Minnesota’s Overlooked Extension Candidate
K. Joudry
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Minnesota’s overlooked extension candidate can’t offer the team much financial wiggle room in 2023. In fact, there’s a chance we don’t see anything get done soon, but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be a reasonably-high priority for Kwesi Adofo-Mensah.
Left guard Ezra Cleveland has performed admirably since being a second-round selection in 2020, so the Vikings ought to make it a priority to ensure he sticks around for a while.
Ezra Cleveland, Minnesota’s Overlooked Extension Candidate
Justin Jefferson is going to get a ton of attention in extension talks. In not too long, that focus is going to shift toward Christian Darrisaw, an elite left tackle. After quarterback, wide receiver and left tackle are probably the two most important positions on offense. Both Jefferson and Darrisaw deserve to get paid handsomely.
Nevertheless, we’d be foolish to overlook Cleveland’s importance. Since 2020, Cleveland has given Minnesota quality snaps along the interior of the offensive line.
A college left tackle at Boise State, Cleveland had the unenviable task of needing to take over at right guard as a rookie. Asking a rookie to not only kick inside from tackle but also flip sides of the line isn’t an easy thing to do. The footwork is different on the right side of the line and the players Cleveland was being asked to go against were bigger than college edge rushers.
By the end of the season, Cleveland had a very respectable 66.2 grade on PFF. That’s a number that came in at 28th out of the 80 guards who made the ranking. He played in 13 games that year, starting 9.
Since then, Cleveland has been tasked with being the team’s left guard, a job he has handled well. His PFF grade rose to 68.6 in 2021 and by the end of the 2022 season it was a rock-solid 73.4. Cleveland’s 79.7 run blocking grade is 4th among all guards. He is PFF’s 8th-best guard from 2022.
Oh, and let’s not forget his durability. Cleveland played in 100% of the snaps in 2021 and 97% in 2022. That’s the kind of track record GM’s want to invest in.
Cleveland is on an upward trajectory, which is exactly what the Vikings’ leadership wants to see. At 24, he should still have plenty of strong years ahead of him. Plus, he gets the benefit of playing alongside Darrisaw. The hope, then, is that Minnesota can lean on an ultra athletic left side of the OL for years to come.
Cleveland, Minnesota’s overlooked extension candidate, is entering the final year of his rookie deal. He’s scheduled to make $3,389,766. One has to assume that he’d be enthusiastic about locking in some money on a shiny new extension.
Proactively Helping the 2024 Budget
Minnesota can only create a bit less than $1.6 million in cap space through an extension with Cleveland. As a result, a new deal isn’t about creating a bunch of cap room in advance of this year’s free agency bonanza. Nevertheless, there are several good reasons to reach an extension.
For starters, there is value is locking up one’s own draft picks. In so doing, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah signals to the rest of the draftees that the organization is loyal to their own, rewarding strong play through a renewed commitment to that player in the form of an impressive extension.
Moreover, the team also has the chance of getting ahead of what Cleveland could demand in the 2024 offseason. If he keeps getting better, Cleveland’s price tag will only increase. This is something that’s done a fair bit more in the NHL, especially since hockey players don’t really hold out to redo their deals. The smart GMs see where their player is going and then lock him in before the last minute, helping the team to save precious cap space.
The league’s 7 highest-paid left guards average more than $10 million per season; Quenton Nelson leads the charge with a $20 million per-year average. Obviously, what really matters in these deals are the guarantees, but at least we get a general sense of a what a deal can look like.
If I had to guess, I’d say Minnesota aims at something in the $8 million/year range. It’s the kind of number that suggests they think he’s among the better left guards in the NFL without being at the very top of the market.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference and Over the Cap helped with this piece.
