Minnesota Vikings News and Links: It’s Schedule Release Day!

Minnesota Vikings News and Links

**Vikings request interview with Detroit Lions front office member** The Minnesota Vikings are targeting assistant general manager Ray Agnew as a candidate for its general manager vacancy. Per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the have requested an interview with Lions assistant GM Ray Agnew. The Vikings have also requested interviews with assistant GM Reed Burckhardt and assistant GM Kyle Smith. Chief operating officer Andrew Miller worked with the search firm TurnkeyZRG to develop a list of external candidates, but the only other known participant is coach Kevin O’Connell, himself a product of the same 2022 hiring committee. And speaking last week at rookie minicamp, O’Connell made clear that he is available to help but is not running the show. “In whatever capacity that ownership and Andrew have for me as their plan, that’s what I’m going to do,” O’Connell said. “Obviously, it’s an important time. It’s clearly an important hire, but I have so much respect in the process-oriented driven aspect of not only our ownership, but Andrew Miller, that I know we’re going to get to that good outcome.” O’Connell and Miller have joined the Wilfs, and some of their adult children, in initial virtual interviews this week. It’s possible that there will be some meetings around next week’s NFL spring meeting, where the league is hosting its revamped accelerator program aimed at connecting coaching and general manager candidates with ownership. If the process continues smoothly, a second round of formal interviews would take place in person during the final week of May. … Speaking in March at the league meetings, Wilf laid out a vision for what he and his brother are seeking in the job. “We certainly want someone who is a great leader, someone who can lead,” Wilf said. “We feel we have a great scouting staff. Great coaching staff. Of course, never resting on any laurels [and] we want to continue to strive to be the best. We want to be competitive every single year and have long-term success. “So someone’s got to fit within that. It’s got to fit within what we have in our building right now as well. So it’s a host of factors. Hopefully we’ll know it when we see it, but we’re certainly going to, as part of the laying out of the process, try to develop some qualities we can build around.” The presence of Brzezinski, amid a group of relatively inexperienced personnel executives, has prompted numerous NFL sources to wonder if the Wilfs plan to create the kind of front office that now exists in and . For those franchises, a president of football operations — Tony Boselli for the and for the Falcons — heads a leadership team that also includes the general manager and coach. Mark Wilf, however, all but eliminated that possibility when asked specifically about it in March. “I think we like the way we’ve done it as far as the structure, and the GM will report to ownership,” he said. “It has to be strongly collaborative with the coach and with our football operations team. So I think we’re going to stick to the way we’ve done it. It’s just a matter of getting the right person who’s a leader of the organization who can communicate and deliver.” … Asked in February if he hoped the process would leave him with more decision-making authority than he had before, O’Connell said: “I want ultimately what’s best for the organization under the direction of our ownership.” The Minnesota Vikings have a long-list of notable pending free agents to make decisions on ahead of the 2027 season. OL Brian O’Neill OL QB WR Jauan Jennings RB CB Sr. LB Jr. Named Next ‘Great’ Edge Rusher Pro Football Focus recently released a piece detailing the next great NFL player at each position. At edge rusher, the Minnesota Vikings would be pleased to see that they went with Dallas Turner. “Turner’s first two seasons with the Vikings haven’t seen him become an outward star. That could look different in 2026. The former 17th overall pick finished with 65.5 and 64.1 overall PFF grades in 2025 and 2024, respectively. But last year was a step in the right direction, as Turner accrued a 70.2 PFF pass-rush grade with 42 pressures and a 12.0% pass-rush win rate. With now on the Eagles, Turner has a clear runway to both meaningful playing time and improved production for Minnesota.” … … … … **Again, we all know the rules, but in case someone is new:** While navigating the open thread, just assume it’s sarcasm No discussion of politics or religion No feeding of the trolls Leave the gender hatred at the door Keep the bad language to a minimum (using the spoiler tags, if you must) Speaking of which, if discussing a newer show or movie, please use spoiler tags No pictures that could get someone fired or in serious trouble with their employer If you can’t disagree in a civil manner, feel free to go away