Vikings Projected to Be at the Very Top of the Compensatory Pick Mountain in 2025
Josh Frey
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The idea of losing veteran free agents, particularly productive ones, is never an ideal scenario for NFL teams.
However, sometimes teams are able to make the most of those situations through compensatory picks in the following spring’s NFL Draft. The Minnesota Vikings are slated to be at the very top of that comp pick mountain in 2025 because of this spring’s free agency events.
Vikings Projected to Receive the No. 1 Compensatory Pick
This comes as a result of Kirk Cousins’ departure in March to sign with the Atlanta Falcons. The soon-to-be 36-year-old quarterback signed a four-year contract with Atlanta worth a grand total of $180 million. As a result, Nick Korte has projected the Vikings to receive the top compensatory pick next spring, which would be slated as the 97th overall selection.
However, because of Minnesota’s free agent acquisitions, they may be projected to receive the top compensatory pick next spring, but as of now, it is also projected to be their only compensatory selection.
Korte wrote, “The Vikings were expected to possibly see two players, Kirk Cousins and Danielle Hunter, leave the team for top tier deals elsewhere, and that is what happened. The Vikings also lost several other CFAs, but were also aggressive in signing CFAs of their own to offset some of those departures. Nonetheless, they had at least balanced this to where the 3rd rounders for both Cousins and Hunter leaving were on the board…until they signed Shaquill Griffin to a one year, $4.55 million contract, leaving the Vikings with a net loss of only 1 CFA, giving the formula no choice but to cancel out Hunter’s contract with Griffin’s.”
This compensatory pick could be very important for the Vikings next spring seeing as they are slated to hold only three other draft selections in 2025. They still have their own first-round pick as well as a pair of fifth-round selections.
As a result, it seems likely that the Vikings will trade down from their first-round positioning next spring in order to recoup some additional draft capital.
Overall, nothing is finalized in terms of next spring’s compensatory picks yet, but for now, it appears that the Vikings will receive a very valuable one in order to bring more talent to the roster.
ESPN Analyst Thinks the Vikings Made the Best Pick of the Draft
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.