MN Vikings’ Hope Future Center is In-House, But What About GM?
There’s been a bunch of news dropping out of Phoenix today, as those atop the Minnesota Vikings organization join media members and other head decision-makers around the NFL for the league’s annual owners meetings.
Among other topics, we found out Monday how Kevin O’Connell and Rob Brzezinski see their future when it comes to Jonathan Greenard, Jordan Addison and do-it-all offensive lineman Blake Brandel, who the Vikings plan to move to center full-time in 2026.
The Vikings will move forward into the offseason program with Blake Brandel at center following veteran Ryan Kelly’s retirement earlier this month.
“It is great that we feel that good about Blake’s versatility, but ultimately we want to do what’s best for Blake to ascend and reach his highest potential at one position or have the flexibility still to play multiple,” O’Connell said. “What his offseason looks like, what his training camp looks like and what his work flow looks like leading into the season, we want to have him more than likely at that center spot and build on some things that he did last year.”
Star Tribune
Over the course of his five-year NFL career, Brandel has proven to be a swiss army knife on the Minnesota Vikings offensive line, logging over 200 snaps at center, left guard and left tackle, plus another 164 at right guard and 76 career snaps at right tackle.
What Blake Brandel’s permanent move to center means for MN Vikings
At this point, because the MN Vikings seem disinterested in signing outside free agents and his only in-house competition is Michael Jurgens, Brandel is the leader in the clubhouse to win the starting center job.
More importantly, he allows the Vikings more flexibility in April’s NFL Draft because it fills a starting-caliber need on the offensive line, after Ryan Kelly’s concussion-induced retirement.
However, when you take a closer look, it becomes apparent that Brandel isn’t one of those super nifty do-it-all multi-tool pocket knives you see in the fancy cases while walking through the sporting goods store.
Instead, he’s more like one of those (more limited) red pocket knives they hand out in the boy scouts. Nonetheless, PFF’s evaluation of Brandel’s play over the last half-decade supports the Vikings’ belief that he’s best-suited at center.
| Year | GP | Off Snaps | Top Pos (Snaps) | Pressures Allowed | PFF OFF | PFF RBLK | PFF PBLK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 17 | 604 | C (363) | 19 | 61.4 | 61.9 | 67.6 |
| 2024 | 17 | 1191 | LG (1191) | 46 | 55.7 | 57.7 | 62.1 |
| 2023 | 17 | 163 | RG (163) | 8 | 55.1 | 63.8 | 52.2 |
| 2022 | 9 | 275 | LT (273) | 13 | 55.3 | 61.2 | 55.0 |
| 2021 | 13 | 65 | ITE (64) | 0 | 53.3 | 55.4 | 58.5 |
Related: Vikings Insider Projects Harrison Smith on Roster in 2026
If ever put into an emergency pinch, any capable organization would be happy to have Blake Brandel in their back pocket. With that said, KOC isn’t going to buy a case and strap the 29-year-old veteran on his belt every day, next to his flip phone.
Minnesota Vikings reveal more details on upcoming GM search
And after seeing the Minnesota Vikings upcoming search plans at their currently vacant general manager position, it feels like the Wilfs might feel the same type of way when it comes to vice president of football operations, Rob Brzezinski.
On Monday, longtime NFL insider and current Vikings beat writer for ESPN, Kevin Seifert, revealed Minnesota’s plan to get serious about their GM search.
While Brzezinski is expected to be a “pretty strong candidate” per Ian Rapoport (NFL Network), Seifert reports that he is not considered a frontrunner to land the job.
When probed on the subject down in Phoenix, Rob told reporters that his candidacy for permanent GM is pretty much the last thing on his mind. In fact, it’s tough to know for sure how much the 25+ year MN Vikings executive even wants the full-time general manager position.
There are no indications that interim GM Rob Brzezinski is a favorite for the job, and Brzezinski declined again today to discuss his possible interest. "Looking into the future at all, it's just not what I'm focused on right now." https://t.co/rUNC8kP4c3
— Kevin Seifert (@SeifertESPN) March 30, 2026
Pretty interesting hit today from Rapoport on @Vikings YouTube today regarding the upcoming GM search and what chance longtime (25+ years) team exec Rob Brzezinski has at landing the job. https://t.co/z1P4KSvsMA pic.twitter.com/vCazmSf32z
— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) March 31, 2026
“He’s always had a strong voice in the organization… If a team was smart and they wanted to hire a GM who doesn’t just scout, doesn’t just grind tape, but really understands how an organization works, really operates it at a very high level, does great contracts, makes really good trades, [someone who] just runs the business of football.
Like he’d be someone team should hire and for whatever reason, partially because he’s very loyal, has stayed in Minnesota. But to me, like this is someone who probably should have been a GM already [so I] wasn’t surprised to see him get the interim title. I would expect him to be a pretty strong candidate for the [music] full-time job as well, as he should be.”
Ian Rapoport – Vikings Entertainment Network
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