3 Vikings Free Agents Who Should Be Brought Back for the 2024 Season
Josh Frey
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Over the past week, the Minnesota Vikings have made a ton of changes to their roster, but they have also brought back a few familiar faces.
For now, 14 players who were associated with the Vikings in 2023 remain on the open market. Here is a look at three of those remaining Vikings free agents who should be strong candidates to return to the team in 2024.
LG Dalton Risner
Over the past week, the Minnesota Vikings have brought back some of their depth on the offensive line while also adding Dan Feeney to help on the interior. However, they still don’t have a clear-cut starting option at left guard.
As a result, Dalton Risner should be on their list of priorities to bring back. The left guard didn’t get a ton of love on PFF individually, but he was a key part of a Vikings offensive line that finished the season with the third-highest pass blocking grade and 10th-highest run blocking grade, per PFF grades. Continuity on the o-line is important, particularly if they are going to be protecting a rookie QB or Sam Darnold as he tries to revive his NFL career. Risner is the only missing piece from continuity at all five positions.
OL Oli Udoh
Oli Udoh garnered plenty of criticism for his play as a starting right guard in 2021, and rightfully so. However, he remains one of the more reliable backup offensive tackle options in the NFL. In 2022, he received a PFF grade of 74.7 for his 189 snaps on the offensive line, which is more than respectable.
Of course, the decision to bring Udoh back for another season likely revolves entirely around his health. He suffered a torn quad in Week 2 against the Philadelphia Eagles, which was his only start of the season.
The Vikings do have one of the better starting duos in the NFL at the offensive tackle spots in Christian Darrisaw and Brian O’Neill, but both players have been subject to injuries in the past few years. Darrisaw has missed five regular season games across the past two seasons while O’Neill has missed four as well as Minnesota’s Wild Card game against the New York Giants in 2022.
K Greg Joseph
The Vikings brought in an XFLer at the kicker position this week, signing John Parker Romo. The kicker has spent time on practice squads in the NFL over the past couple years, but he is yet to kick in an NFL game and should not be considered a “sure thing” by any means.
As a result, Minnesota certainly should consider bringing back their incumbent kicker, Greg Joseph. After struggling mightily in 2022, Joseph came back with a stronger 2023 season, hitting 24 of his 30 field goal attempts while also making 36 of his 38 extra points. The extra-point misses were cause for concern in 2022, but he fixed many of those yips this past year.
Editor’s Note: Statistics for this article were found via Pro Football Focus and Pro Football Reference.
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Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho and managing editor of PurplePTSD.com. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys running, gaming, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. Check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.