The previous football season left a bitter aftertaste for a team that had a promising 14-3 regular-season track. The season’s untimely conclusion came with a 31-9 defeat at the hands of the Detroit Lions in Week 18 and a 27-9 setback from the Los Angeles Rams during the Wild Card round.
Sam Darnold, their promising quarterback, unfortunately crumbled under pressure after initially producing 35 touchdowns in the first 16 games for the Vikings. He failed to deliver a single touchdown against the Lions and Rams, contributing to the untimely end of the season.
The Vikings’ defensive line showed marked improvement in 2024, yet, it faces an uncertain future with the bulk of the secondary set to examine free agency options. The absence of a robust interior passing defense forced head coach Brian Flores to improvise and blitz frequently, though this strategy unintentionally exposed vulnerabilities in the passing game.
Exceptional offensive brains and quarterbacks seized the opportunity, exploiting the defensive loopholes. As a result, doubts regarding the efficiency of the coaching staff have started to arise. With multiple teams seeking interviews with several Vikings’ coaches, a potential shift in football philosophy in 2025 is foreseeable.
Despite these hitches, the future of the Vikings still looks promising with the team boasting the sixth-highest cap space entering free agency. The team’s 2024 offseason was a resounding success, with several tactical additions from the free agents playing significant roles in their impressive 14-3 season.
Minimal replication of the same kind of success could potentially set a robust platform for imminent success in 2025. The timeline of the NFL season is as follows: between February 18 and March 4 at 4:00 p.m. EST, NFL teams may enlist franchise or transition tags on players.
From February 27 through March 2, the NFL Combine takes place. The negotiation period for NFL free agents will happen between March 10-12. Following these crucial dates, on March 12 at 4:00 p.m. EST is the official signing of the free agents by the teams.
The following date to note is April 18, which is the deadline for Restricted Free Agents to sign offer sheets. The much-anticipated 2025 NFL Draft will be held from April 24-26. On May 1, the deadline for clubs to exercise the fifth-year options on their first-round draft picks from the 2022 NFL Draft is due.
The deadline for franchise-tagged players to agree to extensions is July 15. Indeed, it’s a packed and pivotal calendar for all the NFL teams, including the Vikings. The Vikings’ defensive performance dramatically progressed over two seasons. Seeing this, the team earned the 5th rank in scoring defense in 2024, a significant leap from being 28th just two seasons earlier.
This sharp turnaround has brought about attention to the head coach who’s been taking head coaching interviews. If he succeeds in assembling a pass-rushing defensive tackle and younger, dynamically-thinking cornerbacks, we might see an even more formidable Vikings’ defense in the next season. This could certainly deter offensive strategies that penetrated the defensive middle field this past season.
The team comprises players like Sam Darnold at quarterback, Aaron Jones as a running back, Harrison Smith and Cam Bynum serving as safety, and Shaq Griffin, Stephon Gilmore and Byron Murphy Jr. covering as cornerbacks. Ed Ingram, selected as the 59th pick in the 2022 NFL draft, might be a player who could switch teams in the near future.
Ed Ingram, despite initially being a principal player of the Vikings starting in his career’s first 41 games, was later replaced by Dalton Risner in the 10th Week. The Vikings team had expressed the need for an improved interior offensive line, and moving Ingram might free up some needed draft capital on the brink of April’s draft.
Of course, this also opens up the possibility of seeking new talents in running back, guard, interior defensive line, cornerback, and safety roles. In terms of available draft picks, there is a first-round (24th overall) pick, two fifth-round picks, one of which was acquired from the Browns through the Za’Darius Smith trade.