Post-Super Bowl NFL Power Rankings: Vikings Have Major Work to Do

Where are the Vikings in the national power ranks entering the 2024 offseason?

Will Ragatz | Feb 13, 2024

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Minnesota Vikings

It's officially the offseason in the NFL. The Super Bowl is in the rearview mirror and the start of a new league year is just a month away. Before we know it, we'll be into the thick of things with the scouting combine, free agency, trades, and the draft. Outside of the Chiefs, who are getting ready for another championship parade, all eyes are on 2024 and the long journey of preparing for Week 1.

The Vikings have a huge offseason ahead of them, with major decisions to make at the quarterback position. Let's take a look at where they're slotted in various post-Super Bowl power rankings from national analysts.

ESPN.com: No. 20

Offseason in three words:

Decide on quarterback

The Vikings have an incumbent quarterback who is approaching his 36th birthday, is recovering from the first major injury of his pro career and has a contract that will void on March 13. There is no obvious heir on the roster. So the Vikings must first decide whether they can bring back Kirk Cousins and, whether they do or they don't, begin the process of identifying his successor — all in the next three months. —

Kevin Seifert

Eric Edholm, NFL.com: No. 22

The Vikings find themselves in an interesting spot this offseason. They have to deal with the Kirk Cousins situation first, then figure out where to go from there. While I lean toward Cousins returning to Minnesota, it won't be stunning at all if he departs in free agency. But then who will be at quarterback for the Vikes? Also, the defensive front and secondary have big holes that must be addressed, and Minnesota still might want to bolster its run game on offense, too. So there are quite a few items on the offseason to-do list, and the NFC North could be pretty tough in 2024. This is a critical offseason for the coach-GM combo of Kevin O'Connell and Kwesi Adofo-Mensah one way or another, and the direction they take with Cousins should tell us a lot about how they view the Vikings' talent. If the veteran QB's back, it likely means they think they can compete sooner rather than later. If not ...

Josh Kendall, The Athletic: No. 16

This position is Kirk Cousins dependent. The 35-year-old free agent is coming off a torn Achilles tendon, but he’s still going to be the hottest quarterback commodity on the market. The Vikings have $24.7 million in cap space and will create as much more as they need to to get Cousins back. He’s expressed his contentment with Minnesota, and why not? In his two seasons playing for Kevin O’Connell, Cousins is third in the league in passing yards (275.12) and passing touchdowns (1.88) per game, according to TruMedia.

Frank Schwab, Yahoo! Sports: No. 24

Will the Vikings just run it back with Kirk Cousins, going into his age-36 season off an Achilles injury? Maybe, but that seems like swinging for a single. The problem is, who will the quarterback be if not Cousins? It's not easy to find one, and that's the Vikings' biggest question this offseason.

David Helman, FOX Sports: No. 25

Apologies to Vikings fans, because this probably feels low for a team that nearly made the playoffs despite starting four different quarterbacks. The issue is, at this exact moment in time, Minnesota's starting QB and best defender — Kirk Cousins and Danielle Hunter — are not under contract for 2024. I cannot wait to see which direction the Vikings take this, and how competitive they look.

Bleacher Report: No. 20

Kirk Cousins may not be an elite quarterback, but provided he's physically OK, it's hard to imagine a scenario where Minnesota could find an upgrade in the offseason. With Cousins seemingly happy where he is, it's likely that the two sides will figure something out. Once Minnesota gets the Cousins conundrum solved, the offseason focus needs to shift to the defensive side of the ball. The Vikings' pass defense has been an issue for years, ranking 24th in the league in that regard in 2023.