Vikings Clips
The Vikings did some roster shuffling on Tuesday.
They announced that they have signed tight end Marshall Lang and defensive lineman Jahvaree Ritzie. The two players are joining the team at the end of the offseason program and will have more work to look forward to at this summer’s training camp.
Lang went undrafted last year and spent time on practice squads in New England and Seattle during the season. He had 48 catches for 491 yards and four touchdowns while at Northwestern.
Ritzie was also an undrafted rookie who spent time with the Patriots in 2025. He signed with the Steelers in January and was waived last month. He had 6.5 sacks during his final season at North Carolina.
The Vikings waived offensive tackle Caleb Etienne and defensive lineman Monkell Goodwine in corresponding moves.
The Vikings will continue reshaping their front office by hiring a former General Manager of one of their NFC North rivals.
Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com reports that they will hire former Bears GM Ryan Pace as a football advisor. Pace was hired by the Bears in 2015 and remained in Chicago through the 2021 season. The Bears went 48-65 and made the playoffs twice during his tenure.
Pace spent the last four seasons as a personnel executive with the Falcons.
Seifert reports that the Vikings will also hire Azzaam Kapadia as their assistant director of pro scouting. Kapadia worked with new Vikings GM Nolan Teasley in Seattle and the two men join assistant GMs Andrew Healy and Trent Kirchner as new additions to the Minnesota organization.
Calvin Johnson set the NFL’s single-season receiving record with 1,964 yards during the 2012 season and he doesn’t expect to have that spot in the record books for too much longer.
Johnson said on Monday that it is only “a matter of time” before someone is able to top the record that he set in a 16-game season. Cooper Kupp came close to reaching Johnson’s mark during a 17-game season in 2021 and Johnson noted the likelihood that future aspirants are probably going to have one more game than that to make their run at the No. 1 spot.
“If they go to 18 — well, should we say when they go to 18 games?” Johnson said, via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. “When they go to 18 games it’s no doubt about it. Hands down.”
Matthew Stafford was Johnson’s quarterback in 2012 and Kupp’s quarterback in 2021, so it’s fitting that Johnson thinks Stafford’s current top target Puka Nacua is the player with the best chance of setting the new record.
“That would be kind of dope,” Johnson said. “I’d have to go to that game if he did that, cause I like Puka. He’s getting some crap out of his system that’s just a young guy, just learning, but I think he’s an awesome, dynamic receiver.”
Johnson added that he thought Vikings star Justin Jefferson could be the one to break the record, but believes Minnesota “messed up his quarterback situation” and that Jefferson may have missed his window for a bid at the record as a result.
The Vikings announced the open practices for the team’s 66th training camp. It marks the ninth time the team will hold camp at Twin Cities Orthopedics Performance Center.
The Vikings will have 13 open practices, beginning with Back Together Saturday in tandem with Legends Weekend on Saturday, Aug. 1, and concluding on Thursday, Aug. 20, with joint practices against the Ravens.
General admission tickets for 12 of the 13 practices are free for Vikings season-ticket members and children 36 inches and under, $5 for children 17 and under, and $10 for adults. Tickets for the night practice are available at $15 for adults, $10 for children 17 and younger and free for children 36 inches and under. A portion of all ticket sale proceeds will go to the Vikings Foundation.
Season ticket members will receive priority access to reserve tickets at vikings.com/camp, beginning at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, June 16, while access for the general public will begin at 10 a.m. on Thursday, June 18.
The team will release the full schedule of practices in July, but key dates are:
Saturday, Aug. 1 — Back Together & Legends Weekend
Monday, Aug. 3 — First padded practice
Sunday, Aug. 9 — Night practice
Wednesday, Aug. 19 and Thursday, Aug. 20 — Joint practices (Ravens)
The NFL currently has two significant quarterback competitions, in Minnesota and Cleveland. One of them has significantly higher stakes, for various reasons.
Beyond the fact that the Vikings were consistently competent quarterback play away from making it to the playoffs in 2025, the guy who misses the chance to provide the Vikings with what they need to get to the playoffs and perhaps win their first postseason game since 2019 will be very disappointed. And possibly upset.
That will make things tricky for coach Kevin O’Connell.
For now, not much is known. The competition will continue into training camp. The sooner it’s resolved, the sooner the starter will be ready to go when the Packers come to town in Week 1.
There’s another key fact that O’Connell has confirmed. He told PFT Live in late March that he plans to set the depth chart and stick with it. If true (and O’Connell does seem to be the kind who practices the slinging of BS), that makes the decision he makes even more consequential — especially for the guy who doesn’t win the QB1 slot.
When Murray signed with the Vikings for a mere $1.3 million in March (the Cardinals owe him another $35.8 million this year), the thinking was that he had the inside track. Sure, the past few seasons haven’t been great. But the Cardinals had a role in that. Beyond the fact that they haven’t had enough talent around him, they threw a wrench into the relationship by trying to jam an ill-advised homework clause into the long-term deal he signed after his first three seasons, which ended with the offensive rookie of the year award in 2019 and Pro Bowl berths in 2020 and 2021.
If McCarthy had been getting it done to the team’s satisfaction, there would have been no need to pursue Murray. They would have stuck with Carson Wentz (who did fairly well last year despite not showing up until late August) or someone else who would embrace the understudy role. Murray didn’t pick Minnesota to stand on the sidelines.
All signs were pointing to Murray inevitably getting the job, until this week. The public accounts of the team’s mandatory minicamp created the impression that McCarthy is making strides and Murray is struggling. Murray’s comments about his effort to learn the offense, which he delivered in a matter-of-fact way that didn’t smack of excuse-making, pointed to the basic reality that, on the two prior occasions he was learning a new offense, he wasn’t sharing reps.
That could (or perhaps should) light a fire under Murray to view the next six weeks not as a break or a vacation but as a challenge. And it will become obvious to the coaching staff if Murray is taking full advantage of the extra time to get himself ready to clearly and conclusively win the job once training camp opens.
That’s far more effective than the stick of a homework clause. The Vikings have essentially dangled a carrot for Murray. Whether he continues the effort to chase it down during the downtime will reveal plenty.
So if that happens and Murray wins the job, how will McCarthy react? Some think he’ll want to be traded. Some think the Vikings will want to trade him, especially if there’s a concern he’ll be bitter and salty and complaining to teammates that he deserves to play.
One of the four quarterbacks will be gone by Week 1, most likely. Trading McCarthy would allow the Vikings to go with Murray as the starter, Wentz as the backup, and Max Brosmer as the No. 3. (Some have also pointed to the invitation of Cooper Rush to the rookie minicamp as a sign that he could be the fourth option, on the practice squad.)
Yes, McCarthy has said he wants to be in Minnesota. What a guy says during the competition could be very different from what he’ll say after he loses it. Especially if he feels like he didn’t get a fair shake.
It becomes a problem if other players share his viewpoint. If McCarthy is performing better in training camp practices but Murray gets the job, the locker room could murmur and rumble and ultimately revolt. Removing McCarthy from the equation could be in the best interests of getting everyone behind Murray.
That’s where Murray’s comments about sharing reps could become very useful to O’Connell. The more work Murray gets in the offense (continuing into the regular season), the better he’ll be. If O’Connell can get key players (like receiver Justin Jefferson) on board with that, the problem should be avoided.
If McCarthy wins the job, what will Murray do? His agent wasn’t bashful about Murray’s desire for a new contract in early 2022, posting a single-spaced manifesto on social media regarding Murray’s unwillingness to play on the fourth year of his rookie contract. If Murray isn’t happy with O’Connell’s decision, will he embrace a back seat and prepare for McCarthy to be injured (again) or ineffective (again), or will Murray want out?
Much of that depends on what the Vikings told Murray to entice him to sign for $1.3 million. Last year, the Vikings’ inability to make Daniel Jones think he had a real chance to supplant McCarthy made Jones choose the Colts, who made him think he had a real chance to supplant Anthony Richardson. If the Vikings sent a message to Murray that the job is his to lose and he believes he hasn’t lost it (in part because he had to split reps), Murray may be upset.
In theory, Murray provides the Vikings with a no-lose proposition. Murray’s presence will either get McCarthy to step up, or it will cause him to step off. The flip side is that someone will lose out on starting, and his disappointment will need to be managed.
That’s why O’Connell will need to have an effective plan for how to deal with the guy who comes in second. He seems to be the type who does. The only question is whether it will work.
The Vikings are hiring Andrew Healy and Trent Kirchner as assistant General Managers under new General Manager Nolan Teasley, Alec Lewis of TheAthletic.com reports.
Assistant GM Ryan Grigson is expected to stay with the team in a different role.
Healy is leaving the Browns, where he served as the vice president of research and strategy. He joined the Browns in 2016 as a senior player personnel, helping to develop methods for valuing players, game decisions and draft assets.
Healy has a Ph.D. in economics from MIT and has taught economics as a professor at Loyola Marymount.
Kirchner is following Teasley from Seattle, where they spent 13 years together. Kirchner most recently was VP of player personnel, earning that title in 2020.
He previously served as a co-director of player personnel for five years and the team’s pro personnel director for two seasons.
The Vikings parted ways with assistant G.M. Demitrius Washington, senior personnel executive Jamaal Stephenson, assistant director of college scouting Pat Roberts and pro scout Salli Clavelle on Thursday.
Former NFL wide receiver Lance Rentzel died Sunday in Virginia, Kevin Sherrington of the Dallas Morning News reports. Rentzel was 82.
Rentzel was a star at Oklahoma, earning first-team All-Big Eight honors and playing in the Senior Bowl and College All-Star Game after his senior season. The Vikings selected Rentzel in the second round of the 1965 NFL draft, and the Bills took him in the sixth round of the 1965 AFL draft. He signed with Minnesota, where he played two seasons.
After his second season, Rentzel exposed himself to two young girls on a St. Paul, Minnesota, playground. He pleaded guilty but served no jail time with the charges reduced to disorderly conduct after he promised to seek psychiatric treatment. The Cowboys traded him to the Rams in a three-team deal.
The Vikings traded him to the Cowboys for a third-round pick in the 1967 offseason.
Rentzel wrote in his biography, When All the Laughter Died in Sorrow, that he battled mental illness.
He was arrested again in November 1970 after exposing himself to a 10-year-old girl in Dallas. Rentzel pleaded guilty in 1971 and was sentenced to five years of probation and mandatory psychiatric care with no jail time. The Cowboys traded him to the Rams.
Rentzel played two seasons in Los Angeles before police raided his home and arrested him for possession of marijuana. He pleaded guilty, and because he was already on probation with the NFL, Commissioner Pete Rozelle suspended Rentzel for the 1973 season.
Rentzel returned in 1974 in what was his final season before retirement.
He played 115 games over nine seasons and totaled 268 receptions for 4,826 yards and 38 touchdowns and also contributed 26 rushes for 196 yards and two touchdowns.
Rentzel was married to and divorced from entertainer Joey Heatherton.
He is survived by brothers Del Rentzel and Chris Rentzel of Dallas, and a daughter, Jenny.
“To all who knew him,” his obit reads, via Sherrington, “Lance was larger than life – hilariously funny, unfailingly optimistic and happy, warm in spirit, and deeply loyal. He formed many close relationships over the years, most notably the enduring bonds that he shared with his teammates.”
Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell told reporters on Thursday that the team’s quarterback competition will continue into training camp, but that won’t be the next time that Kyler Murray and J.J. McCarthy get to work with their top wide receiver.
Justin Jefferson declined to share any of his views about where things stand between the two quarterbacks at the end of the team’s offseason program and said it is going to be O’Connell’s call about which way to go heading into Week 1. Given the uncertainty, Jefferson said that he feels it is important to get as many reps as possible with both quarterbacks and that he’ll use the time before training camp to address that desire.
“For sure, both. Just carrying on what we have been doing for the past couple weeks and just continuing that throughout the summertime,” Jefferson said. “It definitely would be impactful. Just to continue to see my route running, to continue to get that timing down pat is really key so we’re not really starting over back in training camp. We’ll just continue to do the same things that we’re doing here but at a different location.”
After some tumultuous seasons at the position, Jefferson said recently that he’d like to play with the same quarterback for multiple years. It remains to be seen if that will happen, but building a close relationship with whoever winds up with the job in 2026 would probably help the chances of making that happen.
Kyler Murray said this week that splitting quarterback reps with J.J. McCarthy has made it tougher to learn the Vikings offense, but it looks like that will continue to be the situation for a little while longer.
The Vikings are turning their attention toward training camp and head coach Kevin O’Connell said at a Thursday press conference that the team will not be naming a starter before they get there. O’Connell said that Murray and McCarthy “had really good days” at this week’s minicamp and that there are “still plenty of opportunities to learn” as the team moves closer to the season.
O’Connell did not say when he anticipates making a decision when he was asked about Murray’s comment, but he acknowledged the need to have the starter get more time at the helm of the offense this summer.
“We have a plan in place to make sure that the decision we make is going to be about what’s best for the Minnesota Vikings,” O’Connell said. “The timeline of that does involve making sure we get our starter ready to go. . . . To give an actual date would be not necessarily accurate from a portrayal of how we see it, but there is a timeline to make sure that we can allow the competition to continue and advance, and really lay out a training camp that will allow us to do that but also make a timely decision.”
O’Connell said that there should not be too many assumptions made about who gets which reps once the team gets to camp, but followed that up by saying that he realizes that won’t be the case because plenty of people in Minnesota are waiting to see who gets the nod for Week 1.
New Vikings G.M. Nolan Teasley is making changes to the front office he now runs.
Via Alec Lewis of The Athletic, the Vikings have parted ways with assistant G.M. Demitrius Washington, senior personnel executive Jamaal Stephenson, assistant director of college scouting Pat Roberts, and pro scout Salli Clavelle.
Per Lewis, Stephenson and Roberts were long-time employees of the Vikings. Stephenson arrived in 2002 as a college scout. He became director of college scouting in 2009. As of 2021, he was promoted to co-director of player personnel. Roberts started as a national scout before becoming assistant director of college scouting in 2022.
Former G.M. Kwesi Adofo-Mensah had hired Washington and Clavelle.
It’s relatively late in the offseason for these kinds of moves. For scouts, however, the draft is a more natural ending point to a given year than the end of football season.
