How the Vikings’ Cap Space Can Soar Past $100 Million
At present, the Vikings’ cap space is sitting in a pretty good spot. Over the Cap puts Minnesota at roughly $58 million in open room.
For simplicity, let’s drop that number down to an even $55 million. Doing so would require the Vikings to clear off $45 million in cap space in the 2025 budget to hit the century mark. Is that at all realistic? If so, what would the Vikings need to do to gain that budgetary abundance?
The Vikings’ Cap Space and The Possibility of $100M
Start off with a simple observation: GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah tends to take things a step at a time.
Past offseasons have featured the Vikings’ top decision maker slow-playing some of his decisions. Consider, for instance, the extension for Justin Jefferson. That bit of business didn’t occur prior to free agency in March but once the summer arrived. The notable example is simply one data point that reflects how the GM operates: Adofo-Mensah won’t be completing every restructure, cut, extension, and/or other cap move prior to the beginning of free agency. He’s more patient than fans of the team.
In other words, the Vikings’ cap space is unlikely to ever get beyond $100 million in the offseason in an official sense. Nevertheless, the point remains that Minnesota’s top executive will have options aplenty when it comes to carving out more open room in the short term.
Consider, for instance, some extension options.
Stud right tackle Brian O’Neill has a couple more seasons on his deal. Extending him has the potential to kick close to $13 million back into the budget. Outside linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel is moving into the second season of the two-year deal he agreed to last offseason. Extending the second-team All Pro would offer the potential to gain back more than $7.7 million in cap space.
Just those two moves — extensions for O’Neill and Van Ginkel, cornerstone players — has the potential to free up more than $20 million in 2025.
Furthermore, tight end Josh Oliver is moving into the final season of his contract with the Vikings. An extension could clear close to $5.5 million. So, too, is Josh Metellus moving into the final year of his deal. Extending the versatile safety could free up more than $4 million. Combining the potential savings for Oliver and Metellus means roughly $9.5 million in open room.
The large deals for edge rusher Jonathan Greenard (close to $14 million with a restructure) and tight end T.J. Hockenson (close to $7.4 million with a restructure) could surrender cap space.
Cutting center Garrett Bradbury would mean gaining back $3.622 million. Moving on from guard Ed Ingram would give back $3.325 million in cap space. A C.J. Ham cut would see $2.65 million re-added to the 2025 budget. Parting ways with linebacker Brian Asamoah would involve getting more than $1.4 million in cap space.
Sift through these possibilities to do some actual math.
Let’s say there are extensions for all of O’Neill, Van Ginkel, Oliver, and Metellus. The potential exists to arrive at cap savings that are close to $30 million, but let’s say that things are kept a bit more modest at “just” $25 million in added room.
Adofo-Mensah then turns to the deals for Greenard and Hockenson to add $15 million in open room. The cap savings would be sitting at $40 million, requiring just $5 million more to hit the magic number. Cutting Bradbury and Ingram would do the trick, options that seem likely to be discussed inside TCO Performance Center.
The wild thing is that the various possibilities we discussed by no means exhaust all the options available to Kwesi Adofo-Mensah. Bringing back corner Byron Murphy Jr., running back Aaron Jones, and/or corner Stephon Gilmore also have the potential for 2025 savings.
Last offseason, Adofo-Mensah proved to be quite adept at navigating an NFL budget. He brought in a ton of excellent veteran talent while still digesting a huge dead money hit. The potential is there for the GM to once again be aggressive with adding some top-level talent.
NFL free agency begins on March 12. The Vikings seem likely to do some damage.
Editor’s Note: Information from 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 Twitter, as a co-host for Notes from the North, and as the proprietor at The Vikings Gazette, a humble Vikings Substack.