty that Zimmer is currently in the final year of his contract.

When it comes to a new deal, Chad Graff of The Athletic reported that “there’s growing tension” between Zimmer and the Vikings.

Graff also said this (H/T Bring Me The News):

“Zimmer has been irked by the fact that it’s now July and he remains without a new contract, according to multiple sources who requested anonymity to speak freely about a sensitive topic. He’s begun preparing for what seems like a growing possibility that he may coach this season in the final year of his contract.”

Not only is Zimmer in the final year of his contract, but Vikings general manager Rick Spielman is as well. It will be interesting to see what the team does with those two in the future — whether that’s keeping them around or trying something new.

Vikings had fewest missed tackles in 2019

The Patriots ranked second on the list.

With Mike Zimmer leading the Vikings’ defense, we know that it’s all about fundamentals.

Per Pro Football Focus, the Vikings had just 85 missed tackles in 2019, a mark that was the lowest in the entire NFL.

The core of Eric Kendricks, Harrison Smith and Anthony Harris were big reasons for this.

While those three will return to the team in 2020, this defense is going to look real different with players like Xavier Rhodes, Trae Waynes, Mackensie Alexander, Andrew Sendejo, Linval Joseph and Everyone Griffen all playing elsewhere.

We’ll see if a younger group can carry on that same success.

Vikings HC Mike Zimmer named a top-10 coach in the NFL by CBS Sports

Where do you think Vikings HC Mike Zimmer ranks among the best coaches in the NFL?

Since he took over the Vikings, Minnesota coach Mike Zimmer has had some up-and-down seasons.

Every other year, Zimmer has made the playoffs, clinching three playoff berths as coach of the Vikings. In 2019, he led his team to the playoffs and Minnesota knocked out New Orleans in the first round.

CBS Sports’ Sean Wagner-McGough thinks Zimmer should be considered the 10th best NFL head coach right now. Notably, every coach ahead of Zimmer on the list has at least made the Super Bowl.

The rankings featured Bill Belichick at No. 1, Andy Reid at No. 2, John Harbaugh at No. 3, Sean Payton at No. 4, Kyle Shanahan at No. 5, Sean McVay at No. 6, Mike Tomlin at No. 7, Pete Carroll at No. 8, Doug Pederson at No. 9 and then, of course, Zimmer.

As of late, Zimmer has had the benefit of coaching a lot of veteran players, many of whom were on defense. However, this year will probably be different for the Vikings, assuming there are not a lot of roster changes leading up to the 2020 season.

Vikings coach Mike Zimmer ranked as the 20th best NFL coach

A recent power rankings listed Mike Zimmer as the 20th best head coach in the NFL.

Mike Zimmer inherited a Vikings team that went 5-10-1, and took them to the playoffs in his second season.

Zimmer, despite shoring up the defense and finding a good quarterback, has seen some up-and-down years in his time with the Vikings. He has made the playoffs as coach of Minnesota three times and has missed it three times.

FanSided thinks the inconsistency hurts Zimmer. Russell S. Baxter, who works for the outlet, recently compiled a coaching power rankings list.

Though Zimmer helped his team win a playoff game last year, the Vikings coach came in at 20th overall. Here’s what Baxter wrote:

“He’s been at the helm of the Purple Gang for six years. But Mike Zimmer has yet to take the Minnesota Vikings to the playoffs in back-to-back seasons. The club comes off a 10-6 showing and a wild card appearance and won a road playoff game at New Orleans before being humbled by the 49ers. There have been some changes on defense.”

Yes, Zimmer hasn’t always had a playoff-caliber team, but some of the names ahead of him on these rankings I consider to be unfair. Bears coach Matt Nagy was ahead of Zimmer, who seems to be more unproven.

There’s also Jon Gruden. I think if this was the early 2000’s it’d be hard to rank Gruden outside the top 10 on a coaching list. But this is a different time, and Gruden, as coach of the Raiders, hasn’t really shown that he can be good just yet.

Vikings’ Mike Zimmer: ‘No intention’ of trading Stefon Diggs before Bills

Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer on the trade of Stefon Diggs to the Buffalo Bills.

The Bills-Vikings trade involving wide receiver Stefon Diggs as the centerpiece earlier this offseason looks like a deal that makes sense for both sides.

Diggs had some negative feelings toward his former team which were well know. Even just prior to being traded, he sent out some cryptic tweets. Some weren’t sure what the wide receiver meant by them, but a short time later, he became a member of the Bills.

But despite those off-field issues, Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer joined the Rich Eisen Show and said that trading Diggs wasn’t in the offseason plan for his team. Instead, the offer made by Buffalo general manager Brandon Beane made too much sense to the Vikes.

“Diggs did not have to go. We didn’t really have any intention of trading him. Quite honestly, he put out a couple tweets, and there’s some things going on there,” Zimmer said. “What happened was Buffalo came in and gave us all those picks, and we were up against it with the salary cap, so we just felt like we could save some money, get a bunch of picks and maybe get a young receiver like [Justin Jefferson].”

As the deal went down, Buffalo acquired a seventh-round pick with Diggs and sent a first-round pick, fifth-round pick, sixth-round pick and a 2021 fourth-round pick to Minnesota. What Zimmer is saying also matches what Vikings general manager Rick Spielman said earlier this offseason.

Spielman had said while discussing the trade: “There was an opportunity, business opportunity that came up, that as this evolved we felt was both good for Stefon and was good for us.”

The Vikings front office is viewing it as a win-win in this deal, and the Bills should have no problem with that. Buffalo general manager Brandon Beane said the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, which has made the offseason different this year, played into his decision to land Diggs as well, a proven commodity, instead of selecting a rookie. Beane also discussed numerous times since the end of last season that the Bills had to “score more points.” Diggs helps there more in the short term than a rookie would.

Again on the flip side, while Diggs is a good talent, the Vikings also have Adam Thielen on their roster. The Vikings aren’t rebuilding, but Thielen is still their as their top target.

Making things further interesting, the Vikings used their pick from the Bills to select LSU wide receiver Justin Jefferson in the recent NFL Draft. Diggs and Jefferson will certainly have comparisons made between them for the foreseeable future. At some point down the line we’ll discover if one of these two sides comes out as the bigger winner in this trade.

 

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Rotoworld’s Patrick Daugherty ranks Mike Zimmer the 10th-best coach in the NFL

Rotoworld’s Patrick Daugherty went on The Ringer NFL Show, and discussed why he thinks Mike Zimmer is a top-10 coach.

The Ringer NFL Show recently discussed the NFL’s 10 best coaches. While Kevin Clark and Danny Kelly left Vikings coach Mike Zimmer off their respective lists, Patrick Daugherty had Zimmer at No. 10.

Here’s what Daugherty said about Zimmer:

“The first bar you want any head coach to clear is take care of his side of the ball,” Daugherty said. “You’re not worth your salt as a head coach if you’re not taking care of your side of the ball, and Mike Zimmer always takes care of the Vikings defense, so he clears that bar. And then, you know, the next step after that is you need to find the right leaders for the side of the ball you don’t lead, and he’s consistently done that.”

Though Daugherty ranked Zimmer high, he did mention that the Vikings coach was a borderline pick, and that he was debating whether to have Sean McDermott instead.

Daugherty later talked about how Zimmer’s offensive coordinator from 2019, Kevin Stefanski, got a head coaching job with the Browns.

“Even after losing Stefanski, he has Gary Kubiak, one of the better coaches of the 21st century. He has Kirk Cousins; he has Dalvin Cook, so he takes care of his business, and he’s got the right people in charge on the other side of the ball.”

Mike Zimmer:’We didn’t really have any intention of trading’ Diggs

“Diggs did not have to go. We didn’t really have any intention of trading him,” Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said.

Stefon Diggs ended 2019 as the Vikings’ leading receiver and in the offseason, the team traded him.

Minnesota traded Diggs and a seventh-rounder in exchange for a first-round pick, fifth-round pick, sixth-round pick and a 2021 fourth-round pick. Despite Diggs’ cryptic tweets this offseason, Minnesota coach Mike Zimmer said on the Rich Eisen Show that the team was not set on trading Diggs.

“Diggs did not have to go. We didn’t really have any intention of trading him. Quite honestly, he put out a couple tweets, and there’s some things going on there,” Zimmer told Eisen (H/T Bleacher Report). “What happened was Buffalo came in and gave us all those picks, and we were up against it with the salary cap, so we just felt like we could save some money, get a bunch of picks and maybe get a young receiver like [Justin Jefferson].”

Not only that, but Vikings general manager Rick Spielman said something similar to Zimmer earlier this offseason.

Spielman told the Pioneer Press and other outlets that the team had no intention of trading Diggs at first, “but then there was an opportunity, business opportunity that came up, that as this evolved we felt was both good for Stefon and was good for us.”