At the risk of sounding like the person who can’t believe it’s almost April already, can you believe it’s only been seven days since the NFL’s league year began? Well, a lot has happened and a lot more rumors are swirling about what could happen next. So let’s take a deep breath and look at where the Vikings stand with their salary cap and roster and what decisions may be on the way…
Where are they with the salary cap?
Heading into Wednesday, OverTheCap.com lists the Vikings as being $5.9 million over the cap. Of course, that can’t be the case because every team has to be cap compliant on the first day of the league year and remain so for the rest of the season. The gap between OTC’s listing and the actual cap space is Harrison Smith’s new contract, which isn’t yet listed but will save the Vikings $6.7 million in space. So they have about enough to sign a practice squad long snapper at the moment.
The Vikings officially signed Marcus Davenport on Tuesday. In order to fit him under the cap, they apparently needed to do some gymnastics. OTC lists the 27-year-old rusher’s deal as having four void years. If the Vikings extend Davenport after this year, they can spread out his dead cap space but if he leaves after one season in purple, he’ll take up $6.8 million next year to play elsewhere.
Void years are back en vogue for the Vikings this offseason. Per OTC, cornerback Byron Murphy’s deal has three void years ($4.2 million dead cap in 2025 if he isn’t here) and defensive tackle Dean Lowry’s contract also has three void years ($1.8 in 2025 if he’s gone).
None of these numbers are destructive to the Vikings’ future but they do add up. This year the Vikings are already working around the constraint of $27 million in dead cap, $7.5 million of which came via Dalvin Tomlinson’s void years.
What are the biggest decisions to still be made?
It doesn’t appear possible to keep both Za’Darius Smith and Dalvin Cook on their current contracts simply because there aren’t many more buttons to push and the Vikings must create enough space to sign their draft class and have cap space on hand to sign a practice squad and extra players in case of injury. They can restructure Brian O’Neill’s contract or trade Smith or Cook, which (per OTC) creates more space than simply cutting them. That may justify fiddling with other contracts to buy time for potential deals. Restructures for Smith and Cook could get them in the ballpark of $11 million whereas pre-June 1 trades for both would make closer to $20 million in space.
A decision on Danielle Hunter could come soon if the Vikings elect to sign him to a long-term contract extension but not if they have plans to trade him. They would take on more than $5 million in dead cap if a trade is completed before June 1 but create $5.5 million in space if he’s moved after June 1.
The Vikings have publicly said they would like to extend Justin Jefferson and TJ Hockenson. If history follows, those negotiations will play out throughout the summer. They could also extend guard Ezra Cleveland.
Where are the biggest needs?
Bringing in Lowry and announcing the return of veteran Jonathan Bullard took defensive tackle off the list of top needs for the Vikings but they are still short on interior pass rush. The combined 2022 sack total of all the defensive tackles currently on the roster was 3.5.
The signings of Davenport and Murphy would not appear to preclude the Vikings from selecting a pass rusher or cornerback in the draft considering there is uncertainty with Smith/Hunter’s future and the Vikings need more than just three corners on the roster with potential to be long-term options.
With Adam Thielen gone, the current training camp battle for the No. 3 receiver job would take place between Jalen Reagor, Jalen Nailor and Trishton Jackson.
The Vikings only have four linebackers on the roster.
We could also add “future QB” to the list of positions that are being speculated about in the mock draft arena. NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah picked QB Hendon Hooker for the Vikings in his latest projection.
The Vikings could stay in a holding pattern until they make decisions on Smith and Cook. Otherwise it will be difficult/impossible to complete other contracts and add other pieces. They do not need to panic, however, because the first wave of free agency swept away most of the top talent and the remaining free agents often linger into the spring and summer before finding homes.
