Skip to main content

Why The Vikings Are an Attractive Landing Spot for Head Coach and GM Candidates

Minnesota should be able to land top candidates to replace both Mike Zimmer and Rick Spielman.
  • Author:
  • Publish date:

The Vikings got off to a bit of a slow start in their search for a new head coach and general manager to replace Mike Zimmer and Rick Spielman. While most of the seven teams with coaching vacancies have already begun interviewing candidates, the Vikings are waiting until they have a new GM to begin that process. Of the three teams with a GM vacancy — the others are the Bears and Giants, both of whom also need new a coach — the Vikings were the last to begin requesting interviews, with their first wave going out on Wednesday night.

This caused a slight panic earlier this week on social media from some fans hungry for names. But it has nothing to do with the Vikings lacking urgency. They are deliberately taking a methodical, thorough approach, and that's something they can afford to do because they know their vacancies at both spots are among the most attractive of the available options. In other words, they don't feel any need to rush because they believe top candidates will wait for them, particularly on the coaching side, which will be a longer process.

"The process has already begun, and we know there are a lot of good candidates and at the same time we know that this a highly desirable place for people to be," Vikings owner and president Mark Wilf said. "We have a great core of talent, great facilities, a great fan base, great community. ... We’re going to be thoughtful about it. We’re not going to rush into it. We’re going to be deliberate. We’re going to be thorough."

15 Candidates to Be the Vikings' Next General Manager

The Vikings, Bears, and Giants all need to hire both a head coach and GM during this cycle. Minnesota is pretty clearly the best situation of that trio. The Giants have made the playoffs once in the past ten seasons, their next coach will be their fifth in eight years, and the roster is severely lacking talent. The Bears have a potential franchise quarterback in place in Justin Fields, but the ownership situation with George McCaskey and Ted Phillips is far from desirable and they haven't won a playoff game since 2010.

Of the other four teams who need a head coach, the Jaguars and Texans aren't high on the desirability list, for obvious reasons. Not even Trevor Lawrence and a ton of offseason resources can mask the stain of Jacksonville's mess of an organization. That leaves the Broncos, Dolphins, and perhaps the Raiders if they don't keep interim coach Rich Bisaccia. I think you can make the case that the Vikings beat out each of those when it comes to how a prospective coach would view their situation.

Ignore the specifics of things like roster construction and offseason assets for a second, though we'll get to those. The biggest thing working in the Vikings' favor is their organizational stability, which Zimmer and Spielman deserve plenty of credit for helping to establish. This isn't a place where a head coach is at risk of being fired after a season or two, barring an unavoidable problem or massive underperformance. Zimmer got eight seasons despite only making the playoffs in three of them. Leslie Frazier took over as a mid-season interim coach and got three full years after that. Eight of the franchise's nine head coaches have held the job for at least parts of four seasons and five them had it for at least six seasons. The lone exception is Les Steckel, who lasted just one season in 1984 because he was an abject disaster. 

17 Candidates to be the Vikings' Next Head Coach

The same is true in the front office. Three of the Vikings' nine lead decision-makers (whether their title was GM or something else) held the position for at least decade, including Spielman, who was around for 16 years. That history has to be appealing.

The Vikings also have one of the nicest stadiums in the NFL and, perhaps more importantly, one of the league's best practice facilities, which is where the coach spends the vast majority of their time. The Wilfs have shown a commitment to investing significant resources into their organization to make sure everything is top-notch. There's also the storied history of the franchise, the ultra-passionate fan base, and the potential to become an instant legend by bringing the Vikings their first Lombardi Trophy.

But what about the roster? The primary selling point is the presence of Justin Jefferson, a true superstar and one of the three best receivers in the NFL. Jefferson, who shattered the all-time record for receiving yards in a player's first two seasons, has two years left on his rookie contract. The offense also boasts a star running back in Dalvin Cook, a young tight end returning from injury in Irv Smith Jr., and three foundational offensive linemen in Brian O'Neill, Christian Darrisaw, and Ezra Cleveland. The receiver room, beyond Jefferson, includes a talented veteran leader in Adam Thielen and two other young talents in K.J. Osborn and Ihmir Smith-Marsette.

The big question, of course, is what will happen with quarterback Kirk Cousins. In an ideal world, you'd have a stud QB on a rookie deal like Justin Herbert or Joe Burrow. But there's actually more flexibility with Cousins than some might think, to the point where it's unlikely to be discouraging to a GM or coach. The new decision-makers will be able to go in whatever direction they'd like. Think you can win with Cousins? Extending him would lower his cap hit and allow you to pour some resources into the defense. Want to hand-pick your own quarterback? Cousins shouldn't be too difficult to trade, although you may have to eat some of his $35 million 2022 base salary to improve the return. Then you can go forward with some combination of a bridge free agent or player received in the Cousins trade, an early draft pick, and Kellen Mond.

The options with Cousins might be better than having no quarterback at all (Broncos) or a bad QB on a rookie deal (Dolphins).

There will be challenges when it comes to managing the salary cap and making the defense work, there's no doubt about that. The Vikings are in a difficult cap situation and face a decision on the status of Danielle Hunter, their star defensive end who has missed most of the past two seasons to injury. Veteran defensive players Harrison Smith, Eric Kendricks, and Michael Pierce are under contract for at least two more seasons, but there's a notable lack of young, building-block pieces on that side of the ball.

But that can be addressed this offseason. When looking at the entire picture of the Vikings' current roster, you get the sense that the team isn't all that far off.

"I think that's what makes it exciting for me is we don't need to blow it up and completely rebuild," Thielen said. "I think we have a lot of great pieces. We have a phenomenal locker room. We have a lot of really, really good football players. And I think we're close. As an older guy, I don't know how much longer I'm going to play, so I'm excited that we're not far away and if we get the right people in here we could potentially take it to the next level. That's exciting as a player and I'm sure it's exciting as an organization for people in this building."

Put all of the factors together, and it's clear that the Vikings are among the more attractive landing spots for top head coach and GM candidates, if not No. 1. Because of that context, the Wilfs and the rest of the team's internal search committee shouldn't have any difficulty landing the people they feel have the best chance to get this franchise over the hump and contending for Super Bowls.

Thanks for reading. Make sure to bookmark this site and check back daily for the latest Vikings news and analysis all offseason long. Also, follow me on Twitter and feel free to ask me any questions on there.