Bonkers Percentage Underscores How the Vikings’ Roster Could Undergo a Massive Overhaul
Last offseason, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah brought a lot of veteran talent to town. In many instances, the deals lasted for just a single season, thereby opening the possibility for the Vikings’ roster to look quite a bit different from 2024 to 2025.
Nick Korte of Over the Cap has crunched the numbers, putting Minnesota in the top spot for the “most snaps entering unrestricted free agency.” The Vikings have a whopping 45.4% of their snaps last season marching toward free agency. Where does the final number end up once the dust settles?
The Vikings’ Roster & The 2025 Offseason
Per Korte, only a trio of teams clear the 40% threshold.
In the top spot is the Vikings. Next up are the Commanders at 41.1% and then the Dolphins at 40.3%. Notably, the Green Bay Packers are coming in at 32nd with only 14.6% of their snaps moving toward free agency.
To help clarify the position Minnesota finds itself in, consider some of the players who were signed last offseason to single-season deals who played a lot of snaps for the Vikings:
- QB Sam Darnold
- RB Aaron Jones
- RG Dalton Risner
- CB Stephon Gilmore
- CB Shaq Griffin
- DT Jerry Tillery
- DT Jonathan Bullard
- EDGE Jihad Ward
Other players like safety Harrison Smith, safety Camryn Bynum, corner Byron Murphy Jr., corner Fabian Moreau, receiver Trent Sherfield, receiver Brandon Powell, linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill, tight end Johnny Mundt, and running back Cam Akers can get tossed into the mix, as well.
Shrink things down to just the secondary. Smith played north of 1,000 snaps and so did Bynum. At corner, Murphy cleared 1,000 snaps, Gilmore played close to 900, and Griffin came in at close to 600. That’s a lot of the potential loss all within the same area of the field.
But then there’s the combination of Sam Darnold and Aaron Jones leaving, a pair of offensive weapons who proved to be quite effective in Kevin O’Connell’s offense. The best guess is that Darnold will move on while Jones returns.
Now, keep in mind that some of the free agents are going to come back. The Vikings have quite a bit of cap space — currently, around $58 million — so players are going to be kept around.
That’s a two-way street, though. Some players who aren’t scheduled to hit unrestricted free agency won’t be Vikings in 2025. One thinks of the iOL of Blake Brandel, Garrett Bradbury, and Ed Ingram. Any chance at least one of these players gets cut?
Seeing Minnesota replicate their 14-3 season in 2025 would be a major surprise. Not only does the schedule look tough, but the Vikings’ roster is going to see quite a bit of turnover.
The GM has a lot of work ahead of him.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference and Over the Cap helped with this piece.
The Dream NFL Free Agency Addition for the Minnesota Vikings
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.