Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores in Miami Gardens, September 15, 2019. © Allen Eyestone through Imagn Content material Providers, LLC.
VikingsTerritory’s Purple Rumor Mill is a two-day chronicle every week. All of the week’s rumors are lassoed and plopped in two spots — articles on Saturday and Sunday — for evaluation. At this time is the January nineteenth version.
Vikings Rumors: Brian Flores’ Subsequent Staff, Vikings Early Draft Darling, Retirement for Hitman?
Bear in mind — rumors are rumors. What you learn on weekends in these items is what the world is speaking about pertaining to the Vikings, not essentially gadgets that may come to fruition.
Right here’s the second batch of the week. Yesterday’s will be learn right here.
Rumor: Brian Flores will find yourself with the Chicago Bears, in response to ESPN.
Per ESPN’s Dan Graziano, Flores will find yourself because the Bears’ subsequent skipper. That’s Graziano’s official prediction from an article forecasting every relevant franchise’s head coach choice.
“There are hurdles for Flores — who appears to be a strong candidate for the Jets job, as well — to clear before any team can hire him. That’s especially true in Chicago; there will be questions about his past relationship with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa in Miami as the Bears evaluate him as a candidate to shepherd Caleb Williams’ development,” Graziano defined.
Graziano continued, “But by all accounts, it sounds like Flores has made a very different impression on people in Minnesota than he did in Miami. He has been public about the reasons things went wrong for him with the Dolphins and what he has learned from that situation that would make things different at his next stop. One more relevant note here: Flores and Bears GM Ryan Poles both went to Boston College, so there’s a connection there.”
Flores coached the Miami Dolphins from 2019 to 2021 earlier than a controversial cut up. Miami allegedly requested Flores to tank video games for higher draft picks, which he refused. The younger coach later sued the NFL for a sham interview course of throughout the 2022 teaching carousel, litigation that’s nonetheless pending.
Mike McCarthy is the Vegas frontrunner for the Bears’ prime job, however Graziano isn’t satisfied.
Rumor: Benjamin Morrison, a cornerback from Notre Dame, is the early frontrunner to land with the Vikings at choose No. 24.
Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports activities.
Undercover, mock draft season started about three weeks in the past when the highest of the board began shaping up. Now located with the twenty fourth choose, the early mock draft frontrunner for the Vikings is Notre Dame cornerback Benjamin Morrison.
Because it stands, these are Minnesota’s corners below contract for 2025:
Mekhi Blackmon
Dwight McGlothern
NaJee Thompson
That’s it.
Cornerback will likely be a preferred mock draft choice for Minnesota, so get used to Morrison’s identify.
Rumor: Harrison Smith will possible retire.
Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports activities.
Sadly, Smith appeared like a person who acknowledged the tip was close to on Monday after Minnesota misplaced within the Wildcard Spherical to the Los Angeles Rams. “Appreciate the Vikings nation, everything they’ve always meant to me. Thank you,” Smith advised former Vikings linebacker Ben Leber, a KFAN worker.
Minnesota’s protection ranked second within the NFL per EPA/Play this season, and Smith was a constant starter within the secondary. He was not “one of those” outdated defenders who performed sparingly.
Smith added, “There’s a lot that goes into this. It’s not strictly players. I just want to give my thanks to everybody that makes it go. Obviously, I wish we could’ve had a better result today, but it’s a tough pill to swallow right now. It’s been one of the most fun teams I’ve ever played on in any level. There’s a lot to be said about this group, and I really just wish I had a couple more weeks with them, to be honest.”
Leber requested Smith what was subsequent for him within the offseason, and he replied, “I don’t know. Probably chill out for a little bit, figure that out down the road.”
“I haven’t wanted to think about it, kind of selfishly live in the moment, and I’m kind of still in that moment. It’ll come when it comes,” Smith stated.
You’ll be able to see the tip is close to in his eyes:
If that is certainly Harrison Smith’s final sport as a Viking – it has been my true honor to cowl his complete NFL profession. A future Corridor of Famer as a participant and an individual. Right here Harry tells me about his love & respect for his teammates and for Brian Flores. #hofhitman pic.twitter.com/xmQfGVQUiW
— Daybreak Mitchell (@DawnAtFOX9) January 14, 2025
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the College of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his day by day YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The present options friends, evaluation, and opinion on all issues associated to the purple crew, with 4-7 episodes per week. His MIN obsession dates again to 1996. Listed responsible pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doorways (the band). He follows the NBA as intently because the NFL.
All statistics supplied by Professional Soccer Reference / Stathead; all contractual data supplied by OverTheCap.com.
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