The Minnesota Vikings’ 3 Greatest Roster Problems in the 2025 Offseason

Coming off a 14-3 season, the Minnesota Vikings nevertheless have several areas of the roster that need attention.
Part of the issue stems from a large portion of the team moving into free agency. Part of the issue stems from patching up areas that simply weren’t good enough in 2024. Combine those two things and the Vikings have some parts of the roster that need to be addressed.
The Minnesota Vikings’ 3 Greatest Roster Problems
Problem #1 — Improving the Pass Coverage in Its Entirety

At times, the Vikings were far too easy to complete passes on.
Brian Flores’ defense had a strong 2024, finishing 5th in the NFL with just 19.5 points allowed per game (on average). The passing yards allowed, though, was 5th worst in the NFL with 4,114 yards against. Basically, that means allowing 242 passing yards per game. Or, put differently, roughly akin to the aerial production from Lamar Jackson in 2024, who had 4,172 passing yards.
A major way of helping to address the issue rests in getting some penetration from along the defensive line. Most of the pass rushing in Minnesota came from the edge rushers and the linebacker blitzes. Jihad Ward, who has great size, got kicked inside on passing downs to help out, but the Vikings could still use an upgrade.
On the back end of the defense, there’s a need to address the corner position in a rigorous manner. Bringing back Byron Murphy Jr. would be a good place to start. Maybe dropping some money on a dream addition like D.J. Reed would make sense. Even these additions, though, wouldn’t fully solve the issues in the secondary.
Problem #2 — Solving the Interior O-Line

Dalton Risner is headed toward free agency. The next top options for the interior o-line are Blake Brandel (LG), Garrett Bradbury (C), and Ed Ingram (RG). Safe to say that none of them are fully secure in their spots in the lineup.
Kevin O’Connell has discussed needing to improve this area of the team. Vikings fans everywhere would be thrilled if he did so.
The offensive line has taken a step forward under O’Connell and o-line coach Chris Kuper. Nevertheless, there’s more work that needs to be done. Getting a fully healthy Christian Darrisaw and Brian O’Neill back into the mix is a start. From there, one wonders if the recently-drafted Walter Rouse and/or Michael Jurgens could challenge for a starting spot along the interior.
Minnesota will also have the option to dip into free agency for a fix. The 2025 NFL Draft will have strong options at these spots, but the Vikings’ picks aren’t plentiful. Tough task ahead of Minnesota.
Problem #3 — Nailing the QB Position

Best guess is that Sam Darnold moves on as the team rallies around J.J. McCarthy. Just a guess, though.
Currently, the Vikings are being fairly vague with how they’re planning on proceeding at the game’s most important position. Darnold’s final two games can’t have helped his chances of sticking around and yet they can’t have helped his bargaining power, either.
Meanwhile, McCarthy had a full year to completely focus on the mental aspect of the game. Better if he could get physical reps in practice? Yes, most definitely, but the season wasn’t a total loss for the soon-to-be sophomore. He’s a better quarterback now than when he was first drafted (assuming there are no lingering health concerns).
The Vikings’ best path forward would be to rally around McCarthy, saving precious cap dollars along the way. Bring back Daniel Jones as a high-end QB2 and see if Brett Rypien can fend off any competitors for the QB3 spot.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference 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, as a co-host for Notes from the North, and as the proprietor at The Vikings Gazette, a humble Vikings Substack.