If you’re a Minnesota Vikings rooter, the rumor last week that there are multiple NFL teams interested in trading for coach Kevin O’Connell should be distressing.
Not because it isn’t true; after all, who wouldn’t want a bright, young (39) coach whose teams are 34-18 in his first three seasons? But distressed because it was leaked to a credible NFL reporter, Jay Glazer, of Fox Sports last week on national TV.
The report should not be dismissed.
O’Connell, who is coaching for an estimated $5 million this season and next year enters the final year of his contract, probably can expect a Vikings offer in the $60 million range over five years. A $12 million annual average salary would rank O’Connell among the NFL’s top 10 highest-paid coaches.
Perhaps O’Connell and his agent, Trace Armstrong, have become impatient with the Vikings’ lack of movement on a new deal, which besides money could involve more power within the organization.
But someone wanted the rumor out. Vikings owners Zygi and Mark Wilf couldn’t have been thrilled to see it.
—When the Raiders traded coach Jon Gruden to Tampa Bay in 2002, they received two first-round draft picks, two second-round draft picks and $8 million. In Gruden’s first season coaching the Buccaneers, they won the Super Bowl. He was 39 years old, same age as O’Connell now.
—O’Connell’s market value is substantial. He’s earned a reputation as an acute quarterback developer and offensive mind.
—Don’t think the Raiders, who this week fired coach Antonio Pierce and GM Tom Telesco after one season and now have Tom Brady as part-owner ready for valued input into the coaching search, wouldn’t love to have O’Connell.
Brady and O’Connell were quarterback teammates with the Patriots in 2008.
“He just does a tremendous job of coaching the team up,” Brady said of O’Connell on Fox.
—In the NFL, the two most critical components to having a championship team are the head coach and the quarterback. There are teams that struggle for decades to get both right.
The Vikings have the coach. To be determined on Monday night in Glendale, Ariz., is whether Sam Darnold, who quarterbacked the Vikings to 14 victories this season but faltered in the all-important game against the Lions last week, can win a playoff game. Or two playoff games.
Heading into Detroit, Darnold, 27, probably was looking at a $125 million, three-year free-agent contract, assuming he played well enough to defeat the Lions. Should Darnold flop against the Rams on Monday, it’s unlikely the Vikings will franchise-tag him at a one-year cost of about $40 million.
Darnold is under immense pressure to play well against the Rams. It can’t be overstated how important Monday’s game is financially for Darnold and O’Connell.
—No one saw a 14-3 start for the Vikings this season, including the front office. In fact, there was some second-guessing within NFL circles early on that the Vikings overpaid when they gave Darnold a one-year, $10 million contract.
—If O’Connell were to leave, it would seem defensive coordinator Brian Flores would get serious consideration as his successor. Meanwhile, Flores is getting mentioned for the Patriots’ opening.
—Sean McVay, 38, who is signed through 2026 at $15 million a season, coached the Rams to their 2021 Super Bowl championship with O’Connell as offensive coordinator.
—O’Connell was hired 20 days after the Bears hired Matt Eberflus as coach. Chicago fired Eberflus this season.
—It was Dec. 28, 1975 — 49 years ago — when the Cowboys’ Roger Staubach threw the controversial 50-yard playoff-winning “Hail Mary” touchdown pass to Drew Pearson against the Vikings at Metropolitan Stadium.
—Troy Aikman and Joe Buck will make the call on the Vikings-Rams ESPN telecast.
—No NFL team made less than $56 million in operating income in 2023, Forbes estimates. Team average was $143 million. The Rams, who play the Vikings on Monday, were No. 2 ($286 million) behind the Cowboys ($564 million).
—It’s clear the Vikings will re-sign cornerback Byron Murphy, who has six interceptions this season, and probably safety Cam Bynum, because it’s unlikely Harrison Smith, who turns 36 next month after 13 seasons, will return.
—The Gophers women’s basketball team’s free throw percentage is .736. The men’s team: .618.
—For the fifth time in the past six years, total state golf rounds played increased over the previous year, this time by an average of 5.6 percent, per a study by the Minnesota Golf Association.
—Tiger Woods turned 49 the other day. Next year. he’ll become eligible for the PGA Champions Tour. Whether he’ll play on the senior circuit has been conjecture among Tour players for the last three years.
“Guys say, ‘Yes he will, especially if (son) Charlie can caddie for him, and if he gets to have a cart,’ ” Champions Tour player Tim Herron from Deephaven told the Pioneer Press. “And, some guys go, ‘Nah, he won’t.’ But he might play (senior) majors.
“They’re going to have to pay him up front, which I think they’ll do. It probably won’t bump our purse up, but they’ll spend an extra million to get Tiger Woods.”
Herron’s personal opinion?
“I think he’ll play majors and a few others that pay him, but I don’t know, that’s just an opinion,” he said. “What else does he have to do?”
—Herron, a four-time PGA Tour winner who turns 55 in three weeks, is planning to play next in the Champions Tour tournament in Rabat, Morocco, next month. It’s not a bad deal; the king of Morocco, Mohammed VI, provides his jet and pays expenses roundtrip from Miami for players.
—A national events firm is offering an opening day package, complete with private home accommodations that includes four entry badges for the Masters on Thursday, April 9, at Augusta National for $19,900.
—Tickets for Thursday’s Gophers-Michigan men’s basketball game at Williams Arena are available for $13 to Alumni Association members.
—Carl Wetzel, the former North Stars goalie, played on three different U.S. national hockey teams with Len Lilyholm, the popular former Gopher and Minnesota Fighting Saint killed last month in a car collision at age 83.
“Lenny was still (recently) playing and was to have heart surgery and was trying to figure out how soon he could play again after the surgery,” Wetzel said. “I think he had two knee replacements and was still playing. I remember we played in Austria on the road and he injured his knee, and the trainer didn’t have any tape, so Lenny taped his knee up with electrical tape and played. When he hit the ice, he was all in.”
—Prayers are welcome for former Gophers baseball slugger Mike Walseth, 76, who is dealing with serious lung issues.
—Chris Engler, the former Gophers and NBA player from Stillwater dealing with ALS, is involved in an “ALES for ALS” fundraiser on Jan. 25 at Liftbridge Brewery in Stillwater that includes a silent sports memorabilia auction.
—Rocco Baldelli, Dave St. Peter, Derek Falvey, Tim Tschida, Jim Rantz, Jerry Bell, John Anderson, Derek Sharrer, Ty McDevitt and Sean Aronson are among headliners at the St. Paul Old Timers Hot Stove banquet Jan. 22 at Southview Country Club.
—The Twins will win 83½ games this year, projects BetOnline.ag.
—Maverick Mckinnon, 15, who leads Forest Lake High in scoring (30 points in 15 games) and is the first eighth-grader to play hockey for the school’s varsity team, is a grandson of former Gophers hockey MVP Doug Peltier, who at Johnson was the City Conference scoring champion with 33 points.
—Jessica January, the former Richfield and DePaul basketball star who played professionally in Poland for $50,000 a season plus housing and use of an automobile, has decided to retire at age 29.
—For the first time in a long time, the Wild will be buyers in free agency in the offseason. That’s because they no longer will owe Zach Parise and Ryan Suter a combined $14.8 million as part of the deal to buy out the identical 13-year contracts each signed in 2012.
—Among the six early-period football players the Gophers signed from in-state, two are kickers.
—The equipment manager for the Colorado Avalanche, who beat the Wild in St. Paul last week, is Bryce Blinkhorn, a Hill-Murray grad who has two NCAA championship rings for his locker room work while at Minnesota-Duluth.
—The upstart Minnesota Myth Arena Football League team folded early last season, but the 16-player defending champion Duluth Harbor Monsters begin their nine-game second season in the league in May at Decc Arena with players to make about $400 per game.
Don’t print that
—Would the Vikings trade J.J. McCarthy? Could the Vikings trade McCarthy? Should the Vikings trade McCarthy?
So much will depend on the health of his right knee, which has undergone two surgical procedures after a season-ending torn meniscus last August. The NFL trading period begins in March 12.
No team will trade for McCarthy, the No. 10 overall pick in last spring’s draft who turns 22 next week, until he receives full medical clearance. To trade McCarthy, the Vikings would have to be convinced that Darnold isn’t just the team’s short-term (franchise tag) answer but long-term answer. Currently, that’s unknown.
—McCarthy’s four-year contract totals $21.9 million, including a $12.7 million signing bonus. Next spring’s quarterback draft is considered underwhelming. A lot of teams need a young franchise quarterback, including: Tennessee, which has the No. 1 overall pick; the Browns, who have No. 2 and the Giants, who have No. 3.
McCarthy could be worth at least a top-five pick in a trade. And because he’s already signed, he would be a lot cheaper for a team drafting within the top five this year.
—The way it looks now, the Vikings have three QB options next season: 1) trade McCarthy; 2) franchise Darnold and retain him and McCarthy for one year; and 3) franchise Darnold for a trade and keep McCarthy.
A lot depends on how Darnold, who doesn’t turn 28 until next June, finishes in the playoffs. Franchising and then trading him would be worth at least one first-round draft pick for the Vikings, who presently have just a late first-rounder and two fifth-rounders.
—Teams have put a franchise tag on players for the purpose of trading them. Last year, Kansas City franchised star cornerback L’Jarius Sneed but instead of signing him, traded him to Tennessee for a 2025 third-round draft pick.
—Sometimes, plans change. For example, in 1998, when the Vikings went 15-1 (Randy Moss’ rookie year), their starting QB at the start of the season was Brad Johnson.
Johnson then broke a bone in his right leg and was replaced by Randall Cunningham, who had a career season. The Vikings figured Cunningham, even at age 35, could be their future and signed him to a five-year, 28 million contract, then traded Johnson, age 31, to Washington for first-, second- and third-round draft picks.
Meanwhile, in 1999, the Vikings drafted QB Daunte Culpepper with their first-round pick (No. 11 overall), then signed Jeff George as a backup.
In Cunningham’s second season with the Vikings, he regressed to the point that he was replaced by George the rest of the year.
—It has been nine weeks since three arbiters were selected to settle the Timberwolves/Lynx ownership dispute. It still seems the only rational explanation as to why it’s dragged on is there’s a quiet attempt at a settlement among Glen Taylor, Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore before the arbiters make a decision.
—Alumni and assorted boosters are pushing Ryan Saunders, the ex-Gopher who is an assistant for the Denver Nuggets, for the Gophers head job if there is a coaching change at season’s end.
—It isn’t yet public, but Steve Walsh, the 11-year NFL quarterback and Hall of Fame Miami All-American hired to rebuild the Cretin-Derham Hall football program at his alma mater, won’t be back after three years coach but will continue as a major gifts officer. Walsh, a brilliant coach who has always been as winner, has high standards regarding what it takes to succeed on the football field and was looking forward to coaching his seniors next season. Apparently there was a difference of opinion.
—If the Broncos’ Bo Nix and Commanders’ Jayden Daniels weren’t having outstanding seasons, former Gopher Bucky Irving would be in contention for NFL rookie of the year. Irving, who left the Gophers for Oregon, Tampa Bay has rushed for 1,122 yards and eight TDs on 207 carries for Tampa Bay.
—Ex-Twins outfielder Brent Rooker, 30, traded to the Padres two years ago then released, has signed a $60 million, five-year deal with the A’s.
—Kicker John Parker Romo, 27, who made 11 of 12 field goal tries with the Vikings this season, including a 55-yarder, ended up on the Patriots’ practice squad and last week signed a new contract.
—Gus Tinucci, whose restaurant catering buffet lunch of ribs, beef and chicken for Vikings players made headlines 15 years ago after being disparaged by Randy Moss, asked if he had any thoughts on Moss’ recent health diagnosis: “God bless him!”
—Ex-Viking Adam Thielen, 34, and playing his 11th NFL season, led the Carolina Panthers in receiving yards with 615 this season.
—P.J. Fleck received a $50,000 bonus for coaching the Gophers past Virginia Tech in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl, where only a reported 31,027 fans showed up, the fewest in the bowl’s 23-year history, per the Charlotte Business Journal.
Overheard
—Sam Darnold to NBC Sports NFL analyst Tony Dungy during warmups just before the Vikings’ 31-9 loss to the Lions: “I have great confidence in what I’m doing.”
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