The Vikings had hoped to get defensive coordinator Brian Flores\u2019s contract extended before the season. He opted to wait.<\/p>\n
Now, the clock is ticking.<\/p>\n
As PFT reported over the weekend, the Vikings are trying to get him re-signed<\/a>. Coach Kevin O\u2019Connell confirmed that reality on Monday in a press conference. Still, Flores is one game away from free agency. And it would be naive to think his representatives haven\u2019t unofficially explored potential alternatives.<\/p>\n O\u2019Connell said he doesn\u2019t anticipate Flores leaving<\/a> for a lateral move.<\/p>\n \u201cBased upon my dialogue with him, and obviously the enthusiasm and the want to for us to get something done, I don\u2019t,\u201d O\u2019Connell said, via Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com. \u201cBut I also know we\u2019re inside of days before our season ends. . . . I know he enjoys being here. . . .<\/p>\n \u201cI know I\u2019m excited about when . . . hopefully I can come to this podium and say he\u2019s going to be here for as long as we can keep him here before another team makes him their head coach.\u201d<\/p>\n Flores is expected to get interviews<\/a> for 2026 head-coaching vacancies, if he wants them. The real question is whether he\u2019ll get an offer. And whether he\u2019ll take it.<\/p>\n For a coordinator who is looking for his second head-coaching gig, it\u2019s important to be selective. The second try quite possibly will be the last.<\/p>\n Until then, O\u2019Connell wants to keep Flores in Minnesota.<\/p>\n \u201cFlo knows I love him,\u201d O\u2019Connell said, per Seifert. \u201cHe was the guy three years ago that I identified to bring in here, and the growth and just our relationship and what he\u2019s meant to me personally is so massive. And that\u2019s not even [taking] into account what he\u2019s been able to do defensively for our team and been such a huge part of helping us daily, minute to minute, kind of weather the different storms we had to navigate this year. . . . Yeah, things are in a really positive place right now. I absolutely want Brian Flores to be the defensive coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings as long as we can have him.\u201d<\/p>\n Given the effectiveness of the scheme as designed and implemented by Flores, other teams that will be looking for defensive coordinators will be interested. How could they not be? And the Vikings are aware, we\u2019re told, of the possibility that the Cowboys will turn to Flores<\/a> as the eventual replacement for defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus.<\/p>\n Money will obviously be a factor. The overall quality of the team would presumably be another. Given Minnesota\u2019s struggles at quarterback in 2025, the pitch to Flores will need to include a plan for stabilizing and maximizing the straw with which O\u2019Connell will stir Minnesota\u2019s offense next season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Vikings had hoped to get defensive coordinator Brian Flores\u2019s contract extended before the season. He opted to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":377618,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[349,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-377617","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-nfl","9":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377617","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=377617"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377617\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/377618"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=377617"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=377617"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=377617"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}