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Conference Championship Weekend! It still stinks that the Vikings had no chance this year. Once again we are on the outside looking in. It is great to get Flores back but there still is a lot to worry about with the offense. If it were not for Flores where would the Vikings have been the […]

Conference Championship Weekend! It still stinks that the Vikings had no chance this year. Once again we are on the outside looking in.

It is great to get Flores back but there still is a lot to worry about with the offense. If it were not for Flores where would the Vikings have been the last 3 years?

I am going with the Patriots and the Seahawks. I think the Seahawks defense can carry the day at home but the Rams will be tough.

If the Seahawks go to the Super Bowl it is going to be great here right?

Minnesota Vikings News and Links

Insider Reveals Vikings’ Massive Trade Package for Joe Burrow
On Jan. 22, On SI’s Grant Cohn, a beat reporter covering the San Francisco 49ers, was debunking any speculation of the Niners trading for Justin Jefferson. However, in that same video, he mentioned that the Vikings are willing to make a huge trade offer for Cincinnati Bengals QB Joe Burrow.

“[The Vikings] want to get right back into contention,” Cohn said in a video posted on X. “They’re planning to offer J.J. McCarthy and Jonathan Greenard, and two first‑round picks to the Cincinnati Bengals for Joe Burrow. If the Bengals say no, then they might go out and get Kirk Cousins, bring him back.

“What they’re not going to do is trade Justin Jefferson from Minnesota to the Niners because they said, ‘Pretty, pretty, please.’ So fun idea, but if the Niners want a wide receiver for Minnesota, it’s Jordan Addison.”

Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy Under Pressure for 2026
Recently, CBS Sports listed seven quarterbacks who have the most to prove in 2026. NFL analyst Ran Carthon believes that McCarthy not needing to rehab this offseason could prove helpful for him heading into his third season in the pros.

However, he still expects the Vikings to bring in a QB that can take advantage of a team that wants to win now, should McCarthy stumble.

“For J.J. McCarthy and for the Minnesota Vikings, for that matter, this offseason is going to be critical because J.J. is going to need to approach this offseason from the standpoint of being able to work on his game and not have to be rehabbing an injury,” Carthon said during a Jan. 21 appearance on CBS Sports HQ. “So this is going to be really key for him.

“I do believe that the Minnesota Vikings will have a backup plan in terms of a veteran quarterback to bring in there because this team is too good a team to sit and wait for this guy to develop, because you’re going to miss the primes of a lot of really good players that they have on offense and defense.”

Insider Says Vikings Made Brian Flores an Offer He Couldn’t Refuse
On Thursday morning, NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero said the Vikings made Flores a “huge offer” to convince him to stick around.

“Really, they had agreed to terms last week, but it got finalized and signed yesterday,” Pelissero said on KFAN’s The Power Trip. “My understanding is they made a huge offer, the type that Flores as a D-coordinator was not gonna be able to refuse.”
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“He could’ve said, you know what, it’s been a good three years, I’m not getting the head coaching opportunities that I might think that I should be getting, I’m gonna go someplace else and see whether that changes,” Pelissero said. “He decided Minnesota was the right place for him. There were millions of reasons for him to decide that it was the right place for him. We’ll see what shakes out in those head coaching searches, but right now, it looks like he’ll be back in Minnesota.”

Pelissero Floats Another Name to Know for Vikings’ OL Coach Vacancy
One potential candidate we’ve brought up is former Falcons O-line coach Dwayne Ledford, who has proven to be excellent in that role. But the Vikings should have plenty of options as they look around the league and end up doing interviews, as NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero mentioned this week on KFAN’s The Power Trip.

“I was surprised that Chris Kuper was let go as the offensive line coach,” Pelissero said. “That wasn’t on my radar. I don’t get the sense that it was on (Kuper’s) radar either. But there’s gonna be, when you look at what the Vikings are working with, when you look at the respect that Kevin O’Connell commands within the league, I think he’s gonna have options.”

Pelissero mentioned that the process could take a bit while the Vikings wait for dominoes to fall across the league. Various teams are in the process of hiring not only new head coaches, but then filling out their staffs afterwards. Once that happens, there could be some former offensive coordinators who find themselves without an OC job in 2026.

“One of the things that I would point out is … there’s still enough dominoes here that some of those, let’s say the in-limbo offensive coordinator candidates are still waiting to see, all right, am I gonna go be at OC somewhere,” Pelissero said, “or am I potentially gonna go and be a position coach or have some type of an elevated title?”

He then floated one name to watch: Former Dolphins offensive coordinator Frank Smith. With Jeff Hafley replacing Mike McDaniel as Miami’s head coach, Smith will presumably end up looking for a new job elsewhere this offseason.

“One name that would jump to mind would be Frank Smith, who’s been the offensive coordinator with the Dolphins, has been one of the most highly regarded coordinators,” Pelissero said. “He was named the number one coordinator in an NFLPA poll a couple of years ago. He well could be an OC, depending on who gets some of these head coaching jobs. If he’s not, he’s always been a respected offensive line coach.

“You know, somebody like that. I don’t think that Kevin O’Connell is just gonna go and hire a first-timer. This is a team that’s ready to roll. I would think you’d want somebody with experience, somebody who can work with players. That’s just one name, Frank Smith, but I would say that certainly (O’Connell is) gonna be looking and he’s gonna have options just because of the situation and the environment that they’ve got in Minnesota.”

How Has the Vikings’ Donovan Jackson Selection Aged After One Year?

Jackson played in 14 of the team’s 17 games, missing time early in the season due to a wrist injury. The first-year guard finished his season with a 65.7 PFF pass block grade, which was the 27th-best in the league among all guards. While his pass blocking proved starter worthy, his run blocking needed improving. He finished with a 57.2 PFF run blocking grade, which was 55th-best among the league’s guards. According to PFF, the rookie allowed 26 total pressures and just two sacks in 468 pass block snaps in 2025.

Brian Flores’ Return Would Change Everything For Minnesota’s 2026 Offseason
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Vikings, Jets named best and worst landing spots for $180 million quarterback
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Ex-Vikings QB Kellen Mond Bashes Mike Zimmer in LinkedIn Post

Shrine Bowl Report (1/23): Buzz from Frisco

For some players, it’s one thing to watch them on tape but something completely different when you see them in person. Florida State’s Darrell Jackson Jr. is one of those players. He is an enormous human being at defensive tackle, and some draft analysts are saying he might be the highest drafted player from this game as a Day 2 selection. He weighed in at 6-5, 328 pounds with ridiculously long 35-inch arms. As a comparison, Dexter Lawrence measured 6-4 1/2, 342 pounds with 34 3/4-inch arms at the NFL Combine in 2019. Jackson carries his 328 pounds extremely well and told me later in an interview he hopes to play at closer to 320 pounds. He is powerful and offensive linemen struggled to move him off his spot. He also showed off his length and power with a bull rush during 1-on-1 drills, pushing an offensive lineman right into the quarterback’s lap.

LSU’s Harold Perkins is someone to watch this week, as a swiss army knife defender that can play off-ball linebacker or rush the passer off the edge. He measured at 6-0 3/8 inches and 222 pounds making his fit something that might be different for NFL teams. But he is an explosive athlete and we will track him all weekend as he is expected to play a number of different positions.

Notre Dame’s Aamil Wagner stood out at offensive tackle, playing both the right and left sides. He has impressive size (6-5 1/8, 302 pounds) with long arms (34 5/8 inches) and quick feet to set and stay in front of some very fast edge rushers. I’m anxious to see how he looks once these speed rushers try some counter moves on him and he is forced to change directions more.

But it was Illinois’ James Thompson who stole the show on Friday. At 6-5 1/4 and 301 pounds, offensive linemen had trouble staying in front of him most of the day with him knifing through the line in team drills and winning consistently in one on ones at defensive tackle.

2026 East-West Shrine Bowl Roster
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2026 East-West Shrine Bowl Practice Notes, Day 1

Yore Mock

Trade Partner: Eagles
Sent: 1.18, 3.82
Received: 1.23, 3.68, 3.98
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Trade Partner: 49ers
Sent: 1.23
Received: 1.27, 4.127
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Trade Partner: Steelers
Sent: 2.49
Received: 2.53, 4.121
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Pick 27. Akheem Mesidor EDGE Miami (FL) 6’3″ 280
Pick 53. Dillon Thieneman S Oregon 6’0″ 205
Pick 68. D’angelo Ponds CB Indiana 5’9″ 173
Pick 97. Harold Perkins LB LSU 6’1″ 222
Pick 98. Emmett Johnson RB Nebraska 5’1″ 200
Pick 121. Jake Slaughter IOL Florida 6’4″ 303
Pick 127. Deion Burks WR Oklahoma 5’9″ 188
Pick 161. Chris McClellan DLMissouri 6’4′ 323
Pick 194. Fa’alili Fa’amoe OT Wake Forest 6’5″ 317
Pick 234. Riley Nowakowski TE/FB Indiana 6’2″ 249
Pick 240. Jakobe Thomas S Miami 6’2″ 200