Vikings’ Pricey Investment in Former Pro Bowler Draws Fire
While the Minnesota Vikings made an upgrade to the defensive front, it came with a price that was too big of a price, according to ESPN NFL analyst Ben Solak.
The Vikings signed former Washington Commanders defensive lineman Jonathan Allen to a three-year, $51 million deal in free agency, a comparable annual amount to his old contract despite a release.
Allen had a four-year, $72 million deal with the Commanders before a March 7 release, which gave the team $16.53 million in cap space.
“I didn’t love: Just how much Jonathan Allen cost. In general, double-dipping at three-technique opposite Harrison Phillips is a shrewd approach, and both Allen and Javon Hargrave can provide an immediate impact,” Solak wrote in a March 26 article. “I did not, however, expect Allen to tip the financial scales at $17 million per year. The entire defensive tackle market came in above my expectation, so perhaps this was just the cost of doing business.”
Allen is tied for the 24th-highest annual salary among defensive linemen in the league, and he’s tied for sixth among linemen who signed deals this year. Only Myles Garrett, Maxx Crosby, Milton Williams, Greg Rousseau, and Osa Odighizuwa signed for more.
“Allen is now the league’s 15th-highest-paid defensive tackle, and Hargrave ($15 million per year) is the 18th,” Solak wrote. “While Allen might have been more expensive than I expected (and Hargrave too, for that matter), the theory behind the approach is sound. I just wish it came at a smaller price tag.”
The Vikings spent big up front overall as Hargave will make $15 million annually, which is 16th among the free-agent defensive linemen signings. Hargrave signed a two-year, $30 million deal after the San Francisco 49ers set him for a post-June 1 release on March 12.
Minnesota ranks eighth among teams that spent the most on the defensive line. The Vikings will spend $51.66 million for the defensive line overall.
With Hargrave, the Vikings are looking for him to bounce back from a triceps injury in 2024, which cut his season short. Hargrave has a 17-game career average of six sacks, 50 tackles, 10 quarterback hits, a forced fumble, and a pass deflection.
As for Allen, he’s coming back from a pectoral muscle tear amid just three sacks and 19 tackles in eight games. He has a 17-game career average of 6.6 sacks, 63 tackles, 18 quarterback hits, and a pass deflection.
That said, his numbers for sacks and tackles have declined since 2022. Bleacher Report’s Brad Gagnon considers Allen overpaid.
“At 30 and beyond his prime following consecutive declining seasons, Allen somehow landed a three-year, $51 million deal with the Vikings in free agency,” Gagnon wrote in a March 26 article. “It’s simply way too much money considering his trajectory and recent injury situation.”
Allen wants to make sure that the Vikings made the right decision, however. He made that clear during his March 28 appearance on The Rich Eisen Show.
“Super excited – super, super excited – to be part of this new team and reuniting with Coach O’Connell,” Allen told host Rich Eisen. “The NFL is already hard enough, you know what I mean? Nobody wants to go to work with a organization where guys are only showing up for paychecks, they’re only worried about personal numbers and the culture is just not really what it needs to be to win.”
“It’s hard to win without a good culture,” Allen added. “So when I talked to Coach O’Connell and (defensive coordinator Brian) Flores, and just all the guys over there in Minnesota, it really felt like they were building something special, and they had built something special, and I just wanted to be a part of that.”
