Greenard skips voluntary OTA's, Harry and Addison
Anyone surprised??
As the doors of the Vikings’ Eagan headquarters opened Monday, April 20, when NFL rules allowed returning head coaches to begin their voluntary offseason programs, outside linebacker and team captain Jonathan Greenard did not report.
Coach Kevin O’Connell acknowledged the “business” that might be keeping away Greenard, a 28-year-old edge rusher who has asked for a pay raise to his $19 million annual salary. He is the NFL’s 20th-highest paid edge rusher and has finished two Vikings seasons as the 14th- and 15th-most efficient pass rusher as ranked by Pro Football Focus.
O’Connell said he recently spoke with Greenard, who is recovering from surgery on his left shoulder that prematurely ended his 2025 season in December.
“I had a conversation with him last week,” O’Connell said Monday. “We’re trying to keep our conversations and dialogue going. ... He knows exactly how I feel about him, how we feel about him as an organization. ... I think Jonathan’s really respected at least the point of view that our dialogue brings and the clarity, and he knows I’m always a phone call away.”
O’Connell previously said he expects Greenard on the team next season. Rob Brzezinski, the Vikings’ interim general manager, also reiterated that ahead of the NFL draft.
“I expect JG to be here,” Brzezinski said. “There’s all this speculation. ... There are conversations that take place with respective players all the time on rosters and for some reason sometimes, some things get public and other times they don’t. .... He’s a really good player, a special person, and a leader. We’re really happy he’s a part of our team.”
Strib
Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger!
Safety Smith’s future?
Talks are still ongoing, to some extent, with safety Harrison Smith.
There has been no official word from Smith about whether he intends to play a 15th Vikings season, and O’Connell said the team does not need to know his plans before this week’s NFL draft. Smith, 37, was celebrated during last season’s finaleagainst the Green Bay Packers, along with now-retired fullback C.J. Ham, as if it were his last game.
“We’re still trying to give Harrison as much space as possible,” O’Connell said. “He’s earned that. If it’s anything at this point, it’s seeing how he’s doing, seeing how his family is, seeing how his golf game is — all those things.”
‘Critical time’ in Addison’s career
This is a “critical time” in wide receiver Jordan Addison’s NFL career, O’Connell said, as he plays for a new contract.
The Vikings are expected to pick up the fifth-year option for Addison, the team’s 2023 first-round pick, before the May 1 deadline, keeping him under contract in Minnesota through the next two seasons. There’s no questioning Addison’s talent. He has scored 24 total touchdowns in 46 regular-season games.
But O’Connell said his discussions with Addison have also revolved around his “personal growth.” Addison, 24, served a three-game suspension at the start of last season because of a 2024 DUI citation. In his second game back with the team, Addison was benched for the first quarter of the Oct. 5 win over the Cleveland Browns in London, where he scored the game-winning touchdown.
“I view Jordan as a top-tier [No. 2 receiver],” O’Connell said, “and that is not in any way, shape, or form a negative when you’re talking about that other guy being Justin Jefferson.”
“The other part of it with Jordan,” the coach added, is “our relationship and where it’s gotten to. We’ve spent a lot of time together talking about his personal growth. He was an incredibly young player when he got into the NFL, and he’s learned some lessons over the years and I think he understands it’s a critical time in his career.”
STRIB
Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger!
I think regardless of Addison's out of football issues, KOC loves this kid's abilities at WR2.
Greenard said yesterday on social media it was he and his wife's anniversary, that's why he wasn't there. ;)
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