Happy Father’s Day! I hope the fathers out there have a good day today. I am a father and I have already done all my chores! I think we are going out to eat tonight because my kids want to take me out to dinner to their favorite restaurant. I’ll give you one guess who gets to pay. The joys of fatherhood never end do they? I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
I know this QB competition is the main topic of discussion and will likely be that way until a decision is made. I contend that after the decision it wont
stop. I have said from the jump that I did not believe they brought in Murray to ride the pine. That has been my position and I am not changing it. If he does not start I will be surprised but not disappointed. I only want to see the team win.
I have repeatedly said that JJ has been given the chance to grab ahold of the job and make it his own but has been unable to do so due to injury. I have said his accuracy needed to improve and his ability to put the ball right on the money so the receivers can get some YAC needed to get better too. None of this was unexpected or disappointing as he has yet to play a full season.
I understand where the fans of seeing JJ get another season to sink or swim are coming from though. They did draft him high and only got to see him last year. Why not see him one more year? I could (and can) still live with that but I will be worried about durability. Improving on the field will simply be interesting to watch. I have no idea why they did not give it one more shot without any of this “competition”? My only guess is that it came down from up top.
It remains to be seen what will happen but it wont stop me from being a Viking fan. I am doomed to suffer!
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I think I like Derek Barnett best as a veteran EDGE rusher signing. He turns 30 on the 25th of June and played 387 snaps last year for Houston. I think it will cost 4-5M on a one year deal. Bosa will be closer to 9-11M on a one year deal.
https://www.pff.com/nfl/free-agency?season=2026
Derek Barnett was a useful rotational pass rusher for Houston in 2025, logging 387 snaps — 209 as a pass rusher — and producing 16 pressures, including six sacks and six hits. While his sack production remains volatile, Barnett has finished plays at a high rate, ranking in the 79th percentile in sack rate over the past three seasons. He has also been dependable against the run, earning an 87th percentile run-defense grade and a 67th percentile grade on true pass rushes in that span.
Minnesota Vikings News and Links
Why the Vikings hired Andrew Healy, ‘the smartest guy I’ve worked with in sports’
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7370218/2026/06/18/andrew-healy-vikings-assistant-gm-hire/
In his 10 seasons with the Browns, Healy had learned what all the perceptive, nontraditional hires learn when they begin working in football. Making an impact, seriously reaching people, doesn’t take an exorbitant amount of brainpower, a secret formula or a sleek, new artificial intelligence model.
Instead, as another Browns staffer who raved about Healy put it, real genius lies in provoking discussion and creating tools that help leaders make better decisions.
“He was front and center in terms of building out our analytical operation,” Paul DePodesta, the Browns’ longtime chief strategy officer and now the president of baseball operations for the Colorado Rockies, said recently. “But I think more importantly, he was critical to just how we thought as an organization: How we processed information; how we made decisions.”
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“He’s a little bit like a unicorn,” Dom Borsani, a Browns offensive analyst, said. “He has the research background and history and technical aptitude. But he also has the ability to evaluate from a traditional scouting lens. And he understands coaching schemes, so he can see guys in college and interpret their assignments.”
“He might be the smartest person working in the NFL,” one Browns employee with an extensive personnel background said. “He truly has the Jacob Misiorowski fastball of minds.”
Zach Zelinsky, formerly Cleveland’s senior software developer who is now the director of baseball systems for the Arizona Diamondbacks, went even further: “He is probably the smartest guy I’ve worked with in sports.”
Who Emerges as Edge Rushing Option for Vikings in 2026?
https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/emerges-edge-rushing-option-vikings-110051927.html
ESPN NFL insider Kevin Seifert discussed the biggest storylines of the Vikings’ offseason as it progresses toward the preseason and training camp. He listed lack of edge rusher help for Turner as something worth monitoring. Here’s what Seifert had to say about the pressing need at edge.
“Depth is much less evident on the defensive edge following the draft weekend trade of outside linebacker Jonathan Greenard. The Vikings are set with Andrew Van Ginkel and Dallas Turner as starters, but Turner’s excused absence for a personal matter on the second day of minicamp revealed the significant gap that exists between the next set of players at that position.
Bo Richter, Chaz Chambliss and Tyler Batty were the next three players up on the depth chart. The Vikings also experimented with defensive lineman Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins, a fifth-round pick in 2025 who is 6-foot-5 and 290 pounds, on the edge. But it is a certainty that the Vikings will be on the lookout for veteran help at the position as training camp approaches.
Among the top free agents remaining on the market, according to ESPN’s Matt Bowen, are edge players Joey Bosa, Jadeveon Clowney and Haason Reddick. Leonard Floyd is also available.”
Cardinals, Vikings Get Compelling Trade Pitch Involving J.J. McCarthy
https://heavy.com/sports/nfl/minnesota-vikings/cardinals-compelling-trade-pitch-jj-mccarthy/
With many assuming that Murray will be the starting QB come Week 1, Wynston Wilcox of FanSided floated a trade pitch that would send McCarthy to the Arizona Cardinals for a fresh start, with the Vikings receiving a 2027 fifth-round pick and a 2027 seventh-round pick.
“The writing is on the wall; Kyler Murray is the new quarterback in town, and the Minnesota Vikings even brought Carson Wentz back too,” Wilcox wrote in a June 20 article.
“That should tell J.J. McCarthy everything he needs to know about his job security in Minnesota. The only good thing about McCarthy staying in Minnesota for now is that both Murray and Wentz are injury-prone; outside of that, he’s as good as traded already.”
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Moreover, Wilcox explains why McCarthy going to the Cardinals makes sense, given their QB situation, which would allow the former first-round pick not just a fresh start but an opportunity to be a starter.
“I feel like only the New York Jets would be foolish enough to take a crazy gamble on a quarterback like McCarthy, but the Cardinals also make sense for a couple of reasons,” Wilcox added. “For one, if Jacoby Brissett doesn’t get his contract situation resolved, Arizona could use this as an opportunity to find another young passer to try and develop.
“The Cardinals have a lot of holes to patch on this team, and wasting a high pick on a quarterback is a risk that isn’t necessarily worth it in my opinion. That’s why they ultimately get away with a fifth-round and seventh-round pick here.”
Joe Thomas Already Has Kyler Murray as Vikings’ QB1
One former NFL player who believes that Murray has already won the QB competition in Minnesota is former Cleveland Browns offensive lineman Joe Thomas. On the June 19 appearance on the “Rich Eisen Show,” Thomas stated that the Vikings already know that Murray is the starter and McCarthy is their backup.
“The Vikings spent a first-round draft choice on J.J. McCarthy, the quarterback,” Thomas said. “They were going to give him every opportunity to win that starting job. You basically give the starting job to that rookie quarterback when you take him in the first round.
“When you go out and get somebody and spend the type of resources they did to bring in Kyler Murray, he is your starter. You’re doing that because the important receivers and players you’re counting on to make plays provided by the quarterback are the guys that don’t trust J.J., and that’s why you make the switch.
“If you look at that situation, J.J., I think, will firmly be planted as the backup. That’s not to say he doesn’t have a chance to continue to develop and win the job at some point down the line. But right now, it’s clearly Kyler Murray’s job.”
Bold Kyler Murray Narrative Gaining Steam Before Vikings Training Camp
https://heavy.com/sports/nfl/minnesota-vikings/kyler-murray-nfl-mvp-candidates-news-predictions/
Quarterback Kyler Murray has yet to win the Minnesota Vikings starting quarterback job. But that hasn’t stopped pundits from calling him a dark horse MVP candidate for the 2026 NFL season.
NFL personality Kay Adams first floated the idea on June 18. A day later, Bleacher Report’s Brad Gagnon included Murray on his list of five “under-the-radar MVP candidates” for this fall.
“A new setting under Kevin O’Connell could enable the 2019 No. 1 overall pick to finally live up to his unique and considerable talent in his age-29 season,” wrote Gagnon.
Note: Who can argue with Kay Adams?
Latest NFL news highlights why the Minnesota Vikings need to ink one critical player to an extension immediately
https://atozsports.com/nfl/minnesota-vikings-news/latest-nfl-news-jeffrey-simmons-extension-highlight-vikings-need-extend-jalen-redmond/
There are many players the Vikings could prioritize with extensions, including Jalen Redmond. He is going into his third season, but another great year could make things a little more complicated.
Friday afternoon brought news that the Tennessee Titans extended defensive tackle Jeffrey Simmons on a three-year deal worth over $100 million at $35.3 million average annuan value.
With the top of the market increasing by nearly $4 million per year, prices for all defensive tackles just went up, and getting Redmond on a new contract should be a priority for the Vikings. However, it may not be that way for Redmond.
Vikings eager to develop versatile rookie linebacker Jake Golday
https://apnews.com/article/vikings-draft-rookies-jake-golday-6698ddfceb2261e7a19b56418cf8369a
While Golday possesses the build at 6-foot-4 and 239 pounds to be a productive off-the-ball linebacker, he was targeted in the draft as a prospect with potential to also play on the edge as a pass rusher. Golday has the athleticism and instincts, the Vikings believe, to eventually serve as the type of utility-knife starter who can thrive in any personnel group — just like Andrew Van Ginkel.
“He has some of those characteristics to him,” coach Kevin O’Connell said. “We were fortunate enough to get him where we did.”
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Flores has consistently gone against the grain with his schemes, unafraid to send blitzers on any down from any spot or employ a four-man line composed entirely of stand-up rushers.
Roles and responsibilities are more likely to be molded around player skills than the other way around, which has made room for players such as Van Ginkel to thrive while maximizing individual strengths. Josh Metellus, a natural safety, has wound up as more of a hybrid linebacker in recent years as another example of putting the talent on the field first and then sorting out the positions second.
“It’s definitely a lot different than all the defenses I’ve ran in the past,” Golday said, “but it’s allowing me to grow and to be a better player.”
Van Ginkel will carry a salary cap hit of $19.25 million this season on an expiring contract that will make him a free agent next year. He will be 31 on July 1. He missed five games last season to a neck injury, the first time he didn’t play the full schedule since his rookie year in 2019 with Miami when Flores was the head coach there.
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So while Golday is starting his pro career off the ball, he could well find himself spending time with Van Ginkel and the outside linebackers sooner than later.
“I’m my own person at the end of the day, but I can’t complain about that comparison. He’s an amazing player so I strive to be like a guy like that,” Golday said. “He just looks so calm out there all the time. It’s just crazy how he gets to the ball every single play. I’m like, ‘Dude, you’ve got to teach me your ways.’”
Van Ginkel will be happy to.
“He’s picking up the defense, which is a very complicated defense, very quickly in my opinion,” Van Ginkel said last week during minicamp. “He has the traits to be a great football player, and I’m excited to help him grow and reach his full potential.”
The Vikings Added Serious Size Since 2025, According to the Scale
https://www.si.com/nfl/vikings/onsi/the-vikings-added-serious-size-since-2025-according-to-the-scale
How much bigger are the 2026 Minnesota Vikings going to be than the 2025 team?
Last summer, the Vikings were preparing to enter training camp with an average player’s weight of 239.49 pounds, according to RotoWire. While that’s heavier than the average Joe walking down the street, it actually ranked 29th in a 32-team league.
Only the 49ers (239.18), Chiefs (238.83), and Buccaneers (233.86) were lighter. The heaviest team in the league in July 2025 was the Baltimore Ravens, with an average player weight of 248.66 pounds.
When breaking the Vikings’ 92-player roster down by position group, here are the average weights:
Offensive line: 315 pounds (16 players)
Defensive line: 305 pounds (11 players)
Tight end: 248 pounds (6 players)
Linebacker: 241 pounds (15 players)
Quarterback: 220 pounds (4 players)
Kicker/Punter: 220 pounds (4 players)
Running back: 218 pounds (6 players)
Safety: 205 pounds (7 players)
Wide receiver: 192 pounds (13 players)
Cornerback: 186 pounds (10 players)
The heaviest player on the roster is offensive tackle Walter Rouse at 330 pounds. The lightest is Tyreek Chappell, a 180-pound cornerback.
We cross-checked the data from SportRadar with the Vikings roster and came up with an average weight of 247 pounds, but the Vikings’ official roster has nine more players listed than SportRadar.
Should the Vikings Bring Back Za’Darius Smith?
https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/vikings-bring-back-za-darius-134500733.html
New power ranking has Vikings in a spot that’s hard to argue against
https://thevikingage.com/new-power-ranking-minnesota-vikings-spot-that-hard-argue
Lunchbreak: Jordan Mason Among PFF’s RB ‘Sleeper’ Picks for 2026 Fantasy Football
https://www.vikings.com/news/jordan-mason-running-back-nfl-2026-fantasy-football
Demond Claiborne’s Opportunity with Vikings Built Brick by Brick
https://www.vikings.com/news/demond-claiborne-running-back-opportunity-journey-college-hometown
6 Summer Surprises That Could Rock the Vikings
https://vikingsterritory.com/2026/news/top_news/vikings-summer-surprises-2026
Vikings may have an unlikely factor deciding QB competition
https://thevikingage.com/minnesota-vikings-may-have-unlikely-factor-deciding-qb-competition
J.J. McCarthy believers just got one more reason to stay hopeful
https://thevikingage.com/jj-mccarthy-believers-just-got-one-more-reason-stay-hopeful-minnesota-vikings
Several Vikings players named by PFF on all-seventh round team in 2026
https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/several-vikings-players-named-pff-185517438.html
Daire Carragher of Pro Football Focus (PFF) has the fun idea to go and make an entire, all-NFL seventh-round roster, heading into the 2026 season. On this roster, there were multiple Minnesota Vikings who made the cut:
Jauan Jennings, WR
Will Fries, IOL
Michael Jurgens, IOL
All three players taken in the seventh round of their drafts made the cut, and all three could play a key part in the Vikings’ success in 2026. Jennings is expected to be the WR3, Fries has a starting guard spot, and Jurgens is a rotational piece with starting experience.
Do the Vikings need to move on from Harrison Smith?
https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/vikings-move-harrison-smith-225521820.html
However, while good times have been had, it may finally be time to move on for the Vikings and their fans. Bleacher Report’s Brent Sobleski wrote up a to-do list for every NFL team. For the Vikings, he gave them three things, including the need to move on from the veteran safety.
He writes, “The Minnesota Vikings need a jump-start on both sides of the ball, specifically when dealing with those leading their particular units. . .Defensively, Harrison Smith is an all-time franchise great. At the same time, his uncertainty whether to play this season should make the decision for the organization. At 37 years old, he can still play. But it’s time for the team to move past the veteran defensive back. Eventually, third-round rookie Jakobe Thomas can slot into that spot.”
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