What if the Vikings decide to keep Mike Zimmer for the 2022 season?

Signs seem to be pointing to the Minnesota Vikings parting ways with head coach Mike Zimmer after the 2021 season. But what if they don’t?

If someone were to do a quick Google search of Mike Zimmer today, they would easily find several news articles about the expectation that the Minnesota Vikings will be letting go of their current head coach following the team’s final game of the 2021 season on Sunday.

Despite how certain some might feel about Zimmer’s expected exit, it’s still something that is far from being a guarantee.

Minnesota’s owners are known to be fond of how other NFL organizations like the Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Giants stress the importance of continuity. With the Vikings not exactly hitting rock bottom in 2021, the team keeping Zimmer around for at least one more season might actually have a higher chance of happening than some might realize.

No matter what they do with Mike Zimmer, the Minnesota Vikings need to at least have a plan for the future

Minnesota’s owners are reportedly meeting sometime this week to discuss the future of the franchise according to The Athletic’s Chad Graff. If the decision coming out of this meeting is to keep Zimmer as the head coach of the Vikings for at least one more year, then that’s fine.

However, Minnesota needs to make sure that some major changes are still made during the next few months.

Look at the Denver Broncos for example. The Broncos decided to remove John Elway as their general manager last year and they gave him a different role within the organization. Denver then hired George Paton to be their new general manager and the team kept Vic Fangio as their head coach.

This allowed Paton to come in with a new perspective and evaluate whether the Broncos should stick with Fangio as their head coach after the 2021 season.

It’s not crazy to think that a similar scenario could happen in Minnesota as there have already been some rumors swirling about the team removing Rick Spielman as their general manager and moving him to a new role, just as Denver did with Elway.

Keeping Zimmer for the 2022 season comes with a stipulation though. If the Vikings give their current head coach one more shot, they have to figure out a way to move on from quarterback Kirk Cousins this offseason.

For whatever reason, the combination of Zimmer and Cousins just has not worked in their four seasons together.

Whether Minnesota keeps Zimmer or Cousins, the other has to go. They haven’t produced enough success together and there’s no reason to believe that would change if both returned to the Vikings for the 2022 season.