Vikings Corner Contract Contains a Key Caveat
Every cent is going to count against the cap.
Jeff Okudah has recently been added to Minnesota’s roster, a buy-low candidate who was once a No. 3 selection but who has struggled to live up to that draft slot. The fresh Vikings corner is operating on a modest deal, but it’s one that won’t bring any cap relief if the team decides to move on with a cut.
The Vikings Corner Contract: Jeff Okudah
Shout out to The Star Tribune’s Ben Goessling, an excellent resource when it comes to getting the precise details of a contract.
Kick it over to the Vikings insider for the word: “Jeff Okudah got a one-year, $2.35 million deal for the #Vikings, with a fully guaranteed veteran minimum salary of $1.17M and a signing bonus of $1.18M.”
Step back a bit to unpack the details in clearer terms.
At the most basic level, Okudah is working on a single-season, prove-it contract with a modest cap hit in 2025: $2,350,000. There’s no funny business with void years pushing some of the cap charge into the future. Neither are there any details about incentives being able to boost the pay. What you see is what you get: a one-year contract sitting at $2.35 million.
Now, here’s the caveat: every penny is going to hit the cap. Or, at least, every penny is going to hit the cap if the Vikings decide to move on with a cut. So, there’s really no financial incentive to move on once the time comes for roster trimdowns. The thinking with the signing is that Mr. Okudah is going to be on the roster.
The option to save cap space — if there ends up being a desire to do so — is to pursue a trade. In that scenario, the team that acquires the corner would be taking on the guaranteed salary portion of the deal ($1,170,000) while Minnesota is left with the signing bonus as dead money ($1,180,000).
One wonders about the level of competition to sign Jeff Okudah. Put differently, the amount of teams that were calling in free agency. The total compensation isn’t huge but the fully guaranteed nature of the deal says something. Did Minnesota get the corner because it was willing to ensure every dollar that’s promised in the contract actually ends up in his pocket?
The offseason has featured quite a bit of discussion about the Vikings successfully defeating other teams to sign free-agent talent. The reality has been discussed in relation to center Ryan Kelly, right guard Will Fries, running back Jordan Mason, and receiver Rondale Moore.
Jeff Okudah, 26, brings some much needed size to the Vikings corner room. He stands at 6’1″ and weighs 205 pounds, giving him a good shot to matchup with the NFC’s bully receivers.
Byron Murphy Jr. is the CB1, a reality that is very unlikely to change. Okudah will thus be competing with Isaiah Rodgers, Mekhi Blackmon, and whoever may get added in the 2025 NFL Draft for the CB2 or CB3 spot.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference and Over the Cap helped with this piece.
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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.