The Vikings have formally announced several moves in their front office, as they gear up for their first season under General Manager Nolan Teasley.
Minnesota announced the previously reported hirings of co-assistant General Managers Andrew Healy and Trent Kirchner.
The club has also hired Tyler Hamblin as director of football strategy, Ryan Pace as football advisor, and Azzaam Kapadia as assistant director of pro scouting.
Additionally, the Vikings have promoted Dabness Atkins to scouting assistant, Chris French to director of football quantitative methods, Claire Morrison to football quantitative methods analyst, Jack Murphy to college area scout, and Brian Schnorr to college scout/BLESTO.
“I’m excited about the staff we’ve assembled and confident in the talented, hardworking group we have throughout our entire football operation,” Teasley said in a statement released by the team. “The additions we’ve made further strengthen an already outstanding staff and bring valuable experience and perspective to our organization. We’re committed to building a championship-caliber team and creating an environment where everyone can do their best work in pursuit of that goal.”
The Vikings are set to begin training camp next month, with rookies reporting on July 26 and veterans reporting on July 28.
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A report earlier Wednesday indicated Ryan Grigson was leaving the Vikings to pursue another opportunity in the NFL. We now know what that opportunity is.
Grigson is returning to the Browns as a senior football advisor, Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com reports.
He held the same position for the Browns from 2020-21 and was a senior personnel executive in Cleveland in 2017.
New Vikings General Manager Nolan Teasley offered to keep Grigson in a different role after hiring Andrew Healy and Trent Kirchner as assistant General Managers. Grigson, though, chose to leave for Cleveland.
Grigson served as assistant General Manager for the Vikings last season under Kwesi Adofo-Mensah. It was a promotion from senior vice president of player personnel, a position he held with the Vikings from 2022-24.
Grigson worked as the Colts’ General Manager from 2012-16.
After new Vikings General Manager Nolan Teasley hired Andrew Healy and Trent Kirchner as assistant General Managers, it was reported that Ryan Grigson was expected to remain in a different role with the team.
Alas, Grigson has moved on.
Neil Stratton of Inside the League reports that Grigson is leaving the Vikings, where he served as assistant General Manager last season under Kwesi Adofo-Mensah. Grigson was senior vice president of player personnel for the team from 2022-24.
The Vikings no longer list Grigson on their website.
He is pursuing a job with another team.
Grigson worked as the Colts’ General Manager from 2012-16.
Before Sam Darnold starred at quarterback for the Vikings and won Super Bowl LX with the Seahawks, he spent a year as the 49ers’ backup to Brock Purdy.
That 2023 season spent with San Francisco was critical for Darnold’s development.
Darnold went into that season having spent his first three seasons with the Jets before two seasons with the Panthers. And while Darnold did not play much — he started an inconsequential Week 18 game against the Carson Wentz-led Rams — he said in a recent interview that he picked up a lot from his time in the Bay Area.
“I think for me, it was … looking at myself in the mirror and just being like, ‘alright, this is what I need to do this year. I’m not going to get an opportunity to get a starter,’” Darnold said during an appearance in Tuesday’s episode of Bussin’ with the Boys. “And I think going to San Francisco, I mean, shoot, you guys saw what Mac Jones did this year. I understood that quarterbacks in that system, quarterbacks with Kyle [Shanahan] — you look at Brock [Purdy] and all the success he’s had there — quarterbacks just thrive in that system. It’s also because they have really good players.
“But, just getting to know that system and getting to know those coaches, like that’s really why I decided to be a backup in San Francisco. I thought that would be the best place to just go. And people say it all the time, and I’ve heard it, but I feel like I got my PhD in football when I went to San Francisco.”
Darnold credited the 49ers’ coaching staff, led by Shanahan, for part of his growth. But he also noted that watching the high-caliber players around him made a significant difference.
“I’ve talked about learning from Brock quite a bit,” Darnold said. “But all the great players that are over there. — friend of the program George Kittle, Fred Warner, Christian McCaffrey, Trent Williams of course — you just have all these studs who are over there. And to just learn their habits and stuff that they do in the offseason, how they get better, it was just such a great opportunity for me to just go there and be a sponge, and just learn so much football. Learn how to take care of my body off the field.”
But it was Purdy who really made a difference, in large part due to the way he presented alternative preparation methods.
“I can’t mention Brock enough,” Darnold said. “But just the way that he prepared really showed me how to really prepare, because you don’t know what you don’t know. And I think for me, being able to go there and see how efficient he was — because you can put a ton of time in, but you can be doing it the wrong way. And he was so efficient with his time. And he would cut out three or four hours of studying throughout the night because our game plans were crazy. …The system is so intricate.
“But that was so fun. It was so fun to go learn football there. And I’m so thankful for that opportunity that I got in San Francisco.”
Since that time with the 49ers, Darnold has won 14 games in each of the last two seasons for Minnesota and Seattle. In 2025, he completed 67.7 percent of his passes for 4,048 yards with 25 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. In the postseason, he completed 61.5 percent of his throws for 672 yard with five TDs and no picks to earn his first Super Bowl ring.
The offseason programs around the league have largely wrapped up for 2026, with players and coaches around the league now experiencing some time off.
But training camps are just a few weeks away from opening.
The NFL announced the camp report dates for all 32 teams on Monday, with the first ones opening up in less than a month.
Below are the camp locations and report dates:
Arizona Cardinals: State Farm Stadium | Rookies: 7/22 | Veterans 7/22
Atlanta Falcons: Atlanta Falcons Training Facility | Rookies: 7/24 | Veterans: 7/28
Baltimore Ravens: Under Armour Performance Center | Rookies: 7/24 | Veterans: 7/28
Buffalo Bills: St. John Fisher University | Rookies: 7/21 | Veterans: 7/28
Carolina Panthers: Bank of America Stadium | Rookies: 7/21 | Veterans: 7/22
Chicago Bears: Halas Hall | Rookies: 7/25 | Veterans: 7/28
Cincinnati Bengals: Paycor Stadium | Rookies: 7/25 | Veterans: 7/28
Cleveland Browns: CrossCountry Mortgage Campus | Rookies: 7/23 | Veterans: 7/28
Dallas Cowboys: Marriott Residence Inn Oxnard | Rookies: 7/28 | Veterans: 7/28
Denver Broncos: Broncos Park Powered by CommonSpirit | Rookies: 7/22 | Veterans: 7/28
Detroit Lions: Meijer Performance Center | Rookies: 7/25 | Veterans: 7/28
Green Bay Packers: Lambeau Field | Rookies: 7/27 | Veterans: 7/28
Houston Texans: Houston Methodist Training Center | Rookies: 7/21 | Veterans: 7/28
Indianapolis Colts: Grand Park | Rookies: 7/27 | Veterans: 7/28
Jacksonville Jaguars: Miller Electric Center | Rookies: 7/25 | Veterans: 7/28
Kansas City Chiefs: Missouri Western State University | Rookies: 7/28 | Veterans: 7/28
Las Vegas Raiders: Intermountain Health Performance Center | Rookies: 7/23 | Veterans: 7/28
Los Angeles Chargers: The Bolt | Rookies: 7/23 | Veterans: 7/28
Los Angeles Rams: Loyola Marymount University | Rookies: 7/25 | Veterans: 7/25
Miami Dolphins: Baptist Health Training Complex | Rookies: 7/21 | Veterans: 7/28
Minnesota Vikings: TCO Performance Center | Rookies: 7/26 | Veterans: 7/28
New England Patriots: New Balance Athletics Center | Rookies: 7/21 | Veterans: 7/24
New Orleans Saints: Ochsner Sports Performance Center | Rookies: 7/28 | Veterans: 7/28
New York Giants: Quest Diagnostics Training Center/The Greenbrier | Rookies: 7/23 | Veterans: 7/28
New York Jets: Athletic Health Jets Training Center | Rookies: 7/25 | Veterans: 7/28
Philadelphia Eagles: Jefferson Health Training Complex | Rookies: 7/28 | Veterans: 7/28
Pittsburgh Steelers: Saint Vincent College | Rookies: 7/28 | Veterans: 7/28
San Francisco 49ers: SAP Performance Facility | Rookies: 7/18 | Veterans: 7/25
Seattle Seahawks: Virginia Mason Athletic Center | Rookies: 7/17 | Veterans: 7/24
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: AdventHealth Training Center | Rookies: 7/27 | Veterans: 7/28
Tennessee Titans: Vanderbilt Health Football Center | Rookies: 7/23 | Veterans: 7/28
Washington Commanders: Commanders Park | Rookies: 7/24 | Veterans: 7/28
The NFL has announced the full list of joint practices that will take place during training camps this summer.
The first set of them will take place on August 11 in four different locations. The Cowboys and Rams will practice in Los Angeles, the Colts will visit the Patriots, the Bucs will work out at the Jets’ facility and the Titans will go to Santa Clara to practice with the 49ers.
All in all, there will be 28 teams working in joint sessions in August. The Lions, Steelers, Chiefs and Broncos are the teams that will not hold joint practices.
The full list of joint practices is below with the host team listed second. If there are multiple practices scheduled, the date of the first practice is listed.
August 11 — Cowboys-Rams; Colts-Patriots; Buccaneers-Jets; Titans-49ers.
August 12 — Dolphins-Commanders.
August 13 — Jaguars-Saints.
August 18 — 49ers-Chargers; Raiders-Texans; Saints-Cowboys.
August 19 — Falcons-Colts; Ravens-Vikings; Panthers-Jaguars; Eagles-Patriots.
August 20 — Bills-Browns; Bears-Bengals; Saints-Rams; Giants-Dolphins.
August 21 — Seahawks-Titans.
August 25 — Buccaneers-Jaguars.
August 26 — Cardinals-Packers; Texans-Panthers; Commanders-Ravens.
August 27 — Bears-Titans.
Second-round pick Jake Golday has been working with the Vikings’ off-ball linebackers since joining the team in April, but his long-term fit in the defense may not be that straightforward.
Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores’s system offers opportunities for versatile players to fill multiple roles with Andrew Van Ginkel being an example of a player who has developed as an edge rusher while also seeing time in other spots on defense. Golday, who played defensive end at Central Arkansas before transferring to Cincinnati, has been compared to his veteran teammate by numerous people, including Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell.
“He has some of those characteristics to him,” O’Connell said, via Dave Campbell of the Associated Press. “We were fortunate enough to get him where we did.”
Golday said that he’s hoping to get some first-hand tips from Van Ginkel as he moves into his rookie season.
“I’m my own person at the end of the day, but I can’t complain about that comparison. He’s an amazing player so I strive to be like a guy like that,” Golday said. “He just looks so calm out there all the time. It’s just crazy how he gets to the ball every single play. I’m like, ‘Dude, you’ve got to teach me your ways.’”
Van Ginkel played a lot of special teams early in his career and that figures to be part of the plan to get Golday on the field while the Vikings figure out exactly how they want to utilize him.
The good news is that, unlike the last stadium in Minnesota, the roof hasn’t collapsed. Yet.
Via Eliot Hughes of the Minnesota Star Tribune, a “sizable swath” of the roof at U.S. Bank Stadium must be replaced, due to damage from a hail storm. The storm, which happened in August 2023, included hail as large as 2.5 inches in diameter.
Although the report isn’t entirely clear on this point, it appears that the entire translucent portion (which makes up 60 percent of the full roof) will be removed and replaced.
Said the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority in a statement: “All Minnesotans can be confident that the roof at U.S. Bank Stadium is safe, that proactive steps are in place to preserve its unique environment, and the MSFA’s financial safeguards have protected this public investment.”
Insurance is expected to cover most of the costs. The MSFA said that “substantial use of public funds” would not be needed.
U.S. Bank Stadium opened in 2016. The Metrodome housed the Vikings from 1982 through 2013.
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.
