https://www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/id...aches-quit

Not surprising, but if you've ever been in the stands for youth sports, its unreal. Truly.

So...this is why JJ is going to be QB1 in 2026. Just take a look at the throws here, some with touch. Some with just straight up arm. Its really hard to find a QB that has the full arsenal, all the bullets. He's so athletic and mobile. Again, we all know I'm the resident fanboy for JJM. But with incremental improvement, he can make every throw a top-shelf NFL QB needs to make. Its there...and the fiery leadership. His teammates love him. No way KOC gives up on this for 2026...absolutely no way. JMO.

Hey a guy can dream in Jan, right?

=====================================

3. Tyler Linderbaum, C

2025 team: Baltimore Ravens | Age entering 2026 season: 26

What he brings: Linderbaum has a tone-setting mentality on the interior of the front, using elite foot speed and body control to match pass rushers or climb to the second level in the run game. His pass block win rate of 97.2% tied for second among 31 qualifying centers this season.

ESPN

It’s been reported the Vikings wanted Drake Maye in the '24 draft and couldn’t get there.



They helped revitalize Sam Darnold’s career in '25… then watched him cash in and head to Seattle.



The worst-case scenario has played out; Vikings fans end up watching two quarterbacks they were directly tied to over the last two years playing in the Super Bowl, while we’re once again on the outside looking in.



That’s the part that’s maddening.  Not that there's a plan, but that the pain doesn’t stop while the plan develops.  We get to watch the “what ifs” cash in elsewhere while we’re told to be patient again.



I still believe McCarthy can be the guy, and if he is, all of this angst fades fast.  But until then, this stretch is brutal as a fan.  Competitive enough to care, close enough to dream, and just far enough away to keep ripping the wound back open every January.



Maybe this is the bridge to getting it right.  It just doesn’t make the waiting any easier.

Hold these guys accountable!
=========================

Duke quarterback Darian Mensah is free to go.

The second-team All-ACC quarterback has reached a settlement with the university that will allow Mensah to transfer elsewhere, his representatives and Duke said in separate statements.

Mensah, who led the Blue Devils to their first ACC championship since 1962, declared his intention to enter the transfer portal on January 16 but Duke filed a lawsuit on January 20, arguing that Mensah had broken his contract with the school. The two sides were scheduled for a preliminary injunction hearing on January 29.

Instead the two sides have reached an undisclosed settlement.

“Through close collaboration and principled negotiation, we have successfully navigated an unprecedented path, one that has now reached a fair and agreeable solution,’’ Mensah’s agency, Young Money APAA Sports, said in its statement.

While Duke acknowledged the settlement, the school stood firm on its principles.

“We are committed to fulfilling all promises and obligations Duke makes to our student-athletes when we enter into contractual agreements with them, and we expect the same in return,’’ the athletic department said in a statement.

“Enforcing these agreements is a necessary element of ensuring predictability and structure for athletic programs. It is nonetheless a difficult choice to pursue legal action against a student and teammate; for this reason we sought to resolve the matter fairly and quickly.’’

Mensah transferred to Duke from Tulane, signing to a lucrative NIL deal that Duke said in its lawsuit extended through December of this year. Mensah threw for 3,973 yards and 34 touchdowns this season and led Duke to a victory in the Sun Bowl. Despite pledging his loyalty in an Instagram post as recently as December, Mensah reversed course and declared his decision to transfer on the last day the portal was open.

A reported front-running suitor: ACC rival Miami, which is shopping for a quarterback now that Carson Beck is out of eligibility.

Duke, however, pushed back and filed the suit in Durham County Superior Court, arguing that Mensah had violated his agreement by “disclosing its monetary terms, seeking to license his NIL in football to another institution, seeking his enrollment at another institutions … and/or acting in a way that has now harmed his image and the image of Duke University by ignoring the terms and conditions of his contract.’’

Athletes’ contracts have been a bone of contention since the House settlement. Coaches and administrators have argued that they should be binding but that idea runs square into the freedom of the transfer portal, which allow athletes to swap schools without penalty.

“Contracts mean something,’’ Duke wrote in its lawsuit, contending that Mensah should be required to at least go through the arbitration process as written in his deal.

A judge later denied Duke’s request to keep Mensah out of the portal but he still was not able to enroll at another school until the legal process was completed.

CNN

https://www.nfl.com/news/daniel-jeremiah...nkings-1-0

Dear Garrett Bradbury …

Sorry, man. Our bad.

Love, Vikings Nation.

Boy oh boy, if there’s one thing the NFL is really good at, it’s taking what appears to be a rock-solid narrative from one season and blowing it to smithereens a year later.

Twelve months ago, Bradbury was at the literal center of the primary reason Sam Darnold was exposed as a quarterback who supposedly couldn’t handle the big stage. A 14-win Vikings team lost the NFC’s No. 1 seed at Detroit and gave up a record-tying nine sacks for 82 yards while getting booted from the playoffs by the Los Angeles Rams eight days later.

Asked after the game whether fixing the offensive line was a priority, coach Kevin O’Connell not only nodded but upped the ante, saying, “We’ve got to find a way to solidify the interior of the pocket, starting first and foremost.”

Amen, K.O.! And good riddance to ya, Garrett!

Now, of course, in typical NFL up-is-down and down-is-up fashion, Darnold and Bradbury are ex-Vikings on their way to Santa Clara, Calif., for Super Bowl LX. One of them is going home with a ring.

Darnold led Seattle to the NFC title by matching likely MVP winner Matthew Stafford stride for stride — throwing for 346 yards, three touchdowns, no turnovers and a 127.8 passer rating — in a 31-27 win over Darnold’s no-longer-nemesis Rams on Sunday, Jan. 25. Bradbury, meanwhile, had one of his best games earlier in the day as the New England Patriots won the AFC title 10-7 in a snowstorm in Denver.

Not re-signing Darnold was a business decision on a player who had outplayed the Vikings’ salary cap capacity tenfold while also wilting in the big moment. It aligned with the commitment to a top 10 draft pick (J.J. McCarthy) and the need to spend mightily throughout the roster in free agency.

Bradbury, however, was purely a football decision.

“I had another year on my contract,” Bradbury said in August when the Patriots visited TCO Performance Center for joint practices. “I thought I was going to be back.”

Releasing Bradbury, whom the Vikings selected No. 18 overall in the 2019 NFL draft, was not met with any resistance among fans or media. This observer considered it long overdue. He was wrong. Now he doesn’t see an offseason need that’s any greater than center, the position Bradbury played with durability on O’Connell’s two playoff teams in 2022 and 2024.

These thoughts came to mind as Bradbury was leading the game’s best young quarterback, Drake Maye, into the end zone against the Broncos on a 6-yard touchdown run up the middle. The Patriots added a field goal later for a 10-7 lead before Mother Nature made it impossible for anyone else to score.

Bradbury looked good. Pro Football Focus agreed, giving him an overall grade of 78.8 and a run-blocking grade of 80.6.

Those were Bradbury’s highest grades since Week 9 of the 2024 season. That was the day he posted an overall mark of 80.0 and run-blocking grade of 84.8 as the Vikings beat Indianapolis.

Current Vikings center Ryan Kelly played that day for the Colts. He posted season-low grades of 50.1 overall, 49.8 for run blocking and 45.9 for pass blocking.

He also injured his knee, landed on injured reserve and missed the next five games. A foreshadowing the Vikings ignored.

And yet …

Like many, this observer took the cheese and loved the Kelly signing initially. He was bigger, stronger. He looked the part more so than Bradbury.

Then the season started. And we discovered that not only was Kelly older than Bradbury, he was also woefully less durable. Three concussions increased Kelly’s career total to six and were the leading cause of him missing nine games. A year after he missed seven games.

Kelly played 329 snaps. That’s 72% of the eight games he appeared in.

Bradbury played 1,072 regular-season snaps. That’s 98% of the 17 games he played. In those games, New England ranked No. 2 in points scored and No. 6 in rushing yards while being led by a 23-year-old quarterback who topped the NFL in completion percentage (72.0) and average yards per attempt (8.9).

And, oh yeah, Bradbury has allowed only one sack in 20 games this season. And, oh yeah, he also has started 51 straight games. And, oh yeah, he has also played every single one of New England’s 193 offensive snaps this postseason en route to Super Bowl LX.

So, again …

Dear Garrett …

STRIB

The Commanders are hiring Vikings defensive passing game coordinator and defensive backs coach Daronte Jones as their new defensive coordinator, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.

Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores also interviewed for the job in Washington before agreeing to a new deal with Minnesota.

Jones joined the Vikings’ staff in 2022 as the defensive backs coach, and he added the title of passing game coordinator the following season. He has worked under Vance Joseph, Mike Zimmer and Flores.

Jones has also worked for the Dolphins (2016-17) and the Bengals (2018-19).

He was LSU’s defensive coordinator in 2021.

The Commanders fired defensive coordinator Joe Whitt on Jan. 6, but head coach Dan Quinn had taken over play-calling duties after Week 10. They finished last in yards allowed and 27th in points allowed.

https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootbal...s-their-dc

Take a breath and give yourself a social media break until early March:

March 9-11: During the period beginning at 12:00 noon, New York time, on March 9 and ending at 3:59:59 p.m., New York time, on March 11, clubs are permitted to contact, and enter into contract negotiations with the certified agents of players who will become unrestricted free agents upon the expiration of their 2025 player contracts at 4:00 p.m., New York time, on March 12. A prospective UFA who is not represented by an NFLPA Certified Contract Advisor ("Unrepresented Player") is permitted to communicate directly with a new club's front office officials (excluding the head coach and other members of the club's coaching staff) regarding contract negotiations. The club is responsible for confirming the player's status as an unrepresented player. No prospective unrestricted free agent is permitted to execute a contract with a new club until 4:00 p.m., New York time, on March 11.

March 11: The 2026 League Year and free agency signing period begin at 4:00 p.m., New York time. Trading period for 2026 begins at 4:00 p.m., New York time, after expiration of all 2025 contracts. The first day of the 2026 League Year will end at 11:59:59 p.m., New York time, on March 12. Clubs will receive a personnel notice that will include all transactions submitted to the League office during the period between 4:00 p.m., New York time, and 11:59:59 p.m., New York time, on March 11.

Yeah, we all gave up on him after those two blowout losses to end the season, but he didn't give up on himself.
We were fortunate to watch him all of last season.  Not his fault we did not re-sign him.

I have no ill-will toward him.  The NFL is a business, and management takes risks.
That's all water under the bridge.

Congratulations to a solid young man seeking redemption in the Super Bowl.