Report: Dallas Cowboys assistant being hired by Minnesota Vikings

Matt Daniels – who has served as the Dallas Cowboys’ assistant special teams coordinator since 2020 – is joining the Minnesota Vikings as the team’s new special teams coordinator, according to Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network.

Daniels, 32, joined the Cowboys after spending the 2018 and 2019 seasons with the Los Angeles Rams as their assistant special teams coordinator. The Tucson, Arizona native played safety at Duke and spent time in the NFL with the St. Louis Rams, Jacksonville Jaguars and San Diego Chargers.

Daniels will join Kevin O’Connell’s inaugural coaching staff in Minnesota for the 2022 season.

New Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell on how Kirk Cousins fits into Minnesota’s 2022 plans

The Minnesota Vikings have officially hired Kevin O’Connell as the team’s next head coach. Now that O’Connell is in place, attention has shifted to whether or not the Vikings will stick with Kirk Cousins at quarterback next season.

Next season is the final year of Cousins’ current contract with the Vikings. He is set to earn a $35 million base salary, and will hold a $45 million cap hit. Cousins is due to become an unrestricted free agent following the 2022 season.

In O’Connell’s introductory press conference, he said that Cousins is currently part of his plans for the Vikings offense.

“Well I know he’s under contract and I’m excited to coach him,” O’Connell said when asked if he can say if Cousins will be the Vikings quarterback next season. “We’ve already started thinking about how we’re going to build those systems for him and our other quarterbacks and really the tremendous skill group we have, the guys up front. It takes all 11 to move the football on offense, to run it, to throw it, to score points in the red zone.

“But I’m anticipating Kirk being a part of what we do.”

On3’s Jonathan Wagner contributed to this report.