ESPN Calls Out Struggling Vikings Investment
It was a busy March for the Minnesota Vikings, who had some cap space to play with, and they decided to overhaul both fronts by signing various expensive linemen on offense and defense. Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave have been criticized for not playing up to their contracts, and center Ryan Kelly has barely played due to a pair of concussions. Fellow blocker Will Fries has hardly gotten any attention, and it’s time to change that.
ESPN Calls Out Struggling Vikings Investment
Fries was touted as the top guard on the market once the Chiefs handed Trey Smith a new deal. The Vikings entered a bidding war with multiple other teams and won. His deal was pretty expensive, costing the Vikings about $88 million over five seasons.
Unfortunately, he hasn’t shown why he’s worth a high-end annual salary for an offensive guard.
ESPN’s Aaron Schatz included the former Colts draftee in his list of five free agents who haven’t worked: “The free agent excitement about Fries was interesting because he wasn’t considered top-notch as the Colts’ starting right guard in 2023. But he leaped off the tape in the five games he played in 2024 before a broken tibia ended his season. Minnesota won the battle to sign Fries, and what they’ve gotten is … not really anything special.”
Fries’ yearly salary of about $17.5 million ranks him sixth among right guards. A player with that investment tied to him should deliver Pro Bowl-caliber play, and Fries simply hasn’t.
Schatz continued, “So far this season, Fries’ win rates are not only below what he did last season but also below what he did in a full season in 2023. His pass block win rate has gone from 90.9% in 2023 to 92.4% to 88.5%. His run block win rate has gone from 70.3% in 2023 to 74.3% to 66.3%, which is currently 55th out of 65 qualifying guards.”
Last year, the Vikings played former second-rounder Ed Ingram at right guard and benched him for Dalton Risner a few games into the season. Ingram is starting for the Texans and Risner for the Bengals. After a decade of subpar guard play, the Vikings wanted to fix the position for years to come by adding an expensive free agent and a first-rounder. The result hasn’t been impressive whatsoever.
Perhaps Fries is still not at 100%. He missed most of last season with a leg injury, which made the big investment a risk.
“He had a setback in his recovery from the injury over the offseason, which might still be affecting him. He has also had to deal with some shuffling of the players on either side of him, which isn’t good for offensive line continuity,” Schatz noted.
Fries had both right tackle Brian O’Neill and center Kelly next to him in only one full game this season. O’Neill missed a couple of games with an MCL sprain, and Kelly is currently working his way back from his IR stint because of the second concussion. The mix of Walter Rouse and Justin Skule at right tackle, with Michael Jurgens and Blake Brandel at center, can’t replace O’Neill and Kelly, who have been to a combined six Pro Bowls.
The guard signed a five-year deal, but the Vikings could get out of it after only two. Only the first two seasons are guaranteed. In the 2027 offseason, the club can actually save $9.5 million in cap space by cutting him. Until then, he’ll be the right guard for the Vikings.
It should be noted that Fries hasn’t been a liability. He’s been pretty much an average player, which is an upgrade over most guards Skol Nation had seen in years prior. Furthermore, he’s leading all Vikings offensive players with 537 offensive snaps and has been the only healthy starting lineman. It’s just that he hasn’t been worth the big-time investment.
Fries is 27 years old. He’ll face the Bears on Sunday.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Sports Reference helped with this article.