What Mike Zimmer’s extension means for the future of the Minnesota Vikings

What does Mike Zimmer’s extension with the Minnesota Vikings mean for the future?

During an offseason filled with many question marks around the NFL, one in particular that arose for the Minnesota Vikings as the new year approaches is how they would handle the current contract situation with their head coach.

Leading into the 2020 season, Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer was entering the final year of his contract with the organization and questions surrounding if he would be with Minnesota beyond this year began to come up around the league.

Last week, however, those questions were answered when the Vikings announced they had agreed to a three-year extension with Zimmer to keep him at the head of the team through at least the 2023 season.

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“I wanted to be here with the Vikings,” Zimmer told the media in a video conference call over the weekend. “I wanted to be here with the group we’ve put together.”

With Zimmer now remaining with the organization for at least the next three years, that also means Minnesota can shift its focus more on the future with that position tied up. Mainly, extending star running back Dalvin Cook — who is currently holding out while searching for a new deal — and possibly even extending general manager Rick Spielman, who was also entering 2020 in the final year of his contract.

How Mike Zimmer fits into the long-term future of the Minnesota Vikings.

Zimmer is set to go through his seventh season at the helm of the Vikings in 2020 after becoming the ninth head coach in franchise history in 2014 following a stint as defensive coordinator with the Cincinnati Bengals.

In his six years leading the purple and gold, the 63-year-old Zimmer has compiled a record of 57-38-1 (59.9 percent win percentage) in a total of 96 regular-season games. That includes two NFC North titles and three trips to the playoffs, making it as far as the NFC Championship Game in 2017.

One thing Zimmer has done a nice job of since arriving in Minnesota in 2014 has been leading the team’s defensive charge while beefing up that side of the ball into one of the top groups in the NFL annually. Over the last handful of seasons, Zimmer and the Vikings defense has ranked near the top of the league in multiple defensive categories with the 64-year-old at the helm.

No matter what situation it is or whether it’s a front office employee, player or coach, when someone goes into a final year of a contract with an organization and it takes a while to hash out an agreement between the two sides, tension begins to arise. That was a situation that the Vikings and Zimmer wanted to avoid during the course of the 2020 campaign.

But now, with Zimmer under contract and set to remain in Minnesota until at least through the 2023 season, that allows the Vikings to look more towards the future and shore up issues elsewhere before the new season finally kicks off while also providing the organization some more stability moving into the future.