The talking point after the Minnesota Vikings season was that head coach Mike Zimmer was entering next season on the last year of his deal. According to Courtney Cronin of ESPN, that isn't the case anymore, as Rick Spielman confirmed that the team exercised the 2020 option on Zimmer's contract.

After the season was over Zimmer was asked if going into the final year of his contract bothered him, and he said it didn't and even joked maybe he would be a free agent then.

“Sure, I've got no problem with that,” Mike Zimmer said with a grin, via the Vikings' official website. “Free agent after that, right?”

Article Continues Below

There was also some talk that Zimmer was thinking about retiring after missing the playoffs, but the head coach called that fake news.

“No, I can't believe somebody even threw that out there,” Zimmer said. “But, no, it was totally 100 percent — what do they call it? Hashtag-fake news or something? No. I'm not a quitter.”

Since taking over the Vikings in 2014 Zimmer has compiled a 47-32-1 record and made the playoffs twice including an NFC Championship game appearance in 2017.

Even with the contract extension, there is still a lot of pressure on Zimmer and the Vikings next season. The organization didn't give Kirk Cousins a big contract to miss out on the playoffs. Even with the contract extension for Zimmer, if they miss the playoffs it still could be the end for Zimmer in Minnesota. It's a make a break year for the organization in more ways than one.