Vikings offseason might have created a hotter seat for Mike Zimmer
By Adam Patrick
Heading into the 2021 season, the Minnesota Vikings have the pieces to contend for a championship. But if they don’t meet expectations, people could be shown the door.
Last season, things really couldn’t have gone much more poorly for the Minnesota Vikings. And despite everything the Vikings dealt with in 2020, they still managed to finish the season with seven wins.
This year, Minnesota has spent the last few months reloading their defensive roster and improving their offensive line with young prospects.
With all of the moves the Vikings have made, they seem to be doing what they can to make sure they’re in the hunt for a championship next season. Minnesota head coach Mike Zimmer was already heading into a pivotal year, but all of the recent roster additions might have made the team’s expectations for 2021 even harder to achieve.
No more excuses for Mike Zimmer and the Minnesota Vikings in 2021
Before the Vikings remodeled their defense this offseason, the expectations for 2021 were probably just for the team to earn a spot back in the playoffs and possibly win a postseason game or two.
But now that Minnesota’s starting defense for next season will feature Patrick Peterson, Harrison Smith, Danielle Hunter, Dalvin Tomlinson, Eric Kendricks, Michael Pierce, Xavier Woods, Anthony Barr, and possibly Bashaud Breeland, the excuses for not succeeding are going to be hard to come by.
Sure, injuries are going to happen, as they do every year. But the good teams around the NFL are able to overcome injuries each season and the Vikings will be expected to do the same in 2021.
Getting to the Super Bowl will be difficult without Minnesota finishing as the No. 1 seed in the NFC next season. But to believe that the Vikings are capable of at least making it to the NFC Championship if the majority of their roster can remain healthy doesn’t seem like a crazy thought to have.
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With there being the possibility of Barr, Peterson, Woods, Breeland, and Smith all leaving in free agency in 2022, Minnesota is set up to make a push toward the Super Bowl this year. And if the Vikings don’t win a playoff game or miss out on the postseason altogether next season, the team’s ownership might decide to make some drastic changes in 2022.