Kevin O’Connell Expects OLB Jonathan Greenard To Remain With Vikings

The Vikings were reportedly open to moving OLB Jonathan Greenard this offseason for salary cap purposes, as Greenard wants a market-correction to his deal but Minnesota has limited cap space at the moment.

Speaking at the league meetings, Vikings HC Kevin O’Connell discussed his expectations that Greenard will be on the team in 2026. He said they are planning to transition more to draft meetings this month, but was clear they want to do what’s best for everyone involved. 

“Yeah, I expect him to be part of our team. I know there’s always conversations, there’s conversations this week, there’s conversations throughout the offseason, and we’ll continue to kind of attack things at the different phases,” O’Connell said, via ESPN’s Kevin Seifert. “We’re getting ready to really jump heavily into draft meetings when we get back, but at the same time, we’re always going to try to do what’s best for our team and also what we think is best for each one of our individual players. And that’s an ongoing thing throughout every offseason.”

Greenard, 28, was a one-year starter at Florida after transferring from Louisville as a senior. He earned first-team All-SEC honors before the Texans selected him with the No. 90 overall pick in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft.

Greenard played out the final year of his four-year, $4,584,223 rookie contract that includes an $893,982 signing bonus. He then signed a four-year, $76 million deal with the Vikings as a free agent. 

In 2025, Greenard appeared in 12 games for the Vikings and recorded 38 total tackles, 10 tackles for loss, three sacks, one forced fumble and three pass deflections. 

We’ll have more on Greenard and the Vikings as the news becomes available.