Analysis: Darrisaw to IR, QB and Flores buzz

Thoughts on what happened this year with Christian Darrisaw as the Vikings elect to shut him down and some NFL insider buzz

Photo courtesy of the Minnesota Vikings

---

By Matthew Coller

Christian Darrisaw on IR

After missing more practice this week, the Vikings decided to shut down Christian Darrisaw for the season by placing him on injured reserve.

It doesn’t take Sherlock Holmes to figure out that something has been off with his recovery from the beginning. Before the season, it appeared like he was ready to rock ‘n roll after putting together a great joint practice against the New England Patriots. But that was followed by the unusual situation where he was listed as “questionable” and went through warm ups then did not play and then was listed as “out” the following week.

When he did return against Cincinnati, Darrisaw told Purple Insider and Andrew Krammer of the Star Tribune at his locker that his timeline was actually much longer than the public knew. He seemed upset that fans and media had expected him to be back Week 1 when he was actually ahead of schedule.

It was following the loss to the Chargers — when Darrisaw had played the previous week vs. Philly and then left the game early vs. LA — that head coach Kevin O’Connell intimated that the injury had been more than a routine ACL tear and that it was a complicated recovery.

“There's just a lot of layers to it… just trying to defer to the medical staff and most importantly making sure Christian’s in a good place on everything,” O’Connell said on Friday. “It has been a really unique year for him, and one that I think he'll be able to really grow from. Just some of the adversity throughout that and how he handled it and attacked it will be a real positive.”

The organization has to be hoping and praying that Darrisaw can get back on track this offseason and return in 2026 at full health. Some fans have asked about the possibility of moving on from him but the reality is: You do not move on from franchise left tackles. They are just as hard to find as franchise quarterbacks.

There are not 10 players in the league who breathe Darrisaw’s air and the drop off from the top 10 to the mid-pack left tackle is absolutely enormous. It’s impossible to find them without spending a first-round pick. For example: Free agent Dan Moore Jr. got paid $20 million per year this season and he ranks 52nd out of 62 in pass blocking.

O’Connell was asked about whether he felt that there could be any lingering issues into the future.

“It's hard to hypothetically look ahead,” O’Connell said. “All I know is that if he puts the same type of work ethic into it that he did from the moment he got that thing fixed, my personal belief is he's going to be in a great place and able to get back to his normal routine work weeks, his normal game prep, his normal type of preparation, understanding that we're going to have to be flexible at times if we need to — whatever gives Christian the best chance to move forward the right way.”

O’Connell mentioned that Darrisaw’s teammates voted him as the team’s Ed Block Courage Award winner, which says something about the battle he’s had to fight to get on the field. And despite all the stops and starts, he still ranked in the top 30 tackles in run and pass blocking.

“I'm excited to see him get to attack, knowing the fact that he is in a good place right now as his 2025 season wraps up,” O’Connell said. “What's out in front of him is a continuation on a lot of the things, but most importantly, being able to put this injury behind him and feel great about the 2026 season and off season for that matter.”

Brian Flores contract situation (and possible landing spot?)

On Saturday, Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports noted that Brian Flores is in the final year of his contract, which was previously reported by the Star Tribune, and added: “even if he is not a head coach this next cycle, one would think he'd be a coach's top candidate for defensive coordinator should he ultimately leave Minnesota.”

Former ESPN reporter and long-time Cowboys insider Ed Werder commented on Jones’ article, saying: “Flores certainly impressed the Cowboys last week.”

With the Vikings’ defense ranking 9th in Expected Points Added and 3rd in QB pressure percentage (per Pro-Football Ref), there should be a bunch of teams that are interested in talking to Flores about leaving Minnesota. It’s questionable whether he will get any opportunities as a head coach due to his ongoing lawsuit against the NFL but franchises who are sputtering defensively have to be intrigued at the idea of opening up their checkbooks for his services.

No team makes more sense than the Cowboys. Their ownership has endless dollars and they rank 31st in points allowed and were eliminated from the playoffs on Saturday despite producing the fifth most points offensively in the NFL. Other teams that would make sense include the New York Jets, Las Vegas Raiders and possibly Cincinnati Bengals if Joe Burrow continues to hint at his unhappiness.

Can the Vikings afford to keep him? Sure. But it might not be that simple. Other teams might be able to offer him an assistant head coaching position that would push him forward toward getting another head coaching gig eventually. He might also be enticed by the idea of turning around another defense.

A few factors that could weigh into a decision for Flores would include his belief in JJ McCarthy and a potential Harrison Smith retirement. If he doesn’t think the Vikings can win in 2026 with their current QB situation, he might opt for a club like Dallas or Cincy that has a top-notch QB and just needs improvement on defense. After all, a 6-8 football team isn’t putting anybody on the map for head coaching jobs.

And Flores’ relationship with Hitman has been special. It’s one of the most unique situations I’ve ever seen between a player and coach. It’s like having a co-defensive coordinator on the field with him.

Give B-Flo credit for betting on himself. He now has all the leverage in negotiations because the Vikings need to have a good defense in 2026 with Caleb Williams emerging in the division and he can explore free agency if he wants.

Insiders are still bringing up future QB options

Jeff Howe of The Athletic wrote: “don’t rule out the Vikings” to sign Daniel Jones this offseason. Clearly the Vikings liked Jones and wanted him to stay in Minnesota — and comments that DJ made this year suggested that he clicked with O’Connell — but now that he’s performed like a winning starting QB again, Jones wouldn’t sign with any team that wasn’t going to make him QB1. Also he’s going to be expensive. Remember when Kirk Cousins got $40 million per year coming off an Achilles injury?

The Vikings could work something out with Jones where his cap hit is relatively small in 2026 and then they are mega screwed in the future. Does that sound like a good plan to anybody? It’s a worse version of what they did with Kirk because Kirk was better at football. Jones may have performed solidly overall for Indy but he had the NFL’s best run game and only had 13 big-time throws to 18 turnover-worthy plays, per PFF. Plus a significant part of his value is in his ability to run, which is questionable off the injury.

If the Vikings make an offer to Jones, they are completely out on McCarthy. There’s no other way to view it.