Eight days after the Vikings’ finished their regular-season on a five-game winning streak, there has been no news regarding whether defensive coordinator Brian Flores will stick around for a fourth season.
He has completed his work in Minnesota, but assistant-coaching contracts typically don’t expire until the Super Bowl. Still, he’s essentially a free agent at this point, needing only to bide his time until he’s free to leave.
As we understand it, the Vikings remain confident Flores will be back, unless he lands a head-coaching job. Of the eight openings, Flores has publicly emerged as a potential candidate, so far, only with the Ravens.
It’s possible, frankly, that the Vikings have a tentative deal with Flores, but that a decision has been made to not put pen to paper until he has exhausted all head-coaching possibilities.
Shortly before the Raiders fired coach Pete Carroll, a rumor was making the rounds of a potential Patriot Way reunion in Las Vegas, with former New England quarterback/current Raiders minority owner and significant influence Tom Brady hiring Flores, a former Patriots defensive coordinator, to be the coach, with Brian Daboll, who had multiple stints with the Patriots, as offensive coordinator.
To date, the Raiders have been officially linked to Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph, Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, Broncos quarterbacks coach/pass game coordinator Davis Webb, Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy, former Browns coach Kevin Stefanski, Rams pass game coordinator Nate Scheelhaase, Rams offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur, Panthers defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero, Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley, Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula, and Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter.
Flores’s candidacy as a head coach with any team is complicated by his pending lawsuit against the NFL and four franchises — the Dolphins, Giants, Broncos, and Texans. Legally, the fact that he has pursued a claim of racial discrimination against the league cannot be used against him. As a practical matter, teams exercise plenty of discretion when it comes to hiring head coaches, and the supply of objectively qualified candidates outweighs the demand.
Indeed, Flores’s claim against the Texans arises from the team’s failure to hire him in 2022, following the filing of his lawsuit. He was one of three finalists, along with Jonathan Gannon and Josh McCown. The Texans ultimately went off the board to hire Lovie Smith, who was fired after one year.
