As they have been freed from the shackles of years on the Kirk Cousins contract carousel, the Minnesota Vikings have been able to devote resources to finding ideal pieces for Brian Flores' defense.
In the 2024 offseason, that meant signing edge rushers Andrew Van Ginkel and Jonathan Greenard and that worked out well as they both earned Pro Bowl nods last year.
Van Ginkel spent the first five seasons of his career with the Miami Dolphins, including the first three (2019-21) when Flores was the head coach there. So he was pretty clearly a hand-picked free agent signing by the Vikings' defensive coordinator. The results last year fortified Flores' faith in Van Ginkel as a fantastic fit for his highly-variable defensive scheme that places a premium on versatility.
This offseason, the Vikings placed priority on fortifying their trenches. More specifically, the interior of both lines were addressed. On the defensive side, veteran defensive tackles Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave were the headline free agent signings.
Brian Flores tie creates a Vikings tie to Christian Wilkins
An ongoing offseason story line for the Las Vegas Raiders was the recovery process of defensive tackle Christian Wilkins from the foot injury he suffered last season. Then out of nowhere last week, the Raiders released him. More details are slowly coming out about the situation, beyond any issues the team had with his foot injury.
In any case, Wilkins is freely available for any team to sign him. At this last stage, anywhere he has a tie to a coach automatically lands on the radar as a possibility for his next team.
Wilkins was the Dolphins' first-round pick in 2019, which as mentioned was Flores' first year as the head coach there. He spent the same three seasons Van Ginkel did under Flores in Miami.
On Monday, Flores was asked if he had any interest in adding Wilkins, and he didn't exactly shut the door on the idea.
"I have a lot of history with Christian. I kind of let Kwesi and his staff handle that side," Flores said. "We've got a group we feel pretty good about D-line wise, but I don't mind adding more."
Flores noted how the headline from his comments would probably be "Flo said he wouldn't mind adding more", while calling Wilkins a "very good" and "ascending" player when they worked together.
It seems unlikely the Vikings will sign Wilkins, and by the time that circumstance might change (due to an injury, etc.) he may already be signed elsewhere. But if Flores is left to advocate for another signing, with the foot injury situation as an overriding unknown factor, it sounds like he'd vouch for Wilkins.