The Dream NFL Free Agency Addition for the Minnesota Vikings

NFL: New York Jets at Minnesota Vikings
Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Offseason time, folks.

Minnesota put together a reasonably successful season if we’re judging things based off of September expectations. The end of the season, though, featured a team vying for the NFC’s top spot, reasonably shifting expectations toward bigger and more ambitious goals that ultimately failed to come to fruition. In the end, the Vikings failed, thereby shifting the attention toward the coaching staff, NFL free agency, and the draft.

NFL Free Agency & The Vikings’ Dream Addition

Start off with the roster problem: the lack of talent at corner.

Janik Eckardt recently identified the issue in a piece for PurplePTSD: “The secondary barely exists on the depth chart, as cornerbacks Byron Murphy, Shaq Griffin, Stephon Gilmore, and Fabian Moreau are all set to enter free agency. Safety Cam Bynum will join them, and Harrison Smith is expected to call it a career after playing his 200th game in purple.”

Assume, for the sake of argument, that Mr. Murphy returns. Minnesota would thus head into the offseason with Murphy at CB1, Mekhi Blackmon (lost all season due to injury) at CB2, Dwight McGlothern at CB3, and NaJee Thompson (lost all season due to injury) at CB4. Otherwise, there have simply been some depth options added to compete during the offseason.

NFL: Minnesota Vikings at Green Bay Packers
Sep 29, 2024; Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA; Minnesota Vikings cornerback Byron Murphy Jr. (7) breaks up the pass intended for Green Bay Packers wide receiver Bo Melton (80) during the second at Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

What’s needed, then, is both quantity and quality. Put differently, not just more corners but more corners capable of playing at a high level.

Enter: D.J. Reed, a veteran most recently employed by the New York Jets.

The fine folks at PFF offer a list of the league’s top 50 free agents. Reed comes in at 6th: “Reed is poised to enter free agency at an ideal moment, as he’s on track for a career year. His 75.1 coverage grade ranks 14th among players at his position this season. He’s also excelled in PFF’s advanced metrics, boasting a 52.26% lockdown percentage.”

NFL: New York Jets at Buffalo Bills
Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

Reed turned 28 back in November, so he’s neither young nor old. Expecting him to be a strong option for a few seasons is realistic, not a decade.

He stands at 5’9″ but is a sturdy 188 pounds. He had 64 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 1 QB hit, and 11 passes defended in the most recent season. Just 57.1% of passes into his coverage were completed and he contained passers to a humdrum pass rating of 87.1.

Think back to when the Vikings took on the Jets in Week 5. D.J. Reed consistently offered competitive, sticky coverage on the Vikings’ top pair of receivers, making life difficult in the process. Jefferson’s 14 targets went for just 6 receptions and 92 yards. Addison’s 8 targets went for just 3 receptions and 36 yards. Yes, Sauce Gardner is an excellent corner, but Reed is a fantastic option, as well.

Oct 6, 2024; London, United Kingdom; New York Jets cornerback D.J. Reed (4) defends against Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Jordan Addison (3) in the first half at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Rolling into the 2025 NFL Draft with D.J. Reed, Byron Murphy, and Mekhi Blackmon as the top options wouldn’t be a bad spot to be. Yes, there would be some concern about the size, or lack thereof, among the corners, but all of those players can offer strong coverage.

Minnesota is sitting on roughly $58 million in cap space.

Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference and Over the Cap helped with this piece.


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, as a co-host for Notes from the North, and as the proprietor at The Vikings Gazette, a humble Vikings Substack.