Insider suggests Vikings will look to extend coordinators this spring

The Minnesota Vikings completed the first of their offseason priorities when they signed coach Kevin O'Connell to a multiyear contract extension. One of the next orders of business will be keeping O'Connell's coaching staff with him.

Defensive coordinator Brian Flores and offensive coordinator Wes Phillips both have contracts that expire after the 2025 season, and according to the Star Tribune's Ben Goessling, the Vikings would like to sign both to extensions this spring.

"My understanding is they want to get new deals done for both of those guys this spring," Goessling said of Flores and Phillips on the Star Tribune's Daily Delivery podcast on Friday. "I think one of the reasons O'Connell wanted the deal, and one of the stipulations was, 'I want to take care of my staff.' ... I think (special teams coordinator) Matt Daniels will probably end up in these contract discussions as well, but that is the next thing on the list from a coaching perspective."

While O'Connell calls plays, Phillips has been his right-hand man since O'Connell took over as Vikings coach in 2022, following him from the Los Angeles Rams. The Vikings ranked seventh in yards per game and eighth in points per game in 2022; fifth in yards and 22nd in points in 2023; and 12th in yards and ninth in points last season. Phillips guided the team through a quarterback carousel following Kirk Cousins' injury in 2023, and helped Sam Darnold have a resurgent 2024.

Flores took over as defensive coordinator following Ed Donatell's firing after the 2022 season. The Vikings defense gave up the second-most yards per game and third-most points per game in 2022, but in 2023 in their first season under Flores, the Vikings improved to 16th in yards allowed per game and 14th in points allowed per game. The Vikings were again 16th in yards in 2024, but further improved under Flores by allowing the fifth-fewest points per game in the NFL.

Flores' name was regularly floated as a head coaching candidate this offseason.

In addition to extending the coordinators, the Vikings will also need to find a replacement for assistant quarterbacks coach Grant Udinski, who left to take an offensive coordinator job with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Goessling said the Vikings are still looking for a replacement, and it will be hard to find as Udinski had a great relationship with J.J. McCarthy.

Other priorities for the Vikings include extending general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, whose contract also expires after the 2025 season. Goessling says there doesn't appear to be a rush from Adofo-Mensah on finalizing an extension.

"My sense of it is that there's not as big of a hurry on this, which seems odd to say, given the fact he's going into a contract year, but he's been, I think, pretty calm about the pace of it," Goessling said. "... I don't think he is uncomfortable with the uncertainty at the moment. I don't think he's thinking about it a ton; it's not something he's going to bed every night fretting about, 'When is this deal going to get done?' I think it will.

"... I think if we get closer to the draft and it's not done, I would have a little more concern about where is this gonna go? Because once the draft is done, your roster building is pretty much done for the year, give or take a few things — they may come up with a trade or a contract or something like that — but the largest stage of your roster building is now done, which means he doesn't have any more to give them that they would say we're risking losing something here."