Kwesi Adofo-Mensah Should be Cautious with Void Years
K. Joudry
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In recent seasons, we’ve seen the Minnesota Vikings grow increasingly comfortable with void years. Indeed, void years are now a notable part of the team’s overall budget. Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has already demonstrated some willingness to use the salary cap maneuver.
Going into a snug financial situation in 2023, should we expect the GM to keep leaning on them? Probably, but there should be some caution.
Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Void Years
The current finances are being heavily impacted by the salary cap trick (you can read more about void years on The 33rd Team). Dalvin Tomlinson has a $7.5 million cap charge even though he’s a free agent; Rick Spielman used void years from 2023-25 to lessen the hit in 2021 and 2022. Unfortunately, it’s time to pay the piper.
Tomlinson isn’t alone. Patrick Peterson – the ageless one – has a $750,000 hit even though he’s a free agent. It’s a relatively insignificant amount in the world of NFL finances, but every little bit feels meaningful given the current context of the Vikings cap situation.
Unless there is some sort of extension, Danielle Hunter carries an $11.24 million cap hit in 2024 as a result of void years. Kirk Cousins has a $12.5 million cap hit in the same season due to the same tactic. Adam Thielen could have a $2.25 million cap hit in 2025 due to a void year.
Don’t forget the critical point here, folks: void years are basically fake years in a contract, a trick that GMs use to stretch out the dollars and cents from a signing bonus. Doing so allows for short-term gain but long-term pain. Neither Tomlinson nor Peterson are under contract for Minnesota and yet they’re combining for an $8.25 million cap hit in 2023. The aforementioned trio of Hunter, Cousins, and Thielen will all have their own dead money left behind when the time comes.
The point is that the money is going to count on the budget somewhere. If it doesn’t happen in the immediate, it’ll happen in the future. Money always wins in the NFL.
Now, most of you already know that Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and his staff are working with a pretty tight salary cap. Most of the money from the wealthy Wilfs has already been spent, so the Vikings’ budget isn’t expansive.
The team has an awful lot of cap space in the coming seasons, though. The 2024 budget comes with close to $100 million in cap space whereas the 2025 budget is up over $200 million. In other words, we should expect the Vikings GM to kick some of the compensation into future years. Doing so will make things more manageable in the immediate.
Following a reasonably successful 2022 (the playoff fiasco aside), the Vikings will be looking to take the North again. Doing so will require them to upgrade their roster at a number of key areas. Adding more pass rush help, greater corner depth, some competion for the iOL, and maybe even some help for the offensive skill players would be a nice place to start.
Pursuing these improvements are necessary, but doing so will require the money to pull it off. Void years give Adofo-Mensah the capacity to carve out extra room in the immediate, an appealing reality for the cash-starved GM. Nevertheless, he’s working under the auspices of a “competitive rebuild,” meaning he’s not entirely comfortable with forfeiting future flexibility.
That’s a good thing. Void years are a helpful tool, but they need to be used with some restraint.
Editor’s Note: Information from Over the Cap helped with this piece.
