The Minnesota Vikings are fighting a two-front battle to keep defensive coordinator Brian Flores.
The DC of one of the best defenses in the NFL, coming off smothering an explosive Detroit Lions offense on Christmas Day, is likely going to be one of the top head-coaching candidates during this offseason cycle. The other aspect: Flores’ contract expires at the end of the year, making him a free agent, able to leave for another coordinator job.
Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell was asked about Flores’ situation on Monday, reiterating that the DC is a “huge part” of the makeup of the team.
"I absolutely want Brian Flores to be the defensive coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings as long as we can have him," KOC said, via the team’s official website. "I would say this, I do know that he's demonstrated a lot of things that, having gone through the process of the head coach hiring process before, myself, I imagine he's going to be a pretty popular guy there as well -- and rightly so, he's earned everything. [But] that doesn't take away from the route we want to go to make sure he's our defense coordinator for the foreseeable future."
Minnesota hired Flores in 2023, a year after the former Miami Dolphins coach filed a lawsuit against the league, Dolphins, Broncos and Giants for discriminatory hiring practices for coaches and general managers.
The Vikings can’t do much if Flores is offered a head coaching job. The 44-year-old interviewed for three coaching jobs last offseason but didn’t receive an offer.
The interesting aspect of the situation is whether Minnesota could lose him to another DC job, given that he isn’t under contract. O’Connell insisted that he doesn’t see that happening.
"Based upon my dialogue with him and, obviously, the enthusiasm and the want-to for us to get something done, I don’t [anticipate that],” O’Connell said, acknowledging he understood why the question was asked with the Vikings' season ending this Sunday.
"I know he enjoys being here. I know he and I, just from our recent dialogue, that he feels very similar about me that I do with him," O'Connell added. "Hopefully I can come to this podium and say, 'He's going to be here for as long as we can keep him here before another team makes him their head coach.'"
Until that press conference happens with a new contract inked, there will be rumors about another team potentially poaching him from Minnesota -- the chatter about Jerry Jones’ Cowboys attempting to replace DC Matt Eberflus with Flores has already begun.
Eventually, money talks. If Flores doesn’t get a head coaching job, he has the leverage to become the top-paid DC in the NFL, in Minnesota or elsewhere.