The Vikings’ Roster Evolution Continues as 2024 Budget Climbs Up the NFL’s Top Half
If he wants to throw his weight around, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah will be able to pull off some budget bullying.
Releasing Alexander Mattison is simply the latest step away from the Rick Spielman era. And as the Vikings’ roster continues to turn over, Adofo-Mensah continues to bring things around to financial health. The budget isn’t pristine, though it does offer a ton of room to maneuver the high-stakes game of NFL free agency.
Inputting the projected cap savings from the Mattison release — $3.35 million, per Ben Goessling — means the Vikings now have roughly $38 million in cap space. Now, a lot of that abundance comes down to the unexpectedly high salary cap number for the league as a whole, but the points remains: Minnesota is sitting in a good spot.
The Vikings are sitting in the league’s top half for cap space. Per Over the Cap, Minnesota sits in the 16th spot. Kicking in the RB’s money means Minnesota will get up to 13th.
The Vikings’ Roster Evolution and Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s 2024 Budget
A bit of simple math.
Right now, OTC puts the Vikings at $34,751,005 in cap space. Go ahead and add on the projected $3.35 million from Mattison. The end result is a pretty tidy $38,101,005. Not bad.
Notably, the above numbers don’t include a pile of relatively likely scenarios. If the Vikings extend Byron Murphy ($6.38M), extend Harrison Phillips ($4.3M), cut Harrison Smith ($11.38M), and cut Dean Lowry (2.08M), then the 2024 cap space soars by $24,146,469.
Putting the pair of numbers together would mean the Vikings climb up to more than $60 million.
And then there’s arguably an even more important number to consider. In 2025, the Vikings are sitting on the 5th-most projected cap space in the NFL. OTC places things at close to $140 million. The total will decrease by a substantial amount when Justin Jefferson gets extended, but there are built-in possibilities to give the budget a fresh boost next offseason.
NFL contracts regularly feature the initial year having a low cap hit as GMs push cap charges into the future. That reality means Minnesota is well positioned to add talent in 2024. Not only is there room right now — roughly $38 million that could easily soar into the $60-$70 million range — but there is a pile of open room next year. These twin realities combine to mean the Vikings’ GM can keep shepherding the roster through its evolution.
Add it all together and the Vikings are going to be open for business in free agency. Kevin O’Connell has already made prophecies about giving the defense more talent, so there’s potential to add notable names at literally all levels of the defense. No doubt, a lot of this season’s top free agents look like excellent fits in Minnesota.
So while much remains uncertain as March officially arrives, one thing is certain: the Vikings have tremendous potential to ratchet up the roster’s talent in free agency. Everything gets rolling on March 11th when legal tampering begins.
Editor’s Note: Information from 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.