Kevin O’Connell, Sam Darnold and Brian Flores could be heading to New Orleans, after all. The Vikings head coach, quarterback and defensive coordinator were among the 40 finalists named Thursday for eight of the league’s most prestigious awards,

Sam Darnold piled up stats this season, charmed the fanbase and probably earned himself a nice payday in the process. But will he get it from the Vikings?

The NFL and Associated Press unveiled the finalists for year-end awards on Thursday, and among them are Kevin O'Connell for Coach of the Year, Brian Flores for Assistant Coach of the Year and Sam Darnold for Comeback Player of the Year.

Sam Darnold was one of the NFL's best quarterbacks under pressure and elsewhere until everything fell apart over the last two weeks. What on Earth happened?

Quarterback Sam Darnold will likely be the next NFL quarterback to make a lot of money in free agency. The Minnesota Vikings have a tough decision to make in the months ahead after their lopsided NFL wild-card round exit on Monday night on whether to keep Darnold or let him go.

Brian Flores interviewed for the Jets’ head-coaching position on Friday and could be a strong candidate for the job. The former Dolphins head coach has more than 20 years of NFL experience. He has been Minnesota’s defensive coordinator since 2023 and employs a blitz-heavy scheme.

After a stellar bounce-back season with the Minnesota Vikings, including a Pro Bowl selection, former USC Trojans quarterback Sam Darnold has been announced as a finalist for NFL Comeback Player of the Year.

At the dawn of the new year, Sam Darnold was a folk hero in Minnesota. Not only did the quarterback -- no longer locally branded a reclamation project, but rather a full-blown, high-octane Pro Bowler -- sweep the rival Green Bay Packers to give the Vikings their best regular-season record in 16 years,

Following those two defeats, Kevin O'Connell & Co. reeled off nine straight victories before dropping their Week 18 rematch with Detroit, a loss that cost them the No. 1 seed in the NFC and forced them to hit the road for a Wild Card Round matchup with the Rams.

The trio increased the list to 15 coaching candidates to meet with the Jets, who have also conducted 15 interviews for their general manager job.

After a devastating week, the Los Angeles Rams gave their city a brief distraction and burst of positivity during a dominant victory over the Minnesota Vikings to advance to the divisional round of the NFL playoffs.

The Minnesota Vikings could make a splashy albeit contentious move this offseason, unrelated to Sam Darnold's free agency.