Vikings reportedly getting ready to part with Mike Zimmer in 2022

A recent report from CBS Sports indicates that the Minnesota Vikings are heading towards a departure with head coach Mike Zimmer at the end of the season.

Following his team’s underwhelming loss to the Green Bay Packers on Sunday night, the attitude and tone of Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer during his post-game press conference seemed to indicate that he knew the result of the contest had determined his future with the franchise.

Most have assumed that the Vikings missing out on the playoffs for the third time in the last four seasons would spell the end of Zimmer’s time with the team. So it shouldn’t be surprising to find out that Minnesota is reportedly getting ready for life without their current head coach in 2022.

According to CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora, the Vikings are one of three teams from around the NFL that are currently “preparing to conduct a [head coaching] search at the end of the season.” La Canford also added that members of Minnesota’s coaching staff “are bracing as if they might be elsewhere next season.”

Does Mike Zimmer deserve one more chance from the Minnesota Vikings?

Past reports indicated that the Vikings’ decision-makers were still unsure about what to do with Zimmer in 2022. But Sunday night’s 27-point loss to the rival Packers, despite the absence of Kirk Cousins, should be all Minnesota’s ownership needs to see in order to figure out what to do with their head coach before next season.

Zimmer is still under contract with the Vikings for another two years, and since head coaching salaries are fully guaranteed, the team will still be paying him until 2024 no matter what they choose to do during the next few weeks.

Zimmer’s tenure with Minnesota got off to a great start, as the team won two NFC North titles, built a No. 1 defense, and made it all the way to the NFC Championship during his first four seasons with the team.

Since then, however, the Vikings have struggled to remain among the top contenders in the NFC, and they’ve missed the playoffs in three of the last four years.

Add this to the fact that the performance of Zimmer’s defense has drastically declined during each of the last two seasons, and it’s not hard to make a case for why Minnesota and their 65-year-old head coach should go their separate ways after the team’s final regular-season game against the Chicago Bears next Sunday.