After spending more than $300 million last year to upgrade their roster, the Vikings enter free agency needing to be a lot more strategic. They won’t be able to splurge nearly as much this time around.

That doesn’t mean the Vikings can be complacent. They still need to be as aggressive as possible as they address their weaknesses.

After entering last week more than $40 million over the cap, the Vikings made a series of moves to ensure they’ll have some money to spend. That includes renegotiating the contract of veteran tight end T.J. Hockenson to save more than $5 million. They could have nearly $30 million at their disposal.

The legal tampering period begins Monday at 11 a.m. That’s the unofficial start to free agency across the NFL as teams can start negotiating with unrestricted free agents and agreeing to terms on contracts.

Here are some questions the Vikings must answer in free agency:

Who will compete at quarterback?

The only quarterbacks the Vikings currently have under contract are J.J. McCarthy and Max Brosmer. That’s not good enough. There’s a need for competition at the position after McCarthy underwhelmed.

It’s been widely speculated the Vikings have their eyes fixated on Kyler Murray once he hits the open market. Other options expected to be available include Geno Smith, Daniel Jones, Kirk Cousins and Aaron Rodgers.

It’s worth noting the Vikings won’t be able to negotiate with Murray until he is officially released by the Arizona Cardinals. It sounds like Murray might take some visits before he makes his final decision.

Who will complement at running back?

The fact the Vikings plan to release Aaron Jones will create a big opportunity for Jordan Mason. It will also spark some urgency to provide him with a running back that complements his skill set.

It’s likely the Vikings target somebody that provides a chance of pace and also thrives as a pass catcher. A few names that fit the mold include Kenneth Gainwell, Rachaad White and J.K. Dobbins.

There’s also a chance the Vikings could wait until the draft to find another running back. That would give them the ability to select a young prospect that comes with more upside.

Who will provide depth at receiver?

The assumption is that the Vikings won’t be able to afford Jalen Nailor once the offers start rolling in. He’s an ascending player that seems destined for an increased role elsewhere.

That means the Vikings will need to add another receiver to play alongside with Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison. The only other receivers under contract at the moment are Tai Felton and Myles Price. They need somebody with more experience.

There are many ways the Vikings could go in search of depth, including Darnell Mooney, Rashid Shaheed, Keenan Allen or Kendrick Bourne.

Who will fill the void left at center?

It was no surprise Ryan Kelly recently announced his retirement. He has suffered a number of concussions in his career.

Now the Vikings must find a center that can hold it down in the middle of the offensive line. It’s unlikely that they’ll be willing to move forward with Blake Brandel or Michael Jurgens as the starter.

There are a host of potential candidates the Vikings could pursue, including Tyler Linderbaum, Tyler Biadasz and Luke Fortner.

Who will be replace veterans at defensive tackle?

After signing Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave to big contracts last year, the Vikings are already preparing to move on from them. They have reportedly informed Allen and Hargrave of their impending release.

That leaves the Vikings with a gaping hole at defensive tackle in the short term. Though the emergence of Jalen Redmond gives them a foundational piece, they could opt to bring in a veteran like Dalvin Tomlinson or David Onyemata to pair with him.

Related Articles

Vikings restructure T.J. Hockenson’s contract to clear more cap space

Mizutani: If the Vikings want to compete, Kyler Murray is the obvious choice

Vikings center Ryan Kelly announces his retirement

Vikings seem destined to add a quarterback. Some intel from the NFL Combine

How did the Vikings grade out in the annual NFLPA report cards?

The U.S. and Israeli militaries bombarded Iranian military targets and vital energy infrastructure Sunday, as Iran tried to project stability by announcing that top clerics were finalizing their selection of a new supreme leader.

There was no sign of an off-ramp for the fighting. Water desalination plants came under attack in Iran and on the Persian Gulf island of Bahrain over the weekend and strikes on facilities that serve civilians threatened to affect the lives of millions of people across the Middle East.

The Pentagon said a seventh U.S. service member had died, a week after being wounded in an Iranian attack on a military base in Saudi Arabia where U.S. troops were stationed. And President Donald Trump warned in an interview with ABC News that whoever is selected as the next supreme leader “is not going to last long” without the approval of the United States.

Iranian state television said that the country’s top clerics were close to naming a successor to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the ruler killed in the opening blow of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran last weekend. The channel did not say who the new leader might be, but officials who spoke to The New York Times previously said Mojtaba Khamenei, the ayatollah’s son, was the front-runner.

U.S. Central Command urged Iranian civilians to stay at home, suggesting that the United States could strike densely populated areas from which it said Iranian forces often launch drone strikes and ballistic missiles.

Earlier Sunday, dense, oily clouds from strikes on fuel depots settled over Tehran, Iran’s capital, according to residents and video. “With the fire it felt like night became day, and then with all the smoke the day turned back into night again,” said Aryan, 33, a resident who requested anonymity to avoid possible retribution by Iranian authorities.

Israel’s military said it had targeted the fuel depots because they were being used by Iran’s military, and a senior U.S. military official said U.S. forces were targeting sites affiliated with Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard, as well as missile sites and air defenses.

Iran retaliated by firing barrages of missiles and drones across the Persian Gulf and Israel, some of which hit critical civilian infrastructure. Gulf countries depend almost entirely on desalination for drinking water.

Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said the strike on the facility in Bahrain came only after the United States had hit an Iranian desalination plant on Qeshm Island, affecting the water supply for 30 villages. “The U.S. set this precedent, not Iran,” he said on social media.

Here’s what else we’re covering:

— Migrant worker deaths: Saudi Arabia reported its first civilian deaths: Two foreign residents — one Indian national and one Bangladeshi national — were killed, and 12 more Bangladeshi residents were injured, after a “military projectile” fell on their residence in the Kharj region, according to the kingdom’s civil defense authority. Migrant workers have been among the most heavily affected by Iranian attacks in the Persian Gulf countries.

— Death toll: The death toll in Iran remained shrouded in uncertainty. Last week, the Red Crescent Society said nearly 800 people had been killed, but it has not provided an official update to that figure in recent days. On Friday, Iran’s ambassador to the U.N. put the number of dead at more than 1,300.

— School strike: Trump on Saturday blamed Iran for an airstrike that hit an elementary school in Iran on Feb. 28, killing scores of children. A Times visual investigation indicates that the school was most likely hit by a U.S. airstrike.

— Beirut attacks: An Israeli airstrike hit a hotel in central Beirut on Sunday, killing at least four people, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. The Israeli military said it had attacked commanders in the Quds Force special forces, a branch of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard that helps manage Iranian ties to proxy militias across the region. The death toll from the Israeli military operation in Lebanon has risen to almost 400, the Lebanese Health Ministry said Sunday.

— Hezbollah funerals: Villagers in eastern Lebanon buried eight people, most identified as Hezbollah fighters, killed in fighting with Israeli forces overnight into Saturday. Mourners praised the dead for their defiance of Israel.

— Gas prices: As oil has jumped in price on the global market, so has gasoline at U.S. service stations. Since the start of the conflict, average gas prices have risen 16%, after going up another 4 cents a gallon Sunday, according to data from the AAA motor club.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

Related Articles

Pentagon announces seventh U.S. Death in war with Iran

Allison Schrager: America’s human capital is eroding. Invest!

Editorial: War powers and the weight of the Constitution

Mihir Sharma: Why we should worry about the other war on Iran’s border

Iran names Mojtaba Khamenei to succeed his slain father as supreme leader

Girls state basketball tournament week has arrived, with brackets released for all four classes over the weekend.

All semifinals and finals will be played at Williams Arena, with quarterfinal matchups split between Williams Arena and the adjoining Maturi Pavilion.

Semifinals and finals will be broadcast locally on KSTC, Channel 45, and will be streamed at prep45.com and on the KSTP 5 app.

Quarterfinal action can be streamed on nspn.tv/MSHSL.

Check out the full brackets on the MSHSL website. Brackets will be updated here daily throughout the tournament.

Class 4A

Wednesday’s quarterfinals at Williams Arena

No. 1 Hopkins vs. No. 8 Blaine, 10 a.m.

No. 4 Maple Grove vs. No. 5 East Ridge, noon

No. 2 Rosemount vs. No. 7 Chanhassen, 2 p.m.

No. 3 Rochester Mayo vs. No. 6 Monticello, 4 p.m.

Thursday’s semifinals at Williams Arena

Winners of 10 a.m. and noon quarterfinals, 6 p.m.

Winners of 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. quarterfinals, 8 p.m.

Saturday’s final

Semifinal winners, 8 p.m.

Class 3A

Wednesday’s quarterfinals at Maturi Pavilion

No. 1 Stewartville vs. No. 8 Willmar, 10 a.m.

No. 4 Cretin-Derham Hall vs. No. 5 Hill-Murray, noon

No. 2 Benilde-St. Margaret’s vs. No. 7 Rock Ridge, 2 p.m.

No. 3 Marshall vs. No. 6 Totino-Grace, 4 p.m.

Thursday’s semifinals

Winners of 10 a.m. and noon quarterfinals, noon

Winners of 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. quarterfinals, 2 p.m.

Saturday’s final

Semifinal winners, 2 p.m.

Class 2A

Wednesday’s semifinals

No. 1 Providence Academy vs. No. 8 Central Public Schools, 6 p.m. at Williams Arena

No. 4 Rochester Lourdes vs. No. 5 Perham, 8 p.m. at Williams Arena

No. 2 Duluth Marshall vs. No. 7 Sauk Centre, 6 p.m. at Maturi Pavilion

No. 3 New London-Spicer vs. No. 6 Minnehaha Academy, 8 p.m. at Maturi Pavilion

Friday’s semifinals

Williams Arena quarterfinal winners, 6 p.m.

Maturi Pavilion quarterfinal winners, 8 p.m.

Saturday’s final

Semifinal winners, 6 p.m.

Class A

Thursday’s quarterfinals at Maturi Pavilion

No. 1 Mountain Iron-Buhl vs. No. 8 Braham, 11 a.m.

No. 4 Hillcrest Lutheran vs. No. 5 New Richland-H-E-G, 1 p.m.

No. 2 Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s vs. No. 7 Mayer Lutheran, 3 p.m.

No. 3 Kelliher / Northome vs. No. 6 Central Minnesota Christian, 5 p.m.

Friday’s semifinals

11 a.m. and 1 p.m. quarterfinal winners, noon

3 p.m. and 5 p.m. quarterfinal winners, 2 p.m.

Saturday’s final

Semifinal winners, noon

DENVER – Like every hockey-playing kid in Minnesota of a certain age, Bobby Brink grew up in Minnetonka dreaming of wearing two sweaters someday: the blue and white of the local high school, and the red and green of the Wild.

And typical of young Wild fans of the late 2000s, the 6-year old Brink idolized Marian Gaborik, scoring goals and winning games while wearing jersey number 10 in Minnesota.

In a bit of a full-circle moment for Brink, 24, he made his Wild debut on a Friday night in Las Vegas, wearing a red and green sweater with number 10 on the back.

“It’s obviously an honor to wear this jersey, growing up a Wild fan,” said Brink, after logging 18 shifts in the Wild’s 4-2 win over Vegas. “It was a special day.”

And a long, long day, to be sure.

On Thursday night in Philadelphia, Brink had played 20 minutes for the Flyers in a home loss to Utah. He woke up Friday morning to the news that he was headed to the Wild in a trade that sent defenseman David Jiricek to the Flyers.

With his phone blowing up, Brink headed to the Philadelphia airport for a hastily-arranged cross-country flight to Nevada. It was only then, waiting at the gate to board his plane, did he realize he’d forgotten to check in with his biggest fan.

“It was such a whirlwind that I was trying to pack up and I had phone calls from everyone,” he said. “So I called my dad from the airport, maybe three, four hours after I was traded.”

If Brink’s name is familiar to Twin Cities hockey fans, it could be from his leading Minnetonka to the 2018 state title. Or, if you’re a generation older, you may recall his father Andy, who is originally from Bemidji, won state prep and amateur golf titles in Minnesota, and skated four years at forward for Doug Woog’s U of M teams in the 1990s, playing in a pair of Frozen Fours for the Gophers.

Wild general manager Bill Guerin is from Massachusetts and spent part of his career playing with the Boston Bruins, so he understands the additional pressure that can come from playing “at home” close to friends and family. When he called Brink to welcome him to the Wild, Guerin said he laid out some very clear expectations for the hockey homecoming.

“The first thing I told him is this is not a family reunion. This is not to get together with your buddies,” Guerin said. “Tell your buddies and your family, they know where the ticket office is. Buy your own friggin’ tickets, OK?…He’s coming here to work, and to be part of the Wild and to win.”

Brink joins the Wild with some familiarity already, having skated with Matt Boldy – one of his linemates for his Minnesota debut – on USA Hockey teams in the past.

“Such a smart player, the way he thinks the game and controls the puck and creates space for others,” Boldly said. “I’m super excited for him, and he’s quite the character too. So hopefully he brings some energy to the room.”

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA – DECEMBER 13: Bobby Brink #10 of the Philadelphia Flyers celebrates his goal during the first period against the Carolina Hurricanes at Xfinity Mobile Arena on December 13, 2025 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images)

Related Articles

Tough choices coming with Wild roster restocked at trade deadline

New additions look like aces as Wild win in Vegas

Bill Guerin says Wild ‘checked a lot of boxes’ at NHL trade deadline

Wild pull off trade with Blackhawks to reunite Foligno brothers in Minnesota

Wild bring Bobby Brink home to Minnesota in trade deadline deal