The NFL’s intransigence regarding the Bears’ plea for compensatory draft picks following the hiring of Ian Cunningham as the Falcons’ General Manager raises an interesting question.
Could another team hire Cunningham away from the Falcons as its primary football executive?
It’s a fair question. If Cunningham didn’t get a job with the Falcons that triggers the provision in the Rooney Rule that rewards a team for developing a minority candidate who becomes a General Manager with another team, he’s not really a General Manager. Another team could, in theory, hire him as a General Manager — if that G.M. job makes him the primary football executive.
That’s how the league distinguished the Saints getting a pair of third-round picks when assistant G.M. Terry Fontenot became the Falcons’ G.M. in 2021. Although Rich McKay was the Falcons’ president and CEO at the time, Fontenot became the primary football executive. This time around, Matt Ryan (the president of football) is viewed as the primary football executive.
For now, it’s a hypothetical. As soon as next month, it could become something tangible.
The Vikings will be looking for a new General Manager. If the job, as defined by the Vikings, makes the new G.M. the primary football executive, they could hire Cunningham.
It doesn’t even have to go that far to become a potential mess for the league. The Vikings could, in theory, put in a request to interview Cunningham. And the Falcons, under the league’s Rooney Rule reasoning, wouldn’t be able to say no.
We’ve asked the league for clarification of this point. But it’s hard to imagine that Cunningham wouldn’t be eligible to be interviewed or hired by the Vikings or any other team that would make him the primary football executive.
If Cunningham can’t be hired by another team as its primary football executive, the league would have created a bizarre dead zone for NFL front-office positions. It would make the job Cunningham has big enough to prevent upward mobility elsewhere, but not big enough to trigger the compensatory draft-pick provision.
Eventually, it could become an issue for the league to confront. If the Vikings don’t try to interview him next month, the question will become ripe for consideration the moment a team that is looking for a primary football executive submits a slip to the league office seeking permission from the Falcons to interview their G.M. who, per the league, isn’t really the G.M.
Vikings Clips
Offseason programs will start getting underway around the NFL next week.
The ten teams that hired new coaches this offseason will be eligible to start working with their players on Monday, April 6. The Ravens are the only team that has set that as their first day of work while the Cardinals, Falcons, Bills, Browns, Raiders, Dolphins, Giants, Steelers and Titans have set Tuesday as their opening day.
All of those teams will also be able to hold a voluntary minicamp later in the spring. Every team is also scheduled to hold a rookie minicamp and a mandatory minicamp over the course of the next few months.
The first two weeks of work for all teams is limited to meetings, strength and conditioning, and physical rehabilitation only. The three-week second phase allows for on-field work, but no full-speed team drills while the third OTA phase allows for team drills, but there is no live contact allowed at any point in the offseason.
Most of the 22 teams with returning coaches will be opening their offseason programs on April 20 or 21. The Broncos have set May 4 as their first day.
The Vikings currently have four quarterbacks on the roster. There is no starter, for now.
Coach Kevin O’Connell explained during a recent visit with PFT Live that, eventually, there will be a clear delineation of positions on the depth chart.
The real question is when. He didn’t rule out the possibility of determining the starter entering training camp. That seems unlikely, however. The competition will likely commence during preseason practices and games.
The goal, as O’Connell explained it, is to have one guy lead the way throughout the season. That’s what happened in 2022, when Kirk Cousins started all 17 games, and in 2024, when Sam Darnold started all 17 games. The Vikings went 27-7 in those two seasons.
It will come down, undoubtedly, to Kyler Murray or J.J. McCarthy. O’Connell explained that he has no concern about McCarthy becoming disenchanted if he doesn’t win the job.
The best news for the Vikings is that, however it plays out, they’ll have a solid No. 2 and (if Carson Wentz makes the final 53) a third-stringer who can win games if need be. Last year, Wentz showed up less than two weeks before Week 1, and he played better than anyone could have expected. This year, he’ll be involved throughout the offseason program and training camp.
In 2025, the Vikings came within a whisker of the playoffs, despite having three different quarterbacks start games. This year, with the Vikings learning down the stretch that there are ways to win that don’t rely on a high-octane passing game, they could find a way to do better than expected.
But that’s how it’s been going for the Vikings in recent years. When the bar is low, they do well. When the bar is high, they sputter.
This year, the bar is low again. Which is exactly where they need it to be.
The Vikings have until May 1 to exercise the fifth-year option on 2023 first-round draft pick Jordan Addison. And they plan to do so.
“He’s a really important player for us, an impact player,” Vikings executive V.P. of football operations Rob Brzezinski said Monday, via Vikings.com. “We’re definitely exercising the option. For sure. The deadline for that is after the draft.”
Brzezinski’s express reference to the draft could prompt some to wonder whether Addison could be traded before or during the draft. They’re already paying Justin Jefferson $35 million per year at the position, and Addison is currently eligible for a new deal.
Addison’s fifth-year option will guarantee him a 2027 base salary of $18 million.
In three seasons, Addison has generated solid but not spectacular numbers. He had 911 receiving yards on 70 catches as a rookie, with 10 touchdowns. In 2024, that dipped to 875 yards and 63 catches, with nine receiving touchdowns. In 2025, he had only 42 catches for 610 yards and three receiving touchdowns.
His 65-yard touchdown run on Christmas clinched a win over the Lions, and ended Detroit’s playoff chances.
Addison missed the first three games of the 2025 season due to a suspension arising from a guilty plea to a DUI-related offense.
The Vikings were open to trading Jonathan Greenard this offseason, but the edge rusher remains a part of the team. Head coach Kevin O’Connell sounds as if he expects Greenard to be with the Vikings for a third season, though he didn’t completely close the door on a trade.
“Yeah, I expect him to be part of our team,” O’Connell said Monday at the NFL owners meetings. “I know there’s always conversations. There’s conversations this week. There’s conversations throughout the offseason, and we’ll continue to kind of attack things at the different phases. We’re getting ready to really jump heavily into draft meetings when we get back. But at the same time, we’re always going to try to do what’s best for our team and also what we think is best for each one of our individual players. And that’s an ongoing thing throughout every offseason.”
Greenard is set to carry a $22.15 million cap number in 2026, which is why the Vikings are open to moving him.
He is working his way back from shoulder surgery, which ended Greenard’s season after 12 games. Greenard made three sacks, 10 tackles for loss and 12 quarterback hits in 2025.
Greenard’s recovery is “on track,” O’Connell said.
“I would just say, I’m excited about Jonathan Greenard in Year 3 with us and excited about where our team’s going to go with him as a big part of our defense,” O’Connell said. “The business side of the NFL gets talked about a lot, but my role and the importance of the relationship side of things will always be paramount with all of our players, especially one of my captains like J.G.”
It became obvious late last season that Kyler Murray had played his final game for the Cardinals. The team kept him on injured reserve with a foot injury, with his last of five starts in 2025 coming on Oct. 5.
Mike LaFleur, though, wouldn’t discuss Murray’s future after his hiring as the team’s head coach.
Now that the Cardinals officially released Murray, who signed with the Vikings, LaFleur addressed Murray’s departure after seven seasons.
“Like I’ve said about Kyler, a lot of respect for him. Wish him the best,” LaFleur said Monday at the NFL owners meetings, via Donnie Druin of SI.com. “Did some good stuff here, but sometimes it’s time for change for both sides. Again, wish him the best. Will never wish ill will on anybody.”
Murray, the No. 1 overall pick in 2019, played under two head coaches in Arizona. He will not play for LaFleur.
He leaves after one playoff appearance, two Pro Bowls, 121 passing touchdowns, 60 interceptions and 32 rushing touchdowns.
“Like I just said, it’s one of those things where it’s good for both parties to part ways if you will,” LaFleur said. “Again, we wish him the best. He had a lot of success here. I know when I was on the other sideline, albeit [I’m not] Robert Saleh or one of the defensive coaches — he was a problem. Again, wish him all the success, but we felt like this was the best thing to move forward.”
The Cardinals signed Gardner Minshew to join Jacoby Brissett in the quarterbacks room, and the team could draft a quarterback to join them.
“Let’s call it what it is: The quarterback position is the most important position in all of sports. We know that,” LaFleur said. “So there were lengthy conversations in so many different aspects of [the position], and there will continue to be until we figure out how we have the most perfect room possible. I like where we’re at right now, but like we said, if there’s a guy to add, we’re going to add [him].”
A week after signing veteran Kyler Murray, the Vikings signed veteran Carson Wentz. It was a move that was confusing for everyone outside the building, considering they also have former first-round pick J.J. McCarthy and Max Brosmer on their roster.
It made perfect sense to coach Kevin O’Connell, who saw Wentz start five games before a left shoulder injury ended his season.
“I just think it’s about depth,” O’Connell said Monday at the NFL owners meetings in Scottsdale, Arizona. “It’s about the fact that, without too much of a rearview-mirror-looking backward, you see where the final standings were; where we were at 9-8 and ultimately maybe the one or two or three plays or sequences of games where you find your way into the dance, and that’s really all you ever want at the beginning of every year is to punch your ticket to compete in that one game to continue moving on.
“We’ve played three guys in one year. We’ve played four in another. We just feel like having the ability to get quality quarterback play throughout the circumstances we do not control throughout the season gives our team pretty historic data that says if we get quarterback play to a certain line, we win a lot of football games. So we wanted to ensure we are able to do that, but also make it a very, very competitive room and that’s regardless of who’s taking reps with what group. We want the quarterback position to elevate our team, and with the talent we have around that position, we feel pretty good about it also working vice versa the other way around.”
Wentz wanted to start somewhere, and Minnesota might be his best chance for that.
“We wanted to be patient and allow Carson to see what opportunities might be out there, but at the same time, Carson knew very on early in offseason, regardless what other moves or move we made in that room, that we wanted him back,” O’Connell said. “He loved being in Minnesota. He loves our fan base. He loves getting to wear the purple and gold. I know for some people it might be a, ‘Why would Carson do that?’ I think some people are discounting the fact that he’s really enjoyed his time not only being around [quarterbacks coach] Josh [McCown] and his teammates but being a Minnesota Viking. It’s an important thing to me to always know that it’s a place that guys want to come play whether they have previous experience with us, but there’s a desire and an enthusiasm about playing quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings.”
Wentz has 99 career starts and Murray 87. McCarthy started 10 games last season and Brosmer two.
Wentz, Murray and McCarthy all were top-10 draft picks, with Wentz going second overall to the Eagles in 2016, Murray No. 1 overall to the Cardinals in 2019 and McCarthy 10th overall in 2024.
They will compete for the job.
“Knowing that we feel comfortable and confident about the depth of our quarterback room, we want to prepare all of those guys to be able to take snaps and contribute to winning when called upon,” O’Connell said. “What that looks like, we’ll see.”
Hall of Famer John Madden once said, “If you have two quarterbacks, you have none.” The Vikings have three. What that means remains to be seen, but O’Connell appears comfortable with who he has in the room.
“I see a lot of ways that we’ll be able to continue the evolution and evolve our offense here in Year 5, but at the same time, principles 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, “and the same goes for J.J. and Carson and Max as far as guys who now all have experience in our system, and that’s one of the benefits as we’ve seen before of playing multiple guys in a tough year for the quarterback position just from a pure health standpoint, which is what last year, so now we feel really good about the combination, depth, talent and the fact that we’ve got a room that’s going to push each and all of those guys are going to have great offseasons and be ready to rock and roll.”
Vikings Ring of Honor member Joey Browner has died. He was 65.
The Vikings announced Browner’s passing on Sunday.
Browner, a first-round pick in 1983 from USC, spent nine years with the Vikings. He finished his career with one season in Tampa.
In his time with Minnesota, Browner was a three-time first-team All-Pro, a second-team All-Pro, and a six-time Pro Bowler. Browner also was a member of the NFL’s All-Decade Team for the 1980s.
Browner helped lead the Vikings to the NFC Championship in 1987. He was one of four siblings to play in the NFL, along with Ross, Jim, and Keith.
“We’ve lost a great friend and one of the best Vikings teammates,” former Vikings tight end Steve Jordan told Vikings.com. “God blessed Joey with phenomenal talent and a big heart to love people and be a beacon of positivity. Truly, he will be missed.”
Browner ranks third in team history for games played by a safety, behind only Paul Krause and Harrison Smith. Browner joined the Vikings’ Ring of Honor in 2013.
The news of Browner’s passing comes one day after the Vikings announced the passing of linebacker Jeff Siemon, a member of three Super Bowl teams in the 1970s.
We extend our condolences to Browner’s family, friends, and teammates.
Former Vikings linebacker Jeff Siemon has died. He was 75.
The team announced Siemon’s passing on Saturday.
A first-round pick in 1972 from Stanford, the Rochester, Minnesota native spent 11 years with the Vikings. He played for three Super Bowl teams (1973, 1974, 1976) and made the Pro Bowl four times.
Siemon was named one of the 50 Greatest Vikings in commemoration of the team’s 50th season, in 2010. He ranks third in team history in tackles, with 1,375. For nine straight seasons, Siemon appeared in every game.
We extend our condolences to his family, friends, and teammates.
Next month, Pittsburgh will take center stage to host the 2026 NFL Draft.
In 2027, the scene shifts to Washington, D.C., where the event will be held on the National Mall in front of the U.S. Capitol.
What’s next? It might be back to the Midwest.
Minnesota Sports and Events announced on Wednesday that it has officially submitted a bid to host the 2028 NFL Draft in partnership with the Vikings and U.S. Bank Stadium in downtown Minneapolis.
The Vikings’ home stadium would serve as the hub for the event, according to the proposal.
“Hosting the NFL Draft would be a defining moment for Minnesota — not just as a world-class event, but as a global showcase of who we are,” Minnesota Sports and Events President and CEO Wendy Blackshaw said, via CBS News. “We’ve proven we can deliver on the biggest stages, and this bid reflects both our ambition and our confidence in what this region can offer. At the same time, opportunities like this reinforce the importance of establishing a sustainable, long-term funding model, so Minnesota can remain competitive for events of this scale in the future.”
Vikings EVP of public affairs Lester Bagley said in the team’s announcement that the organization is “vested and invested, and we will provide financial support, staff support, and organizational energy.”
Minnesota last hosted a tentpole league event in February 2018 with Super Bowl LII, in which the Eagles defeated the Patriots to cap the 2017 season. Minneapolis hosting would mean all four NFC North cities would have had a draft, as Chicago has hosted multiple times, Detroit hosted in 2024, and Green Bay hosted in 2025.
Buffalo has also previously submitted a bid to host the draft in 2028.
