Craig Peters

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The Vikings missed participating in the NFC Playoffs by half-a-game in the standings, but Will Reichard and Andrew DePaola garneredsignificant postseason honorson Saturday.

Reichard was named First-Team All-Pro and DePaola was named Second-Team All-Pro, a day after Reichard turned 25 and two days after he was namedNFC Special Teams Player of the Month for December/January.

Those two banked tremendous seasons, helping work in conjunction with punter/holder Ryan Wright for a franchise-record 11 field goals from 50-plus, as well as a franchise-record 62-yarder at home in Week 3 and elite 59-yarders at Chicago and Green Bay in the elements.

Congratulations and well wishes to NFL Legend Tom Moore, the Owatonna native who just retired at age 87 after spending the past seven seasons as an offensive consultant with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

I haven't ever had the opportunity to meet Moore, but I highly respect his tremendous contributions to the game.

Moore's decision caps 62 remarkable years in coaching that included 1990-93 as assistant head coach for the Vikings (assistant head coach in his final four seasons) and two stints at the University of Minnesota (1972-73 as running backs coach and 1975-76 as offensive coordinator).

Moore's distinguished career which included Hall of Fame quarterbacks Terry Bradshaw and Peyton Manning, as well as future Gold Jacket Tom Brady, featured four Super Bowl titles (XIII and XIV with Pittsburgh, XLI with Indianapolis and LV with Tampa Bay).

He was one of 17 contributors recognized with a Pro Football Hall of Fame Award of Excellence in 2023.

Tom from Pella, Iowa, will open things with an extensive message I received after the regular-season finale but opted to reserve until today's edition.

The long campaign is over. The longships return home. Weary warriors and the clan gather around the fire in the longhouse for the annual accounting. A river of mead flows in the tankards. Battles are relived. Stock is taken of the spoils and the losses. Despite a positive end to the campaign, murmurs and grumbling fill the longhouse when results have fallen bitterly short of expectations. Fingers are pointed. Blame is freely dispensed. The eyes of every heart gaze toward the future. Enter this old Seer who has endured more of these annual gatherings than the entire life span of most of those gathered around the communal fire.

Wisdom often speaks words that young hearts full of passion find difficult to accept. Nevertheless, I urge you to incline your ears. Here is what the runes of time reveal.

The most pressing issue facing "Vikings Nation" is what we do about our scarred young warrior at quarterback. We have been here before. So have so many others. We have never lacked talent at quarterback. We have lacked patience and tolerance for the long slog through the wilderness of development. Across the NFL we have been the most persistent practitioners of short leashes, veteran stopgaps, and "one piece away" thinking. It has resulted in a feast of addictive season wins but left us perpetually starving in the postseason.

The rune of time clearly shows that teams who endure those ugly, painful years of quarterback growth and development are more likely to ultimately discover they have a warrior of legend:

Troy Aikman was 0-11 his first year. Cowboys didn't flinch. Two more years of struggle. Super Bowl champions in year four.

Peyton Manning was 3-13 in year one. His 28 interceptions is still a rookie record. Colts leaned in not out. He found his command in year three. Colts didn't need rescuing. Manning needed reps.

John Elway didn't make his leap until years 3-4. Broncos leaned on defense to buy time during the long slog. He learned when to throw only after throwing too much. The Broncos paid dearly for it for a few years, but they have a championship legacy to look back on.

Drew Brees was benched, injured and questioned. Miami passed on him because of fear of his pesky injuries. New Orleans took a chance. It was years 4-5 that revealed he was precision incarnate, and a Super Bowl was in his sight.

Steve Young arguably didn't become Steve Young until after year four. [Tampa Bay] was a bad team with a bad scheme. Some QBs don't grow in bad soil. It doesn't make them a weed. Let's be honest, the soil around J.J. McCarthy this year was perpetually rocky for multiple reasons.

Ah, yes. The Seer hears the grumbles and gripes echo through the longhouse. "Yes, but, the young warrior has had too many injuries. He's missed too many battles in just two years. It's a bad omen."

Too often we have fallen prey to our fears of bad omens and our desire for shortcuts rather than seeing the more difficult truth. We're not talking about a recurring career-ending injury from the same joint, same tissue and recurring mechanics. We've witnessed random, common injuries in McCarthy.

The bad omen is only worth noting with repeated soft-tissue injuries, recurrent ligament damage and biomechanical breakdown patterns. Absent those, injuries do not downgrade a QB's long-term projection in any way. Aikman, Peyton Manning, Steve Young and Drew Brees all dealt with injuries. Manning was out for an entire season. All were stuck with the "concern" label early on, yet their teams chose faith and patience.

Yes, there are those QBs whose injuries created limitations (e.g. Sam Bradford, Carson Wentz), but these QBs typically deal with the same body systems, mechanical compensations and declining efficiency metrics. McCarthy does not match that profile. Different injuries, different causes, no shared weakness.

The runes do not read that as a curse. Unlucky chapters do not doom the outcome of the story unless you choose to close the book.

NFL history is clear. QBs who miss time in their first 2 seasons due to non-recurring injuries show no statistically significant reduction in long-term starter success. Teams that abandon first-round QBs due to early injury volatility more often experience regret than feel vindication.

So, here is this old Seer's final words on our young warrior's latest campaign and the season yet to come

The Vikings greatest enemy has been fear of waiting long enough to find out who a quarterback could become. Brothers and sisters, every time we have chosen certainty over curiosity, comfort over conviction, floor over ceiling, the result has been respectable irrelevance. Lots of regular-season wins, but a dearth of the wins we most desire.

And almost every time the league's great teams have risen?

They first endured seasons that we continually refuse to embrace as the necessary path to ultimate victory.

So, this ancient Seer says this: "Faith and the long slog matter."

History does not argue.

It nods. Slowly. Gravely.

The runes whisper: "Don't flinch this time."

Now drink.

The fire burns steady for those willing to sit through the dark night.

Skol,

Tom V.W. in Pella, Iowa

It was somewhat apropos to mention Moore in my intro since he was Manning's offensive coordinator in Indy for the superstar QB's first 13 pro seasons.

I'd imagine those early days of the 1998 season were testing and trying times, but there was no flinching or second guessing that the Colts had their franchise QB, who proved to be one of the best all-time.

Neither at that time had to deal with the hyper-scrutiny that exists in today's "hot-take-social-media-and-podcast-palooza-landscape."

I expect first-round picks and quarterbacks and quarterbacks who are first-round picks to be scrutinized, but the level and intensity directed toward McCarthy honestly surprised me.

Tom highlights multiple other Gold Jackets/a surefire in Brees to illustrate the non-linear ascension to an elite level is a bit more common than we might remember.

That above statement is not to say J.J. McCarthy is destined for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He, coaches and the team around him can each impact where this goes.

There were late-season signs of improvement, despite a couple more injury-related setbacks, but McCarthy did make his 10th career start, and the Vikings improved to 6-4 (would have been 7-3 without the biggest "what if" of the season on the kickoff return allowed to the Bears) in the finale to emerge from a season wrought with struggles at 9-8 overall.

We'll be rolling out or position recaps, beginning with quarterbacks on Wednesday and conclude them on Jan. 23, but I do want to mention McCarthy's stats in his final four starts of 2025.

Against Washington, at Dallas, at the New York Giants and against Green Bay, McCarthy completed 54 of 84 passes (64.3 percent) for 703 yards with five passing touchdowns and two interceptions for a passer rating of 100.5. He was sacked seven times in that stretch, including the fumble lost at New York that was returned for a TD, caused by dealing with an injury in his right hand.

McCarthy rushed 14 times for 61 yards in those final four starts, scoring on the ground at Dallas and at the Giants.

The passing numbers could have been even better, but a drop in the end zone by Jordan Addison and a pass that bounced off Jalen Nailor was intercepted in the game at New York.

The injury factor is gigantic, although the torn meniscus, sprained ankle, concussion and right hand are somewhat different animals. I remove the meniscus from counting against McCarthy's games missed (Sam Darnold was most likely going to be the starter), but I do factor into reducing his on-field time to develop, even if Darnold would have gotten most practice reps last season.

Still, the ankle (it was a hip-drop tackle), concussion (likely from running into harm's way) and hand (most likely from hitting a helmet) illustrate areas where his self-preservation can and needs to improve.

But the play by McCarthy at the end of the season, combined with impressive efforts on defense and special teams, is the kind of complementary football that can win NFL games.

The 2025 campaign was disappointing for Viking fans on many levels. Too many dropped passes, too many turnovers, and special teams play needs improvement, but most of all, the Vikings missed the playoffs. There are a lot of things to fix, and injuries cannot be controlled. J.J. McCarthy was out with injuries several times this season. Injuries along the offensive line to Christian Darrisaw, Ryan Kelly and others plagued the Vikings all season long. If there is a bright spot on offense it is with our kicker Will Reichard.

Although we lost Jonathan Greenard and Joshua Metellus and several more defensive players throughout the season, one thing is clear: The Vikings are extremely fortunate to have Brian Flores as their defensive coordinator. There has been discussion on the airwaves and online that Brian Flores will likely be a head coach for another team for the 2026 campaign.

Thank you, Harrison (Hitman) Smith and C.J. Ham. You will be missed, but if you are up for it, maybe you will decide to go another year.

I am no expert on all the ins and outs of how rules and how ownership works in the NFL. But if I owned the Vikings, I would do whatever it takes to keep Brian Flores. Maybe he can be offered a special position and maybe be the highest-paid defensive coordinator in the league. We have the right HC with Kevin O'Connell and DC with Brian Flores, and I for one would like to keep it that way.

Skol,

David Bond in Rochester, Minnesota

The offensive line injuries were rampant, greatly limiting any form of continuity taking shape. When Darrisaw was able to go, he appeared to be doing the types of things Vikings fans have come to expect and denting people in the run game. He missed all of seven games and parts of others in 2025, so there's great hope that his 2026 season will show that he's completely shed the remnants from the knee injury that halted his 2024 in Minnesota's seventh game.

Kelly's first season in Minnesota involved playing the entirety of three games (eight starts). When he was able to go, he was showing signs of what Minnesota envisioned when they signed the four-time Pro Bowler to a two-year deal. Unfortunately, Kelly entered concussion protocol multiple times, which is something everyone involved is approaching with respect.

The silver lining to the Greenard and Metellus injuries is that Dallas Turner and Jay Ward were able to log significant reps down the stretch and show the growth they've accomplished in Flores' system.

I feel like we're at the point where Flores' status has become a yearly offseason topic. The on-field success by the Vikings defense is certainly something that would prompt many to consider him for a head coach position or try to pry him from Minnesota with more money or an enhanced title. His contract with Minnesota is expiring. O'Connell and Flores said they had participated in some great dialogue.

Last week we noted the receptions showered toward Ham and Smith during the regular-season finale at U.S. Bank Stadium. Some more rounds of appreciation hit the inbox this week.

Thanks C.J. and Harrison for all the hard work and just for being good humans just saying ... got a special place in my heart for C.J. ... from Duluth, too ... cheers to you both.

The Mills family

And

It was a very special game for me. I got to see Hammer and Smith play their last in a Vikings uniform. I will miss both of those guys a lot. They are both selfless players and people.

I am holding out that Ham wins the Walter Payton Man of the Year award for the NFL.

I love this team and all who are involved.

God bless,

See you back in September!

Sherrie Schaefer in Grand Forks, North Dakota

And

First time writing, long time Vikings fan.

I have watched Harry for his entire career, and I want to thank him for his love of the game, his dedication to the team and his commitment to lead by example. Traits that make him a legend, as well as a Hall of Fame inductee. I believe his passion for football will lead him back. Not as a player, but I see the traits of a great defensive mind that will lead him to become a great defensive coach. Kudos to the Vikings for another winning season. As always, I'll be back!!

Richard Anderson, Estacada, Oregon

And

What a way to end the year. It was awesome to give C.J. a touchdown on his very last game, and Harrison Smith was so close to that 40 interceptions. Two legends in Minnesota are finally leaving after doing their share.

Idan K.

And

Don't know how this works, but it would be neat to see Harry and Ham have a place in the organization. Great to even see them on the coaching staff.

Jeff C.

Before diving into these, I will point out that Ham mentioned he'd announce something formally down the road and that Smith has not publicly said his intentions. We've been here before with the safety, and he ultimately decided he had more in the tank (and he was correct).

Both players have tremendous dedication and have helped define what it means to be a Viking for approximately half a generation, earning love and support from fans and continuing to reward that investment by returning high levels of play delivered through complete dedication.

It seems that neither is interested in being at a level less than what they (and you) expect just to say they played longer.

Smith played a pivotal role in the defense's dominance down the back stretch for five consecutive wins. He won the cat-and-mouse pre-snap and made plays consistently after the ball was hiked.

While it's fundamentally true that Smith was an on-field extension of the coaching staff, I'm not sure if he has an interest in one day becoming a coach. He can probably pick up the phone and ask Terence Newman about the experience. Newman immediately followed his distinguished 15-year career (221 regular-season games and 205 starts) with a position on Minnesota's coaching staff (he joined in September 2018 after participating in the offseason program). Smith is up to 207 with 203 starts. The current Vikings staff has multiple former NFL players on it, and former linebacker Jasper Brinkley works in player development.

One thing helpful with an offseason of multiple likely transitions is knowing the Ham family plans to stay in the Minnesota community it has helped out so much, living out the "blessed to be a blessing" mantra.

I have been a long time Vikings fan (since the beginning in 1961). Been through the good times and bad, and at this point, I'm no longer overly concerned about a Super Bowl. It would be nice, but I simply look forward to exciting seasons. That said, I do have a few concerns:

1. Flores leaving the Vikings for a head coach position or even a lateral move. Every year there is a coaching carousel, and we have to wish him the best of luck. My concern is with Flores' scheme and current players will players brought in under Flores continue to flourish in a different scheme?

2. Injuries we suffered a lot of injuries in 2025, and players were brought back as quickly as possible to only suffer a recurring injury in some cases. Consider Christian Darrisaw, Ryan Kelly, Aaron Jones, Sr., and McCarthy only to have this player suffer or continue to be hampered by the same injury. Are players being returned to action before they are ready?

3. Player development this is my biggest issue with the team management/coaches at this point. We are spending a tremendous amount of capital in the free agency market to fill positions we seem to not be able to draft and develop. Looking at the offense, of the 11 starters, the team drafted the QB, WRs (2), LT, LG and RT. Five of the offensive starters were either traded for or purchased at a high cost via free agency. On defense, it is worse of the 11 starters we purchased everyone via free agency with exception of the starting safeties. With some latitude, I will also consider Dallas Turner a starter so three of 12 were drafted, and the others were acquired via other means.

Taking this point a little further, of the nine starters acquired via the draft, two have been with the team of some time, especially O'Neill and Harrison Smith. They also got lucky with some of our lower-priced, younger free agents like Jalen Redmond. The point is during the draft management/coaches have high expectations for the players they draft but once we get them on board, those expectations are in far too many cases not realized and those players are released. Is the issue of not being able to evaluate players prior to the draft or not being able to develop players once drafted? Spending so much money on free agency is not a real good long-term solution.

Bill in Forney, Texas

Since Flores' status and injuries were addressed earlier, I wanted to highlight Bill's third point.

Draft-and-development is highly critical for NFL teams' long-term success because of the impact of the salary cap. But when an organization has invested heavily in free agency, it's likely that the younger players who were drafted will be in reserve roles. That's been the case for multiple seasons (Turner behind Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel is an easy example).

We've seen benefits at multiple points of the roster where the personnel department and coaching staff have enjoyed great alignment in finding players with traits in a certain role (Redmond was not drafted, but he was acquired as an inexpensive free agent, particularly considering what he's contributed so far).

Justin Jefferson has now had nine different QBs try to get him the ball in six years.

Is that a statement of the Vikings or a statement of the NFL today???

Mark Leindecker, now from The Villages, Florida

What makes that stat even wilder is the fact that the number of QBs grew from two in the first three seasons to add seven more in the past three.

Kirk Cousins was able to provide a high degree of availability for Minnesota until suffering the Achilles injury in his sixth Vikings season. That 2023 team was starting to ascend after a turnover-riddled start.

Free agency has played somewhat of a role, along with Minnesota's decision to draft McCarthy as the planned quarterback of the future in 2024. Darnold was able to start all 17 that season, but the injury troubles to McCarthy and Wentz ushered in two starts by Max Brosmer as the ninth QB in 2025.

Jefferson's production had remained high, despite the changes (he did miss quite a bit of 2023 when the Vikings were riding the QB carousel), until this season, which started with him dealing with a hamstring injury in training camp.

He's been vocal about plans to connect more with McCarthy this offseason.

In part, it is a statement on the Vikings, who have endured quite a bit in terms of QB health compared to the rest of the division, but there's other teams in the NFL who have had multiple QBs play more than one game in a season.

Eleven QBs started all 17 games of 2025, four started 16 and two started 15, so a little more than half the NFL played their starter in at least 15 games.

Backup QB: I think it would be a good move to go and get Teddy Bridgewater for our backup QB heading into next season. Seems like a perfect fit for us!

Dan L.

The last question leads right into this one since everyone knows the importance of the backup QB position.

Wentz didn't join the Vikings until right before the season. He's a pending free agent, so it remains to be seen if Minnesota tries to return him or if he seeks another opportunity elsewhere.

Bridgewater remains a fan favorite, and I genuinely enjoyed time with him, which feels like it was a long time ago. One of the best moments of 2017 was when he entered the game against the Bengals for his first action since his 2016 knee injury. He, however, last started a game in 2022 with Miami and has been a stopgap of sorts for Detroit (2023-24) and Tampa Bay (2025).

Wentz and Bridgewater are both 33 years old.

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You guys should get Jeremiyah Love if he is still there, but only if Aaron Jones retires. Please think about it.

Liam M.

Jones just completed his ninth pro season and second with Minnesota. He missed five complete games after starting all 17 in 2024. Jones has a year remaining on the two-year contract he signed heading into 2025.

We'll start our Mock Draft Tracker series later this month and have several installments planned. Some who have already been paying attention to this have mentioned Love as a potential option for the Vikings if the team wound up going with a running back on the draft's opening night.

He's impressed in back-to-back seasons for Notre Dame, carrying the ball 163 times for 1,125 yards with 17 touchdowns in 2024, and following with 199 rushes for 1,372 yards and 18 touchdowns in 2025 when he finished third in the Heisman voting.

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