Minnesota Vikings organized team activities (OTAs) are underway, and training camp will begin in two months. The franchise probably won’t sign or trade for too many new players, but it also has some burning questions to resolve.

Oddsmakers expect Minnesota to finish 8-9 or 9-8 and in last place in the NFC North; the Vikings have a long way to go in beating the odds.

Nevertheless, in the meantime, these are the burning questions facing the club, as the calendar turns to June.

Vikings Summer Checklist Starts with Smith, Banks, and Murray

1. Will Harrison Smith Return?

Smith’s situation has become somewhat of a mystery: no one knows what’s happening.

The Vikings and their fans treated Week 18 of 2025 as if it were his farewell, and that remains the last concrete indication from the 37-year-old safety. He hasn’t officially retired, nor has he re-signed with Minnesota.

If he chooses to return for Year No. 15, he would likely play a significant role in Brian Flores’ defense, potentially logging over 400 snaps. The strange part? June is a day away, and the Vikings are still uncertain about whether their longtime safety will return. It’s time for a verdict.

2. Will Caleb Banks Play Week 1?

Minnesota selected Banks with a 1st-Round pick after a series of draft classes that left the franchise yearning for more young talent. The 2022 and 2023 drafts produced insufficient long-term prospects aside from Jordan Addison, so Banks cannot become another cautionary tale.

His medical history added intrigue to the pick. Banks injured his foot during Florida’s 2025 training camp, played three games, declared for the draft, and then broke his foot at the NFL Combine in February. That injury, particularly for a large defensive lineman, led many draft analysts to drop him to Round 2.

The Vikings had a different perspective. They selected him in Round 1, where he was projected to go prior to the injury concerns.

Now, here’s the key point: if Banks is ready for training camp in late July, Minnesota’s gamble will appear much more reasonable. If he’s not ready for the regular season, the optics will be horrid.

3. Will the Vikings Sign Another OLB?

The Vikings could convert DT Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins to OLB and call it good. That may solve the OLB3 quandary. They could also groom rookie Jake Golday this summer for hybrid ILB-OLB duty, like Golday’s teammate Andrew Van Ginkel. Promoting Bo Richter or Tyler Batty for more playing time is an option, too.

If none of those move the needle, Minnesota must peek at the free-agent wire and decide if Joey Bosa, Jadeveon Clowney, or Leonard Floyd, for example. make sense for the budget.

Which route will they travel?

4. Who Gets Extensions?

These players’ agents can knock on the eventual new general manager’s office door this summer and request contract extensions:

• Jordan Addison (WR)
• Blake Brandel (C)
• Blake Cashman (ILB)
• Jordan Mason (RB)
• Brian O’Neill (RT)
• Isaiah Rodgers (CB)
• Andrew Van Ginkel (OLB)
• Jay Ward (S)

It’s a huge and eyebrow-raising list. O’Neill makes the most sense for an immediate extension; the deal he signed in 2021 is finally drawing to a close.

No matter how you dice it, though, the Vikings have about eight players who will want more money before too long.

5. Who Wins QB1?

The Vikings insist it’s a genuine quarterback competition between Kyler Murray and J.J. McCarthy. But sportsbooks suggest otherwise.

Minnesota signed Murray in March to a one-year, $1.3 million contract, a modest amount since Arizona is covering almost the entire bill. McCarthy started last season, but injuries and erratic play turned his first year as QB1 into a rollercoaster.

Pro Football Network‘s Abhimanyu Chaudhary noted on the battle this week, “As of now, Murray is widely viewed as the favorite to win the starting job. He brings the experience of 87 career regular-season starts, a proven track record as a dual-threat quarterback, and is also well-trained to give the right answers to the media. More importantly, he’s stepping into Kevin O’Connell’s offense, the same system that turned Sam Darnold into an MVP candidate before Darnold left and won Super Bowl 60 with Seattle.”

“With Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, Jauan Jennings, and T.J. Hockenson surrounding him, Murray has the weapons to revive his career and potentially earn a lucrative long-term deal. McCarthy’s path forward is less certain because if Murray takes the starting job and performs well, the former Michigan standout will face a choice of either accepting a backup role and waiting for his opportunity in Minnesota or pursuing a trade to a franchise willing to give him a fresh start.”

Publicly, the front office and coaching staff are framing it as a legitimate competition. While that may be valid behind closed doors, the betting market presents a different narrative, giving Murray approximately a 90% chance of securing the starting job.

Overall, this situation will dominate the next three months for the Vikings.

Dustin Baker is a novelist and political scientist. His second novel, The Invaders , is out now. So is … More about Dustin Baker

Royal Challengers Bengaluru won their second IPL title on Sunday night, and once again, the trophy-hunting Virat Kohli rose tall on the night of the final. He remained unbeaten on 75 (42) after knocking off his fastest IPL half century, which also accounted for 91.76 impact points, him winning the player of the match. Kohli, Rohit, Dhoni and Jadeja have played across seasons. MS Dhoni features on that list for 18 of the 19 seasons. While most of these Indian greats have experienced crests and troughs, Virat Kohli has been relentless, a study in individual excellence, high-octane passion, and a late-career evolution into a self-described “trophy hunter”.

WHY KOHLI STANDS APART 

Virat Kohli has long been the benchmark for consistency in T20 cricket. Across 283 matches, he has piled up 9,336 runs while continually evolving his game. In 2026, he has taken his strike rate to 165.85 – higher than even his celebrated 2016 season. His longevity and output also put him comfortably ahead of contemporaries such as Rohit Sharma (7,329 runs) and MS Dhoni (5,439).

THE CHASEMASTER vs THE HITMAN

A comparison reveals a nuanced look at why Kohli is viewed differently from Rohit Sharma:

Consistency: Kohli’s 68 scores of 50+ dwarf the tallies of Rohit Sharma’s 49. He has 9 IPL 100s, Kohli has shown a far greater “appetite for big runs” than Sharma, who has batted for the Mumbai Indians in a similar timeframe.

Late Career Form: In the last 10 years, Kohli has had only two seasons of 300 runs… In 2024, he scored 741 and 675 in 2026. Rohit Sharma’s decline began around 2017, when he returned from a thigh injury and started batting at No. 4, repeatedly falling to leg-spin. 

THE YEARS AT THE PEAK

Both Kohli and Rohit enjoyed their peak in 2016, 10 seasons ago.

For Kohli, that remains the greatest individual campaign in T20 history, in which he scored leg spinners)… The 2016 season remains the benchmark for Kohli in the IPL. He smashed a record 973 runs, including four centuries, and almost single-handedly carried RCB to the final. What’s stood out since then is not just the peak, but the longevity. 

Nearly a decade later, Kohli continues to score heavily, maintaining a career average above 40 while adding nine IPL hundreds to his name. Few batters have managed to stay this productive for this long, and even fewer have done it while evolving their game.

Rohit Sharma’s best IPL years, by contrast, came when he had a settled role at the top of the order and the responsibility of captaincy. In 2016, he scored 489 runs at an average of 44.45 with five half-centuries, one of his most complete seasons with the bat.

TROPHY HUNTER MENTALITY

When Kohli roars, Wankhede soars. It is not just at the Chinnaswamy anymore. Like Sachin Tendulkar before him, Kohli carries a following that travels with him across India.

What has changed over the last few years is the way he talks about success. Earlier, the focus was on runs, records and carrying RCB’s batting. Now the conversation begins with trophies.

That shift was evident again in the final. Kohli’s unbeaten 75 in Ahmedabad came at a strike rate that would have been considered uncharacteristic of him a decade ago. He paced the innings aggressively from the start, finished unbeaten, and collected another Player of the Match award on the biggest night of the season.

For years, RCB were criticised for relying too heavily on Kohli and AB de Villiers. The franchise often produced extraordinary batting performances without the silverware to match. The second title does not erase that history, but it does strengthen Kohli’s argument that his career should be measured by more than numbers.

At 37, he is still scoring runs, still setting fitness standards and still demanding more from those around him. That may be the clearest reason he remains central to RCB’s plans.

THE NARRATIVE: Rohit Sharma’s IPL story has never been just about runs. Between 2013 and 2020, he led Mumbai Indians to five IPL titles and established one of the most successful dynasties in franchise cricket. Add India’s T20 World Cup triumph in 2024, and Sharma became synonymous with leadership success.

For years, that success afforded him a degree of patience that few players receive. Even when the runs weren’t flowing consistently, Mumbai Indians continued to back him because of what he brought as a captain. His tactical acumen and calm leadership helped build a champion team around match-winners such as Suryakumar Yadav and Kieron Pollard.

During those title-winning years, Sharma often played the stabilising role rather than being the side’s primary aggressor. The trophies kept coming, and discussions around his batting numbers were usually pushed into the background.

But the conversation has changed. Since stepping down as captain, Sharma’s performances have been judged almost exclusively on his returns with the bat. The leadership shield that once protected him from criticism is no longer there.

In a franchise known for making hard calls, questions that were once ignored are now being asked more frequently. Every lean patch attracts greater scrutiny, and every low score fuels debate about his future.

Former India batter and commentator Sanjay Manjrekar was among those who sensed the shift early. Speaking last year, Manjrekar said Sharma had reached a stage in his career where talent alone would not be enough. The challenge, he argued, was no longer about ability but about finding the motivation and intensity required to keep competing at the highest level.

For perhaps the first time in more than a decade, Rohit Sharma is being judged not as a captain, not as a leader, but simply as a batter. And that has made every innings matter more than ever.

During most of the Mumbai Indians’ 2026 campaign, he remained unfit, turned up for 9 of the 14 games, and scored 283 runs. Even though he has significantly improved his strike rate to 157, it was around 133 in 2016.

KOHLI’S FITNESS AS A FOUNDATION

One area where Kohli has clearly separated himself from his peers is fitness. Nearly two decades into his professional career, he remains among the quickest runners between the wickets and one of the fittest players in the league.

That physical foundation has allowed him to sustain a strike rate of nearly 166 this season while continuing to produce runs at a level few batters have matched over such a long period.

Rohit Sharma’s challenge has been different. Injuries and availability have increasingly become part of the discussion. He featured in only nine matches during Mumbai Indians’ 2026 campaign and finished with 283 runs. The intent remained aggressive, but his season was again interrupted by fitness concerns.

THE HEARTBEAT AND THE PLAYER’S CAPTAIN

The contrast between Kohli and Rohit has rarely been starker. Kohli is coming off another title, another Player of the Match performance in a final and another season that underlined his longevity. Nearly two decades into his career, he remains among the IPL’s most productive batters and one of its biggest attractions.

Rohit Sharma finds himself in a different place. The intent is still there, but consistency has become harder to find and fitness concerns have increasingly shaped his seasons. Since giving up the Mumbai Indians captaincy, his performances have been judged far more on runs than leadership.

There is little left for Rohit to prove in white-ball cricket. Five IPL titles as captain and a T20 World Cup with India place him among the most successful leaders of his generation. The debate now centres on his IPL career: whether there is one more significant contribution left in him, or whether his best years in the tournament are already behind him.

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Eddie Hearn has floated two potential locations for Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua’s long-awaited showdown, which, according to the Matchroom promoter, is set to take place in November.

The most desirable venue for their all-British heavyweight clash is perhaps London’s Wembley Stadium, despite it being winter, where ‘AJ’ has previously headlined four pay-per-view events.

Fury, meanwhile, has only graced the hallowed turf of Britain’s national stadium on one occasion, back when he stopped Dillian Whyte in round six of their 2022 WBC title fight.

Since then, ‘The Gypsy King’ has lost his world championship following back-to-back points defeats to Oleksandr Usyk in 2024, with his most recent outing arriving against Arslanbek Makhmudov, who he unanimously outpointed, in April.

But despite returning to the win column, the 37-year-old has teased yet another warm-up fight, possibly in August, ahead of his domestic dustup with Joshua.

It remains to be seen whether this plan actually materialises, but Joshua’s interim bout is set – he must take care of Kristian Prenga in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on July 25.

The 36-year-old’s last assignment resulted in a sixth-round finish over Jake Paul in December, which followed his devastating fifth-round stoppage defeat to Daniel Dubois in September 2024.

With a win over Prenga, though, Joshua could end up facing Fury in the UK or USA, which, according to a Matchroom Boxing interview with promoter Hearn, are the two locations being discussed for later this year.

“[The] UK and America are both in discussions right now. It’ll be down to [Turki Alalshikh] where that fight’s held, but we’re being told middle of November. [Joshua’s] got to get the job done against Prenga first.”

Joshua’s only two stateside performances saw him stop Paul and suffer a shock defeat to Andy Ruiz Jr in 2019, while Fury entered all three of his encounters with Deontay Wilder in America.

The inclusion of the US is surprising, with the consensus previously being that if the bout was not in the UK, it would land in Saudi Arabia, given Turki Alalshikh’s involvement in getting it over the line.

Peabo Bryson has suffered a stroke and is under medical care, as shared by his representatives. The two-time Grammy Award winner is known for his songs in Disney movies like Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin.

The singer-songwriter often sings ballads, especially in duets with female singers. He has sung numerous iconic songs over the years, including singles like Tonight, I Celebrate My Love, and You’re Looking Like Love to Me. The South Carolina native also sang the famous As Long as There’s Christmas.

On Sunday, Bryson’s representative released a statement regarding his health, stating (h/t Variety):

“Two-time Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter and balladeer, Peabo Bryson — the voice behind the Oscar-winning Disney songs ‘Beauty and the Beast’ and ‘A Whole New World’ — has suffered a stroke and is currently under medical care.”

“At this time, the family requests privacy as they navigate this deeply personal moment together. The thoughts, prayers and love of friends and fans are welcomed and deeply appreciated,” the statement added.

Peabo Bryson is 75 years old, having been born on April 13, 1951, in Greenville, South Carolina, US. He started his career as part of groups such as Moses Dillard and the Tex-Town Display. However, he then joined the Atlanta indie label Bang Records as a solo artist.

He has released 18 studio albums, with his debut album being Peabo, released in 1976. He released Reaching for the Sky and Crosswinds in the following two years, gaining prominence in the industry.

Peabo Bryson won two Grammy Awards in 1994 for his duets. He won the Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals Award for Beauty and the Beast with Celine Dion. He also won the Record of the Year Award for A Whole New World with Regina Belle.

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Peabo Bryson spoke about his heart attack in 2019 and his upcoming album, Grace

Last year marked Peabo Bryson’s 50th anniversary in the music industry. To celebrate the occasion, he announced a new album titled Grace, which was set to be released later this year.

In an interview with WBGO, published in October last year, he spoke about the album and also about his heart attack in 2019. His wife, Tanya Boniface, gave him CPR back then before he was taken to the hospital in Atlanta. Explaining the situation, Bryson said:

“When I awoke five days later, I realized that whole ordeal that took about 34 minutes, and that’s a long time not to be breathing. If she had not breathed for me that I would not have had any cognizant skills left.”

Peabo Bryson also announced his new album and a book on the occasion of his 50th anniversary. He said that he got the motivation to write a book from TV personality Glenda Hatchett, saying:

“She read one of my responses and calls me. I’ve known her for about four years and said I should write a book of essays and that I have something to say. Writing for me has always been channeled to the music that I do. Did I know that there’s poet inside of me. Of course I did. I am what I always am a poet.”

Meanwhile, Peabo Bryson has two kids: son Robert, with Tanya Boniface, and daughter Linda, from a previous relationship.

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