Dreaming of the Vikings Landing the Huge Guard or Center? Keep Dreaming
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The Vikings need help for their interior offensive line. Of that there can be little doubt. What remains to be seen rests in how Minnesota chooses to address the issue, something Kwesi Adofo-Mensah discussed in his end-of-season press conference.
One particularly exciting way of pursuing improvement rests in signing one of free agency’s main centers and/or guards, an approach that has plenty of merit. The issue is simply that Adofo-Mensah has so far displayed very little willingness to spend on interior offensive linemen. Does the GM adjust his approach or will the team opt to keep seeking value?
The Vikings and a Top-Tier Guard? Could Just Be a Dream
Sitting on roughly $58 million in 2025, the Vikings will have some cash to burn.
Fans, of course, have their wish list. Getting some corner reinforcements would be a welcome development, which is to say nothing of retaining Byron Murphy Jr. A pass rusher at defensive tackle would be a dream come true for a lot of folks, and so too would a bit of added help at safety be nice given the uncertainty surrounding Camryn Bynum and Harrison Smith.
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But, of course, there’s the interior o-line, a long-time issue in the Twin Cities.
If a game was played tomorrow, the Vikings would stick Blake Brandel at LG1, Garrett Bradbury at C1, and Ed Ingram at RG1. Dalton Risner is still within the team’s orbit, but he’s again moving toward free agency. Otherwise, the options would be someone like Michael Jurgens (the late-round center/guard) or Dan Feeney (the veteran center/guard moving toward free agency).
Landing someone like RG Trey Smith — someone you can watch later today as the Super Bowl takes place — would certainly push the o-line higher. The 25-year-old guard has proven to be an excellent player, regularly earning strong grades from PFF while protecting the game’s best player (yes, Patrick Mahomes’ numbers are a bit muted recently, but he’s the NFL’s top talent).
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Another option could be Drew Dalman, a center who has gotten some love from Dustin Baker over on Vikings Territory. In fact, a recent piece from Baker considering free agent fits includes both of Smith and Dalman. Per PFF, Dalman finished as the 4th-best center in the NFL (78.8 grade) and Smith is the 14th-ranked guard (75.3 grade).
The issue with adding these talented players is merely that the GM hasn’t shown a ton of interest in handing out large contracts to interior linemen. Garrett Bradbury, unless I’ve missed something, has landed the top contract from Adofo-Mensah for an interior lineman, agreeing to a three-year deal for $15.75 million. All things considered, that’s a medium-to-modest deal, especially when compared to what top centers and guards will snag on the open market.
The great upside of free agency is being able to sign a player who has already proven capable of being a strong player in the NFL. The great downside of free agency is that signing a player who has proven capable of playing strong football in the NFL will require forfeiting plenty of precious cap space. How does the GM work through the cost/benefit analysis of potentially landing a top-tier talent for the iOL? Does he adjust his approach at all?
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The basic idea — the Vikings improving along the interior o-line — won’t find any detractors in Minnesota. What’s uncertain, though, is simply how that improvement gets pursued in the offseason.
The Vikings have close to $60 million in cap space and are projected to have four picks in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference, PFF, and Over the Cap helped with this piece.
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The Vikings’ Coaching Staff is Well Positioned to Make a New Hire
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.