Will Fries, A Pricey Vikings Add, Just Saw His Deal Squashed
Acquiring Will Fries didn’t come cheap. On the contrary, the Vikings had to hand over a five-year deal that’s close to $88 million, at least partly due to the bidding war taking place.
Now, turn back the clock a bit. At least a few Vikings fans were dreaming of adding Trey Smith before Kansas City applied the franchise tag, taking the Super-Bowl champion off the market. The Chiefs’ RG1 just put pen to paper on a major deal. Ian Rapoport offers the details: “Sources: The #Chiefs and franchise tagged G Trey Smith are putting the final touches on a massive new extension to make him the highest-paid guard in the NFL.” Not long afterwards, Rapoport offered clarity on the financial component of things: “It’s a 4-year, $94M deal with $70M guaranteed. Massive.”
Will Fries Suddenly Looking Cheaper
To a certain extent, it makes sense to place Fries alongside Smith.
Both are high-end right guards who were scheduled to enter free agency at the same time. Both entered the NFL in the 2021 NFL Draft, picked far later than they should have been. The Kansas City lineman went at No. 226; Minnesota’s new lineman went at No. 248. Full credit to both of the Chiefs and the Colts for sinking late-round selections into players who would end up becoming excellent football players (which is to say nothing of the men themselves, both of whom have worked hard to far exceed expectations).
Go ahead and place their deals side-by-side.
Will Fries, on average, is making $17,544,000 per season. Quite a bit, yes, but a deal that may nevertheless lead to positive value if he keeps growing. After all, the former Colt was putting together a great season before succumbing to injury, offering a sizzling 86.9 PFF grade. Had that grade held across the full seventeen games — far from a guarantee, but possible — Mr. Fries would have been the league’s 3rd-best guard, per PFF.
Trey Smith is now operating on his new deal, one that has less term but more money. Crunch the numbers and Smith is averaging $23,500,000 per year. Do a bit of basic math to understand the kind of financial difference that’s being considered. On average, Smith is making roughly $6 million more than Fries per year. He’s doing so without having the benefit of a free-agent bidding war to drive up his price.
Last season, Smith put together a 75.1 grade on PFF. Not as high as Fries, but still very strong. Also working in Smith’s favor is that his track record — as least per the analytics website — is much healthier than Fries’. All four seasons of Smith’s NFL career have been rock solid; Fries, meanwhile, put together modest performances before a massive breakout.
Making Smith even more appealing is that he’s a touch younger and larger, coveted traits for basically any football player.
Even still, Will Fries has his appeal, doesn’t he? Paying the high-end money for a right guard feels odd for a Minnesota Vikings team that has most recently sought to go cheap at the position. The hope is that the adjusted approach is going to lead to a different result, keeping the quarterback upright while also creating more running lanes.
Will Fries, 27, is ascending in his game. Whether he makes the deal look worthwhile remains to be seen, but the Vikings believe that there could be value from within the meaty deal.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference, PFF, and Over the Cap helped with this piece.
