Is Brian Flores' Candidacy For Cardinals' HC Job Delaying Vikings' DC Decision?
It's been several days since there's been any news regarding the Vikings' search for a new defensive coordinator.
They completed four interviews last week between Monday and Thursday, meeting with Ryan Nielsen, Sean Desai, Mike Pettine, and Brian Flores. Nielsen was hired to be the Falcons' DC over the weekend, so he's off the table. That leaves Flores, Desai, and the in-house option, Pettine — with the potential for more names to be added.
So what's the hold up? A logical assumption is that Flores' involvement in the Arizona Cardinals' head coaching search could be delaying things on Minnesota's end.
The Cardinals promised to "case a wide net" in their search for Kliff Kingsbury's replacement, and that's exactly what they've done. Arizona has interviewed Frank Reich, Vance Joseph, Ejiro Evero, Aaron Glenn, Dan Quinn, Flores, and Sean Payton (Reich and Quinn are no longer options). On Monday, it was reported that they've set up interviews with Brian Callahan, Lou Anarumo, and Mike Kafka. They've also shown interest in Eagles DC Jonathan Gannon, who won't be available until after the Super Bowl.
As such, it doesn't seem like the Cardinals will be making a hire until the end of this week at the earliest. Payton looms large as the most interesting candidate, though Arizona would have to work out a trade with the Saints to make that happen.
Flores is still in the mix for the Cardinals. What that means is if the Vikings have their eyes on him as their next coordinator, they need to wait for the Arizona domino to fall first.
There's nothing stopping the Vikings from hiring Desai or Pettine right now. But you figure if that was going to happen, it might've already happened.
Whether the Vikings are waiting on Flores, planning second interviews with their three current candidates, and/or looking to add to the pool of candidates soon, it appears that a bit more waiting will be required before we know who the eventual choice is as Ed Donatell's replacement.
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