Adding Up the Vikings Players Who Could Generate a Compensatory Pick
In March, several current Vikings players are going to leave Minnesota behind.
Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has always been comfortable with this possibility. If he wasn’t, then last year’s free agent cluster of talent wouldn’t have had so many single-season deals. Needing to fill the roster holes isn’t an easy job, but the upside of seeing talent walk away is that the Vikings could get some compensatory selections in 2026.
The Vikings Players & The Potential Comp Picks in 2026
Jump into your time machine and re-enter the discussion surrounding the Vikings in March of 2024.
Minnesota was entering a time of great change, seemingly willing to let franchise cornerstones depart. And, in the end, that’s precisely what happened. Kirk Cousins? Gone. Danielle Hunter? Gone. Players like Jordan Hicks, D.J. Wonnum, and K.J. Osborn? Gone.
Add up all of those departures (among others) and place them alongside the additions. The end result, based on the best estimate of comp picks expert Nick Korte of Over the Cap, is that Minnesota will have a 3rd-Round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Are there players who will similarly be signed to deals large enough to have more picks kicked over to Minnesota? Consider some of the options:
- Sam Darnold, QB
- Daniel Jones, QB
- Cam Robinson, LT
- Byron Murphy Jr., CB
- Shaq Griffin, CB
- Stephon Gilmore, CB
- Aaron Jones, RB
- Dalton Risner, OG
- Patrick Jones II, EDGE
- Camryn Bynum, S
A couple things to keep in mind.
First, some of the above-listed players are going to return to Minnesota. Byron Murphy Jr. seems like the likeliest to come back given his youth, versatility, and Minnesota’s need at his position. So, too, do the Jones pair — Daniel and Aaron — seem likely to come back.
Second, there’s the reality that Minnesota has other free agents who could depart. Corner Fabian Moreau could go elsewhere and so, too, could linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill. Maybe defensive tackle Jerry Tillery finds a new home and center/guard Dan Feeney finds work elsewhere. None of these players, though, seem likely to sign deals large enough to generate a compensatory selection.
That being said, seeing all of Darnold, Robinson, Bynum, and some of the others agree to large (or medium) deals elsewhere won’t be at all surprising. Minnesota would thus find itself in the spot where they need to do a cost/benefit analysis when adding talent, moves that have the potential to cancel out an incoming pick.
Look for Adofo-Mensah to be shrewd in how he navigates the upcoming free agency period. To be sure, there are going to be some notable additions, but the GM could prove patient, waiting until after the draft to patch up some holes as he seeks to preserve the compensatory pick(s) that will get generated by departing talent.
Free agency takes flight with legal tampering on Monday, March 10th. The real thing — being able to have players officially sign contracts — occurs on Wednesday, March 12th.
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.