The Vikings are scheduled to hold the first of nine Organized Team Activity practices on Monday at TCO Performance, as phase three of the offseason gets underway.
These practices come with strict guidelines — no live contact is permitted — and participation is not mandatory, but 7-on-7, 9-on-7 and full team drills are allowed for the first time this spring.
This will give second-year coach Kevin O’Connell an opportunity to step up the pace on the installation of his offense, as well as new coordinator Brian Flores’ defense.
These nine sessions also will lead into the Vikings’ mandatory minicamp on June 13-14. While these practices aren’t open to fans, there will be some interesting storylines to follow.
Here are a few of them.
Brian Flores begins process of making defense respectable
Brian Flores has a big task ahead of him as he takes over a defense that suffered a substantial drop-off under former coach Mike Zimmer and was among the NFL’s worst last season under coordinator Ed Donatell.
Flores, who was hired in February after spending a season as a senior defensive assistant and linebackers coach with the Pittsburgh Steelers, has never had a coordinator title since joining the New England Patriots coaching staff in 2008, but he was head coach of the Miami Dolphins from 2019 to 2021.
O’Connell has made it clear this offseason how much he enjoys working with Flores and how the two think alike.
Flores, like Donatell, will run a 3-4 scheme but that’s where the comparisons end. Flores is expected to bring a faster and more aggressive approach to a unit that will include some new faces. The easiest way to put it is the Vikings’ problem in 2022 was predictability and Flores prides himself on giving opponents unpredictable looks.
Among the veterans who have departed are middle linebacker Eric Kendricks, who was released and signed with the Chargers; defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson, who signed with Cleveland in free agency; cornerback Patrick Peterson, who signed with Pittsburgh as a free agent; and outside linebacker Za’Darius Smith, who was traded to the Browns.
The Vikings would have liked to have kept Tomlinson and Smith, but the former was too expensive (four years, $57 million) and the latter made it clear he wanted out.
Among the first items on Flores’ to-do list will be getting the Vikings’ young cornerbacks up to speed, as well as second-year linebacker Brian Asamoah, who is expected to take over for Kendricks.
Will Danielle Hunter and Dalvin Cook attend OTAs?
Defensive end Danielle Hunter and running back Dalvin Cook reportedly have stayed away from offseason workouts and that’s not likely to change this week.
Cook isn’t expected to return to the Vikings, and the only question now is whether he will be traded or released. Cook, who will turn 28 in August, has been in Florida rehabbing his shoulder after undergoing surgery early in the offseason.
He has a salary-cap hit of $14.1 million but only is due $2 million in guaranteed salary. A breakup between the sides, especially with the Vikings’ decision to bring back Alexander Mattison, makes a lot of sense.
The 28-year-old Hunter is another story.
He led the Vikings with 10.5 sacks last season after missing all of 2020 and a large portion of 2021 because of injuries. Hunter was moved from defensive end to outside linebacker in Donatell’s defense and posted double-digit sacks despite too often playing a role that didn’t appear to be a great fit for him.
Hunter will be entering the last season of his contract and has no guarantees left in a deal that calls for him to earn a base salary of $4.9 million. There is little chance Hunter is going to return to the Vikings unless he gets a new and lucrative multi-year deal.
The ideal agreement probably would be something in the three-year range. The Hunter camp is dealing from a position of strength given Smith’s departure and the fact that newly signed Marcus Davenport had only half-a-sack with New Orleans last season.
Flores likely is pushing for Hunter to get an extension and it wouldn’t be surprising to see that happen in the coming weeks.
Let the competition at cornerback begin
About the only thing we know for sure about the cornerback situation is that Byron Murphy Jr., the Vikings’ marquee free agent pickup, will play the outside corner in base and inside nickel.
Otherwise, there will be an open competition for the other two starting spots with the candidates including 2022 draft picks Andrew Booth Jr., and Akayleb Evans and 2023 pick Mekhi Blackmon.
Although Flores was not here last spring, it’s worth noting that first-round safety Lewis Cine lost an opportunity to start during these workouts and never got the chance to beat out Cam Bynum before Cine suffered a season-ending injury in Week 4.
Blackmon doesn’t have the experience that Booth and Evans gained last season, although both battled injury issues, but it is worth noting that his advantage is that he was drafted with Flores having given his approval.
Kevin O'Connell begins work with "his" offense
O’Connell brought a new scheme to the offense last season as he took over as the Vikings’ play-caller and helped Kirk Cousins become one of the NFL’s best late-game quarterbacks.
But O’Connell will have more offensive personnel this season that he hand picked. First-round wide receiver Jordan Addison replaces the aging and slower Adam Thielen. Free-agent signee Josh Oliver will bring a productive, blocking tight end that O’Connell was lacking last season and, thus, give the coach an opportunity to use different personnel groupings more often.
Cook’s expected departure likely means O’Connell will go with a running back by committee that begins with Mattison but also includes Ty Chandler and, perhaps, 2023 seventh-round pick DeWayne McBride.
The Vikings finished seventh in total yards last season and eighth in scoring. O’Connell probably would like to see the latter in the top five and that’s possible if his offense can be more consistent and not disappear for portions of games.
A year ago, Cousins admitted his head was swimming because of all the new verbiage and concepts O’Connell installed. The language of the offense now should be second nature for Cousins and his teammates, but that means the details can be perfected starting this week.
