Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports I’m not sure if we should be surprised by this or not During Rick Spielman’s tenure with the Minnesota Vikings, he was responsible for the hiring of three head coaches: Brad Childress, Leslie Frazier (who started as an interim coach after Childress was fired), and Mike Zimmer. Zimmer had the longest and, arguably, the most successful tenure of those three coaches, but things apparently wore down between Zimmer and Spielman at the end of the trail. Former Vikings’ quarterback Kyle Sloter was a guest on Matt Falk’s podcast the other day and made a pretty signific ..read more

Photo by Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images Not a lot going on right now as we are in the offseason which my wife knows full well. Guess hose “honey-do” list just got a lot longer? News and Links Vikings announce jersey numbers for new players, swaps for veterans Harrison Phillips: Vikings will use ‘division of labor’ to carry leadership torch vacated by Kirk Cousins “There’s gonna be a huge loss,” Phillips said Wednesday on NFL Total Access. “Kirk Cousins as a person, as a leader, as a teammate, that’s a big void in your locker room. One of the most humble guys that I’ve ever been around. Servant lea ..read more

Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports Let’s get everybody caught up Since we’re rapidly reaching the point of the offseason where there isn’t going to be a whole lot to talk about, let’s start with some cosmetic moves that the Minnesota Vikings made on Wednesday. The team has announced the numbers for every player on the roster that hadn’t already been assigned one, most notably the team’s draft picks, undrafted free agents, and free agents they signed this offseason. They also announced some new numbers for veteran players as well. So, for those of you that might be jersey aficionados, we’ll go thr ..read more

JAMIE GERMANO / USA TODAY NETWORK Since Our Last Open Thread... NFL to release schedule next Wednesday Again, we all know the rules, but in case someone is new: No discussion of politics or religion No feeding of the trolls Leave the gender hatred at the door Keep the bad language to a minimum (using the spoiler tags, if you must) Speaking of which, if discussing a newer show or movie, please use spoiler tags No pictures that could get someone fired or in serious trouble with their employer If you can’t disagree in a civil manner, feel free to go away While navigating the open thread, just as ..read more

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports Not as early as we had thought It appears that we’re going to have to wait just a bit longer for the 2024 NFL schedule than we had originally thought. NEWS: The full @NFL schedule is currently slated to be released at 8pm ET on May 15, per memo to teams this afternoon from exec Hans Schroeder. Teams had been expecting this week, Thursday. Reason for delay not mentioned in memo. — Ben Fischer (@BenFischerSBJ) May 7, 2024 The National Football League has just announced that the release of this season’s schedule will be happening on 15 May, which is one week from to ..read more

Join host Tyler Forness on The Real Forno Show for an in-depth analysis of the Minnesota Vikings. This episode focuses on the role of new quarterback J.J. McCarthy, potential star Dallas Turner, and the latest team news. A must-listen for every Vikings fan! SKOL! In this episode of The Real Forno Show, host Tyler Forness and producer Dave took on one of the most debated topics among Minnesota Vikings fans - the starting timeline of JJ McCarthy. Tyler asks whether JJ McCarthy is a winner and what that means for an earlier starting timeline, and even overall. Then throw in a mock schedule to he ..read more

Photo by David Berding/Getty Images Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please. - Mark Twain The Kirk Cousins latest story about him not wanting the Vikings to draft a QB being the reason he did not re-sign, if true, is amusing. I do not really buy it to be honest. I think the 100M guaranteed is what really did the trick. I am more inclined to want to see JJ McCarthy sit the bench for the entire season just like Mahomes had to do. The concern is with Sam Darnold. Can he stay healthy and will he play well enough to remain starting? Also, and probably a silly thing to wonder ..read more

Photo by Nick Cammett/Diamond Images via Getty Images The roster is back down to 90 As we get closer to the start of OTAs, the Minnesota Vikings have made the first of what will likely be several roster moves ahead of everybody getting together in Eagan. The team has announced that they have waived wide receiver Daylen Baldwin. That means that the roster is now back at 90 players. Baldwin was signed by the Vikings in mid-November last season and spent time on the practice squad but did not see any game action. He was signed to a futures contract in January. A college teammate of J.J. McCarthy ..read more

Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images What development is needed for McCarthy to take the reins and will he be ready for Week One? Now that the Vikings have placed their bet on their next franchise quarterback in JJ McCarthy, the focus has moved to when that next chapter will begin on the field for the Vikings. Most quarterback evaluators think McCarthy needs some time to develop before he’s ready to start in the NFL, according to what they’ve seen from him on tape. Of those, the time needed before he’s ready to start ranges from possibly being able to start week one, to needing a full year to ..read more

Photo by Candice Ward/Getty Images And it’s funny, given what happened later Immediately after the start of the “legal tampering” period of free agency. . .or well before, depending on who you believe. . .quarterback Kirk Cousins made the decision to leave the Minnesota Vikings to sign a four-year contract with the Atlanta Falcons. Vikings brass made it clear in the lead-up to free agency that they wanted Cousins back, but the two sides didn’t get a deal worked out. We now know what happened and, given what’s transpired since, it’s pretty funny. Albert Breer talked in his Monday Morning Quarte ..read more