Friday Mailbag: Vikings sign Jennings, GM candidates reported

The Vikings added a receiver and we found out which GM candidates are being interviewed

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By Matthew Coller

Happy Friday everyone!

The Vikings announced late on Thursday that they have signed receiver Jauan Jennings. The contract is for one year, $8 million with up to $13 million in incentives, per Tom Pelissero and Adam Schefter.

Here’s my take: Home run.

Jennings has produced 132 catches for 1,618 yards and 15 touchdowns over the last two seasons. That’s normally what you would expect out of a WR2, yet this is clearly WR3 money. It’s just ahead of former failed first-rounder Jahan Dotson, yet his stat line is in the ballpark of someone like Michael Pittman Jr. (149 catches for 1,592 yards over the last two seasons) and Pittman Jr. got $17.5 million from the Steelers.

He is a very good scheme fit for the Vikings with Kyler Murray at quarterback because he is a big possession type wide receiver who has an exceptional contested-catch rate (58% over the last two years). He has been an effective run blocker and played multiple spots in San Francisco depending on the health of the receivers around him.

A one-year deal maintains flexibility and doesn’t leave the Vikings on the hook for anything if it doesn’t work out.

Naturally when a player gets less than expected, we’re going to ask: What’s the catch? There’s no clear evidence of injuries or anything dysfunctional in San Francisco that would have caused him to miss out on a bigger pay day. My theory is that Jennings wasn’t highly respected by the NFL in part because San Francisco has a history of pumping up production from their weapons and because his raw physical tools don’t excite you. He wasn’t a high draft pick, didn’t have a crazy 40 time and doesn’t have elite route-running or separation skills.

I also think that he likely came into free agency with a number that nobody wanted to pay him and so everyone moved on and found other answers, leaving him with limited options similarly to what happened with Dalton Risner in 2023.

If Rob Brzezinski is truly in the mix for the full-time GM job, he’s leaving a great impression. At the owner’s meetings he explained that the team was keeping their “powder dry” by not swinging big in free agency and sacrificing future cap health to do so. This signing on Day 1 of free agency would have been lauded but doing it now doesn’t cost the Vikings anything in the compensatory formula and allowed them to get a receiver just as good as other free agents at the position yet at a cheaper price.

Overall, Brzezinski headed up an offseason that has seen the Vikings get better in the short term on offense with improved O-line depth and a proven WR3 and keep veteran players like TJ Hockenson and Aaron Jones without having to restructure many contracts and provided them with maximum flexibility toward the future.

Impressive work.

Finding a way to add O-line depth and Jennings also helps the Vikings get a full read on Kyler Murray. They need to have a complete evaluation on him at the end of 2026. When the year comes to a close, they shouldn’t still asking questions about how good he really is. There shouldn’t be any excuses. It will give them a look at how good he can be with top notch receivers and coaching and a good overall O-line. By the time they need to make a decision, they should have all the info they need.

OK let’s get into your questions…

jcphitman… Who do you like out of the reported GM candidates they have announced for seeking permission to interview and why? All Assistant GM’s: Chargers - Chad Alexander, 49’ers - RJ Gillen, Bills - Terrance Gray, Rams - John McKay, Seahawks - Nolan Teasley and Titans - Dave Ziegler

I can’t say that I know enough about any of these candidates to decide that I like one over the other but there’s a few things that stand out:

— All of them basically have the same background. They are up-and-coming executives who have moved their way up the ladder with one organization. They all come from the scouting side of things. None are on the “business” side or have anything other than a traditional football GM backstory.

— Only one has GM experience (Ziegler) and it wasn’t for very long (2022-2023). That strongly suggests that they want someone to collaborate rather than coming in and running the show.

I agree with the framing from ESPN’s Kevin Seifert. He said: “My big takeaway is that the Vikings are not looking to hire some general manager who would come in with a lot of juice and be the alpha leader of entire organization and have the authority to overhaul the whole front office if he wanted to. They are looking for someone to fit in.”

— All of these organizations except the Titans (Ziegler’s background is with the Patriots, so he counts here too) are the best of the best when it comes to team building. The guys with Ravens and Rams experience stand out the most but Seattle is plenty deserving for their phenomenal drafting and good free agency decisions, including letting Geno Smith go. There’s nobody on this list that even slightly raises an eyebrow. All of them make sense with their resumes.

Brad L…What can/should they learn from the other local teams (Wild, Wolves, etc) in their search for a GM?

This is going to sound a little funny but… you need a LOT of good players to win a championship. In the NHL, McDavid’s franchise is kinda dopey so he isn’t running over the rest of the league and LeBron is old now so there isn’t one NBA player who’s winning all the championships. The door is open for any team to build the strongest roster and win. I feel like that’s also true for the NFC. There’s no Manning or Mahomes in the NFC and Brady is retired so it’s basically a battle of the roster builds in all these sports.

Obviously you need an Anthony Edwards or Jokic to make the finals just like you need a really good quarterback to reach the Super Bowl but the run of recent teams in the NFC to make the Super Bowl have basically all been the deepest rosters. Seattle, Philly, San Francisco, 2022 Philly, Rams… they are all top-to-bottom strong, not just driven by a couple of players.

That’s really hard to do in football but I think it puts even more emphasis on the importance of gathering assets and building on multi-year timelines. Kwesi got this right by tearing down the 2023 team and beginning to spend in free agency on good players in 2024. They just lost the thread and started spending in 2025 as if JJ McCarthy was already a good quarterback and… you know the rest.

The other thing you could argue is that the Wolves and Wild both sensed their moment and made big, game-changing trades to get Rudy and Hughes. It’s tougher to get those opportunities in the NFL but you have to have the cap space and draft picks to be able to make that one huge trade when the chance comes along.

IceColdNorth… For those of us who hadn’t watched many Dolphins games, what might we expect to see from Frank Smith’s offensive scheme with the skill players the Vikings have?

Frank’s influence is presumably (and based on what KOC said at the owner’s meetings) going to be largely in the run game. I spent a few hours watching 2025 Dolphins run game tape because I have no other hobbies and two things really stood out to me:

1) Eye candy. They had a lot of pre-snap movement that was really helpful in creating havoc for the defense. Guys motioning late right before the snap, players lining up all over and then shifting into a totally different look and then after the snap they would use a lot of blockers going in different directions to throw off linebackers.

2) Spreading the defense out from condensed formations. I’m not sure if that makes sense but they would use a lot of tight formations with wide receivers inside the hashes or multiple tight ends inline and then they would run wide and create these huge cutback lanes for De’Von Achane. I think it’s made for all the Vikings RBs’ style, even if they aren’t as fast as Achane and guys like Josh Oliver and Max Bredeson to thrive. I am curious how it fits the offensive line because they have some amazing athletes like Darrisaw (when healthy), Brian O’Neill and Donovan Jackson but Brandel and Fries aren’t exactly in their category.

Matt D…Assuming Smith is retiring, who is the best fit if they want to bring in a veteran safety? I’m still not sold on moving Metellus to a more traditional safety role or moving forward with two unproven guys back there.

The guy who makes the most sense to me is Donovan Wilson from Dallas. There were so many free agency safeties this year that he went a bit forgotten it seems but he’s been a good player in the past. He’s been an effective blitzer and was good for an INT or two every year. Former Ram Taylor Rapp might also be in consideration. He’s a violent player, good tackler.

I tend to agree with you that Metellus’s best role is a hybrid linebacker but I’m not sure how that ends up being possible without Harry coming back. While I’ve liked what I’ve seen from Jay Ward, that spot requires a lot of mental capacity. Metellus can handle that, someone like Ward or Theo Jackson do not have the experience to hold it down.

So maybe what Metellus may lack in some of the skill that Harry has, he can do a lot of the same stuff in terms of communication and adjustments at the line of scrimmage that will have similar effects. I don’t think we can totally judge what happened last year with him filling that spot because he didn’t have the entire offseason to prepare like he does this year.

Joe J… With Hockenson’s contract set to expire after this year, and not drafting a TE this year, do you think they are counting on either Yurosek or Bartholomew taking a big step forward in development this year so that they can take over as primary pass catching TE’s in 2027? If not, do they then go the FA route?

Yurosek is more of a TE2/3 type in terms of skill set. He can definitely catch the ball when called upon but he doesn’t really meet the specs of speed/agility to be a TE1 who’s getting 75+ targets a year. Bartholomew is much more along those lines. He has quickness and an ability to go up and get the ball.

The door is pretty much open for anything at that position. I could see Hockenson and Kyler Murray really clicking and the team trying to get Hock to stay for a couple more years or I could see them drafting a starting TE next year or looking to free agency or having one of their young guys step up during camp/preseason and then contributing during the year and making a case for themselves.

It’s totally uncertain at this point.

Tom… I’d like to use the dead period of the offseason to learn more about the Xs and Os of football. What YouTube channels would you recommend?

It depends on what level of X’s and O’s you are looking for. If you’re talking super deep, then I’d suggest some writers… Cody Alexander of Match Quarters is the best in the business at writing about defense and Bobby Peters is the best on the offensive side. His newsletter is Alert The Post and he’s got a bunch of books.

If you’re talking a little less intense, QB School with JT O’Sullivan is a tremendous resource. Everything is through the QB’s eyes but you learn a lot about coverages, route combinations and all the details that go into it.

I’m sure there are a lot more out there that are run by coaches and former players that you can find. Let me know if you run into some good ones.

Paul C… My own outside the organization opinion is that they should hire a GM with a football background. This would mesh well with Robs administration knowledge. You can’t convince me that some scouts and internal staff (Griggs) was giving Kwesi bad info for draft and free agents. Need to change some personnel to get desired results. Like the idea of the Buffalo Asst GM with Viking background and rooted in scouting.
Your thoughts?

I can understand preferring a background in scouting. A lot of different successful GMs have a lot of different backgrounds. Ozzie Newsome did a great job for the Ravens for a long time as a former player. John Lynch and Dan Morgan are a couple current players who are doing well as GMs. You have someone like Howie Roseman in Philly, whose background was on the salary cap side.

Most of the candidates they are looking at seem to have roots in scouting, which makes sense. But you have to keep in mind that being the GM isn’t really a scouting position. The Vikings ownership wants someone who is going to lead an entire front office and work with the coaches and come to conclusions as a group. Obviously knowing how to scout is important but I think the best skill is being able to process a bunch of information and boil it down to decisions.

The benefit of some of these candidates that come from very forward-thinking teams is that we assume they are capable of combining data, scouting, systems and all that stuff into the moves they make.

Here’s the thing though… we won’t really know how things are going to go until things start happening. With Kwesi, it seemed like they were bringing in someone who was going to push the Vikings to the forefront of the analytics revolution and that never came to fruition. So we’ll have to wait and see how things play out.

Whoever it is, give them time before we start deciding if it was a good hire or not.

Dermo Man… Thanks for all the content. There’s been a lot of focus on offense and defense. How about a deep dive on the Pod as to how the roster changes could impact Special Teams this year, e.g, punter, holder, etc. and particularly gunner if Tai Felton gets more offensive snaps.

The thing about trying to do a deep dive on special teams is that special teams are very much decided in training camp and preseason. Think about Myles Price. He was one of the last guys on the entire roster when he got to Minnesota and then he ends up playing a significant role on the team. Who had Bo Richter or Chaz Chambliss getting out there when we started camp?

To your point, they will have to find someone else to be the gunner if they don’t sign another wide receiver. At this point, you’d probably say… whoever wants it most, go get it.

Walt K… With Tom Pelissero’s report that Brez is indeed interested in the GM role, how does that affect the organization’s search? If he doesn’t get it would he just seemingly go back to his old role, or would the Wilfs promote him to a position that they said they wouldn’t, i.e. President of Football Ops or something similar? To me he seems too invaluable to the organization and the Wilfs themselves that they wouldn’t keep him in a high role that answers only to them.

I would assume that he would go back to his old role and be a right-hand man to the next GM.

At the owner’s meetings, I asked Mark Wilf if they were interested in having a president of football operations that was above the GM like many teams do and he said no. They want to have the same structure as they’ve always had.

I can’t speak for Rob but it would be a pretty big surprise if he decided to leave because he didn’t get the GM job. I’m sure that he understood when he was taking the acting GM role that there was a very strong possibility that they would go with someone else.

Jake J…Do you think the Vikings have a good idea of what Tai Felton’s role will be this year based on what they saw from him last year? Or do they just need to wait and see how he looks in camp this year? I’m sure it’s complicated with a lot of unknowns like how much did he improve on his own in the offseason and who else will they sign at WR.

I think they have a much better idea of what Tai Felton can do than we do. We saw him in training camp and then as a gunner. They saw him (as Mike Zimmer once told us) in practice every day. It would have been a darn good proving ground for him last year with Jefferson, Addison and Nailor there to work behind the scenes on understanding all the roles rather than jumping right into the mix.

We will only really know how much he’s improved when he gets to training camp. We started to see signs of KJ Osborn and Jalen Nailor’s breakouts in OTAs and minicamp so maybe we’ll get some vibes there as well.

If they decide to go with a free agent who is more proven, I don’t think that has to mean it’s over for Tai. Being WR4 this year and playing a depth role and special teams would be good for him. You have to keep in mind that he didn’t have a ton of college experience before he was drafted and they like his work ethic and character. I’ve heard the same from teammates.

Michael H…Assuming similar contract values, who is a better fit for this year’s team, Jalen Nailor or Jauan Jennings?

They are different guys. Nailor is more of a pure deep threat who was scary enough with his speed to make teams have to respect him. That opened up things for Jefferson and Addison. Jennings is more of a mack truck. He’s pretty big, strong, goes over the middle, breaks tackles. Jennings is a better fit for Kyler Murray. Nailor was the perfect fit for Sam Darnold.

I do think we’re going to see Nailor prove that he’s more of a complete player but the major difference between them is that Jennings has “played up” a lot in his career. When guys have been hurt, he’s been WR1 or WR2 and there hasn’t been an enormous drop off. The Vikings do need that.

Jason…As a University of Utah Alum, I am wondering where Zemaiah Vaughn will fit in this season. Does he have a shot at being in the 53 this season?

I’m curious about that as well. He was kind of a camp darling and then he spent pretty much the whole year on the practice squad. The signing of James Pierre does give the Vikings a little depth but it definitely doesn’t prevent anybody from having a chance to crack the lineup. Vaughn has size and seems to have a good sense for making plays on the football. If he takes another step forward, he can definitely earn a depth spot. He has to prove he can play special teams though.

Arin J… Matt I saw Kenny Moore from Indy got released will the Vikings have interest in CBs they seem light on experience. If not Moore who should they target and who on the roster/draft pick could make a leap?

Chris C… Same as a above. Interested in your thoughts on Kenny Moore fit with the vikings?

I’m in favor of this team doing as much as they can with cheap(ish) free agent signings in the spring/summer that are low risk. Moore is still a reasonably good slot player and without a big move at safety or Harry coming back, they are probably going to need someone to play slot so they can have Metellus and either Ward/Jackson/Thomas alongside him.

The fact that they haven’t had a nickel defender basically since Flores got here is almost a little weird. Teams use nickel defenses at such a high rate these days that those guys have generally increased in value. So I’m guessing that Moore will have a good amount of offers.

Florian K…In this dead time I’m curious on your observations and thoughts on “locker room culture”. Putting 53 type AAA guys in a locker room must also take consideration in personality fit, doesn’t it? Or is that overblown? I’m sure like any group of people there are guys who are characters and then also guys who are kinda jerks in a locker room. Does it matter in wins/losses if a player is a complete turd personally but is a playmaker?

Football character is its own kinda thing. It’s not so much about being friendly as it is being professional and it splits into lots of different sub categories.

The CJ Ham, Tavierre Thomas and Nick Mullens guys make it because they have no ego. They are willing to take on any role and do anything it takes to keep it. They are smart, tough, hard-working… you’d much rather have a C- talent guy with A+ work ethic and humility than a C+ talent guy who has none of those things.

If you have guys who are B+ talents like Aaron Jones or Brian O’Neill, they can produce at an A level if they have all the same attributes as CJ Ham and Tavierre Thomas. The Vikings believe really strongly in that. They have a ton of those types of guys like Byron Murphy, Blake Cashman, Andrew Van Ginkel etc. They drafted Donovan Jackson with that in mind, it seems. There’s clearly a belief in drafting Caleb Banks that it’s going to be the same story.

There are simply different rules for the top talents. There’s only so many people in the world who can catch passes like Andre Rison or intercept passes like Deion Sanders or sack quarterbacks like Charles Haley, so there’s going to be much more willingness to work around problems. The Steelers sure won a lot of games with Big Ben under center, right?

There’s a line when it comes to that stuff but Antonio Brown kept getting jobs so that tells you everything you need to know.

The Vikings totally lucked into the fact that their best player has also grown into a really good leader.

Speedi… Was the vikings draft pretty much driven by the coaching staff who were more worried about getting the players that wanted rather than where they took them? If so it will be interesting to see if it produced better results in 3 years. Alignment of player to a coach’s scheme is what the big board can’t really measure.

They didn’t really reach vs. the big board on anybody except Caleb Banks and Jakobe Thomas so it wasn’t like they went totally rogue as the Jaguars and 49ers did. When the biggest pick goes against the board, then it’s going to impact how it’s talked about. However, I did look up on Grinding The Mocks where Banks was on the big board before he got hurt at the Combine and it was 23rd. The board can’t factor for injury info and character info that only teams have.

I think the data people would argue that over emphasizing fit is how you end up with reaches that fail. In this case, the Vikings are pretty unique in the fit required and they should be at the forefront running the draft without a full-time GM in place.

Jeffrey S… I remember your advice of never getting too invested in how (especially new) players look during rookie camp and OTAs (no contact makes a difference). What can actually be learned about the players during this time? In addition, the obvious assumption is Murray will be the starter over JJ but is there anything we can glean from the practices to see if JJ is improving ?

Almost nothing on our end. What we do is usually watch for anyone who is obviously making plays. If a receiver is catching balls all over or a cornerback is picking off passes and breaking up throws, then we’ll notice. But the team gets a ton of information about how well they process the information that they’re teaching them behind the scenes. Are they getting the installs? Are they doing the techniques they are being taught? Those are little hints but even they don’t really know until camp.

I’d love to tell you that we can take something away from JJ McCarthy’s spring performance but I’m still going to go with… not really. It would be nice if he’s throwing with consistent accuracy and has the timing with the plays. No pads, no pass rush, meh. When he was a rookie and then kinda a rookie again, it’s all we had. Of course we’re going to try our best to have takeaways. Now that he’s been in the league and played real games, it’s camp that’s going to matter toward seeing growth.

Ben…I see a lot of people saying the Vikings have a ownership problem, but shouldn’t the conversation be more about this ownership has blind spots that have clearly not been addressed

The most glaring things that everyone is going to point out when it comes to the Wilfs are that they’ve twice had a GM situations with things going on within the building that they weren’t aware of, it appears. And the commitment to always trying to win every year and not knowing when to wave the white flag.

Personally, I think if JJ McCarthy had just been more experienced and more accurate, we wouldn’t be talking about any of that. Teams win while doing “competitive rebuild” type strategies. They do need to be better connected and not find out weeks after the season that the front office and coaching staff don’t believe in their leader, no question.

But man, the Wilfs are as good as it gets for owners around the NFL. They just have never failed enough or fallen backward into a top QB.

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