Analysis: Vikings' feel-good 2024 season gives way to an offseason of uncertainty

Family members canceled reservations in Philadelphia, as Vikings players explored travel contingencies they hadn’t yet been ready to consider. General Manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and coach Kevin O’Connell blocked out their afternoon schedules for office hours to meet with players before they departed. Justin Jefferson autographed a piece of gear for a teammate, seconds after he’d finished meeting with reporters to process how the Vikings had gone from playing for the NFC’s No. 1 seed to exiting the playoffs in eight days.

“Having 14 wins, that’s something that’s very difficult to do in this league, especially with all of the new moves we made, the free agents we have on this team,” he said. “It was just that type of year to have a good chance at a Super Bowl. So that’s the tough part, that this team won’t be the same.”

There’s always a curtness to the ending of a playoff team’s season, when mere hours separate career-defining moments from exit interviews and offboarding rituals. But the turn of the Vikings’ 2024 season felt particularly harsh, given both the uniqueness of their regular season and the inevitable churn in their future.

The Vikings went from 7-10 to 14-3 on a roster built with players on one-year deals, from quarterback Sam Darnold throwing 35 touchdown passes to running back Aaron Jones setting a career high in yards (1,138) and cornerback Stephon Gilmore playing more than 900 regular-season and playoff snaps at age 34.

The fact they were in the first NFL division with two 14-win teams meant they would have to go on the road, after a 31-9 defeat in Detroit on Jan. 5 cost them home-field advantage and a first-round bye. Then, their 27-9 loss to the Rams, in the second neutral-site playoff game in NFL history, meant they would leave the postseason without a win for the second time in three years under O’Connell.

On Monday night, the coach called the 2024 team “one of one” in his mind, because of a bond between players stronger than anything he’d experienced. The Vikings’ connection was a common refrain again on Tuesday as players cleaned out their lockers, in part because they know it will be tough to replace once the NFL’s business cycle has shuffled the roster.

Of the 53 players on the active roster for Monday night’s game against the Rams, 23 will be unrestricted free agents in March, either because of expiring contracts or deals that will void around the start of the league year. From Darnold, Jones and Gilmore; to defensive backs Camryn Bynum and Byron Murphy Jr.; to offensive role players such as Trent Sherfield Sr., Cam Akers and Brandon Powell; to front-seven contributors such as Pat Jones II, Jerry Tillery, Jonathan Bullard and Jihad Ward, the list of Vikings free agents means the 2025 team is almost certain to look different. And six-time Pro Bowl safety Harrison Smith, who turns 36 next month, could exit after a 13-year career that will certainly land him in the Vikings Ring of Honor and could put him in the Hall of Fame.

“I think it’s really hard to replicate exactly what you had the year before, just because of the variables that come in the business of this game,” linebacker Blake Cashman said. “But we all understand what it takes and how to do it. It’s just a matter of having the right people in the building.”

Even the people in charge of building the roster have their own negotiations to conduct.

Co-owner Mark Wilf told the Minnesota Star Tribune in December that Vikings ownership plans to talk to Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell about contract extensions after the season, adding, “We’re looking forward to their continued leadership of the franchise.” Both have contracts expiring after the 2025 season. O’Connell, whose work with Darnold made him a leading candidate for Coach of the Year honors, could have a particularly strong market if he were to leave the Vikings. Wilf’s December comments, though, echoed what he said in August about waiting on contract talks until the end of the season, and the owners could start discussions as soon as this week.

Vice president of player personnel Ryan Grigson talked with the Jets about their GM opening last week, while defensive coordinator Brian Flores and quarterback coach Josh McCown are candidates for the team’s head coaching job. Flores also has interview requests from the Jaguars and the Bears. The Seahawks reportedly requested to interview 28-year-old assistant quarterbacks coach Grant Udinski, whom O’Connell views as a rising star, for their offensive coordinator opening.

Whether because of new jobs, departures or retirements, the Vikings’ complexion seems almost guaranteed to change. But the guiding principles they used in 2024, defensive tackle Harrison Phillips said, aren’t likely to shift.

“We have a foundation that we’re building here, and we’ll see how the cards fall at the end of March,” said Phillips, one of the team’s captains. “[We] trust all those guys to bring in the right people. But we do have a core of people and they’re kind of the rudders that steer the ship, and obviously we have a captain at the helm with K.O. that is really guiding the ship. I have full confidence in that, and we’ve created an environment here where when you jump on ship, you kind of have to mold and form yourself to what we’re trying to accomplish. There’s not a lot of room for people that don’t believe in our standard.”

As of Tuesday, though, the Vikings’ feel-good 2024 season was history, assigned to the team’s 64-season ledger with 14 wins, but no banners or playoff victories.

The 2024 offseason was one of the most active in team history. The 2025 offseason — which will contain coach and GM contract talks, possible coordinator changes, a quarterback decision, a recuperating left tackle and a lengthy slate of defensive moves — could match it.

As the lease on the Vikings’ unique run expired and their star player wrapped his fifth season still without a playoff win, the abrupt ending carried a particular bite.

“I was expecting to come here, have a normal day and just get prepared for Philly” in the divisional playoffs, Jefferson said. “So it’s definitely tough to process.”

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