An internal team of business and football operations employees has already begun the search for a new general manager and head coach after the Minnesota Vikings fired Rick Spielman and Mike Zimmer on Monday.
And while all eyes are on who the next coach and GM will be, there will also be a microscope on Minnesota and its mega-money quarterback Kirk Cousins.
Vikings owner and President Mark Wilf spoke with the media Monday afternoon to discuss the team’s decision to part ways with Spielman and Zimmer. But the conversation eventually turned to Cousins and his $45 million cap hit next season.
When pressed by the media about the quarterback situation, Wilf never mentioned Cousins by name and said all roster decisions will be up to the new GM and coach.
“Once that leadership’s in place, we’ll discuss things like roster, coaching staffs and scouting staffs,” said Wilf, noting they will let the people they hire “give us their advice and thinking before we make any of those decisions.”
Asked by sports reporter Larry Fitzgerald, the father of former Arizona Cardinals star wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald Jr., if Cousins’ massive contract hurt the team, Wilf expertly expressed disinterest in “looking backwards.”
“We’re going to get a head coach and GM in place and then we’re going to get to work with them to evaluate those decisions. Where our roster fits, what we have, what we don’t have and what we need. It’s not a simple answer on all this,” said Wilf. “We’re going to bring in the right people to help us evaluate the answer to that question.”
The hiring process, meanwhile, will not be rushed, Wilf said.
While there may be a rush from teams like the Bears, Broncos, Dolphins and Jaguars to get the top names on the market, a la Jim Harbaugh, Josh McDaniels, Eric Bienemy, Byron Leftwich and others, Wilf said “we don’t try to look at who’s hot and who’s cold.”
“We want strong leaders. We want people that communicate and collaborate around the building. From that we’re going to get the right minds, the right offensive minds, the right defensive minds, the right scouting. That’s the spirit we’re doing this in. That’s our first criteria, getting the right kind of leaders that our players can relate to, our fans can relate to. It’s not a simple question, but I know we’re going to get there,” Wilf said.
The first hire will be the general manager, who will then have input about who the Vikings hire as head coach, according to Wilf.
And Wilf fully expects the Vikings to compete in the first year under the new regime.
“I don’t want to get into a full rebuild conversation. The point is we have high expectations for this football team and we believe we can be super competitive in 2022.”
