Do you have a comment or question? Send it to the Mailbag. Every Monday we'll post several comments and/or questions. Click here to submit a comment or question to Mailbag. Remember to include your name and town in the email. If Twitter / X is your jam, you can send a question to me that way as well.

Offensive line prospects are the last position group leaving Indianapolis today, putting a bow on the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine.

Last week was a good level of busy with opportunities to hear directly from Head Coach Kevin O'Connell and Executive Vice President of Football Operations Rob Brzezinski during separate 30-minute sessions with Twin Cities media members who trekked to Indy. The duo also participated in interviews with Paul Allen and Pete Bercich that aired on KFAN's 9 to Noon and were posted on Vikings.com, as well as 1-on-1 sessions with Vikings Entertainment Network's Tatum Everett.

O'Connell and Brzezinski reinforced a belief in QB J.J. McCarthy as the 2024 first-round pick is going through his first full healthy offseason. O'Connell noted McCarthy has been working out in California with private QB coach John Beck, a former second-round pick.

They also described their shared goals for navigating this offseason and "stacking" good decisions during free agency, which opens March 11, and the 2026 NFL Draft (April 23-25).

The team is currently over the salary cap and must reach compliance by March 11.

On to the questions…

I've been a Viking fan since '69 (later this year I'LL be 69). The QB situation almost reminds me of what was referred to as "The QB Option" of the early '70s with QBs Gary Cuozzo, Norm Snead and Bob Lee and wondering who would start each week. The clamor of possible options soon to be available is a tad unnerving. Tua Tagovailoa? Kyler Murray? Aaron Rodgers? No thank you, though I've heard their names quite a bit aimed toward Minnesota. Kirk Cousins? I'm much more comfortable with. Derek Carr? Arouses curiosity. Wonder what we'd have to give the Saints for him.

Mega-shout out to the coaches that work directly with the linebackers and edge rushers! Fantastic job!

Question 1. With the three-safety defense, how much of a priority is the slot corner with the availability of the third safety? Glad to have Joshua Metellus back. Get well soon with all the others in healing and rehab.

Question 2. Who do you see as the best value/less risk at CB with our mid-round top pick? I'm not counting on us moving up in the first round, but I could be wrong.

— Jason Gibeaut

Minnesota's stated goal of making the quarterbacks room as competitive as possible has garnered much of the attention this offseason because there's a wide array of approaches.

It made sense for O'Connell and Brzezinski to say last week that they are considering all options. I wrote this to relay their thoughts on McCarthy and development through competition last week.

Mike Siravo (inside linebackers) and Thad Bogardus (outside linebackers) are again working with the position groups that Jason mentioned, so I wanted to include them and then link to this story about Minnesota finalizing the 2026 coaching staff.

As far as Jason's first question, we've learned that Defensive Coordinator Brian Flores likes to be multiple with his looks in the secondary and really utilizes versatility. They have used the "big nickel" grouping with Metellus as a third safety/hybrid, and there also have been times with two safeties and three corners (usually involving Byron Murphy, Jr., kicking inside). There also are opportunities to play dime with six defensive backs.

Metellus' usage could be most impacted by whether or not Harrison Smith returns for a 15^th season, but it will definitely be great to have him back in the fold after he battled through so much in 2025.

As for the second question, rather than me opining on a cornerback, I'll refer to this roundup of what NFL national experts told Everett the Vikings might do at No. 18 and our most recent Mock Draft Tracker, which was published last week before invitees participated in the combine.

Most of the opinions expressed so far have had the Vikings helping their secondary at pick No. 18.

I've said it often enough over the years regarding the Vikings, but it's never been meant as a compliment. But when I read [Friday] morning on NFL.com that the Colts are considering parting ways with Anthony Richardson and the Vikings are possibly interested, well, let's just say I had to wait a couple hours to take my blood pressure.

I was never impressed with how high the Colts drafted him in the first place, because he had… what, 13 starts in college (Florida)? And did they even advance that high in the standings that season? So what if he has a "cannon of an arm," because rather than the accuracy of a sniper rifle he seems to have been more of a blunderbuss. And an antique one at that based on his injury history.

If the Vikings were indeed interested in him as a reclamation project it would be mildly amusing considering McCarthy's own durability issues the past two years. Fine if they're competing in the Madden NFL Bowl, where the greatest injury concern is a blister on their thumbs and spilling a Big Gulp on the keyboard.

Plus, Indy is unlikely to flat out release Richardson and would try to recoup some of that misspent draft capital. And the past few years the Vikings have had mostly cobwebs in their cupboard shouldn't waste even a compensatory third-round pick on a trade. Especially for a player that has demonstrated so little return for being the No. 4 pick.

The smartest move the Vikings could make to fill out their quarterbacks room is to bring back a known quantity. And all signs point to Kirk Cousins being outright released by the Falcons, which means the Vikings wouldn't need to mortgage their draft picks. And Kirk has had a year and a half to adjust his mindset to being a mentor at this stage of his career. And the fact that he restructured his deal with the Falcons demonstrates that he may be willing to settle for less salary, so the Vikings could incentivize him and/or add a signing bonus up front to ease the salary cap hit.

Kirk is probably the best option if the Vikings want to reset McCarthy's trajectory. He needs both legitimate competition as well as a veteran quarterback to shepherd his development. And Kirk knows K.O.'s mindset and methodology, as well as being quite familiar with numerous players on the team.

The first reaction I had to the idea of the Vikings trading for Richardson was to look at the calendar and wonder if I'd jumped back in time a year. That's because the very idea sounded too much like a deal that Kwesi would have orchestrated. And there's a good reason why the Wilfs parted ways with him, since his draft picks, free-agent signings and trade acumen were not yielding a good enough return on the investment.

So please Mr. Brz (I won't spell his name for fear of butchering it), don't take the blue pill and wake back up in the Matrix. Your job is to restructure contracts, part ways with expensive contracts judiciously, and above all preserve the precious few draft picks we have. Pass on Richardson, Willis, Tua and Kyler. We can't afford to experiment this year.

Sincerely,

— David A. (from The North Shore but stuck in the South)

And …

I would like to see the Vikings trade a late-round pick for Anthony Richardson. Let him and J.J. McCarthy battle it out. Let's find out if either one of them can be the QB of the future. Why would we want to get a stop-gap vet for a year and not find out anything about where we are at with J.J. The 2027 draft is strong, and we can go into next year knowing where we're at. The team is lacking depth at numerous positions from poor drafting and is a year away. Thoughts?

— Rick in Blaine

I always enjoy receiving emails of contrasting opinions from Vikings fans who want the team to do as well as possible but have different visions for what is the best way to make that happen.

David didn't like seeing a report that ever-so-briefly mentioned the Vikings being a potential landing spot for Richardson, who is going to be on the trade market after a discussion with the Colts. Rick, however, is willing to add the No. 4 overall pick of the 2023 NFL Draft.

Richardson's career trajectory isn't what he had hoped for. He's 8-7 in 15 career starts but barely played in 2025 and suffered an unfortunate eye injury during warm-ups, making him unavailable once Daniel Jones was lost for the season.

Richardson is still only 23 years old, so he still has time for things to go better in games. He seemed to vault up the draft board after his combine workout before Indianapolis tabbed him in Head Coach Shane Steichen's first season with the Colts.

O'Connell was mic'd up and offered words of encouragement to Richardson during the 2024 season when Indy opted to start Joe Flacco on Sunday Night Football.

Injuries have disrupted McCarthy's first two seasons, with the QB missing his rookie regular season because of a torn meniscus suffered in the preseason opener. He also dealt with a high-ankle sprain, concussion and hand injury in 2025. There have been high points and low points over the course of his first 10 starts.

O'Connell was asked Tuesday if McCarthy is a "franchise QB."

"I think the answer to that question is yes, because he has demonstrated those things," O'Connell said. "And when I said that to you guys in 2024 when he got injured, the point I was making at the time was based upon the strong training camp he'd had, seeing him progress through the learning phase of acquiring him and going through the offseason program and then introducing him into that competitive phase of training camp, which it was a competitive camp with what has turned out to be a really good player (Sam Darnold) at the position. I felt confident at that time saying he had demonstrated a lot of those things that we could feel like that progression to becoming that, which is what you do when you try to draft a guy, inevitably in the first round of the draft.

"A lot of those feelings are still the same," O'Connell continued. "It's just the timeline is in a different place, for all of us, than it was at that point, and we have a — I have a responsibility — we have a responsibility collectively as we put together this team to make sure that we use the data that we have at this time and the experiences we have, the feelings that we've had at different times as an organization and one of which has been the 2022 and 2024 seasons of the consistency of that position, regardless what may have been the assumption going in, it was the belief and the confidence of what we inevitably thought could happen and ended up happening at that position. And then the difference is really injury-based with those other two seasons and ultimately how do we, obviously, do the best we can to surround that player like we've tried to do throughout our time here with the best possible group, the most consistent group, the most available group, and see how many times we can have that group in addition to consistent quarterback play, and we believe good things will happen."

There are more than 300 words in that response, but the most intriguing phrase might be "the timeline is in a different place." There were multiple points in which O'Connell and Brzezinski expressed their confidence in McCarthy. It will be interesting to see how the Vikings approach establishing the most competitive room possible, whether that is with a veteran or with a younger player.

Do you think that Coach O'Connell would ever use Brian O'Neill as a tight end? He has done it before, and I just see that as an interesting concept!!

— Tom Manders, U.S. Army EOD SGM (Ret.)

First, thanks so much for your service from someone who is sincerely grateful to our veterans and service members.

A big-man touchdown is one of the most joyous things to see in a football game, and it would be so rewarding for the nine-season veteran who has started 120 of 124 games played.

So far, O'Neill has not recorded a reception or a rush attempt in the NFL. When he was in college at Pittsburgh, O'Neill rushed three times for 39 yards and scored twice.

The Vikings have on occasion flipped their offensive line alignment with O'Neill and Christian Darrisaw or moved Darrisaw to the outside of O'Neill. Perhaps an opportunity could arise for a trick play, but O'Neill's primary role at right tackle will be the spot for his best impact.

Ideally, he and other offensive linemen won't have to grind through nearly as many injuries as they did in 2025.

The RB this year is loaded from draft to free agents, so I feel we should wait on that position, but WR is something we need to think about. Do we want Jordan Addison and pay two WRs a lot of money or draft Justin Jefferson's replacement. What do you think?

— William W.

There's a general consensus among draft experts that Jeremiyah Love is the best running back in this year's draft class. There's also a general feeling among analysts that this year's running backs who are set to hit the market offer an impressive collection.

Currently the Vikings have top rushers Aaron Jones, Sr., and Jordan Mason under contract.

Addison will be entering the fourth season of his rookie deal. Minnesota has until May to announce whether it will use the fifth-year option on the 2023 first-round selection.

This roundup includes what people think the Vikings could do later in the draft. Decisions during the draft usually are impacted by what teams have done in free agency.

The firing of Kwesi Adofo-Mensah was at a weird time but not entirely unexpected with Sam Darnold winning the Super Bowl and the other casualties. But let's not breeze past the fact that he brought us out of the Mike Zimmer era quickly, which was his job, but when we got past there, he struggled. Another speculation is about J.J. McCarthy (can we leave the kid alone?!), that he has no shot. If we've learned anything from this season with quarterbacks like Bo Nix and Drake Maye, we've seen that the second PLAYING season gets better. The last piece of speculation I'd like to address is about Justin Jefferson. People are saying he'll ask for a trade if he doesn't get the ball more, and I beg to differ because J.J. McCarthy will get better and I just think they're giving the Vikings a bad rap. People are forgetting the fact that we won our last five games despite already being eliminated from the playoffs. Let's make this offseason great.

SKOL,

— Ellie from Minnesota

It was announced last week that Adofo-Mensah will be returning to the 49ers where he launched his NFL career, and I wish the best for him and his family going forward. There are certainly some good elements from his tenure, and O'Connell and Brzezinski both wished him well and said they appreciated their time working with him.

Nix, Maye and Caleb Williams each took massive steps forward in their second seasons as starters. Stats for Michael Penix, Jr., improved with more time on task. Jayden Daniels, the other member of the six-QB first round, dealt with injuries last season after dazzling as a rookie.

A little patience could lead to a reward.

I'd imagine some of the people speculating about Jefferson were in the same group who didn't think he was going to sign an extension. The worry about that proved to be unnecessary.

Before free agency starts, the Vikings have a bunch of areas to look at if they want to make the playoffs this coming season. These are the positions I see that need to be addressed: quarterback, center, offensive line, running back, tight end, cornerback, safety and linebacker. I've seen a lot of quarterback names put out there by trade or free agency, one that I don't see is Trey Lance. He was a free agent last year and the Vikings never went after him. Is there something that the Vikings don't like about him? There's only so many quarterbacks I think would be able to take the Vikings to the playoffs if J.J. McCarthy gets injured or doesn't play well. I think J.J. is a good quarterback. He's just young and needs time to adjust to the game. Other areas the Viking should attack in free agency should be running back, cornerback, safety and the linebacker positions.

For the draft, I think the Vikings should go after safety and cornerback in the first two picks. Then I think they should go for a running back, linebacker, tight end, center, defensive line, and wide receiver. I agree that our old GM didn't do well in the drafts. I was scratching my head wondering why they drafted those players. I hope our new GM, whoever it will be, will be able to do a much better job with next year's draft and so on.

SKOL VIKINGS!

— Matt from Cedar Rapids, Iowa

The Vikings do have multiple points on the roster they are trying to address beyond QB.

Lance is again a pending unrestricted free agent again this season. The No. 3 overall pick of 2021 will turn 26 in May.

Injuries impacted Lance's growth and development. He's made just six starts and played in only 16 NFL games.

After leaving San Francisco, he played for Dallas in 2024 and the L.A. Chargers last season. Game experience has been minimal.

The Vikings have been evaluating potential options for free agency and cross-checking against opportunities in the draft.

Perceived depth of positions in the draft could impact decisions made in free agency, and additions or deletions during the latter certainly could impact draft selections.

See the Vikings 2026 Opponents.

Check out the Vikings 2026 Draft Picks.

View future opponents for the Vikings.

Buy single game tickets.

Download the official Vikings App.