At the moment the Minnesota Vikings are a little short on cap space.
OK, really short. Per OverTheCap.com, they rank 30th with just over $1 million remaining.
It doesn’t have to stay that way though. They are a Dalvin Cook and/or Za’Darius Smith trade or June 1 cut away from having enough to make competitive offers to remaining free agents and the list of available players who have decent track records includes a handful who could help the Vikings.
A few examples:
— Outside linebacker Leonard Floyd. He had 9.0 sacks and 54 pressures last season and has played every game since 2016.
— OLB Kyle Van Noy. Produced 5.0 sacks for the Chargers and has previous experience with Flores.
— CB Marcus Peters. He managed a solid 69.5 coverage grade for the Ravens in 2022.
— OLB Markus Golden. One year removed from an 11.0 sack season. Had 17 QB hits last year, sixth most in the NFL.
— CB Rock Ya-Sin. Graded 72.4 and 65.8 in coverage the last two seasons. Only 27 years old.
— DT Shelby Harris. Posted a 73.2 overall PFF grade last year and registered 28 QB pressures.
There are around a dozen more players who are arguably worth bringing into Minnesota to fill out the depth of a roster that is currently lacking in proven players on defense.
The question is whether they should be interested.
If we take a look at the Vikings’ depth chart, it isn’t hard to see where these free agents could fit in. If Smith and/or Danielle Hunter end up gone, then Marcus Davenport is the only proven pass rusher. If the Vikings stick with their current defensive back group, Byron Murphy and Harrison Smith are the only ones with a history of starting. Jordan Hicks is the only linebacker who’s been there before.
Even the offensive side has some places where a free agent wouldn’t hurt. Receiver depth or guard, in particular.
But if the Vikings don’t do anything else in free agency, regardless of the Smith/Cook/Hunter outcomes, there is a real competitive rebuild-y side to that option which they could view as favorable to filling out the roster with Bashaud Breeland types.
If the Vikings leave their secondary alone, Andrew Booth Jr., Akayleb Evans, Mekhi Blackmon, Jay Ward and Joejuan Williams will battle it out in training camp for starting positions and have an opportunity to play their way into long-term roles at those jobs. The odds of it blowing up in their face are certainly higher than if they were signing Marcus Peters but there’s value in finding out who’s going to be part of the future.
The same can be said for the edge rushers. If either Smith or Hunter aren’t there, the door opens for DJ Wonnum, Patrick Jones and intriguing UDFA Andre Carter to potentially get into the mix and show whether they should be part of the future or not.
Of course their approach depends on the status of Cook/Smith/Hunter and the cap space that would be needed to add pieces but it also rests on where they see themselves this year.
There is certainly an argument for being realistic about 2023 and playing as many young players as possible. With the exits of Adam Thielen, Eric Kendricks and Patrick Peterson combined with a tougher schedule and some natural regression from winning every one-score game last year, it’s easy to say that they should put young players in positions to get experience and aim to learn about their youthful players while battling for the division.
If they look in the mirror and see a potential NFC champion, it makes more sense to make late adds to the roster. The Eagles did just that last offseason, signing cornerback James Bradberry on May 18 and trading for Chauncey Gardner-Johnson on August 30. Both played key roles en route to the Super Bowl.
Maybe if the Vikings see themselves as that type of contender, they will work toward keeping Smith and Hunter. It’s hard to see a team operated by Kirk Cousins simply falling off the face of the earth, even with a difficult list of opponents and less luck. Had the Vikings drafted Will Levis or Hendon Hooker or traded for Trey Lance, a future-first approach would have seemed like the obvious choice.
But if this is the last year of Cousins (which remains unclear), there is still one more chance to make his era in Minnesota a success. Maybe they will want to take every possible measure to maximize that final swing.
The decision isn’t easy but how they handle the situations with veterans and the remaining free agent market will tell us something about how the Vikings see their timeline. Is it a year of transition or another Hail Mary for a Super Bowl?
