The Minnesota Vikings inked Stephon Gilmore to a one-year deal on Sunday, but a closer look at the reunion between the player and defensive coordinator Brain Flores suggests a more long-term agreement could be in store if 2024 goes as planned.
What Does the Stephon Gilmore Signing Mean for the Vikings in the Near Term?
Preseason prognostications have dogged the Vikings since Kirk Cousins signed in Atlanta. Their consensus season win total among bookmakers is 6.5 and virtually no analyst or expert has chosen the Vikings to finish above third place in the NFC North.
Plus, franchise quarterback J.J. McCarthy underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus following his preseason debut last weekend, ending any sense that he could enter the lineup and spark the team in a way C.J. Stroud did last year in Houston.
But the Gilmore signing is yet another sign that Vikings brass are doing anything but throwing in the towel on 2024 despite the wind in their face.
Gilmore, a two-time All-Pro who was the AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2019, has missed just one game over the past two seasons and in 2023 was an impact player for the Dallas Cowboys with 13 pass breakups and two interceptions. He immediately upgrades the cornerback room and will most certainly be a starter on Flores’ unit as soon as the regular season opener.
Gilmore’s reunion with Flores, who was a coach on Bill Belichick’s New England Patriots teams when Gilmore played there, is only the latest acquisition the Vikings have made to field a competitive team in 2024. The team took an aggressive approach in free agency, signing a pair of pass rushers, a starting inside linebacker, a starting interior defensive lineman, and a starting cornerback.
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On offense, the Vikings signed quarterback Sam Darnold, pilfered running back Aaron Jones away from Green Bay, and brought Trent Sherfield Sr. and Robert Tonyan in to fortify the wide receiver and tight end rooms, respectively. They also signed left tackle Christian Darrisaw and wide receiver Justin Jefferson to lucrative long-term contracts.
If you’re a veteran on the Vikings roster, you certainly have to appreciate how the team has delicately balanced the priority of developing and protecting McCarthy, the future of the franchise at the quarterback position, while prioritizing building a roster that can win games this season.
What Does the Gilmore Signing Mean for the Vikings in the Long Term?
While the Gilmore signing certainly improves the chances of the Vikings winning games this upcoming season, one can’t help but wonder if the player and team have discussed and perhaps even mutually agreed upon an understanding that a more long-term arrangement could be in the cards. Gilmore, after all, is entering his age-34 season and has the pedigree to command a deal on the market from any team looking for help at cornerback.
Suffice it to say, Gilmore can essentially call his own shots on the free agent market, allowing him to carefully scrutinize every team and every offer and only entertaining opportunities that provide him a financial win and a chance to add another Super Bowl to his résumé.
Sure, the Vikings had the cap space to offer him a competitive salary. But does Gilmore really view the Vikings as a team that provides him an opportunity to win another Super Bowl? Maybe not so much in 2024, but definitely in 2025 and beyond.
By the time the 2025 league year rolls around, McCarthy will be healthy and certainly called upon to be the team’s starting quarterback. He will take the reins of an offense with outstanding bookend offensive tackles, one of the NFL’s premier receivers in Jefferson, and productive alternative pass catchers in receiver Jordan Addison and tight end T.J. Hockenson.
Plus, the defense is on the rise with Flores at the helm. And that’s where it gets interesting for Gilmore in Minnesota. He excels as a man coverage cornerback, and Flores has stated his Vikings defense will look to play more man coverage in 2024.
Flores, the Vikings’ defensive playcaller, had his group in zone coverage on 68.3% of snaps in 2023, his highest zone coverage rate since 2018. In that same span, the year Flores called the most man coverage was 2018 with New England, when he did so 66.9% of snaps, No. 1 in the NFL. The Patriots’ top cornerback that year was … Gilmore.
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For now, it’s a one-year deal for Gilmore and the Vikings and, at a minimum, he will bring stability to a position in Minnesota that’s had nothing but tragedy, injury, and acrimony since July.
Looking down the road, though, one can’t help but piece enough evidence together to suggest a Gilmore-Vikings union is more than a one-year fix.
