The Josh Metellus Problem
Veteran safety Josh Metellus is a good football player coming off an average season. Worse yet, Metellus is soon to cost a pretty penny.
The defender is a key piece on that Brian Flores defense. And, to be sure, there’s good reason for that reality. Metellus is a smart, versatile player who can get burdened with doing a variety of different things; his pre-snap communication duties alone are impressive, an indicator of how much Flores demands of his trusted player. Does 2026 nevertheless become his final season?
Josh Metellus Enters a Pivotal 2026
Right now, Mr. Metellus has a modest cap charge. He’ll take a $5.955 million bite out of the budgetary pie during the upcoming season. Soon enough, the financial good times are going to end.
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Metellus will see his cap charge climb up to $14 million in each of 2027 and 2028. That’s not a ghastly sight in the context of the current cap — a touch beyond $300 million and rising annually — but it’s also not going to totally fly under the radar. Cutting him would save $8 million next year. Again, not nothing.
Josh Metellus therefore needs to bounce back.
The 28-year-old defensive back picked up 86 tackles in 2025. He had 0.5 sacks to stand alongside his 2 interceptions and 6 passes defended. Per PFR’s advanced stats, only 58.3% of passes into his coverage were completed. The issue is that these catches went for an average of 13.1 yards and there were 4 touchdowns allowed overall.
At no point has Metellus been a shutdown coverage player, but he can be better. Minnesota needs him to be better.
In all likelihood, Metellus is going to start alongside Jay Ward. Pushing against that educated guess are Theo Jackson and Jakobe Thomas, both of whom offer much to like. Thomas, in particular, inspires intrigue as a 3rd-Round safety who boasts size and snarl. Jackson is coming off a disappointing year, but he boasts great length and can make plays on the ball, so completely writing him off wouldn’t be wise.
Generally speaking, safety talent isn’t hard to find. Getting an elite player is difficult, but good talent isn’t all that tough to acquire.
Josh Metellus is therefore facing the issue that all well-paid veterans face: needing to prove so valuable to the team that opting for cheap youth isn’t deemed the best path forward. Working in his favor is that he’s a well-liked teammate who fits in the Flores scheme very well. Working against him are the twin realities of age and cap cost.
In 2026, Metellus isn’t going anywhere. Failing to get back to his normal abilities, though, could lead to a future where Minnesota is rallying around a fresh group of safeties.
