Ahead of Sunday’s wild-card clash with the New Orleans Saints, the Minnesota Vikings threw support behind their head coach and general manager.
“We value Mike and Rick’s leadership and we have every intent of Mike continuing as the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings and Rick leading our football operations, next year and beyond,” Vikings owner Mark Wilf said in a statement obtained by NFL Network.
Both Zimmer and Spielman are under contract in Minnesota through the 2020 season.
NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported on Saturday that Zimmer was a name to watch in the Dallas Cowboys‘ likely head coaching search. As Zimmer is under contract, Dallas would have to execute a trade for the former Cowboys defensive coordinator if it were to move on from Jason Garrett.
In his six seasons as Vikings head coach, Zimmer has led Minnesota to a 57-38-1 record, three playoff appearances, two division titles and just one losing season.
Spielman has been with the Vikings organization since 2006 and held the title of general manager since 2012.
After reaching the NFC title game in 2017, Minnesota splurged for starting quarterback Kirk Cousins in the 2018 offseason. The Vikings missed the postseason in 2018 with an 8-7-1 record, but returned this year after posting a 10-6 mark.
Minnesota’s showing on Sunday in the Superdome will make or break its season, but according to Vikings ownership, it won’t have an effect on the job status of Zimmer or Spielman.