The NFL announced offseason workout program dates for all 32 teams, and the Vikings will start getting back together pretty quickly.

Players will report to TCO Performance Center in Eagan for the first day of the offseason program on April 20, three days before this year’s NFL draft in Pittsburgh.

Mandatory minicamp will take place June 9-11.

The league’s nine-week voluntary offseason program is divided into three phases, beginning with two weeks of meetings, strength and conditioning and rehabilitation exclusively in Phase 1.

In Phase 2, teams are allowed on-field activities but limited to select types of drills, some limited to walk-through speed. Live contact or team drills pitting the offense and defense against each other are allowed.

Organized team activities, as well as mandatory mini-camp, are Phase 3 of the program. Teams are allowed 10 days of OTA practices where 7-on-7, 9-on-7 and 11-on-11 drills are allowed but live contact is still not permitted.

At the NFL annual meeting on Monday, March 30, in Phoenix, Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said he expects the team’s “full group of wide receivers” to be in attendance for all of OTAs.

The only portion of OTAs veteran players are fined for missing is mandatory minicamp, though attendance is encouraged.

Last season, star wide receiver Justin Jefferson’s presence was notable as the team looked to establish chemistry between him and young quarterback J.J. McCarthy. This year, they will be onboarding him with new QB addition Kyler Murray as well as building on the foundation laid with McCarthy, Carson Wentz and Max Brosmer last year.

“The way the offseason’s set up, we’re going to be out there for Phase 2 where there’s really not a lot of competitive reps to go around, other than throwing routes on air, and we’re going to want to have guys working with everybody. Getting as many reps as we possibly can,” O’Connell said. 

“The offseason program anymore is still a pretty strong teaching, learning phase, and when it’s time to truly start logging reps and counting throws … there’ll be a time and place for that.”

Last year, the Vikings ended their OTAs early per O’Connell’s decision following the completion of mandatory minicamp.

Here is the Vikings’ full offseason program schedule:

• First day: April 20
  
• Rookie minicamp: Either May 1-4 or 8-11
  
• OTAs: May 26-27, May 29, June 1-2, June 4, June 15-18
  
• Mandatory minicamp: June 9-11
  

Time flies, it'll be OTA's' in the blink of an eye!

I'm curious, as a Fan, when did you realize the 2025 Vikings weren't gonna be as good as you'd hoped? 

When did ya get the feeling in your gut that said, "Uh-oh" this isn't gonna work nearly as well as you'd hoped?

The moment you  figured out, JJ wasn't be as good as  advertised ?

FWIW The Vikings played lights out in 2000,Culpepper's first  year as a starter.   it was  a precedent of what was possible. 

With Free Agency spending , the roster,    there were semi realistic high expectations  in 2025.


For me it was in Preseason, when the starters didn't play much.
A rookie QB who'd sat out an entire year ,playing behind a replaced IOL , and a new IDL in Flores system that all  got limited reps....?  


Denny Green got it right when his teams  played full out in preseason and it worked.

The practice of sitting starters in preseason was predicated on a veteran unit returning in tact, where they'd demonstrated they didn't need the reps. That's not what is happening now. These units and players are unproven due to Free Agency yet everyone sits out most of Preseason....


What's the upside to resting starters only for them to show up  week 1 looking off and out of sorts where they  needed more reps..Isn't that the purpose of Preseason?

Now I am not a fan of Mr Hair, and he is rarely accurate, but this was a 3 round mock from 4 .   Mel Kiper Jr., Matt Miller, Jordan Reid and Field Yates took turns making selections through the top 100 picks.  

49. Minnesota Vikings
Kiper's pick: Jadarian Price, RB, Notre Dame

Aaron Jones Sr. is 31 years old, and Jordan Mason hasn't made the jump to clear RB1. Neither is signed beyond 2026. And Price is a powerful runner with enough speed to cut and go.

Here are the other Minnesota mocks in the Top 100:
Matt Miller had a predictable pick at #18...this would not be a surprise:
18. Minnesota Vikings
Miller's pick: Dillon Thieneman, S, Oregon
This might be the second-most-predicted pick in mock drafts behind Mendoza to the Raiders. Thieneman can be a smooth-moving replacement for longtime Vikings safety Harrison Smith.

82. Minnesota Vikings
Miller's pick: Connor Lew, C, Auburn
Ryan Kelly's retirement this offseason leaves an opening at center. Lew is coming off an ACL injury but has high-end starter traits.

97. Minnesota Vikings*
Kiper's pick: De'Zhaun Stribling, WR, Ole Miss
The Jalen Nailor role behind Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison is open for applicants in the Minnesota offense, and Stribling is fresh off his second straight 800-plus-yard season.

Keep in mind that being accurate in the second or third round is like predicting the temperature next month. But I could certainly feel good about these first three picks.

At end of the last season, it was fair to wonder what the future held for Darrisaw after a particularly frustrating return from an October 2024 knee injury. He was on the active roster at the start of the campaign but managed only 10 starts at left tackle, five of which he left early, and finished on injured reserve.

The Vikings did not look to replace him this offseason, although they did sign a formidable backup in restricted free agent Ryan Van Demark. In Phoenix, O'Connell was asked if he thinks Darrisaw will be ready to play a full season in 2026. O'Connell expressed optimism for him playing 17 games, although it seems possible that Darrisaw will continue to follow a maintenance plan that limits his practice time.

"With an injury like that, sometimes time is truly the only thing that will ultimately get us to where we want to get to," O'Connell said. "And I do believe we're at that point now. He's having a really good offseason. What that looks like, what his daily practice schedule and plan looks like, we're going to do what we think is best to get Christian ready to play 17 games and feel at his absolute best to do so."

ESPN

I believe it was Murphy with a pick and the receiver reached in and put one hand on the ball and was awarded possession?
I can't remember which game that was.

Jalen Hurts: the guy is 57-25 as a starter. I'm 100% convinced its mostly because he's not dynamic or exciting enough, just workmanlike. Accomplished alot already at 27 years old.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/4822...brown-2026

Speculation....Makes some sense with Willis gone and LaFleur & Kirk go back to DC together...

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Currently, the Packers have quarterbacks Desmond Ridder and Kyle McCord on their roster behind Love. However, neither has a reputation for success that the NFL level and many wonder if Green Bay may want to add a veteran quarterback who would provide more certain security.

That being said, Willis did not have a good reputation as a successful NFL quarterback when the Packers first acquired him.

Still, there have been suggestions thrown out that Green Bay may look into signing four-time Pro Bowl quarterback Kirk Cousins to backup Love. General manager Brian Gutekunst addressed this suggestion earlier this week, per Matt Schneidman:

“We’ve discussed a lot of those options. Obviously, that’s a guy who’s got a lot of pelts on the wall in this league, so we’ve certainly discussed all those kind of things, and we’ll see where it goes.”

Obviously, this is an intriguing idea because of how successful Cousins had been, overall, in his NFL career. He is also familiar with the Packers thanks to his tenure with the rival Minnesota Vikings.

Beyond that, though, Green Bay head coach Matt LaFleur was Cousins’ first quarterbacks coach dating back to their days in Washington.

It remains to be seen who exactly will end up as Love’s backup in 2026. Cousins is a free agent and likely is headed for a backup role wherever he goes. Him ending up with the Packers may be a stretch, but it is far from impossible.

Source: Wisportsheroics

It's just the way its going to be (got to be) at this stage of the off-season...

I also wonder if Frank Smith will be one of those under the radar coaching hires that can make an impact?

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PHOENIX – An air of satisfaction hung over Vikings brass early this week at the NFL’s annual league meeting.

That’s deserved, at least for now. In the month since the last league-wide gathering, the NFL scouting combine, they achieved exactly what they said they wanted to at the quarterback position, even with salary cap constraints: build a competitive room from which a bona fide, 17-game starter can emerge.

In March, they added Kyler Murray the first overall pick in the 2019 NFL draft, at a league minimum price tag. And they re-signed veteran Carson Wentz, who was the fill-in starter last season until injured.

The Vikings say they still believe in developing youngsters J.J. McCarthy, who ran the team at the start of the 2025 season, and Max Brosmer, who was thrown into the fire as an undrafted free-agent rookie.

“That blend is going to be great in the room,” Vikings co-owner Mark Wilf said Monday, March 30. “Both experience and development, and talent on all fronts. It’s a great situation to have, and we’re going to come out a lot better for it.”

The Vikings would prefer, as coach Kevin O’Connell has said more than once, to have to start only one quarterback in a season instead of three or four. After a cheeky comment following Murray’s signing that a starter didn’t need to be named in March, O’Connell said Monday that it’s too early to even begin thinking about how reps are divided in the lead-up to the season.

His approach in the next phase of the calendar, organized team activities starting in late May, centers on “learning and teaching.”

O’Connell said he expects OTAs will include the full group of receivers, including Justin Jefferson, who had a voice in the quarterback discussions this offseason as the Vikings’ franchise player. Jefferson attended OTAs in full last year, too, as the Vikings looked to build his chemistry with McCarthy.

Getting every quarterback a high amount of reps with every member of that receiving group and the rest of the offense is more important to O’Connell than funneling them all to a potential No. 1.

“You can’t go into it with a mindset of trying to elevate your quarterback room and get as many talented players as you can in there and then start carving out the reps in March,” O’Connell said. “It really doesn’t work like that.”

It helps, then, that the four QBs are already spending time in Minnesota working together and establishing rapport.

Murray, whose signing last month comes after seven years living in Arizona while with the Cardinals, is in town a few days a week. The two-time Pro Bowl choice and former Heisman Trophy winner is the presumed 2026 starter. It’s hard to imagine the outcome any other way, with the Cardinals paying the bulk of his $36.8 million salary (the Vikings are paying him the league minimum $1.3 million) after he chose Minnesota as the place to try to rejuvenate his career.

The one obstacle could be Murray struggling to pick up O’Connell’s scheme, though that seems unlikely, too. The 28-year-old’s football IQ and recall have been lauded by members of the organization. Additionally, O’Connell seems open to adapting his offense to fit some of Murray’s skill set and previous experience, particularly as an elusive runner.

The Vikings coach also brought in Frank Smith as assistant head coach ahead of Murray’s signing to help adapt the Vikings’ running game and evolve the overall offense.

“I see a lot of ways that we’ll be able to continue the evolution of our offense here in Year 5, but at the same time, principles that I believe Kyler will be able to not only make his own but provide different layers to what we do with some of his experiences,” O’Connell said.

McCarthy, meanwhile, returned recently from training in Southern California with former NFL QB and 3DQB trainer John Beck. O’Connell said he believes McCarthy gained “perspective” through his 10 starts last season, but the Vikings would still like to see a level of consistency from McCarthy on and off the field that they didn’t quite get in 2025.

That is as much a reason for their building out of the quarterback room as anything else: giving McCarthy room to develop and ample resources to help him do so.

The Vikings seem to have a better plan in place than they did before last season, although Wentz is recovering from a season-ending shoulder injury.

Does Murray have the smarts and talent to be the key to the Vikings’ first playoff win five years into O’Connell’s tenure?

“We feel really good about the combination of depth, talent and the fact that we’ve got a room that’s going to push each other,” O’Connell said. “All those guys are gonna have great offseasons and be ready to rock and roll.”

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