5 biggest needs for the Vikings in the 2024 offseason

With the Minnesota Vikings having a lot of work to do to improve the roster in the 2024 offseason, what are the five areas that need the most attention?

The Minnesota Vikings 2023 season has come to an end. It has been a wild, injury-plagued ride, yet through all the trials and tribulations, the Vikings were still in the hunt for a playoff spot in the final week of the regular season.

Following their loss to the Detroit Lions on Sunday, the Vikings will need to start looking to the future and figure out how to make this team better and more consistent than it was in 2023.

To do that, Minnesota will need to use free agency and the 2024 NFL Draft to fill the many holes that currently plague this roster.

Some positions are in worse shape than others. Some have quality starters but lack depth, while others are thin from top to bottom.

Let's take a look at the five biggest needs the Vikings must fill this offseason if they are going to get back to being competitors in what'll be a very difficult NFC North in 2024.

Vikings Need No. 1

Quarterback

There's been a lot of speculation about what Minnesota will do at the quarterback position in 2024.

The Vikings lost Kirk Cousins during the middle of the 2023 season, and they learned the hard way how difficult life can be without him leading the offense.

But Minnesota also realizes that Cousins is approaching the end of his NFL career and he won't be able to play forever.

So the question becomes, do the Vikings bring Kirk Cousins back this year? Do they draft a first-round rookie quarterback to be the future? Or do they do both?

These are all interesting options and real possibilities for Minnesota in 2024.

The Vikings seem to want Cousins back, and wide receiver Justin Jefferson has been a huge advocate for his return.

The veteran quarterback was playing at a record-setting pace before he tore his Achilles in Week 8. Minnesota's offense was also starting to come together after a shaky start.

Pairing a healthy Cousins with a Brian Flores defense that could also be revamped would likely make the Vikings an instant contender in 2024.

However, money becomes an issue, especially if other teams come swooping in during free agency and try to lure Cousins away with a hefty contract that Minnesota isn't willing to match.

This year's NFL Draft pool is also loaded with talent at quarterback, and the Vikings could move up for one of the top young signal-callers like Drake Maye, Caleb Williams, Michael Penix Jr., or Jayden Daniels.

Minnesota could choose to just begin a new era and start one of these young guys from the get-go, or have them sit for a season or two and learn behind Cousins.

Whatever the Vikings end up doing, figuring out a plan at quarterback is the top need, and it isn't close.