The NFL season will look different in 2021, as the league officially announced this week that all teams will play 17 games.
The Vikings are slated to travel to Los Angeles to play the Chargers, and the full schedule will be released later this spring.
But with league meetings taking place next week, other changes could soon be on the way, too.
NFL.com recently outlined proposed rule changes, which can either be submitted by the league's Competition Committee or by a team.
The story site noted:
During upcoming owners' meetings, clubs will vote on the following proposed rules changes. All proposals must be approved by 75 percent (24) of the owners to be adopted. NFL clubs will consider and vote on the following Competition Committee and club-submitted proposals.
The Competition Committee submitted four total proposals, including a suggestion to eliminate overtime in the preseason.
Teams submitted seven total proposals, none of which came from the Vikings.
Kansas City suggested to expand jersey number options for certain positions, while Baltimore and Philadelphia want to change the options for winner of an overtime coin toss and create a true sudden death format.
The full list of proposals can be found here.
Vikings.com will have coverage of any rule changes next week.
Vikings slotted 15*th* in ESPN power rankings
A little over a week ago, NFL.com had the Vikings at No. 17 in their latest power rankings.
ESPN recently unveiled its own offseason power rankings and had Minnesota in an even higher spot.
The Vikings landed at No. 15 in ESPN’s poll, with Vikings reporter Courtney Cronin noting that Minnesota's best offseason move was starting with defense in free agency.
Cronin wrote:
The key for a bounce back rests with the Vikings defense. [Vikings Head Coach] Mike Zimmer was adamant that LB Anthony Barr stick around, so the team found a way to restructure his contract. Minnesota created the salary cap space needed to go after free agents like Dalvin Tomlinson and Patrick Peterson.
These moves don't answer every question about the defense (can Danielle Hunter bounce back, can Tomlinson improve the pass rush and can Peterson still be a shutdown corner) but the Vikings faced their biggest problem head-on by finding plug-and-play pieces instead of betting on rookies to be drafted in April.
The Vikings currently have 10 picks in the 2021 NFL Draft. Minnesota currently has a first-round pick and a pair of third-rounders, plus a quartet of fourth-round selections.
