The old heads prevailed!
The NFL owners concluded their meetings and the traditionalists won the playoff seeding proposal. It was voted down. Not that big a deal since really bad divisions does not happen too often right? Hard to get owners to give up a home playoff game and the revenue that comes from that game.
8 Takeaways from NFL Owners Meeting: Push Play Survives; No Changes for Playoff Seeding
3. Playoff seeding procedures stay put
Wilf told Allen he appreciated and respected the Lions introducing the proposal but said his family members are “traditionalists on that front.”
“I’m in favor of the current system we have, where the division winner gets home games, even though that hurt us last year in the end,” Wilf said. “You’ve got to win your division to really get your best advantage, and I think that’s a system that’s worked well for many years. There’s obviously debate going on in terms of potentially making some changes, but we’re kind of traditionalists on that front.”
Based on the length of discussion about the topic, it’s possible those conversations could return in subsequent years.
4. Offseason overview
“We love what Kwesi [Adofo-Mensah], Coach [Kevin] O’Connell, Rob Brzezinski, the whole team, what we put together in terms of free agency to allow us to go with the draft in a way where we went for best available,” Wilf said. “Especially on the lines. I think getting help on the o- and d-line really freed up Kwesi to do his thing in the draft, so really successful, some really proven veterans, and I know they’re excited to get to work in Phase 3. The final OTA stage starts next week, so we’re excited to get to training camp soon enough.”
The next organized team activites.
OTAs: May 27-28, May 30, June 2-3, June 5, June 16-18
Mandatory Minicamp: June 10-12
Minnesota Vikings News and Links
Mark Wilf says J.J. McCarthy has ‘gravitational pull as a leader’
The praise for J.J. McCarthy extends from the top to the bottom of the Minnesota Vikings organization.
The latest came from the tippy top as Vikings owner Mark Wilf had plenty of positive things to say about the young quarterback during an interview with Paul Allen that was posted to the Vikings’ YouTube channel on Wednesday, in particular highlighting the 22-year-old’s leadership qualities.
“He has a gravitational pull as a leader. He really does,” Wilf told Allen. “I think the way the players support him, I think, of course, the talent is there. Coach (Kevin) O’Connell is glowing in his praises of how he’s handled everything to date, and from an off-the-field perspective, we couldn’t be happier, so all the things are pointing in the right direction and we are going to be supporting J.J. to have him be the success we want him to be.”
Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy Announces Life-Changing News Ahead of NFL Season
In a shared post on Instagram, McCarthy and his fiancée, Katya Kuropas, announced they are expecting a baby boy in September — just in time for football season.
“The best surprises come when you least expect them. Our sweet baby boy is arriving in September and we couldn’t be happier,” the message reads.
One wide receiver comes in above Justin Jefferson in new rankings
Pro Football Focus released a list of the top-32 wide receivers entering the 2025 NFL season, and the Minnesota Vikings star pass-catcher came in at No. 2, behind only Philadelphia Eagles wideout A.J. Brown, who took the top spot in the rankings. The top three were in their own tier separate and included Cincinnati Bengals receiver Ja’Marr Chase at third.
“Jefferson has been in the conversation for the league’s best receiver since his rookie season,” PFF’s Trevor Sikkema wrote. “Over the past three years, the Vikings star ranks second among all wideouts in cumulative WAR (1.66) and also holds the second-best per-season WAR average (0.55).”
Brown didn’t nearly match Jefferson’s production in terms of pure stats — Jefferson had 103 receptions for 1,533 yards and 10 touchdowns to Brown’s 67 receptions for 1,079 yards and seven scores — but Brown did play four fewer games. And neither touched Chase’s 127 receptions for 1,708 yards and 17 touchdowns, all of which led the league in 2024.
Coaching Staff Darling Called ‘Best-Kept Secret’ on Vikings’ Roster
Nailor recorded 28 catches for 414 yards and 6 touchdowns in 2024 despite playing behind Addison, Jefferson, and even tight end T.J. Hockenson in the passing game.
Bleacher Report’s Matt Holder believes Nailor is the Vikings’ “best-kept secret.”
“Nailor quietly proved to be a quality WR3 and fourth option in the passing game last season,” Holder wrote on May 19. “If the 2022 sixth-round pick can cut down on the drops–four last season, per PFF–he can carve out an even bigger role in Minnesota this fall.”
Nailor has long carried favor with the Vikings’ coaching staff, and he was able to deliver when called upon in 2024. Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell cited Nailor “playing huge roles” against the Houston Texans, New York Giants, and San Francisco 49ers in particular.
Nailor posted a 7-106-3 line in those contests, two of which he started, and the Vikings won all three outings.
O’Connell expects even bigger things from Nailor in 2025.
“I think, Speedy, what we were always hoping for was to see what it looked like when he was able to stay healthy. He was able to do that, and I think he learned, over the course of the season, the different, unique ways that Justin gets defended has a direct impact on how he needs to prepare to play,” O’Connell told reporters in April.
“I think Speedy’s going to have a great year. I think this is a massive, massive year for his career.”
That does not mean Nailor’s path to prominence will be easy, with several challengers to his role on the roster.
The Vikings signed former Arizona Cardinals wideout Rondale Moore and ex-Jacksonville Jaguars pass-catcher Tim Jones in free agency. They also drafted Tai Felton in the third round with the No. 102 overall pick of the 2024 draft among those vying for snaps and roster spots.
“We want to make it competitive,” O’Connell said.
“Whether it’s Rondale, Tim Jones coming in to really fill a role and a purpose, or potentially drafting one, we want to have really impactful players in that room. Because no matter what, throwing the football has always been something that really defines the Minnesota Vikings, and we’ve done it at a really high clip because of our players and their ability to make things go.”
That sets Nailor up for plenty of opportunities to prove himself in the final year of his contract with unrestricted free agency on the horizon.
MN Vikings Like Their Current Backup QB More Than Most Realize
Other than the aforementioned 22-year-[86-day]-old 1st round pick — who missed all of his rookie season after season-ending knee surgery — the Minnesota Vikings have 28-year-old former undrafted free agent out of Boise State, Brett Rypien, who has impressed in Eagan since first signing last August, after he missed the final training camp cut in Chicago.
But according to radio voice of the Minnesota Vikings (and KFAN Radio morning talk show host) Paul Allen, the organization’s approach to this offseason’s QB market goes beyond comp pick strategy and their belief in JJ McCarthy.
In the final seconds of the opening hour of his show on Tuesday, PA told his producer, Eric Nordquist — along with millions of loyal listeners — that the Vikings like Brett Rypien “more than I think people would imagine”.
“I understand when people have the flippant, but out of nowhere opinion, ‘Brett Rypien are you kidding me?’ I understand that, because Brett hasn’t done much — if hardly anything — in the NFL.
But as I’ve shared before, without oversharing… they like him. They like him a lot. That doesn’t mean he’ll be the backup, like the 1A to McCarthy. I still do believe they’ll find a veteran backup. But, they like Rypien more than I think people would imagine.”
Paul Allen – KFAN
There is one player on the Vikings’ roster who has been there for the majority of the Wilf’s time as owners: safety Harrison Smith. He was the 29th overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft and the Vikings liked him so much that they moved up to get him.
Talking to Paul Allen at the owners meetings, Wilf made the case that Smith deserves to be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
“He’s honestly a marvel. I think, of course, we believe, he’s going to be in that Hall of Fame in Canton one day. The way he goes about his business, the Ultimate Pro. He takes care of himself. He’s a hard worker. From the day we drafted him 14 years ago, hard to believe, right? One of the highlights of our football Taking if you will, is Harrison Smith and the way he goes about it. All Pro all the time, on and off the field, and we couldn’t be happier for all successes, and hopefully we’re going to get over that hump on the championship this year, and he deserves a ring, too.”
It shouldn’t be much of a surprise that Wilf believes Smith should make the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He signed off on a contract that had a Hitman to HOF clause in it this past March.
With 37 interceptions and 20.5 sacks in his career, Smith is one of just five players to achieve that mark, and the other four are enshrined in Canton, Ohio. It will take a few years to get him there, but he certainly deserves it.
How former BYU star Tyler Batty is bringing his cowboy roots and work ethic to the Minnesota Vikings
How many horses does Layne Batty own? It’s a question he doesn’t want to answer. He has nothing to hide. It’s just that if he were to say the number out loud, his wife, Peg, might cut him off from buying and raising more.
Layne is a cowboy in every sense of the word. A white hat, stitched beautifully, usually sits atop his head. He wears a bandana-like scarf around his neck. The rest of his body is covered in different shades of denim. Holding his jeans up is a brown belt with a massive oval buckle.
Layne, who now operates Circle B Farm in Payson, Utah, introduced his seven children, three sons and four daughters, to horses. He taught them all how to ride. They helped feed the family’s stable, cleaned the horses’ living spaces and even learned how to irrigate the pasture to give the horses the best living conditions possible.
This brings us to their youngest son, Tyler, who has wanted to wear helmets and hit other humans for as long as Layne and Peg can remember. They can’t explain it. The family barely watched football during Tyler’s youth, but they had a boy who talked about playing in the National Football League. The wildest part? That boy somehow became good enough to do precisely that.
Tyler Batty, an undrafted free-agent signing by the Vikings, is here in Minnesota, wearing purple and gold, taking nothing for granted. It takes some digging to learn why he has a solid chance at earning a roster spot. It also takes some digging to know why the defensive end might be an easy rookie to root for.
One morning when Tyler was 14, he navigated a four-wheeler toward his house from the pasture about a half-mile down the road. He had finished one of his daily chores, changing the water to irrigate hay for the horses. Tyler eyed the bright orange sun, which was starting to peak over the mountains. That’s the last thing he can remember.
He didn’t return to the house at his usual time, and eventually, Peg got worried. Shortly thereafter, a sheriff knocked on the door with a look on his face that screamed problems.
“Your boy has been injured,” the officer said, “and he won’t let anybody get anywhere near him. Would you please come?”
Tyler had crashed his four-wheeler and fallen through barbed wire into an embankment. His head was bleeding from a collision with a wooden post. Steel had sliced his shoulders. Had it not been for an early-morning jogger who noticed Tyler pushing the four-wheeler back up toward the road, who knows?
Peg’s arrival set in motion what would become a blur. A Life Flight helicopter airlifted Tyler to a hospital in Salt Lake City about 60 miles away, where doctors diagnosed him with six facial fractures and a brain bleed. His left eye, discolored almost to a shade of purple, was practically triple the size of his right eye. The family needed a miracle for the internal bleeding to stop, and to this day, neither Layne nor Peg can fully explain how it did.
The recovery required another layer of fortitude. Doctors informed Tyler that he shouldn’t play football anymore, but he didn’t listen. He couldn’t listen. Love is blinding, and Tyler loved nothing more than this silly little game. He loved the camaraderie, the competition, the challenge. He loved how much you could learn and how quickly you could respond to failure. He reiterated to his parents that he would play again and not allow this accident to derail his dreams.
Peg battled him over his hard-headedness. She feared what a concussion might do and knew his intelligence was set up for a successful college education and career. Yet Tyler wouldn’t waver. Football, he maintained, is what he was meant to do.
BYU’s coaching staff was bored during the COVID-19 pandemic. Assistant coach Ed Lamb and defensive coordinator Ilaisa Tuiaki knew Tyler’s family operated a farm down the road, so they asked if they could spend some time learning about ranch life. Layne extended an invitation.
One afternoon, they were chomping on sandwiches in the shade. Layne explained that they offer horse rides throughout the week. One of them, Layne said, targeted special-needs children. Lamb mentioned that his son, Edward, had been born with severe autism and was nonverbal. Layne interjected.
“Horses will help him,” he told Lamb. “The horse world will help him.”
More than a decade earlier, Layne had met a neighbor who had moved to Payson from Scotland. They discussed horses, and the neighbor asked Layne if he’d heard of equine therapy. The neighbor shared that clinical studies had proven that exposure to horses benefited patients with autism and psychomotor disorders. Layne researched the studies himself, reconnected with the neighbor and invited his 3-year-old son to come ride.
The boy learned more words as the years passed and spoke more successfully. Layne relayed the story to Lamb, who, the following week, took Layne up on the opportunity to get his son, Edward, involved. Edward enjoyed it immediately. He squealed. His arms and hands shot to the sky. Layne suggested Edward ride again the following week, and over time, as the Lamb family regularly made its way to the Batty farm, Edward started to point out the correct directions.
“That opened up a whole new world for me and my son,” Ed said. “It changed our lives.”
When Lamb left BYU to become the head coach at Northern Colorado in 2023, his family bought a couple of horses. By then, Tyler had become the rock of the Cougars program. He painted smiley faces beneath his eyes before games, then sideswiped offensive linemen on the way to the quarterback.
He was a ferocious pass rusher. He dropped and secured interceptions. Coaches asked him to line up over the center. He obliged. Then they positioned him over the guard. Tyler made that work, too.
During a 2023 matchup against Cincinnati, defensive line coach Kelly Poppinga poked at Tyler, who took personally a comment about how well the opposing quarterback was playing. Tyler sacked him once and made seven tackles in a 35-27 win. During a nationally televised game against Kansas State in 2024, Tyler forced a fumble, intercepted a pass and pressured the quarterback on three straight possessions. His performance set a tone.
His play style and personality earned him a platform. Tyler elected to use his for good. In tandem with his father, and with the blessing of his former coach, Tyler created a nonprofit called “Edward’s Hands.” The name itself tells you almost everything you need to know about who he is and how he thinks. “Edward’s Hands” worked as a double entendre. Ranch hands are folks like his father, who have committed their life to hard work. And, oftentimes, autistic children flap their hands when they feel genuine excitement.
The family gathered in the backyard a few weekends ago for the NFL draft. It was a day Tyler had dreamed of for years. At long last, and against all odds, he was bound for the NFL.
Smiles faded as the hours passed. Peg paced and went inside. One of Tyler’s siblings came running, saying that Tyler had just answered a phone call. She’d peek outside, only to find that it was his agent calling, informing him that nothing seemed imminent.
The fourth round went, then the fifth, then the sixth. Nobody understood why his name remained on the board. He produced in college. He nailed all of the measurables and testing exercises at the NFL Scouting Combine. Poppinga told NFL general managers that Tyler was “probably the toughest kid I’ve coached in 17 years.”
Despite Tyler’s high character and self-driven profile, 257 players were picked ahead of him. He remained an undrafted free agent for approximately 30 seconds. Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores and the team’s personnel department had identified him as a versatile player who would squeeze every droplet of potential out of his career. The Vikings quickly made the call, and finally, as the sun fell behind the mountains and the pasture was tinged with bright pink, the family celebrated.
“It all turned out good,” Layne says. “Tyler told us that in one of the first meetings, the (Vikings) coaches said, ‘Every position is open. It’s yours for the taking. Who wants it? Who wants it the most?’”
Yore Mock
Trade Recap
Minnesota Receives: 2026: Round 4, Pick 108, 2026: Round 5, Pick 158
Jacksonville Receives: 2026: Round 3, Pick 97
…
18. Isaiah World OT Oregon 6’8” 310
50. Mansoor Delane CB LSU 6’1” 185
82. Darrell Jackson Jr. DL Florida State 6’5” 330
108. Derrick Moore EDGE Michigan 6’3” 255
118. Jaydn Ott RB Oklahoma 6’0” 210
158. Xavier Nwankpa S Iowa 6’2” 215
174. Lander Barton LB Utah 6’4” 235
232. Isaiah Nwokobia S SMU 6’1” 215
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