How Much The Vikings’ 2025 Draft Class is Going to Cost on the Cap
First, a word of caution. Minnesota currently owns four selections — No. 24 (1st Round), No. 97 (3rd Round), No. 139 (5th Round), & No. 187 (6th Round) — but there’s a decent chance that some of those picks get shuffled around.
Even still, we can start to get a good estimate for how much cap space will be needed for the Vikings’ 2025 draft class. Without question, GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah is keeping this number in the back of his mind as he continues to move through NFL free agency, considering the available options as he works with a budget that’s currently projected to be at more than $30 million.
The Vikings’ 2025 Draft Class Cap Cost
Credit to Spotrac, a salary cap website that does a nice job of breaking down the estimated cost for each pick. Consider the four current draft choices and the projected financial commitment for 2025:
- Pick #1 — $2,822,113
- Pick #2 — $1,083,275
- Pick #3 — $943,611
- Pick #4 — $892,913
Add all of those numbers together and Minnesota will need to have roughly $5.74 million in cap space. So, pretty cheap, all things considered. Keep in mind, though, that the cap cost — at least for the offseason — will actually come in cheaper than that due to the top-51 cutoff. Factoring that into mix means that the spring and summer will need just $3.22 million (roughly) in open room for the drafted rookies.
Again, though, we come back to a basic idea: the Vikings seem very likely to trade at least a time or two. Given the lack of picks, most assume that trading down is the move for Kwesi Adofo-Mensah.
So, let’s pursue that possibility to help give us a sense of how the finances could look in that scenario. To do so, I ran through a mock draft on PFF to see what kind of trade back opportunity could arise.
When Minnesota got on the mock clock, the LA Rams — the proud owners of the No. 26 pick — was interested in jumping into the No. 24 slot. Doing so was relatively easy. Minnesota gave away the No. 24 pick in exchange for the No. 26 and No. 127 pick, which arrives in the 4th Round.
The Vikings’ draft class (at least the mock one) now consists of five selections: No. 26 (1st Round), No. 97 (3rd Round), No. 127 (4th Round), No. 139 (5th Round), & No. 187 (6th Round). In terms of the cap, Minnesota is seeing the $2,822,113 taken off the books. In it place is $2,759,243 (No. 26) and $1,039,954 (No. 127).
The end result for Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and the Vikings’ 2025 draft class is seeing roughly $1 million added onto the pile. Not backbreaking money by any means, but a factor to consider nevertheless.
Generally speaking, NFL general managers with a lot of top-tier talent — Minnesota certainly qualifies given the major money being spent on receiver Justin Jefferson, tight end T.J. Hockenson, right tackle Brian O’Neill, edge rusher Jonathan Greenard, corner Byron Murphy, and several other players — like to balance the budget by onboarding a lot of cost-controlled talent from the draft.
Minnesota, in short, will be very pleased to bring in their draftees even if there will be a modest bite taken out of the budget. When a pick is used on a successful player, the player offers the team value that far exceeds the cap number (just go back to Jefferson’s rookie contract years for a perfect example).
The 2025 NFL Draft takes place from April 24th to April 26th. After the event concludes, Minnesota is very likely to aggressively attack undrafted free agency, which is something Kwesi Adofo-Mensah does on an annual basis.
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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 social media (Bluesky & Twitter). If you feel so inclined, subscribe to his Substack, The Vikings Gazette, for more great Vikings content.