This season didn’t begin for the Minnesota Vikings in September. It began in January.
Last January. At a children’s playdate.
Brian Flores’s daughter, Liliana, had friends over to their home. Their father? Mike Sherels, a former longtime linebackers coach with the University of Minnesota.
While watching the kids, Sherels talked of the many NFL linebackers he worked with including Damien Wilson and DeVondre Campbell. However, Sherels felt the best of them was Blake Cashman, who starred for the Golden Gophers and made second-team All-Big Ten in 2018.
Sherels also mentioned that Cashman was hitting free agency after a breakout 2023 campaign with the Houston Texans in which he recorded 106 total tackles, nine tackles for loss, five quarterback hits, two sacks and a fumble recovery.
The conversation prompted Flores to look at his film after not previously having been familiar with his game. After review, Flores pounded the table for the Minnesota native prior to free agency, who eventually signed with his hometown team on a three-year, $22.5 million contract.
Cashman’s deal was officially agreed upon on March 13, the same day Minnesota also signed quarterback Sam Darnold, running back Aaron Jones, outside linebackers Andrew Van Ginkel and Jonathan Greenard, and Cashman on the inside.
The result is one of the most impactful free-agent classes for any team in recent memory, the product of a three-year plan by coach Kevin O’Connell and general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, centered around clearing long-term cap space while still competing in the moment.
