Minnesota Vikings
Projected Cap Space: $29.6 million
Draft Picks: 8
- 1st (No. 11)
- 2nd (No. 42)
- 4th (No. 109)
- 4th (No. 130, DET)
- 5th (No. 156)
- 5th (No. 166, KC)
- 6th (No. 179, CAR)
- 6th (No. 190, LV)
Notable Free Agents:
- QB Kirk Cousins
- OLB Danielle Hunter
- OLB Marcus Davenport
- G Dalton Risner
- OLB D.J. Wonnum
- LB Jordan Hicks
- WR K.J. Osborn
- QB Josh Dobbs
- RB Cam Akers (RFA)
- K Greg Joseph
- TE Johnny Mundt
- DT Khyiris Tonga (RFA)
- OL Oli Udoh
- LB Anthony Barr
- DL Jonathan Bullard
- LB Nick Vigil
- OL Chris Reed
Top Three Needs
1 – Edge Rusher
Technically speaking, quarterback would be the Vikings’ top need if they don’t re-sign Cousins. That’s a little bit of a different discussion though. Elsewhere on the roster, the team is staring down the barrel of a bad situation at another premium position; edge rusher. Minnesota’s top three players are on expiring contracts.
The trio were responsible for 26.5 of the Vikings’ 43 sacks last season — 16.5 from Hunter, eight from Wonnum, two from Davenport. Hunter will probably get more than the Vikings are comfortable matching in free agency and the Vikings gave away their franchise tag rights to help end Hunter’s holdout this past summer. Even though he’s not a household name, Wonnum is set to make a decent payday after a solid season. Davenport played just four games due to injury.
The Vikings could be starting completely over, making edge rusher a premium position to target in both the draft and free agency. While DC Brian Flores blitzed more than any other defensive coordinator in the league, he also rushed three or fewer players at a higher rate than any other team. His defense works better with talent at edge rusher and isn’t just creating pressure purely through scheme.
2 – Cornerback
Flores made some waves in 2023 with a funky defensive scheme that was truly original. But it seemed like opposing offenses started to figure it out toward the end of the season. Minnesota’s struggles on defense last season also exposed the talent deficiencies in the secondary, especially at cornerback.
Plenty of help is still needed for the Vikings. The catch is they’ve invested a lot of draft capital in the secondary in the past few seasons and are still waiting for a payoff from Day 2 guys like Andrew Booth or Mekhi Blackmon. Landing Byron Murphy in free agency on a two-year deal last offseason was solid but the other two spots remain up in the air.
Minnesota’s strategy here could be dictated in part by what happens with Cousins. If he’s back, there’s more urgency for a short-term fix which could prompt the Vikings to look for short-term veteran solutions, like former Dolphins CB Xavien Howard. If Cousins is gone, though, then the youth movement should continue with the Vikings taking more of a long-term approach to their overall roster.
3 – Guard
Four out of five spots on the Vikings’ offensive line are in great to decent shape. Both LT Christian Darrisaw and RT Brian O’Neill are outstanding, while G Ed Ingram has improved since a rough first season and Garrett Bradbury is competent at center. The glaring omission is left guard, which was manned by Risner, a pending free agent, for most of last season.
Risner found a weak market as a free agent last year for whatever reason, and if history repeats itself it’s possible the Vikings could bring him back once again on a cheap contract. If not, Minnesota needs to find a solution, as most of the backups on the roster are also set for free agency.
One Big Question
Is it finally time for the Vikings to hit the rebuild button?
To fully understand how the Vikings have operated over the past several years, it’s necessary to know that ownership wants the team to be competing for the playoffs every single season. When GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and HC Kevin O’Connell took over two years ago, they could have taken a wrecking ball to the roster and rebuilt things exactly the way they wanted.
Instead, the Vikings have been straddling a line between rebuilding an aging core without sacrificing too much for the present. The results are solid — the Vikings won 13 games in 2022 and had Cousins not gone down with a torn Achilles halfway through last year when the team was 4-4, they could have been two-for-two on postseason appearances.
But Cousins is a free agent and the Vikings have to decide if it’s wise to fork over another massive bag of guaranteed money for a 36-year-old coming off a torn Achilles who has one playoff win in six seasons in Minnesota.
If the answer is yes, then business continues on pretty much as normal. The Vikings will push as much of Cousins’ deal into the future as they can and work on squeezing as much help onto the rest of the roster as possible, cycling through a couple more veterans that are past their windows of viability in Minnesota. In another year or two, they’ll face the same questions all over again.
If the answer is no, then things could get wild. The Vikings could continue to be aggressive to try and find a player they’re confident can keep them in the playoff mix sooner rather than later, either a top prospect or a veteran from another team. The cost for those moves would be steep, in some cases just as pricy as it would be to keep Cousins.
The alternative is finally triggering a major rebuild to rid the roster of bad contracts and build a young, cheap core nucleus that can grow into a legit contender. For as solid as the Vikings have been, the ceiling has always felt limited. If Cousins leaves, perhaps that could finally trigger the step back to take three steps forward that many have been hoping the Vikings would take.
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