Minnesota Vikings Rumors & News - Pro Football Rumors

NFC Coaching Notes: Giants, Seahawks, Bears

February 14th, 2022 at 10:27pm CST by Ben Levine

Brian Daboll is naturally making some changes to the Giants coaching staff. Per Aaron Wilson on Twitter (detailed in four tweets), the Giants have hired Drew Wilkins as linebackers coach, Christian Jones as an offensive assistant, Laura Young as director of coaching operations, Bobby Johnson as offensive line coach, Shea Tierney as quarterbacks coach, DeAndre Smith as running backs coach, Mike Groh as wide receivers coach, Andy Bischoff as tight ends coach, Tony Sparano Jr. as assistant offensive line coach, and Andre Patterson as defensive line coach.

Daboll also retained a handful of holdovers from Joe Judge’s staff. That grouping includes Jerome Henderson (defensive backs coach), Mike Treier (assistant defensive backs coach), Anthony Blevins (special teams assistant), and Nick Williams (special teams quality control coach).

Finally, the Giants shifted Ryan Hollern to college scouting coordinator and named Mark Loecher as assistant strength and conditioning coach.

Some more coaching notes out of the NFC…

The Seahawks will promote Andy Dickerson to their offensive line coach, per ESPN’s Brady Henderson (via Twitter). Offensive coordinator Shane Waldron recruited Dickerson from the Rams last offseason, with Dickerson earning the role of run-game coordinator. Now, he’ll earn the (apparent) promotion to OL coach. The Seahawks fired former offensive line coach Mike Solari last week, reports NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero (via Twitter). This was the 67-year-old’s second stint with the organization, and he had served as the team’s OL coach since 2018.
The Bears announced last week that they hired Carlos Polk as their assistant special teams coach. The 44-year-old coach has served in the same role with a handful of teams, including the Chargers, Buccaneers, Cowboys, and Jaguars. He spent the 2021 campaign in Jacksonville.
The Cardinals have hired Matt Burke as their defensive line coach, reports Pelissero (on Twitter). The 45-year-old was the Dolphins defensive coordinator between 2017 and 2018, and he most recently worked for the Jets as a “game management coach.” Burke has also had coaching stints with the Eagles, Bengals, Lions, and Titans.
The Vikings have hired Brian Angelichio as their pass game coordinator/tight ends coach, reports ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler (via Twitter). Angelichio spent the past two years as the Panthers tight ends coach, so he’s getting a slight promotion in Minnesota. Meanwhile, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport tweets that the Vikings are hiring Jerrod Johnson as an offensive assistant. Johnson is expected to work with the QBs. The coach was a two-time participant in the Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship, and he spent last season as the Colts quality control coach.
Matt Rhule has made some changes to his staff. The Panthers announced that they’ve hired Joe Dailey as wide receivers coach. Dailey has spent the past two seasons as Boston College’s offensive coordinator. Meanwhile, Robert Kugler was hired as assistant offensive line coach while defensive analyst Kevin Gilbride Jr. was promoted to TE coach (replacing Angelichio).

Deshea Townsend Pivots From Minnesota To Jacksonville

February 14th, 2022 at 3:41pm CST by Adam La Rose

Finally, Deshea Townsend is being hired by the Jaguars, reports NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport (via Twitter). This comes as a surprise, since he was expected to join the Vikings’ staff, but changed course due to a perceived sense he’ll get a “bigger role within the defense” in Jacksonville (Twitter link via Chris Tomasson of The St. Paul Pioneer Press). He has previously worked with cornerbacks with five different teams, including four in the NFL, Chicago being the most recent.

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Updated 2022 NFL Draft Order

February 14th, 2022 at 8:57am CST by Adam La Rose

With Super Bowl LVI finished, the final two places in the 2022 Draft have been finalized. The Bengals’ top pick is locked into 31st, while the Rams will not have a selection until the third round. For the rest of the league, the focus has already shifted to free agency and the draft, of course, so now all eyes will be on the offseason maneuvering teams do to reshape their rosters.

For non-playoff teams, the draft order is determined by the inverted 2021 standings, plus a series of tiebreakers, starting with strength of schedule. For playoff teams, the order is determined by their postseason outcome and regular season record.

Pending trades, here is the final first round order of the 2022 Draft:

Jacksonville Jaguars: 3-14
Detroit Lions: 3-13-1
Houston Texans: 4-13
New York Jets: 4-13
New York Giants: 4-13
Carolina Panthers: 5-12
New York Giants(via Bears)
Atlanta Falcons: 7-10
Denver Broncos: 7-10
New York Jets (via Seahawks)
Washington Football Team: 7-10
Minnesota Vikings: 8-9
Cleveland Browns: 8-9
Baltimore Ravens: 8-9
Philadelphia Eagles (via Dolphins)
Philadelphia Eagles (via Colts)
Los Angeles Chargers: 9-8
New Orleans Saints: 9-8
Philadelphia Eagles: 9-8
Pittsburgh Steelers: 9-7-1
New England Patriots: 10-7
Las Vegas Raiders: 10-7
Arizona Cardinals: 11-6
Dallas Cowboys: 12-5
Buffalo Bills: 11-6
Tennessee Titans: 12-5
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 13-4
Green Bay Packers: 13-4
Miami Dolphins (via 49ers)
Kansas City Chiefs: 12-5
Cincinnati Bengals: 10-7
Detroit Lions (via Rams)

Vikings Plan To Hire Mike Pettine, Not As DC

February 13th, 2022 at 10:22pm CST by Ely Allen

Now that Super Bowl LVI is over, the Vikings should be able to start moving forward with their coaching staff hires. One coach expected to join the staff in Minnesota is former Browns’ head coach Mike Pettine, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. Contrary to prior rumors that Pettine was the favorite to land the defensive coordinator job, Pelissero tweeted out that, with Ed Donatell reportedly hired to be the defensive coordinator, Pettine will join the staff in a different capacity.

So far, no Minnesota coaching hires have officially been announced but, with the Rams’ season finally over, the Vikings will be happy to welcome Super Bowl Champion Kevin O’Connell to the facility. With his focus no longer on a postseason run, O’Connell and the Vikings can start making moves to build their new staff.

One of those first moves is Pettine. Although he will not serve as the defensive coordinator of the Vikings, Pettine brings a plethora of experience having served in that role in the past for the Jets, Bills, and Packers. He will also be able to provide some valuable head coaching insights to the rookie O’Connell. Pettine spent last season as a senior defensive assistant for the Bears after not being retained as the Packers’ defensive coordinator following an NFC Championship loss to the eventual Super Bowl LV champion Buccaneers.

Along with O’Connell, Donatell, and Pettine, rumored hirings in Minnesota include Chris Kuper as the expected offensive line coach, Chris Rumph as the expected defensive line coach, and Curtis Modkins as the expected run-game coordinator and backfield coach. Expect for official hires to start being announced and for the rest of the coaching staff to start coming into focus.

Latest On QB Cousins And Vikings

February 13th, 2022 at 7:31pm CST by Ely Allen

The expected addition of Rams’ offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell as head coach of the Vikings will reportedly keep quarterback Kirk Cousins in Minnesota for another year, according to Mike Florio of NBC Sports.

The idea of new leadership is viewed as a positive for Cousins, who is interested in letting his contract year play out under the new head coach. However, it won’t be enough of a positive for Cousins to give his club a deal and rework his contract this offseason. Cousins is set for a fully-guaranteed salary of $35MM for the 2022 season and will hold a cap number of $45MM.

Rostering Cousins is becoming more and more expensive for the Vikings. In addition to having to shell out for the last year of his backloaded current contract, a franchise tag in 2023 for Cousins would end up costing the Vikings $64.8MM since he was tagged twice before in Washington.

Minnesota is starting to see the cost of the NFL’s first ever fully guaranteed contract and, if he performs at a high level in his contract year, Cousins will continue to hold all the cards in what could end up being quite an expensive extension to hold on to the tenth-year veteran.

Sean McVay, Zac Taylor In Line For Extensions; Latest On Rams’ Coaching Staff

February 13th, 2022 at 10:33am CST by Rory Parks

Rams HC Sean McVay and Bengals HC Zac Taylor, who will be squaring off in Super Bowl LVI tonight, will be in line for contract extensions this offseason, per Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (via Twitter).

We had already heard that Cincinnati was planning a new deal for Taylor, who has only one year left on his contract. Schefter does, however, remind us that Taylor — the former McVay disciple — is presently the lowest-paid head coach in the NFL, with a $3.75MM annual salary (Twitter link). Obviously, that will change soon.

McVay, meanwhile, was recently the subject of some idle speculation that he was contemplating leaving the coaching ranks, but he has put those rumors to bed. He is under contract through 2023 as a result of the extension he signed in 2019, a deal that elevated him from one of the league’s lowest-paid head coaches to a salary that, per Joe Rivera of the Sporting News, is believed to be in the $8.5MM ballpark. Another extension might mean an eight-figure annual income for McVay.

The 36-year-old head coach has compiled a 55-26 regular season record, three NFC West titles, and two NFC championships during his five-year run. The success that he and his clubs have enjoyed have made other teams anxious to poach his staffers, and that has happened again in 2022, with OC Kevin O’Connell set to become head coach of the Vikings and secondary coach/passing game coordinator Ejiro Evero heading to Denver to become the Broncos’ defensive coordinator.

As Schefter reports in a full-length piece, O’Connell is likely to bring Rams tight ends coach/passing game coordinator Wes Phillips with him to Minnesota to serve as the Vikes’ offensive coordinator or passing game coordinator. Schefter names Kentucky OC Liam Coen — a Rams staffer from 2018-20 — as a “prime candidate” to replace O’Connell, though RB coach Thomas Brown could also garner consideration for the soon-to-be-vacant OC job. Yet another candidate is Greg Olson, who spent the last four seasons as the Raiders’ OC but who was the Rams’ QB coach in 2017, McVay’s first season as HC.

Whether it’s to become Los Angeles’ new OC or to reprise his role as QB coach, Olson is expected to rejoin McVay’s staff in 2022.

DE Everson Griffen Intends To Play Next Season

February 12th, 2022 at 9:56am CST by Ben Levine

Everson Griffen sat out the final seven games of the season as he dealt with a mental health incident, but the Vikings defensive end told Chris Tomasson of TwinCities.com that he’s “doing great” and intends to play next season.

“Yeah, of course I’m looking to play again this season,” the impending free agent told the reporter.

In November, there was an incident at Griffen’s home. He first wrote in an Instagram story that he needed help and people were “trying to kill” him, and he later refused to leave the premises. Griffen called police himself and requested assistance himself, and while police acknowledged that the player had fired a round, no one was injured. The defensive lineman had previous mental health incidents in 2018.

“I’m doing great but I don’t want to talk about that time,” Griffen said. “I’m going to keep my personal business personal … I’m doing well, but I’m taking it one day at a time, and I feel good.”

Griffen had spent the first 10 seasons of his career with the Vikings, and following a 2020 campaign where he split time with the Cowboys and Lions, the veteran returned to Minnesota for the 2021 season. Griffen made a Pro Bowl as recently as 2019, and he was productive in his nine games (six starts) with the Vikings this season, collecting five sacks and 10 QB hits. The 34-year-old wouldn’t commit to re-signing with the team, per Tomasson, and while the player also wouldn’t discuss the firings of Mike Zimmer or Rick Spielman, he did discuss the departure of defensive line coach and co-defensive coordinator Andre Patterson.

“He meant a lot to my career,” Griffen said. “He taught me great technique and I went out there on the field and I used his technique that he taught me. I worked hard for him. Coach P was a great coach. He was able to relate to players and he always had great speeches to make us understand how football was meant to be played.”

NFC Coaching Notes: Bears, Vikings, Giants

February 10th, 2022 at 10:47pm CST by Ben Levine

The post-Sean Payton era has started in New Orleans, with Dennis Allen officially taking over as the Saints new head coach. When speaking about his promotion, Allen mentioned the value of continuity within the franchise.

“I think that was one of the unique things about this job is that this was not a broken job. This is a job that’s a desirable job. This is a job that has a foundation and culture of winning that’s already been built,” Allen said (via ESPN’s Mike Triplett). “I don’t see this as something where we need to have a ton of change.”

While Allen acknowledged that he’ll preach a lot of the lessons he learned from Payton, he also intends to put his “own spin” on the job.

“I want to take the lessons that I’ve learned, I want to build upon those lessons, and I want to create my own legacy here with the New Orleans Saints,” the coach said.

More coaching notes out of the NFC…

Andre Curtis is the Bears new safeties coach, the team announced. The 45-year-old has spent the past seven years with the Seahawks, including the past four years as the defensive passing game coordinator. Per the Bears’ website, the Seahawks had six defensive backs earn at least one Pro Bowl nod during Curtis’s stint with Seattle.
The Vikings are expecting to hire Chris Kuper as their offensive line coach, reports Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network (via Twitter). Kuper had an eight-year playing career with the Broncos, and following a three-year coaching stint with the Dolphins, he joined the Broncos as their assistant offensive line coach in 2019. He ultimately spent three seasons in Denver.
The Vikings are also hiring Chris Rumph as their defensive line coach, per Wilson (on Twitter). The 50-year-old spent the 2021 season in the same role with the Bears, and he’s also had an NFL coaching stint with the Texans.
The Giants are hiring Mike Groh as their wide receivers coach, according to Pro Football Talk. Groh spent the past two years as the WRs coach with the Colts, and he had a previous stint with the Eagles that saw him getting promoted to offensive coordinator for the 2018 and 2019 seasons.

Vikings Officially Hire Ed Donatell As DC

February 10th, 2022 at 2:41pm CST by Adam La Rose

The coach thought to be taking over the defense in Minnesota has officially been hired. Ed Donatell is the new defensive coordinator of the Vikings, reports Ben Goessling of The Minneapolis Star Tribune (Twitter link).

It was reported yesterday that Donatell was the favorite for the position. With the move now confirmed, soon-to-be head coach Kevin O’Connell will have a very experienced lieutenant on the defensive side of the ball. Donatell, 65, has been an NFL coach for 31 years; 10 of those have been as a DC.

Donatell had spent the past three seasons as the Broncos’ DC, although head coach Vic Fangio called the plays. In 2021, Denver allowed the third fewest points per game in the league (18.9), and ranked eighth in yards allowed (326.1). It had been his third stint with the team, having worked as a secondary coach at two points a decade apart from each other.

One of the most interesting aspects of this story is the fact that Donatell had agreed to take on an assistant role with the Seahawks not long after he interviewed with them. Instead of reuniting with Pete Carroll, he will change course to take a fourth DC position. The Vikings ranked 24th in scoring defense last season, and 30th in yards allowed. They will at least have a highly qualified coach leading the unit as they look to rebound in 2022.

Position Coaching Notes: Giants, Broncos, Jaguars

February 10th, 2022 at 11:53am CST by Adam La Rose

As the days go by, more and more position coaches are finalizing jobs with new teams. One of the busiest clubs remains the Giants. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the team is hiring former Vikings assistant head coach and co-defensive coordinator Andre Patterson as its defensive line coach (Twitter link). The 61-year-old has a wealth of coaching experience at the NCAA and NFL ranks. While he has a defensive background, Patterson also served as a head coach at two stops along the way to the pro level.

His first NFL coaching gig came in 1997 with the Patriots. After stints with the Vikings, Cowboys, Browns and Broncos, he returned to the college ranks. Following seven additional seasons, six of which were spread across three colleges, he came back to Minnesota in 2014. He remained there until now, serving as the team’s d-line coach, but also holding the co-DC title for the past two campaigns.

Here are some other updates to Brian Daboll‘s new staff, along with those of the Broncos and Jaguars:

According to Jonathan Alexander of The Observer, Tony Sparano Jr. is making a lateral move from the Panthers to the Giants as their new assistant offensive line coach (Twitter link). The 35-year old already has a decade of coaching experience in the NFL spent with five different teams.
One hire the Giants won’t be making is that of Adam Henry for the role of wide receivers coach. NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo tweets that the team will be heading “in another direction” after they interviewed Henry earlier. The 49-year old coached the position at LSU for three years, then at the NFL level with the 49ers, Giants, Browns and Cowboys. Many felt a reunion in East Rutherford was likely, but that won’t be the case.
As for the Broncos, they will be adding to their defensive staff from the college ranks. ESPN’s Pete Thamel tweets that Ola Adams is coming aboard as an assistant secondary coach. Adams spent spent seven seasons at Villanova, and his success there earned him a promotion to co-defensive coordinator at Temple recently. Now, he will be on the move again, but this time up to the NFL level.
Finally, the Jaguars are hiring Brentson Buckner as their d-line coach (Twitter link via Pro Football Network’s Aaron Wilson). It had been reported earlier this week that the 50-year-old was a candidate for the position, so the move is not a surprising one. Buckner has coached the position with three NFL teams previously, dating back to 2013.

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