Purple Rumor Mill: Brian Flores’ Next Team, Vikings Early Draft Darling, Retirement for Hitman?

Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores in Miami Gardens, September 15, 2019. © Allen Eyestone via Imagn Content Services, LLC. VikingsTerritory’s Purple Rumor Mill is a two-day chronicle each week. All the week’s rumors are lassoed and plopped in two spots — articles on Saturday and Sunday — for review. Today is the January 19th edition. Vikings Rumors: Brian Flores’ Next Team, Vikings Early Draft Darling, Retirement for Hitman? Remember — rumors are rumors. What you read on weekends in these pieces is what the world is talking about pertaining to the Vikings, not necessarily items that will come to fruition. Here’s the second batch of the week. Yesterday’s can be read here. Rumor: Brian Flores will end up with the Chicago Bears, according to ESPN. Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports Per ESPN’s Dan Graziano, Flores will end up as the Bears’ next skipper. That’s Graziano’s official prediction from an article forecasting each applicable franchise’s head coach selection. “There are hurdles for Flores — who appears to be a strong candidate for the Jets job, as well — to clear before any team can hire him. That’s especially true in Chicago; there will be questions about his past relationship with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa in Miami as the Bears evaluate him as a candidate to shepherd Caleb Williams’ development,” Graziano explained. Graziano continued, “But by all accounts, it sounds like Flores has made a very different impression on people in Minnesota than he did in Miami. He has been public about the reasons things went wrong for him with the Dolphins and what he has learned from that situation that would make things different at his next stop. One more relevant note here: Flores and Bears GM Ryan Poles both went to Boston College, so there’s a connection there.” Flores coached the Miami Dolphins from 2019 to 2021 before a controversial split. Miami allegedly asked Flores to tank games for better draft picks, which he refused. The young coach later sued the NFL for a sham interview process during the 2022 coaching carousel, litigation that is still pending. Mike McCarthy is the Vegas frontrunner for the Bears’ top job, but Graziano isn’t convinced. Rumor: Benjamin Morrison, a cornerback from Notre Dame, is the early frontrunner to land with the Vikings at pick No. 24. Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports. Undercover, mock draft season began about three weeks ago when the top of the board started shaping up. Now situated with the 24th pick, the early mock draft frontrunner for the Vikings is Notre Dame cornerback Benjamin Morrison. For example, Sporting News’ Vinnie Iyer posted a mock draft on Tuesday morning, connecting Morrison to Minnesota. He explained, “The Vikings need some real help on the back end for their defense as they gave up a ton of big plays and yardage to outside wide receivers in 2024. Morrison’s size, savvy and on-ball playmaking smarts can fit them well as he should make a full recovery from the hip injury that cut short his college season.” As it stands, these are Minnesota’s corners under contract for 2025: Mekhi Blackmon Dwight McGlothern NaJee Thompson That’s it. Cornerback will be a popular mock draft selection for Minnesota, so get used to Morrison’s name. Rumor: Harrison Smith will likely retire. Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports. Unfortunately, Smith sounded like a man who recognized the end was near on Monday after Minnesota lost in the Wildcard Round to the Los Angeles Rams. “Appreciate the Vikings nation, everything they’ve always meant to me. Thank you,” Smith told former Vikings linebacker Ben Leber, a KFAN employee. Minnesota’s defense ranked second in the NFL per EPA/Play this season, and Smith was a consistent starter in the secondary. He was not “one of those” old defenders who played sparingly. Smith added, “There’s a lot that goes into this. It’s not strictly players. I just want to give my thanks to everybody that makes it go. Obviously, I wish we could’ve had a better result today, but it’s a tough pill to swallow right now. It’s been one of the most fun teams I’ve ever played on in any level. There’s a lot to be said about this group, and I really just wish I had a couple more weeks with them, to be honest.” Leber asked Smith what was next for him in the offseason, and he replied, “I don’t know. Probably chill out for a little bit, figure that out down the road.” “I haven’t wanted to think about it, kind of selfishly live in the moment, and I’m kind of still in that moment. It’ll come when it comes,” Smith said. You can see the end is near in his eyes: If this is indeed Harrison Smith's last game as a Viking – it's been my true honor to cover his entire NFL career. A future Hall of Famer as a player and a person. Here Harry tells me about his love & respect for his teammates and for Brian Flores. #hofhitman pic.twitter.com/xmQfGVQUiW— Dawn Mitchell (@DawnAtFOX9) January 14, 2025 Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the purple team, with 4-7 episodes per week. His MIN obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL. All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.