It’s Week 18 in the NFL, the Minnesota Vikings play the Green Bay Packers at home, and we have the […]
It’s Week 18 in the NFL, the Minnesota Vikings play the Green Bay Packers at home, and we have the end-of-season rumors to bring the purple team into the offseason.
Three Vikings rumors: Herbert trade chatter, Flores-to-Dallas noise, and Kwesi’s “economic realities” hint at Nailor’s future.
The Vikings will have decisions aplenty in no time, and to get you prepared for a momentous offseason, let’s peek at the Purple Rumor Mill for Week 118.
The Week 18 Vikings Rumor Mill: Herbert, Flores, and Nailor
Some Justin Herbert, Brian Flores, and Jalen Nailor rumors for the end of the year.
Rumor: Justin Herbert could be available via trade if the Los Angeles Chargers flame out of the playoffs.
A couple of weeks before the 2024 NFL Draft, credible reporting suggested the Vikings had called the Chargers to see if Herbert was available. The answer was no, and Minnesota later drafted J.J. McCarthy.
Well, the Herbert trade idea was resurrected this week.
Fansided’s Mark Powell led the charge, “I mean, look, if it’s at all possible, then yes. The Chargers know exactly how valuable Herbert is not just to their scheme, but how well he’d play for just about any team in the NFL.”
“Los Angeles isn’t even thinking of parting ways with a quarterback who will lead them to the playoffs this season. It’d take a certain set of circumstances for LA to trade Herbert, the first of which would be another disappointing finish to the season.” If the playoffs opened today, the Chargers would be headed to Jacksonville to face the Jaguars — hardly the posture of a franchise unraveling.”
Vikings fans would universally embrace a Herbert trade.
Powell continued. “From there, Herbert would either have to ask for a trade or voice his displeasure in a way similar to Joe Burrow in Cincinnati. Third and most importantly, there has to be a desperate team willing to meet the Chargers’ asking price for their best player.”
“Are the Vikings that team? On the surface, yes. McCarthy hasn’t made the necessary strides and the team is built to win-now. It’s a longshot, but certainly worth a phone call should the Chargers trend downward in the coming weeks.”
The cap reality is the kicker here if Los Angeles were interested in trading Herbert in the first place. Trading Herbert before June 1, 2026, would saddle Los Angeles with a $72 million dead cap hit. That number alone kills any near-term fantasy. After June 1, the pain drops to $22 million, which at least puts the topic on the calendar. If this ever becomes real, it belongs to the 2027 offseason — not the rumor mill of the moment.
Rumor: Brian Flores could join the Dallas Cowboys’ staff as a defensive coordinator.
This one is a Mike Florio special.
He wrote this week after Flores’ masterclass on Christmas, “While the Vikings attempt to extend the expiring contract of defensive coordinator Brian Flores, it won’t matter if another team wants to hire him to be a head coach. It will matter if another team is thinking about hiring him as its next defensive coordinator. There could be more than one. But one such team that is lurking is the Cowboys.”
“Dallas seems to be destined to fire defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus, after a disastrous reunion year. (Never mind the fact that owner/G.M. Jerry Jones traded the defense’s best player 10 days before Week 1.) And the increasing chatter in league circles is that the Cowboys will be firmly in play for Flores.”
Florio’s amplification doesn’t elevate it to reality. It simply puts the idea out in the open. Once it’s out there, it’s repeated, of course.
Flores jumping from Minnesota to Dallas for the same title asks him to discontinue a good thing in Minnesota for the same job down south. The “America’s Team” label doesn’t change his job description — like at all. None of that aligns with how Flores operates.
If multiple coordinator offers surface, the decision likely turns on money and stability. Minnesota can match an offer, and the Wilfs have every incentive to do so. A defense that lives in the Top 8 doesn’t get treated casually. Flores has built something real in Minnesota while working with limited draft reinforcements, Dallas Turner being the lone needle-mover since 2022.
He won’t leave Minnesota for a lateral assignment. A head coaching job? Yes.
Rumor: Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has made it sound like Jalen Nailor won’t return in 2026.
The Vikings’ top boss chatted with the Voice of the Vikings, Paul Allen, this week, and he didn’t sound overly committed to re-signing Nailor.
“Obviously the combine stuff, an explosive player. Really good early speed in the forty. And then just a really great worker. We’ll cross those bridges when we get to the offseason. We’ll have those conversations. I know he loves it here, and we love him. We’ll deal with those economic realities when they come,” Adofo-Mensah mentioned to Allen regarding Nailor.
When a general manager refers to “economic realities,” that usually means the player won’t be back. Otherwise, he could’ve said something like, “It is one of our top priorities to keep this guy.”
Nailor may be a goner, especially after Adofo-Mensah used a 3rd-Round draft pick on Tai Felton last April.
Category: General Sports
