One day out from all 32 teams being in the roughly same stage of the offseason. Sure, a few coaches will still move before the combine but thankfully, Minnesota is mostly free of that carousel. It took til the last of the highly-regarded candidates but instead of jumping back into the head role with Kyler Murray & Arizona, Brian Flores will be bringing his aggressive brand of defense to Vikesborg & the Purple Palace!
In the days since the contract was signed the blogosphere & the beat-writers have put in hours upon hours breaking down what his defense did in Miami and what it might mean for Minnesota. Using history as a template for what to anticipate is a good practice but as a bonafide, head-coach-caliber coordinator his planning and approach will depend on what he is provided by KA-M & the rest of the front office.
With a meager four selections the draft is not likely to provide even an average number of new players. Given the salary cap situation that the team is yet again in, free agency isn't going to be of much help either
Those two aspects of the process have also been discussed & dissected ad nauseam, with plenty more to come as we continue to wait for steps to be taken. The thought has been that in order to get under the salary cap several stalwarts from both the offense & defense will no longer be apart of the franchise. While change is inevitable and necessary, perhaps the addition of the well-regarded Flores can help keep a few of the best members of the defense in the building.
Obviously they would have to be deemed fits for what he wants to do during the 2023 season but perhaps the opportunity to work with a highly-sought-after coach would be worth adjustment of the contract for Eric Kendricks, Harrison Smith & Patrick Peterson. Much of the conversation about Flores' style focuses on pressure by the defensive front, which could serve as a vote against keeping those three. It's also possible that he and the rest of his staff will be good enough to prepare a full group of rookie-contract & veteran-minimum players to do better than Donatell's defense but that doesn't seem like the smartest option.
It could be a long-shot that any members of the roster or free agents will take a discount just because of Flores' hiring but on reputation the players aren't likely to find many superior instructors across the 31 other organizations and for the sakes of their careers it could work to the benefit of the Purple!
We'll begin to know soon.
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