Brian Flores connection could cost Steelers a top free agent

With Brian Flores at the defensive helm at Minnesota, the Pittsburgh Steelers will have to hold on to a lot more power than their best holding agents.

Less than a week before free agency begins, Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores is making and double-checking his list of the best defenders available. There’s a good chance that one or two players from the Pittsburgh Steelers are on the roster.

The Vikings have been on a roster-cutting rampage and have thrown the likes of Adam Thelin, Eric Kendricks, Harrison Smith and possibly Dalvin Cook over the edge. It’s a brilliant bloodbath with no one guaranteed to be safe from the guillotine while Minnesota continues to take aggressive and ruthless steps to catch up to the salary cap.

Once this is done, the Vikings can turn their attention to rebuilding key areas, especially on the defensive side of the ball. New defensive coordinator Brian Flores, who spent last season with the Steelers as the team’s linebackers coach, has a tough task ahead of him in overhauling one of the league’s worst defenses.

The Vikings allowed 25.1 points per game in 2022, tied for 29th overall, and released talented players like Kendrick and Smith. To stem the bleeding, Flores can look to his former team to poach some suspended free agents: Cameron Sutton, Terrell Edmonds, Devin Bosh, and Robert Spillane all come to mind and fill the defensive holes in the Vikings roster nicely.

Vikings DC Brian Flores might throw the fishing line to the Steelers’ best agent

Of all the Steelers players, cornerback Cameron Sutton arguably delivers the highest after putting together his career-best campaign in his sixth season in Pittsburgh, recording 15 passes defensed and three interceptions.

Safety Terrell Edmunds also seems mystified by the Vikings since the franchise recently ousted Harrison Smith, and perhaps Devin Bush could fill Eric Kendricks’ shoes as a smaller, cheaper option in the linebacker corps.

Flores has always taken an aggressive, heavy-handed approach when it comes to his defense based on his previous stints with the New England Patriots and Miami Dolphins.

Unfortunately for the Steelers, Flores can be just as aggressive in free agency if he decides he wants to play some of Pittsburgh’s most viable defensive agents.

Jonathan Jones of the New England Patriots and Byron Jones of the Miami Dolphins also have connections to Flores and are slated to go into free agency, two linebackers who may be flying high on Flores’ radar as well.

Did Flores make such a profound impact on the players he coached that they would all want to play with him in the less-tilln Vikings, perhaps less Cook and Cousins? In three days, we’ll find out.

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