Why Restructuring Brian O’Neill Makes Sense for the Vikings
K. Joudry
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Since being a second-round selection in 2018, Brian O’Neill has been an excellent right tackle. In fact, he has ascended into being one of the foremost right tackles in the NFL.
Unfortunately, the 27-year-old is recovering from a partially-torn achilles, an injury he suffered during the horrendous Week 17 game at Lambeau. More than a few Vikings followers have concerns about whether O’Neill will be the same player. Truth be told, the organization itself likely has similar concerns.
Even still, the Vikings may be wise to consider restructuring O’Neill’s deal. Doing so would be part of the broader effort to get the finances in order before free agency arrives on March 15.
Restructuring Brian O’Neill
At the end of the season, Brian O’Neill was the 7th-best tackle on PFF. The injury eliminated him from the final game+, but he still finished the year as a top-10 tackle. Seeing as how Christian Darrisaw came in at 2nd overall, the Vikings should be feeling very encouraged about where things currently are for their tackle tandem. The only thing that slowed these two down in 2022 was injury. When healthy, they’re legitimately an elite pair.
The excellent play alongside his youth make O’Neill a very logical candidate for restructure.
To be clear, we’re not talking about an extension. That’s an approach that has some merits, especially insofar as it allows Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and the Vikings to clear more room. Nevertheless, the option exists to clear a fair amount of room through just shuffling money around on the existing deal, which extends into 2026.
Left unchanged, O’Neill’s contract will come with a cap hit that exceeds $19.6 million in 2023. Taken in isolation, it’s not a number Vikings fans should be wary about. Elite talent deserves elite pay; O’Neill is an elite talent so he has earned that deal. Plus, he plays one of the game’s preeminent positions, so there are no worries about the cap charge in and of itself.
The concern stems from the larger context: the Vikings’ salary cap. The team needs to shuffle money around to make things work since they’re more than $23 million beyond next season’s cap. The fine folks at Over the Cap suggest that a restructure could free up more than $10 million in the upcoming season.
Now, just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should do something. We all need to remember this important truth, even NFL GMs. Having the chance to create more than $10 million doesn’t mean a team should therefore push things to the max and create the $10 million.
It’s very possible that creating less than the maximum amount is what makes the most sense for the current budget as well as future budgets. How should Minnesota proceed?
Getting the Cap Sorted Out
Since the season came to its abrupt conclusion, we’ve been spending an awful lot of time on the purple finances. Indeed, no shortage of digital ink has been spilled on the topic, including a piece detailing a path toward $100 million in cap space, one about 5 cuts that can create massive cap room, and then a discussion of the merits of a Kirk Cousins extension.
Restructuing O’Neill is a possibility that is eminently reasonable given the length of his deal, the current cap crunch, the player’s age, and his history of strong play.
Truth be told, there’s always a downside to the inevitable decisions that are made to get the money sorted out. The potential O’Neill restructure is no different. Converting some of his salary to a signing bonus makes a potential future cut more difficult because it leaves more dead money behind. Minnesota’s decision makers thus need to weigh the benefit of short-term cap flexibility with the potential cost of long-term cap charges.
When it’s all said and done, it wouldn’t be at all surprising to see Adofo-Mensah and his staff decide that an O’Neill restructure is the decision that makes the most sense. A team captain and tremendous talent, O’Neill can hopefully be Minnesota’s RT for years to come.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference, PFF, and Over the Cap helped with this piece.
