6 most important offseason priorities for the Vikings in 2020

Fix the secondary

What has typically been a strength of the Vikings during Mike Zimmer’s tenure, Minnesota’s pass defense was actually one of the weaker aspects of the team in 2019.

This season, the Vikings ended with the 15th-best passing defense in the NFL, which the team’s poorest finish since Zimmer became the head coach in 2014. Minnesota’s pass defense also ended 2019 with the league’s sixth-worst allowed completion percentage and the second-worst allowed passing first down percentage.

Unsurprisingly, the Vikings decided to not bring back defensive backs coach Jerry Gray after this season. Gray had been in charge of Minnesota’s secondary during Zimmer’s entire tenure.

A new coach isn’t going to be the only change Minnesota will be making with their defensive backfield this year though. Expect there to be a number of new faces in the Vikings’ secondary for 2020 and expect the team to part ways with a few guys that have been key contributors for the defense during the last few seasons.

Thanks to a large salary cap hit in 2020 and his poor play during the last two years, Xavier Rhodes is someone who most anticipate won’t be a part of Minnesota’s roster next season. Jayron Kearse is a free agent this year and he’s already indicated that the team doesn’t want to bring him back.

Trae Waynes and Mackensie Alexander are also hitting free agency this offseason and it’s unclear if the Vikings want to re-sign either of them. Even if Minnesota does want to bring these guys back, they might not be able to afford them given their current lack of spending money.

Anthony Harris is a free agent this year as well, but he’s someone the Vikings should be trying to re-sign. Harris is coming off a great season in 2019 and keeping him around is something that would likely benefit Minnesota for the next few years.

Improving the defensive backfield is going to be a big project for the Vikings this offseason. Zimmer has shown he can fix the secondary in the past, so can he do it again?