News Vikings Team Notes

[Minnesota Vikings]

Vikings Get Second Nationally Televised Preseason Game

Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

Two out of three, as we know, ain’t bad

The NFL Network has announced their slate of live preseason broadcasts for this year, and our Minnesota Vikings are now getting a second nationally televised game that doesn’t actually count.

NFL Network 2025 Preseason Schedule @nflnetwork to carry 21 LIVE 2025 preseason games starting Aug. 7!

Release: https://t.co/MgPOPttmAV pic.twitter.com/lmxPIhIoie

— NFL Media (@NFLMedia) June 4, 2025​

The Vikings’ preseason opener against the Houston Texans at U.S. Bank Stadium will now be shown live on NFL Network. That game takes place on Saturday, 9 August, with a kickoff time of 3:00 PM Central.

This is in addition to the team’s preseason finale against the Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, which will be aired on CBS at 7:00 PM Central time on Friday, 22 August.

Of the team’s three preseason contests, the only one that won’t be aired live to a national audience is their game against the New England Patriots on Saturday, 16 August, at noon Central time. However, as they do every preseason, the NFL Network will rebroadcast that game (and the Vikings’ other preseason game) on several occasions during the course of that week. If you live in the Twin Cities area, the game will be broadcast locally, and we’ll bring you a list of the stations that will be airing it when the time comes.

I know we’re all sort of jonesing for football to finally get underway, and now those of us who are outside of the primary Twin Cities market will be able to start getting our fix right alongside everyone else.

Source: https://www.dailynorseman.com/2025/...nally-televised-preseason-game-houston-texans

 

[Minnesota Vikings]

Can you guess this Vikings linebacker in today’s in-5 trivia game?

Think you can figure out which Vikings player we’re talking about? You’ll get five clues to figure him out in our new guessing game!

Hey Minnesota Vikings fans! We’re back for another day of the Daily Norseman in-5 daily trivia game. Game instructions are at the bottom if you’re new to the game! Feel free to share your results in the comments and feedback in this Google Form.

Today’s Daily Norseman in-5 game​

If you can’t see the game due to Apple News or another service, click this game article.

Previous games​

Thursday, June 5, 2025
Wednesday, June 4, 2025
Tuesday, June 3, 2025

Play more SB Nation in-5 trivia games​

NFL in-5
MLB in-5
MMA in-5

Behind the Daily Norseman in-5 instructions​

The goal of the game is to guess the correct Vikings player with the help of up to five clues. We’ll mix in BOTH ACTIVE AND RETIRED PLAYERS. It won’t be easy to figure it out in one or two guesses, but some of you might be able to nail it.

After you correctly guess the player, you can click “Share Results” to share how you did down in the comments and on social media. We won’t go into other details about the game as we’d like your feedback on it. How it plays, what you think of it, the difficulty level, and anything else you can think of that will help us improve this game. You can provide feedback in the comments of this article, or you can fill out this Google Form.

Enjoy!

Source: https://www.dailynorseman.com/2025/6/6/24444233/sb-nation-vikings-daily-trivia-in-5

 

[Minnesota Vikings]

Vikings Links: Are the Vikings Set At Cornerback?

Photo by Bruce Yeung/Getty Images

It might be penny wise to add more veteran depth

Should the Vikings feel comfortable with the cornerback group? The top four are Byron Murphy, Isaiah Rodgers, Jeff Okudah, and Mekhi Blackmon (no particular order). After these four there are a lot of dudes with potential. I could see the argument for adding another cornerback in free agency but that would mean less snaps for Blackmon and Okudah most likely. I think it would be OK. The question is who?

...

The next organized team activites.

The schedule is ...

Mandatory Minicamp: June 10-12

OTAs: June 16-18

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Minnesota Vikings News and Links

Kevin O’Connell drops intriguing comments about J.J. McCarthy and Aaron Rodgers

McCarthy is now the unquestioned QB1 in Minnesota after Rodgers signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers. O’Connell, during an in-studio appearance on KFAN-FM 100.3 on Friday, explained that McCarthy looks great this spring.

“He’s having a great spring,” O’Connell said. “We’re pretty darn close to having a good feel for where he’s at. He’s had a great offseason. He’s healthy, strong, throwing the ball great, fundamentals — everything you hope for in the spring.”

O’Connell also reiterated what he’s said before about his offseason talks with Rodgers.

“When there was an opportunity — when him and I connected this offseason just to kind of talk about what that would look like — we had a lot of great dialogue about it, but it always was centered around what was best not only for the present in the Minnesota Vikings organization, but the future. I was very honest about my feelings toward’s J.J., my obligation that I felt like we were going to give him the best possible situation to begin and thrive on this NFL journey and let’s see where it goes. We stayed in touch and had some communication,” O’Connell said.

“Out of respect for our friendship and everything, that’s about as much as really kind of happened. I still talk to him and the next time I talk to him it’s going to be the same old, same old. He’s different than people probably think, but I think that’s all part of it in this day and age.”

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Why Kwesi is sleeping just fine with the Vikings in J.J. McCarthy’s hands

The Vikings are aware that they’re taking a major leap of faith this year. In letting Sam Darnold leave in free agency and not adding another starting-level quarterback, they’re putting the weight of an organization that wants to take the next step towards contention on the shoulders of a 22-year-old quarterback who hasn’t yet played in an NFL regular season game.

But J.J. McCarthy is no ordinary 22-year-old QB in their eyes. They’ve been around him enough, from the pre-draft process through the start of this summer, to have all kinds of confidence that he will rise to meet this moment. It’s why they selected him tenth overall in last year’s draft. It’s why they felt comfortable letting Darnold leave after he helped lead them to 14 wins last season.

“It’s a lot of projection,” Adofo-Mensah said. “But it’s projection with other things that might be a little bit more known. We think about the team around him, right? So how do we support J.J.? We provide a really good offensive line in front of him to protect the passer, also be able to run the football and set our whole offense up in down and distances that make it easier on him and make it easier on any quarterback. With J.J., the bet has always been the talent and the football makeup. Football makeup, to me, is the gap. Anything that you think he can do and hasn’t shown, to me, the football character is what gives you belief to take that jump. That’s the jump that we’re willing to take in this organization.”

Unfortunately, McCarthy’s rookie year came to an abrupt end when it was learned that he suffered a torn meniscus in that preseason game. But he showed the Vikings enough to make head coach Kevin O’Connell declare publicly, after the injury happened, that the team had found its franchise quarterback.

“We had constant dialogue and conversations about what we wanted for J.J. that year, and he started exceeding them pretty quickly,” Adofo-Mensah said. “We were pretty clear, I think, publicly that we didn’t want him to play. Not because of how he would’ve played, but we just thought for the better success of his career, it’s better to sit and watch. He was pushing a little bit, in terms of maybe even becoming the backup or different things like that, but just the day-over-day growth that he would show, he’s so coachable. You give him a coaching point, he’s going to go home and make sure that that coaching point is received. And then you saw the arm talent and different things like that, the ability to move in the pocket.”

The Vikings feel confident in who McCarthy is as a player and person. They also feel confident that there’s no one better to maximize what he can be as a quarterback than O’Connell, who Adofo-Mensah joked is a “QB Nobel laureate.”

“I think we have maybe the best QB incubator in the NFL,” he said. “And so, when you put a person in there with all that ability and all that mindset, I just feel so confident about what’s going to come out the other end. ... Ultimately, in this job, you have to make bets. You have to be willing to believe something before other people see it. That’s a lot of what gives me confidence. It’s the belief I have in this building, it’s the belief I have in this player.”

Adofo-Mensah admits there may not be “a great (historical) comp for this.” This is a team with a loaded roster and Super Bowl aspirations that is relying on a young quarterback, coming off an injury, who has yet to make his NFL debut. There’s risk involved with that. But there’s also a lot of reason to have confidence.

“He’s going to go home, just like Kevin, just like myself, just like leaders in this organization, and give every single thing he can to the accomplishment of our goals,” Adofo-Mensah said. “And I can sleep at night with that. I talk about minimizing regret all the time. I am never going to regret going into battle with people like that.”

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Where does Vikings’ upgraded roster rank among all 32 NFL teams?

Where does the Vikings’ roster rank among the NFL’s 32 teams? Pro Football Focus has them at 8th, which is a decent ranking for a team whose QB hasn’t yet made his regular season debut. And yet, it feels like that may still be underselling the amount of talent in Minnesota. ESPN’s Mike Clay ranked the Vikings’ roster 6th in the league. NFL.com’s Eric Edholm also placed the Vikings 6th on his list of the 10 most complete teams in the league, noting that they have “a Formula 1 roster but a learner’s permit driver.”

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Go big or go home: Why the Vikings should trade for Jalen Ramsey

If J.J. McCarthy is the guy the Vikings believe him to be, a three-year Super Bowl window is about to open up in Minnesota. They’ve spent this entire offseason constructing an incredible roster around their young, rookie-contract quarterback. Why stop now? There’s a star player out there who would address their biggest remaining (non-QB) question mark, the cornerback position.

His name is Jalen Ramsey, and the Vikings should seriously consider trading for him.

This is an opportunity for GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah to go out and add a great player to a position that is one injury away from being a glaring weakness, if it isn’t already. The Vikings’ top two cornerbacks heading into this season are Pro Bowler Byron Murphy Jr. and newcomer Isaiah Rodgers, who they’re high on. After those two, the depth is suspect. Mekhi Blackmon is coming off of missing all of last year with a torn ACL. Jeff Okudah is a reclamation project on his fourth team in as many years. Dwight McGlothern is a former undrafted free agent. The floor is low, and things could get dicey quickly with an injury to Murphy, Rodgers, or Blackmon.

An NFL defense, like an offensive line, can be a weak-link unit. If the Vikings’ cornerbacks struggle and allow receivers to get open early, their elite-looking defensive front won’t have time to get home. Opposing quarterbacks could look to pick apart Brian Flores’ defense with a quick passing game.

That’s where Ramsey comes in. Yes, he turns 31 in October. But the seven-time Pro Bowler and three-time first-team All-Pro is still a very, very good football player. He started all 17 games for the Dolphins last season and earned a 76.9 PFF grade, which ranked eighth among the 92 corners who played at least 500 snaps. Ramsey, who has 24 career interceptions, can play press man coverage or make instinctive plays in zone. He’s a strong run defender and tackler who recorded a career-high 12 pressures last season as a blitzer. He can do all of the things Flores wants his cornerbacks to do. Long-term, there’s been speculation about Ramsey potentially going the Charles Woodson route and moving to safety to extend his career.

It likely wouldn’t cost too much in terms of draft capital, maybe a Day 3 pick. The main issue is the contract. Prior to last season, Ramsey signed a three-year, $72.3 million deal that kicks in this year. But it’s also not as bad as it may seem. Less than $25M is guaranteed. Any team acquiring Ramsey could potentially get the Dolphins to eat some of his 2025 money, and they’d then be able to get out of the deal after a year or two without too much dead cap. If the Vikings were to acquire Ramsey, he wouldn’t come cheap, but I’d trust Adofo-Mensah and Rob Brzezinski to manage the salary-cap element of it all. They have the cap space to do it.

To be clear, there have been no real indications that this is something the Vikings are considering. Reports suggest the $24 million in guaranteed money might be a real obstacle for Minnesota, so this may be a long shot. The Rams, who won a Super Bowl with Ramsey on the roster in 2021-22, appear to be the favorites.

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Kirk Cousins Trade Destinations: 3 Best Landing Spots for the $180,000,000 Falcons QB

If a team were to trade for Cousins, it would take on his $27.5 million salary for 2025. That team would then have the option to cut Cousins in 2026, incurring $10 million in dead money (2026 guaranteed salary), but saving significant money against the cap.

That $10 million could also be spread over two years with a post-June 1 designation, softening the blow.

Minnesota Vikings

In truth, given Cousins’ age (he’ll be 37 at the start of the season), it’s difficult to look beyond the Steelers and the Saints, two teams that need an immediate starter, as likely destinations for Cousins. But the recurring mentions of the Minnesota Vikings regarding the aforementioned Rodgers make them an unlikely Wild Card for their former player’s signature.

Cousins’ hefty salary limits his potential landing spots to teams in immediate need of a starting quarterback—reportedly not including the Vikings. Minnesota is said to be confident in 2024 rookie J.J. McCarthy, despite the fact that he missed his entire first season with a patellar injury.

While the plan appears to be turning the offense over to McCarthy, it’s not out of the question that he may need more time to adjust. Some believe the former Michigan star is ready to shine from day one, while others are more skeptical. Regardless of his talent, there’s reason for caution when a young quarterback is coming off a serious injury.

As for Cousins, his situation remains a curious one. Just a year removed from a $180 million contract, he may find himself without a clear path to a starting job. If no team sees enough value to trade for him, he could remain on the Falcons’ bench indefinitely.

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For all you Goobers!

Vikings’ J.J. McCarthy reportedly smashed a Tom Brady record before taking a real NFL snap

According to multiple reports, McCarthy recently broke Tom Brady’s NFL record for most touchdown passes thrown during a single year’s OTAs. He has reportedly thrown 42 touchdown passes compared to one interception in his first true football action since last summer’s meniscus injury.

Brady is said to have held the previous OTAs touchdown record at 36, but the GOAT would probably scoff at the idea of tracking individual statistics during voluntary offseason workout sessions. The legitimacy of these reports are also highly questionable, as only a small percentage of OTA sessions are open to the local media. So take “reports” like these with a grain of salt.

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Yore Mock

Trade Recap​

Minnesota Receives: 2026: Round 1, Pick 21, 2026: Round 4, Pick 121​

Denver Receives: 2026: Round 1, Pick 18​

...​

Minnesota Receives: 2026: Round 3, Pick 88, 2026: Round 4, Pick 137​

San Francisco Receives: 2026: Round 3, Pick 82​

...​

21. Jermod McCoy CB Tennessee 6’0” 193

Photo by Roger Wimmer/ISI Photos/Getty Images

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50. Nick Singleton RB Penn State 6’0” 226

Dan Rainville / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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88. Kamari Ramsey S USC 6’0” 202

Photo by Ric Tapia/Getty Images

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97. Domonique Orange DL Iowa State 6’4” 325

Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

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118. Fa’alili Fa’amoe OT Wake Forest 6’5” 317

Photo by Ric Tapia/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

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121. Malachi Fields WR Virginia 6’4” 220

Amber Searls-Imagn Images

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137. Derrick Moore EDGE Michigan 6’3” 256

Photo by Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images

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174. Bryce Foster OC Kansas 6’5” 325

Photo by Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

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232. Wade Woodaz LB Clemson 6’3” 235

Photo by Isaiah Vazquez/Getty Images

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Again, we all know the rules, but in case someone is new:

• 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
• While navigating the open thread, just assume it’s sarcasm

Source: https://www.dailynorseman.com/2025/6/7/24444951/byron-murphy-mekhi-blackmon-jalen-ramsey

 

[Minnesota Vikings]

A Lot of Vikings Fans Are Already Excited for the 2025 Season

Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images

And so they should be

It’s time to bring everyone the results of our SB Nation Reacts poll from this past week, so let’s get to what fans of the Minnesota Vikings are thinking.

We’ll get the question with a little less suspense out of the way first, as we asked whether or not you fine folks were planning on making the trip to either or both of the overseas games the purple will be playing in 2025. The answer was a pretty resounding “nope.”

A full 95% of the people who answered our survey said that they are not going to be heading across the pond to watch our favorite team this year. I mean, that’s not exactly surprising or anything. . .things are expensive, yo. However, there were a few of you who said you’re making the trip, as 2% of you plan to attend their game against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Dublin and another 2% will be watching them face the Cleveland Browns in London. Lastly, 1% of our respondents plan to make a full-on vacation out of this and attend both games.

I didn’t get the figures for exactly how many people responded to this week’s poll, but 5% is not a whole lot. I’d love to be able to do something like that someday, but it certainly isn’t happening now.

With that, we’re on to our other question for this week, where we asked when you’ll start getting excited about the Vikings’ 2025 season. The answers to this one are a lot more varied than the other question, to be certain.

Of those who responded to our poll, a full 48% said that they’re already excited for the upcoming season, which is pretty great. Then there were 22% of you who said you weren’t going to get truly hyped up for things until we get to Week 1 of the season in September, while another 20% said they’ll start feeling the excitement when training camp gets underway in late July. The final 10% of our respondents fall somewhere in between as they said they’ll start getting excited when the team is ready to play their first preseason game.

Obviously, I’m in the 48% of folks who are already excited. Part of it is the nature of doing what I do here. . .you can’t run a site like this devoted to one team without spending a lot of time thinking about it. But there’s varying degrees of that, and this coming season is one that I’m as excited for as I’ve been for any season since I started doing this. The way this team is constructed and the potential it has just makes me wish it was already September, so things can’t possibly move fast enough for me.

Those are the results of our SB Nation Reacts poll for this week, folks. Thank you to everyone who took part in our survey and talked things up in the comments section, and we’ll have at least a few more of these as we prepare for the upcoming season.

Check out the FanDuel Sportsbook, the official sportsbook partner of SB Nation.

Source: https://www.dailynorseman.com/2025/6/8/24445406/minnesota-vikings-fans-already-excited-2025-season

 

[Minnesota Vikings]

Vikes Views: Favorite Vikings Tight End

Malcolm Emmons-Imagn Images

Welcome to the All-Time Favorite Viking Team series. We’re going through and voting by position for your favorite Viking players. There are no set criteria other than they played for the Minnesota Vikings. It’s your favorite player at that position.

We’re on Day 5. Now that we know our RB, let’s take a look at the Tight Ends. The two highest votes will get the starting spots. My suspicion will be there is one clear winner, but there are several good choices that might end up as TE2.

Jim Kleinsasser (1999-2011)

1,688 career receiving yards with 6 TDs

147 rushing yards with 1 TD

It isn’t about the stats with Kleinsasser. He was the heart of the team and a utility player. He played FB, RB, TE, H Back and just about anywhere he was needed.

Steve Jordan (1982-1994)

6,307 career receiving yards with 28 TDs

Jordan was named to 6 consecutive Pro Bowls from 1986-1991 and was also named one of the 50 Greatest Vikings and is in the Vikings Ring of Honor.

Kyle Rudolph (2011-2020)

4,773 career receiving yards with 50 TDs

Ruldolph was a 2x Pro Bowler and 1x Pro Bowl MVP. He had the catch against the Saints from Kirk Cousins that sealed a Wild Card win in the 2019 playoffs. Rudolph was very involved with the community.

TJ Hockenson (2022-present)

4,002 career receiving yards with 23 TDs

Hockenson came via trade from the Detroit Lions. He has been an immediate contributor to the team. He’s a 2x Pro Bowler.

Visanthe Shiancoe (2007-2011)

2,679 career receiving yards with 27 TDs

Shiancoe was more productive in my memory than in real life. It seemed like he was on his way to doing more, but never really became a star.

Stu Voigt (1970-1980)

1,919 career receiving yards with 17 TDs

Voigt was selected as one of the 50 Greatest Vikings. He played in three Super Bowls with the Vikings and became a radio commentator for the team after retirement.

Mike Tice (1992-1995)

894 career receiving yards and 11 TDs

The former Viking coach wasn’t a great player, but he spent 14 years in the league. His final three were in Minnesota.

Source: https://www.dailynorseman.com/2025/6/9/24442393/vikes-views-favorite-vikings-tight-end