The past two weeks have clarified the Minnesota Vikings' plans for the 2025 season. The team has provided a convincing case that it prefers 2024 No.10 draft pick J.J. McCarthy as its starting quarterback, and that free agent Aaron Rodgers would be an option only in the case of catastrophe -- and if he's still available at that time.
McCarthy's development will remain the most important story surrounding the franchise, especially once he returns to on-field work at the end of this month. But recent interviews and informal discussions with the Vikings' key decision-makers, most recently at the NFL's annual meeting in Palm Beach, Fla., provided insight into the execution of a blueprint to build a roster that can support a young quarterback.
Let's dive further into the details and context of this crucial time period, one the Vikings hope has positioned them to make a deep playoff run this season.
Players, including McCarthy, were aware of Rodgers talks
On the morning of the 2024 draft, coach Kevin O'Connell summoned quarterback Sam Darnold to his office. In a 45-minute conversation, O'Connell told Darnold -- who had recently signed a one-year contract with the Vikings -- that the team planned to draft a quarterback that evening. Regardless of that plan, however, O'Connell told Darnold that he would be an important part of the 2024 season.
The conversation was one of the first steps in building Darnold into the Pro Bowl quarterback he became eight months later, and O'Connell utilized a similar approach to explain his discussions with Rodgers to McCarthy and others.
"J.J. knew of those conversations almost borderline in real time just because I do see him every day throughout the week," O'Connell said, "and I thought it was important just so that he was hearing it from me and my perspective from the very first time I had any communication, really in regards to Aaron and any of the other free agents that we've discussed at kind of all positions."
O'Connell said he also spoke with receiver Justin Jefferson, tight end T.J. Hockenson, right tackle Brian O'Neill and linebacker Jonathan Greenard about Rodgers and/or the team's roster plans. It might sound simple, but there is value in preventing players -- especially McCarthy -- from being blindsided by news reports that could affect their jobs.
Vikings trust their medical staff to overperform
There was a time in the NFL when the rule of thumb for projecting injuries was pretty simple. Players who get hurt keep getting hurt, and the trend accelerates with age. It was a longer way of labeling a player as "injury prone."
But throughout the three-year tenure of general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and O'Connell, the Vikings have expressed explicit expectations that vice president of player health and performance Tyler Williams can circumvent such concerns. That's the biggest reason why the team felt so comfortable signing six free agents this spring who missed five or more games last season because of injuries.
Most notably, receiver Rondale Moore (right knee) did not play at all in 2024. Defensive tackle Javon Hargrave (torn right triceps) missed 14 games, guard Will Fries (fractured right tibia) missed 12 and defensive tackle Jonathan Allen (torn left pectoral) missed nine.
"I think more and more every year, it's more of like, 'Tyler and those guys, they got 'em, we're going to be just fine," O'Connell said. "They've just proven time and time again: world class down there with what they do."
Said Adofo-Mensah: "I think Tyler and his staff do an incredible job to get players to be healthier, better, more available than they've been at other stops."
Are the Vikings fooling themselves into thinking they have a secret sauce to injury prevention and treatment? Perhaps. But there is no escaping the fact that Williams has nursed full seasons from players who haven't always produced them.
Running back Dalvin Cook's only 17-game season came when Williams joined the staff in 2022. Running back Aaron Jones set a career high in snaps (700) last season at age 29. Linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel, meanwhile, returned from a broken foot suffered during the 2023 postseason to start all 17 games and play a career high 922 defensive snaps in 2024.
At the moment, the Vikings believe Moore is the only player among their previously -injured newcomers who might not be ready for a full training camp.
RB Jordan Mason will have a big role
The Vikings have Jones penciled in as their starting running back. They paid Jones more to return ($20 million over two seasons) than they did to acquire Mason from the 49ers and pay their new backup. By all accounts, however, Mason isn't going to be a typical backup.
O'Connell could not have been more clear, both before and after Mason's arrival, that he wants to pull back on Jones' usage after he set career highs in snaps (700), rushing attempts (255) and total touches (306) last season.
"When he has historically had that 1A/1B backfield structure, he can be a total game-changer every time he touches the ball," O'Connell said. "So it was always about bringing Aaron back ... but what are we going to pair him with?"
Mason will spell Jones for some series, but O'Connell left little doubt about some additional roles he foresees, including some areas where the Vikings have been particularly weak over time.
"I do think Jordan's going to bring something to the table in those short-yardage situations, those goal-line situations, goal-to-go, where we've really left a lot to be desired as a football team, and that starts with me to make sure we improve in that area. We certainly have improved personnel wise."
There is a plan if WR Jordan Addison is suspended
The Vikings don't know yet if the NFL will discipline Addison for a 2024 misdemeanor DUI citation, which is still working its way through the Los Angeles court system. But if he ends up being suspended, the Vikings expressed confidence in receiver Jalen Nailor as a worthy short-term replacement.
Nailor caught seven passes for 106 yards and three touchdowns last season when Addison missed two full games and part of a third because of an ankle injury. He went on to set career highs for receptions (28), yards (414) and touchdowns (six) while appearing in a career-high 17 games.
"I think we basically went through that last year with Jordan [missing games]," O'Connell said. "We essentially, for two and a half games, didn't have him, and we were able to beat the San Francisco 49ers and the Houston Texans with Jalen Nailor playing huge roles in those games."
Nailor, a sixth-round pick in 2022, could be in position for an early playing time boost to his 2026 free agent stock.
"I think this is a massive, massive year for his career," O'Connell said.
CB Isaiah Rodgers is a Brian Flores special
The Vikings have brought back only one of their top four cornerbacks from last season, veteran Byron Murphy Jr. That left some questions about who will start opposite Murphy. While there could be more free agent activity after the draft, the early front runner is clearly Rodgers -- who appeared in 15 games last season for the Eagles but took only 36% of their defensive snaps.
O'Connell said that Flores identified Rodgers as a possible target early in free agent evaluations and that Flores' success rate on other suggestions in the past -- including linebackers Van Ginkel and Blake Cashman -- spurred action.
"When Flo kind of has that tone in his voice about guys," O'Connell said, "... he's been pretty darn accurate."
O'Connell hasn't awarded Rodgers a starting job quite yet but said he sees Rodgers as an "every down impact guy" who might also have bandwidth in the return game.
Goal for new DTs: "Impactful" snaps
The Vikings gave big contracts to new defensive tackles Allen ($17 million APY) and Hargrave ($15 million), and in theory they will flank veteran nose tackle Harrison Phillips when the Vikings are in their base defense.
But they have used their base defense on only 13.2% of their snaps in two years under Flores, the second-lowest rate in the NFL over that period. If that trend continues, the Vikings have in essence given themselves an expensive but likely much more effective rotation on their front.
The Vikings enter their offseason work hoping that Hargrave (age 32), Allen (30) and Phillips (29) will play the most important downs but can credibly be rested in favor of second-year players Jalen Redmond, Levi Drake Rodriguez and possibly Taki Taimani. The latter three combined to take 299 snaps last season.
"It all kind of goes back to ... bringing on some older players in that room so we can be impactful with their snaps," O'Connell said, "knowing we've got good young depth that we want to see development."
G Blake Brandel gets "some grace"
In the moments after the Vikings' 2024 season ended with a playoff loss to the Los Angeles Rams, O'Connell uncharacteristically blurted out a roster deficiency he wanted to address this offseason: the interior of the offensive line.
The Vikings signed new starters at center (Ryan Kelly) and right guard (Fries) but spared left guard Blake Brandel, who struggled last season after left tackle Christian Darrisaw was lost for the season due to a knee injury. In the 10 games that followed, playing next to newcomer Cam Robinson, Brandel ranked No. 25 in the NFL among guards in pass block win rate and No. 52 in run block win rate.
Why will Brandel get another chance? For one, 2024 was his first season as a full-time NFL starter. There's reason to think he can smooth out his performance over time. Second, he represents cost control without having to count on a completely untested player. His contract, signed prior to the 2024 season, averages $3.2 million per year . The Vikings' otherwise high-priced offensive line that includes Darrisaw ($26 million), O'Neill ($18.5 million), Fries ( $17.5 million) and Kelly ($9 million).
O'Connell mentioned 2024 seventh-round pick Michael Jurgens as possible competition for Brandel, but the Vikings are hoping to see how Brandel performs in what they hope is a less chaotic personnel arrangement.
"We wanted to make a commitment last year to Blake and see what it looked like over the course of a whole season," O'Connell said. "I thought over the first five, six games, when you really took a step back with him playing next to Christian Darrisaw, he played at a pretty darn high level.
"There were some moments in there where I really thought Blake was taking that next step, and then Cam Robinson comes in, and I don't think you can discount the role Blake played in Cam's ability to come in, handle the communication, new offense, everything. But that had to stress Blake enough that I think we got to give him some grace on some things throughout that time."
