The Vikings’ Salary Cap Update is Looking Pretty Spiffy
Jason Fitzgerald of Over the Cap is perhaps the preeminent NFL salary cap expert. His recent piece detailing cap room for the 2025 season is therefore noteworthy.
The Vikings’ salary cap is looking healthy in 2025. Very healthy, even. Fitzgerald estimates that Minnesota will find itself at 6th in the NFL for open room with an estimated $65,166,347, a tremendous position given that we’re talking about a 14-3 team that’s coming out of it’s (in)famous competitive rebuild.
The Vikings’ Salary Cap Update
Before going too far, consider the brief snippet that Fitzgerald offers to clarify how he arrives at specific numbers for the NFL’s teams.
“With the regular season over more than half of the league is already looking ahead to the draft and free agency,” Fizgerald writes. “Here is an updated look at where teams stand with the salary cap next year as well as how many UFA’s the team has next year. These salary cap numbers include estimated carryover from 2024 but do not include estimated adjustments or escalators which will reduce some teams cap room while increasing others. We will update those in the coming weeks. These numbers do include the minimum salary required to reach 51 players for each team which is why the numbers will look different than the salary cap page.”
Some extra thoughts to further clarify where Minnesota finds itself.
Already, there’s potential for dead money to pile up. The reason is due to Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s proclivity for placing void years into his deals. Void years help to decrease the cap hit in the immediate by pushing cap charges into future years. When a deal expires without an extension, then the dead money calcifies, becoming immovable.
For instance, Minnesota could see Byron Murphy Jr. leave behind $4.2 million in dead money if there’s no new deal. So, too, could Harrison Smith leave behind more than $6.5 million, Sam Darnold with $5 million, Stephon Gilmore more than $2.3 million, and Aaron Jones $3.2 million.
The dead money, though, won’t be enough to immobilize the GM. Adofo-Mensah is going to have money to spend.
Keep in mind, as well, that a team’s salary cap is akin to a ping pong ball insofar as it gets hit back and forth. Extensions, restructures, and cuts all open the possibility of clearing more room in the present moment. But then there’s also the reality of players needing pay boosts — Andrew Van Ginkel, Josh Metellus, etc. — alongside the need to sign new talent.
One final thought. Cap space isn’t an end in and of itself. Rather, it’s a means to an end. The point of having open room in the budget is to add players who can help push the Vikings toward a Super Bowl. Owning plenty of cap room is reason for optimism but understand that it disappears quickly and needs to be used wisely.
Before the 2025 free agency period arrives, the Vikings will be trying to work their way through the postseason. The opening round features Minnesota going on the road in an effort to overcome the Los Angeles Rams.
Kickoff will be taking place at 7:00 p.m. CT at SoFi Stadium on Monday, January 13th.
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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 Twitter, as a co-host for Notes from the North, and as the proprietor at The Vikings Gazette, a humble Vikings Substack.