The Vikings’ Cap Space is Dwindling to a Perilously Low Level
Not too long ago, Minnesota was cruising along in the teens. Those were the days, eh?
Right now, the Vikings’ cap space has shrunk by a considerable margin. The word comes courtesy of Over the Cap, an online authority on the cap. Per their calculations, the Vikings are sitting on just $461,690. In the world of NFL finances, that’s a mere pittance, not enough to sign a veteran to even a minimum contract.
The Vikings’ Cap Space Has Shrunk by a Lot
So, where did all of the money go? Good question.
Some of it is being gobbled up by increased dead money, which has long looked like an issue for Minnesota in 2024. Cutting Lewis Cine actually means losing money rather than gaining money. The safety’s cap hit is now sitting at $5,407,155 even though he’s nowhere to be found in the Twin Cities.
Now toss in a bit more dead money kicked onto the pile by moving on from Andrew Booth Jr., Jonah Williams, Jeshaun Jones, and others. Combine it with the dead money already on the books and Minnesota is digesting an alarmingly-high amount of dead money: $65,149,270.
Also taking a bite out of things is the practice squad, a crew that’s accounting for $4,064,400.
Plus, there was the recent addition of corner Stephon Gilmore. The veteran is going to be the CB2 in Minnesota and possibly the main option along the boundary. Getting him to town, though promising for the on-field product, did put an extra number onto the ledger. He’s gobbling up $4,666,666 in cap space (and that’s even with some void year tomfoolery).
Jason Fitzgerald, the top guy at OTC, thus lists Minnesota as being among the teams with “some salary cap work to do for this season.”
For whatever it’s worth, there’s some disagreement out there about where the Vikings truly are for cap space. Spotrac, another cap website, puts things at a much more respectable $3,805,258 in open room. Not monstrous, no, but far less dire than the OTC number.
Regardless of which site is closer to the truth, there is a truth that arises: Kwesi Adofo-Mensah is going to need to move some money around.
Adofo-Mensah is a creative thinker, someone who isn’t afraid of kicking money into the future. Simply restructuring Brian O’Neill’s deal — one that involves a 2024 cap hit that’s a hair under $23 million — could free up close to $9 million.
Or maybe things proceed in a different direction. The team isn’t without extension candidates. Tacking on years to Camryn Bynum, Byron Murphy, and/or Harrison Phillips would make some sense. Doing so keeps good players in town for a while longer while also clearing up a short-term money problem.
Oh, and one other thing. The future continues to look bright for the team’s cap space. Yes, there’s some short-term pain, but the outlook right now is that Minnesota has a touch beyond $63.7 million in cap space for 2025. Note: forty-one players are factored into that equation, but some see their deals expire due to void years.
Keep an eye on Adofo-Mensah in the coming days. The Vikings’ cap space has grown thin, so the GM seems likely to pull off a move or two to create touch more cap space.
Editor’s Note: Information from Spotrac and Over the Cap helped with this piece.
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K. Joudry is the Senior Editor for Vikings Territory and PurplePTSD. He has been covering the Vikings full time since the summer of 2021. He can be found on Twitter and as a co-host for Notes from the North, a humble Vikings podcast.