Dallas Turner Must Earn His Keep in 2025
When the Vikings traded up to 17th overall with the Jacksonville Jaguars in the 2024 NFL Draft to select Dallas Turner, it was obvious that it was a long-term move in the edge-rushing room to contrast the win-now style of maneuvers when they signed Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel in free agency.
It’s apparent that the vision is to have Greenard here for a while since he was 27 at the time of his four-year contract signing, and with Andrew Van Ginkel only getting a two-year agreement that ends when he will be going into his age-31 season, “Gink” looks to be the one that will be passing the torch to Dallas Turner on his side of the line.
Thirty-one years old at edge rusher isn’t the same as 31 years old at runningback; edge rushers can still get after it at age 32 and beyond, and Van Ginkel is a relatively low-mileage 29 years old as it stands.
Dallas Turner is currently 22 years old, meaning he still is in the early stages of his development at the NFL level. However, if he wants a true starting edge rushing spot sooner rather than later, then he has to take it by force. Van Ginkel will likely play just as well as he did in 2025 as he did in 2024, and that will be apparent in his next contract.
Van Ginkel signed a two-year/$20 million deal in the 2024 offseason, an absolute bargain for the franchise. He was immediately worth his $10 million AAV, and his next contract, while still probably a short-term one, will absolutely be worth more than that.
If Van Ginkel is to play at that same level, then the Vikings might be hard-pressed to convince him to stay in Minnesota and accept a payday that is one of a rotational pass rusher instead of a certified starting pass rusher.
That’s the beautiful predicament that the Vikings have put themselves in; if Van Ginkel doesn’t want to take a more modest payday in Minnesota and someone else is willing to give him a bag, then the Vikings can pivot to Dallas Turner. If Turner isn’t showing true signs of being that guy in year 2, then they can give Van Ginkel another payday with the promise of being featured more heavily in the defense for another year or two.
Dallas Turner must come out and impress this season if he wants that starting edge spot to be his and only his, and not just for the sake of being a starting NFL edge rusher. Rookie contracts all come to an end, and if Turner wants his 5th-year option picked up by the Vikings, followed by a monster extension, then the building blocks for them must be put in place in 2025.
If everything goes well, and this kid is able to maximize his abilities that have the potential to be truly freakish, Dallas Turner could set himself up well this year and begin his path to maybe even becoming the highest-paid edge rusher in NFL history in a couple of seasons.
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