Looking ahead to the schedule and giving a way too early prediction, I can see the games going down like this …

Eagles (home): Loss

Ravens (home): Loss

Lions (home and away): Win and Loss

Packers (home and away): Win and Loss

Commanders (home): Win

Bengals (home): Win

Chargers (away): Win

Bears (home and away): Win and Loss

Steelers (away): Win

Falcons (home): Win

Seahawks (away): Loss

Cowboys (away): Loss

Browns (away): Win

Giants (away): Win

10-7 record.

What do you think the record will be?

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Minnesota Vikings News and Links

Vikings Get Bad News Ahead of 2025 NFL Schedule Announcement

The car is fully tuned for J.J. McCarthy to take it for his first joyride and see how far he can go.

Five teams the Vikings face this season ranked in the top 10p-10 in total pressures last season. The Steelers, Eagles, Browns and Cowboys finished last season with the top-four pass-rushing grades by Pro Football Focus (PFF), respectively.

The onus will be on the Vikings’ supporting cast to keep McCarthy clean as he develops and catches up to the speed of the NFL.

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Vikings projected to have one of NFL’s five hardest schedules in 2025

Here’s a look at Minnesota’s opponents, sorted by Vegas win total. (The Vikings’ total is 8.5). They’re playing against the NFC East, the AFC North, and second-place teams from the NFC South, NFC West, and AFC West.

Eagles (home): 11.5

Ravens (home): 11.5

Lions (home and away): 10.5

Packers (home and away): 9.5

Commanders (home): 9.5

Bengals (home): 9.5

Chargers (away): 9.5

Bears (home and away): 8.5

Steelers (away): 8.5

Falcons (home): 7.5

Seahawks (away): 7.5

Cowboys (away): 7.5

Browns (away): 5.5

Giants (away): 5.5

One interesting aspect of the Vikings’ schedule is that outside of the annual divisional games, their home slate looks a lot tougher than their road slate. The glass-half-full view of that quirk is that playing tougher opponents like the Eagles and Ravens at home gives Kevin O’Connell’s team a better chance to pull off the upset, and trips to play teams like the Browns and Giants present opportunities for road wins. The glass-half-empty view is that they may not have any slam-dunk home games against bad teams (not that there are ever any guaranteed wins in the NFL).

One reason not to be too concerned about this strength of schedule ranking? The exact same thing was true heading into last season. This time last year, the Vikings also had the fifth-toughest SOS in the league, using Vegas win totals. Then a bunch of teams on their schedule — the 49ers, Jets, Falcons, Jaguars, Titans, Bears, and Giants — underperformed their preseason totals. Other than the Falcons (-1.5), each of those teams finished at least 3.5 wins under their projection. The Vikings went 8-0 against that group and recorded 14 total wins, a whopping (and historic) 7.5 more than their preseason total.

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Report: Vikings to play Steelers in Ireland in Week 4 of NFL schedule

According to a Pittsburgh sports radio host, the Steelers will host the Vikings in the NFL’s first-ever game in Ireland on September 28.

The Steelers are already set as the home team for this year’s game at Croke Park in Dublin. There’s previously been buzz that the Vikings and Packers are among the possible opponents they could face. Recently, Andrew Fillipponi of 93.7 The Fan came out with a sourced report that says it’ll be Minnesota against Pittsburgh, and the game will take place in Week 4 of the 2025 NFL season.

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How Serious a Threat Are Vikings to Lions?

The Vikings won’t be able to sneak up on teams and surprise anybody this upcoming season, after their 14-3 campaign a year ago. And now they’ll also have to fend off the up-and-coming Bears, just like the rest of the division.

I expect Minnesota to be competitive once again in 2025. However, I don’t expect O’Connell’s team to repeat as runners-up in the NFC North.

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NFC North roundtable: Most intriguing draft picks, good and bad for each team

Minnesota Vikings

Most intriguing player: Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins, DL, Georgia. This pick is quite exciting because this Vikings front office has had a knack for finding undersized talent in the late rounds or even as undrafted signees. Ivan Pace Jr. was one of the best linebackers in the country at Cincinnati before going undrafted, and he was an instant impact starter in the middle of Minnesota’s defense. Ingram-Dawkins fits the undersized bill as a bit of a tweener playing on the defensive line. At 6-foot-5, 280 pounds, he doesn’t fit the bill of a modern monster at defensive tackle, but the Vikings will be able to develop him into a versatile player who can rush from the edge and use his elite athletic traits to put pressure on quarterbacks from the interior. There’s no rush to play him since Javon Hargrave, Jonathan Allen and Harrison Phillips will command the snaps in 2025.

The good and the bad: Getting Maryland wide receiver Tai Felton in the third round could be a steal. He’s lightning-quick with explosive return traits. If Jalen Nailor doesn’t make another jump in 2025, Felton could have the inside track to WR3. That could be a WR2 role right away since Jordan Addison could be facing a three-game suspension to start the season.

We’re also waiting way too long to address the first-round pick, Donovan Jackson. He’s an instant starter at left guard and should secure the final weak spot on Minnesota’s offensive line. If he’s legit, the Vikings will offer excellent pass protection for J.J. McCarthy while also having potential to dominate on the ground with Aaron Jones and Jordan Mason toting the rock.

The only bad part of the draft was the limited number of picks. Minnesota entered the draft with four picks and left it with five. The risk is that none of their picks are guaranteed to succeed, and that’s dangerous for general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, who is on a lame-duck contract and completely whiffed on his first draft three years ago.

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T.J. Hockenson compares J.J. McCarthy’s ‘sick’ arm talent to Matthew Stafford

On Monday, tight end T.J. Hockenson raved about McCarthy during an interview on the Green Light Podcast with Chris Long. Specifically, Hockenson nodded to McCarthy’s mind and “insane” arm talent.

“J.J.’s my dog. That’s my guy. Great dude, great person. I can’t say enough good things about him. He wants to be great in this league and you can tell that by his preparation,” Hockenson said. “I think he’s going to be incredible and I can’t wait for that to translate to Sunday.”

Hockenson got an up close and personal look at McCarthy as both were in the training room recovering from knee injuries for the first half of the 2024 season. Hockenson was rehabbing a torn ACL that he suffered on Dec. 24, 2023 in a game against the Lions, while McCarthy was in the early stages of recovering from a torn meniscus that wiped out his rookie season after one exhibition game.

“I can’t say enough good things about that guy. You’re just going to have to see it when it comes around,” Hockenson said.

When asked what McCarthy brings to the table as a separating attribute, Hockenson pointed to the 22-year-old’s mind and arm talent.

“It really is his mind. He has a calming effect, but also an intentional effect when he’s trying to communicate with you about what he wants on routes, what we want on routes. He’s learning about us as an offense, us as wide receivers. He wants to know the game of football. That’s huge as a young guy. You gotta be able to learn the game. It’s a little different stepping from college to the NFL. These guys are a little smarter up here. They’ll use their leverages, they’ll take chances when they need to. To be able to learn that and learn the circumstances behind that and what they’re doing is huge. He’s always asking questions,” Hockenson explained.

“His arm talent is there. He’s got a sick arm. I told him this the other day, I said I remember catching passes from [Matthew Stafford] and it’s one of those balls and it just zips on you. It looks like it’s not coming, but it’s coming — and J.J.’s got the juice behind it where it kind of has that effect. It doesn’t look like it’s coming, it’s a tight spiral, but it’s coming. It’s humming in the air. He’s got an insane talent, arm talent, and really the personality he has goes really well and I think he’s going to have a long career.”

Notably, McCarthy fired a football 61 mph at the NFL combine before the 2024 draft. The record at the combine is 62 mph by Josh Allen and Joe Milton, so there’s hard data to support the zip Hockenson is talking about.

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Jim Harbaugh on ‘beloved son’ J.J. McCarthy: ‘Vikings fans are going to be really happy with J.J.’

“A beloved son, J.J,” Harbaugh said. “That’s one, yeah, it’ll be nostalgic now, but I know once we gotta … I’m just envisioning playing. He’s a tremendous competitor. It’s great. You get a little nostalgic about it, and just so happy for each and every one of the guys. And now you’re talking about long and trusting friendships.”

Harbaugh believes Minnesota fans should be excited about McCarthy as their quarterback.

“Vikings fans are going to be really happy, as well, with J.J. McCarthy,” Harbaugh stated.

“People get worried, [but] that’s the nature of the business. The predictions of what’s going to happen is for the palm readers. But for J.J. McCarthy, [former Michigan tight end and No. 10 overall pick to the Chicago Bears] Colston Loveland, all of us, this is about each day — attacking each day, see if we can’t make today better than yesterday, see if we can’t make tomorrow better than today and have at it.

“And then the games will come, and that’s the magic. Real time, real things happening, crowd right there. That’s the kinda stuff that we live for.”

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Anonymous NFL exec makes wild claim about J.J. McCarthy, Sam Howell

Sam Howell, the former Commanders starter and Seahawks backup Minnesota acquired in a trade during last weekend’s draft, is QB2. Brett Rypien and Max Brosmer will compete for the QB3 job.

However, one anonymous NFL executive doesn’t exactly see it that way. In a recent story done by Mike Sando at The Athletic (subscription required), the exec — who “wasn’t high on McCarthy” coming out of Michigan — had this wild take on the Vikings’ QB room in 2025:

“You know what is going to happen? J.J. is going to get banged up, and Howell is going to walk in there and become the next Sam Darnold.”

“Stop,” said another executive in Sando’s story. “There’s no comparison. J.J. will be really good, and the coach (Kevin O’Connell) will make sure he is good.”

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Vikings Trade Pitch Flips Day-2 Pick for $72 Million CB, 3-Time All-Pro

The team’s current roster configuration potentially argues for exploring a trade with the Miami Dolphins for star cornerback Jalen Ramsey. Ramsey and the Dolphins mutually and publicly agreed this offseason that parting ways is the best path forward.

Ramsey will play next season at 31. He is a seven-time Pro Bowler and a three-time First-Team All-Pro. However, given his $72 million contract, which runs through 2028 and carries a cap spike in 2026, plus the fact that he is on the wrong side of 30, means that the Dolphins shouldn’t expect a premium draft asset in return.

Minnesota could probably get in the game for Ramsey with a Day-2 pick. NFL.com projects that the Vikings will receive compensatory picks in the third and fifth rounds from the league in 2026 due to significant losses in free agency that include quarterbacks Sam Darnold and Daniel Jones.

In our trade proposal, the Vikings commit to sending their original third-round pick (wherever it falls will be ahead of the projected compensatory selection) to Miami in exchange for Ramsey and his significant contract.

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Vikings Predicted to Trade Breakout WR After Drafting His Potential Replacement

On May 2, Pro Football Network listed trade candidates for all 32 teams and named Jalen Nailor as an expendable asset the Vikings could trade.

“The former sixth-round pick is in the final season of his rookie contract and has played roughly 60% of his career snaps out wide, with Jefferson largely playing the slot in three-receiver sets,” PFN’s Sterling Xie wrote.

Last season, Nailor stepped in for an injured Addison in Week 2 and Week 3. He played over 85% of snaps in those two games, catching six passes for 85 yards and two touchdowns. Those games were an early glimmer of a breakout season for Nailor, who finished the season with 414 yards receiving and six touchdowns after struggling with injuries early in his career.

It’s unlikely Nailor would be traded before the season, but if Felton shows he’s capable of stepping up, Nailor could be dealt at the October trade deadline to recoup draft capital if Minnesota does not intend to re-sign him next March.

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