Report: Why Teams Feel Kevin O'Connell May Be Available for Trade amid Vikings Rumors

Teams around the NFL "sense the potential for opportunity" with Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell signed for only one more season, according to The Athletic's Mike Sando.

The Vikings have a 34-17 record in O'Connell's first three years and they're embarking on their second playoff trip under his watch. One presumes Minnesota wants to keep him around for a long time.

Sando, however, laid out why rival teams are encouraged about their odds of swinging a trade for the 2026 coaching free agent, an idea first reported on by Fox Sports' Jay Glazer:

Per Sando, officials outside of Minnesota believe O'Connell "deserves outsized credit for the team's success." Spinning off that, the 39-year-old "is in a great position to seek additional power under terms of any new deal," yet the Vikings "might not grant O'Connell that kind of power and/or the type of money O'Connell might command elsewhere."

Sando seemingly hinted at a possible power struggle that could develop in Minneapolis as well.

He wrote out how the initial hiring of general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah in 2022 was met with some questions around the NFL because of his résumé. Adofo-Mensah worked for the San Francisco 49ers and Cleveland Browns before joining Minnesota but was more analytically inclined and didn't have the usual scouting chops for an executive at the GM level.

"Those executives now see the Vikings' struggles in the draft as justifying their skepticism," Sando said. "If they were in O'Connell's position, they would use their leverage to forge a direct link with ownership."

A head coach is no different from a star player. O'Connell doesn't have to accept Minnesota's best offer if he senses there's a better deal from another franchise. And from the Vikings' perspective, trading him now would allow them to get some compensation back instead of him potentially walking out the door after the 2025 season.