Vikings Have Done Roster Construction Right
The Minnesota Vikings entered free agency with about $63 million in cap space and a bunch of holes to fill. Less than two weeks later, most holes are gone, and there’s still some cap space because the club borrowed some from 2026.
Vikings Have Done Roster Construction Right
Regardless, it will be easy to get that cap space back by restructuring a couple of contracts.
That’s all a thing for the future. The Vikings have assembled a strong roster, one that should be competitive in the upcoming season. Pro Football Focus‘ Dalton Wasserman praised the club for their approach of building that roster around a cheap quarterback.
The Vikings did exactly what a team should with a quarterback on a rookie contract: spend as much money as possible on the rest of the roster.
They improved a bottom-five interior pass-rush unit by adding Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave. They retained Byron Murphy Jr. and Harrison Smith in the secondary while adding Isaiah Rodgers. The interior pass protection should be better with ex-Colts Will Fries and Ryan Kelly. Minnesota could not have done a much better job of setting up J.J. McCarthy for success.
It’s unlikely that this much could’ve been done had the front office extended Sam Darnold’s contract. That’s the blueprint, at least on paper. Draft a quarterback and build a competitive roster around him while he’s cheap. Hopefully, he will be good enough to carry a weaker roster once he signs his extension with a massive raise.
The team underwent a massive overhaul, especially in some problematic areas, which finally got an infusion of talent.
For years, Skol Nation had begged two regimes to invest big-time free-agent money into the offensive line. Still, the subpar interior line play remained year after year. Now, Will Fries and Ryan Kelly solidify the unit instead of running it back with Ed Ingram and Garrett Bradbury.
Their counterparts on the defensive line will also be massive upgrades. Javon Hargrave and Jonathan Allen went to a combined four Pro Bowls (just like Kelly), and they should have the ability to wreak more havoc than Jonathan Bullard and Jerry Tillery did this past year.
The secondary lost dancing star Cam Bynum but kept top corner Byron Murphy Jr. around. Harrison Smith returns for another ride, perhaps his last, and Theo Jackson is primed to grab a bigger role in his fourth NFL season. Isaiah Rodgers (signed) and Mekhi Blackmon (return from injury) will line up next to Murphy Jr.
Another important element for McCarthy is the running game, which will benefit from the addition of the two linemen, as well as Aaron Jones staying and the trade acquisition of Jordan Mason.
All of those newcomers join a team that already featured a ton of talent. I still haven’t mentioned Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, T.J. Hockenson, Christian Darrisaw, and Brian O’Neill on offense or Andrew Van Ginkel, Jonathan Greenard, Harrison Phillips, Ivan Pace Jr., Blake Cashman, and Joshua Metellus on defense.
Kwesi Adofo-Menash has the chance to add more talent in the draft.
The roster is strong, and the coaching staff is elite, with the reigning Coach of the Year, Kevin O’Connell, who has proven that he can elevate quarterback play. On the other side of the ball, Brian Flores is one of the best defensive minds in the league.
Minnesota’s 2025 unit has the talent to compete. If first-year starter McCarthy can be a solid signal-caller, the sky is the limit.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Pro Football Reference helped with this article.
Vikings Plan to Meet with Top Defensive Tackle
Janik Eckardt is a football fan who likes numbers and stats. The Vikings became his favorite team despite their quarterback at the time, Christian Ponder. He is a walking soccer encyclopedia, loves watching sitcoms, and prefers Classic rock over other genres. Follow him on Twitter if you like the Vikings: @JanikEckardt