The deal is done. DE and edge rusher Danielle Hunter has signed a contract. The Purple faithful let out the collective breath they’ve been holding. Hunter signed a one-year deal for 17 mill and three mill in incentives. 

Jeff Diamond is the perfect guest as training camp gets underway as the front office of current GM Kwesi Adolfo-Mensah works hard to get all his players happy with their compensation and on the field prepping for the season.

There is plenty of fodder to talk over—including the number of hits he received last season (the most), how much the game means to Cousins on and off the course and his relationship with his new head coach Kevin O’Connell. Joe Oberle, senior writer for vikingsterritory.com and purplePTSD.com, joins Mark Craig, Vikings writer and NFL Insider from the Star Tribune and startribune.com to hash it all over on the Vikings Territory Breakdown podcast.

Kevin O’Connell finished his first season as an NFL head coach with a record of 13-4, an NFC North Division title for the Minnesota Vikings and a first-round exit in the playoffs. 

Believe it or not, there are some things worth discussing about the Vikings. True, it is early July, but it is later than you think as we wind down the offseason toward training camp near the end of August.

With the month of June nearly gone and training camp just around . . .  a couple corners, things are starting to heat up for the Vikings as they head toward 2023 season. Well, at least the temperature outside is heating up.

If you want to have a discussion about the hot issues of the Vikings, the best place to start is with quarterback Kirk Cousins. 

The Vikings are no longer “Cook-ing” with Dalvin. Last week, general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah finally pulled the trigger on the worst-kept secret personnel move of the offseason and released the seven-year running back. The Vikings and Cook reportedly could not reach an agreement on several things: a contract reduction, a restructuring so that they could trade him and, perhaps, even a reduced role in the wake of the re-signing of his backup Alexander Mattison for a cool seven million (starting running back money these days). 

It ranked near the bottom last season, so any improvement the team makes on its 13-4 record with a first-round playoff exit is dependent upon the defense becoming much better in 2023. We all know that. The coaches know that. 

In the 2023 season, the Vikings will go as the defense goes. With new defensive coordinator Brian Flores (B-Flo as he is known) in the house, the entirety of Purple Nation is hoping to see him take the Vikings' defense out of the basement and into relevance