Vikings offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur likely to be next New York Giants head coach

Vikings offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur will return to Philadelphia on Sunday, facing his previous employer in the NFC Championship Game. The next time Shurmur heads to Philadelphia, it likely will be as the New York Giants head coach.

According to a league source, Shurmur is the Giants' top choice to become their next head coach. The Giants can't have further contact with Shurmur until next week, when the Vikings' season either would be over or they would be on their bye week before the Super Bowl. But it seems likely Shurmur is headed to New York, for his second chance to be an NFL head coach.

Shurmur was the Cleveland Browns' head coach from 2011-12, going 9-23 in his two years with the team. He then became the Eagles' offensive coordinator in 2013, before winning Philadelphia's season finale in 2015 as the team's interim head coach after Chip Kelly was fired. The Vikings hired Shurmur as their tight ends coach in 2016, and he became the team's interim offensive coordinator last November after Norv Turner resigned.

It's the work Shurmur has done since getting the full-time job that has him in line to become a head coach again at age 52. The Vikings finished 10th in the league in points and 11th in yards, despite getting only six quarters out of starting quarterback Sam Bradford and losing second-round draft pick Dalvin Cook to a torn ACL in Week 4.

Shurmur helped Case Keenum become a surprising success as the Vikings' quarterback, and as the team tries to win its first NFC championship since 1976 on Sunday, it remains to be seen if the future of the QB is tied to Shurmur.

Keenum is one of three Vikings quarterbacks who will be a free agent after the season, and the 29-year-old might have some interest in following Shurmur to a new team. The Giants have Eli Manning under contract through 2019, and would absorb $12.4 million in dead money if they released the 36-year-old (who was benched at the end of last season). They also invested a third-round pick in California product Davis Webb last season, and they'll have the No. 2 pick in a QB-rich draft. But if the Giants do make a fresh start with Shurmur, they might look to see if they can sign a passer such as Keenum in his prime.