The Vikings’ Right Tackle Snagged Some Excellent News
All things considered, the Vikings’ right tackle snagged some excellent news.
Brian O’Neill needed to step away from the Dublin game due to a knee injury. Possibilities swirling within conversations of the team’s offensive line included losing the veteran for the full year or a good chunk. Thankfully, the injury isn’t going to sideline O’Neill for all of 2025.
The Vikings’ Right Tackle Gets Great News
Credit to Ian Rapoport.
The NFL Network league insider offered the update: “The MRI has confirmed that #Vikings RT Brian O’Neill sprained his MCL on Sunday, taking him off the field. He’s week-to-week, but no surgery is required. Coach Kevin O’Connell had indicated this was the case.”
Generally speaking, losing a top lineman is bad news, a reality that’s still present currently. The upside for Minnesota is simply that a knee injury could have been far worse. Being out for multiple weeks means that Mr. O’Neill won’t be around for the Week 5 tilt with the Browns. He could, however, be available for the Week 7 game versus the Eagles.
What of Week 6? Well, that’s the bye, the built-in rest week for the team as a whole to rest and recover. Currently, the team could use some time to recover.
In Ireland, the Vikings lost Ryan Kelly to his second concussion of 2025, creating a very concerning scenario. Safe to say that Kelly won’t be on the field for the upcoming game. Safe to say that getting onto the field isn’t the most important thing right now. Instead, take ample time to ensure that the center is healthy; football is far down the list of priorities when dealing with a pair of concussions.
Step back even more and the injury situation worsens. All of LG1 Donovan Jackson, RB1 Aaron Jones, EDGE2 Andrew Van Ginkel, LB1 Blake Cashman, and RB3/KR2 Ty Chandler are out due to injury. The list does extend into other players, but these are just some of the more prominent names.
Being able to avoid surgery and a long-term absence is a positive development for Brian O’Neill. The possibility exists that he’ll get shuffled to the IR — opening a roster spot in the process — but that remains to be seen. Doing so would clear out a roster spot while locking in a minimum absence of four weeks.
Look for Justin Skule to continue working as the RT1. If that plan fails, then Walter Rouse looks like the next man up. The sophomore OT has youth and upside working in his favor, so we’ll see if that leads to him getting onto the field.
Standing at 6’7″ and weighing 310 pounds, O’Neill is a high-level athlete who has been in the NFL since 2018.
He’s currently working under a five-year agreement that sits at a total of $92.5 million in compensation. The numbers seemed pretty large when details of the deal first emerged but O’Neill has proven to be more than worth it. An extension during the offseason to keep him in town for a while longer while (crucially) lowering his $23,203,892 cap hit in 2026 appears likely.
Per PFF, Brian O’Neill is having yet another strong season, getting dinged with allowing a single sack alongside 3 pressures. His overall grade comes in at a healthy 72.4.
Brian O’Neill, 30, could be back on the field for Week 7 as a best case. If so, then he’ll be lining up against the Eagles, the reigning NFL champs.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference, PFF, and Over the Cap helped with this piece.
