There's plenty to talk about at this point in the NFL offseason.

With the combine and first waves of free agency now in the rearview mirror and the 2026 NFL Draft fast approaching, coaches and personnel are hard at work solidifying rosters for the upcoming season.

To kick off this week, though, NFL coaches, executives and owners are in Arizona for the Annual League Meeting, and NFC coaches held their roundtable media sessions over breakfast Monday morning.

Vikings Head Coach Kevin O'Connell spoke with a number of media members from within and beyond the Twin Cities market, fielding questions on numerous topics. To no surprise, several inquiries centered on the Vikings quarterbacks room — which currently includes returnees J.J. McCarthy, Carson Wentz and Max Brosmer and newcomer Kyler Murray — and respective depth chart.

"To be honest, everybody wants to label it 'the quarterback competition,' all these things," O'Connell said, "And the way the offseason's set up, we're going to be out there for Phase 2 [of voluntary Organized Team Activities] where there's really not a lot of competitive reps to go around other than throwing routes on air, and we're going to want to have guys working with everybody, getting as many reps as we possibly can, expecting our full group of wide receivers to be there every day, tight ends, running backs, all those things."

O'Connell noted the offseason program is "a pretty strong teaching-and-learning phase."

"You can't go into a mindset of trying to elevate your quarterbacks room and get as many talented players as you possibly can in there and then start carving out the reps in March," he said. "It really doesn't work like that. We've really have got to decide how we're going to apply individual improvement plans to guys and giving them runway to improve.

"When the competition phase starts, it will fall right in line with a lot of the plans that I'm really excited about with training camp, whether it's joint practices to come or those preseason games themselves," O'Connell said. "But I'm excited for it. We all have to improve. [It] starts with me and my coaching staff and we're having ourselves the type of offseason, I think, that's really important in our trajectory of going into Year 5."

Here are five other takeaways from O'Connell's media session in Arizona:

1. On Murray's fit in Vikings offense

With the Vikings bringing in Murray, will O'Connell need to adjust his offense to fit the veteran passer? Will Murray need to adjust his play style to fit Minnesota's system? Or will the two meld seamlessly?

O'Connell delved into the topic, noting fans often focus on Murray's ability to scramble and not necessarily the talent he demonstrates on plays that don't require his legs.

"I don't think he's gotten enough credit for playing in rhythm. Some of those plays, we all recognize some of the highlight-reel ability that he has, and Kyler Murray has always had that level of talent, but I think sometimes what we don't recognize is the third-and-7 right before the huge scramble play on the earned first down," O'Connell explained. "But that third-and-7 where he hits [Trey] McBride away from some tight coverage on routes that are maybe similar to some of the things we'll do, or watching him play with really, really good technique and fundamentals either in the drop-back game — the play-action game can be done a lot of different ways — offset gun, pistol and under center.

"He's pretty dynamic in the keeper game, the movement game, obviously with his natural athleticism, so I see a lot of ways that we'll be able to continue [to] evolve our offense here in Year 5. But at the same time, principles that I believe Kyler will be able to — not only make his own but provide different layers to what we do with some of his experiences," O'Connell continued, noting he expects the same from McCarthy, Wentz and Brosmer.

"That's one of the benefits, as we've seen before, of playing multiple guys in a tough year for the quarterback position, just from a pure health standpoint, which is what last year was," he said. "Now we feel really good about the combination of depth, talent and the fact that we've got a room that's going to push each other, and all those guys are going to have great offseasons and be ready to rock and roll."

2. Wanting Wentz back

In addition to signing Murray, the Vikings re-signed Wentz, who joined the team just before the 2025 season and stepped in for Minnesota after McCarthy suffered a Week 2 injury.

Wentz played five games for the Vikings before an injured shoulder forced him to hang it up for the remainder of the season.

O'Connell is happy to have Wentz back in the position group after having "one of our best offensive performances of the year" despite not going through an offseason or training camp with the Vikings.

Wentz's experience in the league and existing relationship with quarterbacks coach Josh McCown is invaluable, O'Connell emphasized, as well as his natural leadership in the locker room.

"We wanted to be patient and allow Carson to kind of see what opportunities may be out there. But at the same time, Carson knew from very early on in the off season, regardless of what other moves or move we made in that room, that we wanted him back," O'Connell said. "And he loved being in Minnesota. He loves our fan base. He loved getting to wear the Purple and Gold. And I know for some people it might be a, 'Why would Carson do that?' I think some people may be discounting the fact that he's really enjoyed his time, not only being around Josh and his teammates, but just being a Minnesota Viking.

"It's an important thing for me to always know that it's a place that guys want to come play, whether they have previous experience with us or, in Kyler's circumstances, not so much, but there's a desire and still an enthusiasm about playing quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings," O'Connell added.

He reiterated his desire to have depth at the quarterback position, which is why adding Murray didn't change wanting Wentz back.

"We've played three guys in one [season]. We played four in another," O'Connell reminded. "We just feel like having the ability to get quality quarterback play throughout the circumstances that we do not control throughout the season gives our team historical data that says if we get quarterback play to a certain line, we win a lot of football games. So we wanted to ensure that we're able to do that, but also make it a very, very competitive room."

3. Status of Greenard

O'Connell was asked about outside linebacker Jonathan Greenard, whom national media members have said was a potential trade candidate for the Vikings as they navigated a challenging salary cap situation.

O'Connell emphasized, "We, I, our coaching staff, the players, we love Jonathan Greenard."

"He clearly has meant so much to our team from a standpoint of what he's done on the field, but becoming a captain last year and really being one of those driving factors behind a team that could somehow find themselves at 4-8 and finish at 9-8, Jonathan Greenard and his leadership and what he means on a daily basis to our team is absolutely something we don't take for granted."

O'Connell told reporters Greenard — whose recovery from shoulder surgery is "on track" — knows he's loved and appreciated within the locker room and by the coaching staff.

"I would just say, I'm excited about Jonathan Greenard in Year 3 with us and excited about where our team's going to go with him as a big part of our defense," he said. "The business side of the NFL gets talked about a lot, but my role and the importance of the relationship side of things will always be paramount with all of our players, especially one of my captains like J.G.

"I expect him to be part of our team," O'Connell continued. "I know there's always conversations — there's conversations this week, there's conversations throughout the offseason, and we'll continue to attack things at the different phases. We're getting ready to really jump heavily into draft meetings when we get back, but at the same time, we're always going to try to do what's best for our team and also what we think is best for each one of our individual players. And that's an ongoing thing throughout every offseason."

4. Checking in on Darrisaw

The Vikings last season had sporadic contributions from left tackle Christian Darrisaw, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in Week 8 of the 2024 campaign.

Darrisaw returned to action for Minnesota in a limited capacity Week 3 last season but did not stay consistently on the field. In five games (Weeks 4, 7, 9-11), he played 100% of offensive snaps. In another four (Weeks 3, 5, 12, 14) he played 63% or more of offensive snaps. Darrisaw played just nine snaps against the Chargers in Week 8; and following the Vikings Week 14 defeat of Washington, he was sidelined the remainder of the season.

O'Connell was asked by reporters if he expects to have Darrisaw back on a full-time basis in 2026.

"He's so impactful," O'Connell said. "That is one position where I don't think we put enough credence and weight into the impact of winning and losing every snap, every down in the NFL at that left tackle position.

"I was proud of the way Christian battled through the offseason and the recovery portion, but then it was frustrating for him at times because he did put in all that work, all that tireless work, that in his mind, 'Hey, I want to move past this,' But with an injury like that, sometimes time is truly the only thing that will ultimately get us to where we want to get to," O'Connell said. "And I do believe we're at that point now, he's having a really good offseason. And what that looks like, what his daily practice schedule and plan looks like, we're going to do what we think is best to get Christian ready to play 17 games and feel at his absolute best to do so."

5. Any hints on Harry?

With C.J. Ham and Adam Thielen recently retiring together as Minnesota Vikings, attention has turned to safety Harrison Smith and whether or not he plans to play a 15^th NFL season or hang up his cleats.

O'Connell has previously quipped that he's working to convince Smith to stay around.

"Multiple times," he confirmed, laughing. "I have to be very careful with, when I call Harrison these days — we talk about a lot of things, but football is not necessarily one of them."

O'Connell said he plans to "check in" with Smith at some point regarding the gridiron.

"He knows how I feel about him, how we feel about him, but we also want to be respectful and give him space to kind of continue to figure out what he wants to do," O'Connell said. "It doesn't seem like he's in any real rush to — and certainly not from us or from me — to decide whether he's going to be playing football or not."

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