The Vikings’ Cap Boost is Now Showing Up on the Horizon
In less than a month, the Vikings’ next cap boost is going to arrive.
Opting to cut Jonathan Allen didn’t surprise very many. What was notable about moving on from the well-paid veteran was that Rob Brzezinski opted for a post-June 1st cut. Doing so meant needing to wait until June to get that precious cap relief. Likewise, the Harrison Smith cut got pushed until June 1st, further growing the cap space windfall that’s now weeks, rather than months, away.
The Vikings’ Next Cap Boost Nears
The Minnesota Vikings are sitting atop roughly $15.8 million in open cap space. Not too shabby, all things considered, but capable of disappearing faster than a magician’s rabbit. Before long, more will be needed.
At minimum, there’s the financial crunch that occurs once the offseason ends. Every NFL team is working with some relaxed financial boundaries. What is normally a 53-man roster and 16-player practice squad counting against the total tally is an offseason cutoff sitting at the top-51 most expensive players. Pushing out the financial parameters allows for teams to accommodate the increased player payroll when conducting an offseason competition, but September involves needing to account for the accounting of employing 69 players between the roster and practice squad (and whoever is hurt on the IR).
With all of that being said, make note of where things stand. Consider where the cap space sits currently, the cap space needed for the drafted players, and then where things are going.
- Current Cap Space: $15.8 Million
- Cap Space for Draftees: $9.67 Million (Spotrac)
- June 1st Cap Boost: $12.5 Million
As per usual, a team’s salary cap has been pushed in various directions. Cap space comes, cap space goes, and the NFL marches on. Such is life in a league where money reigns.
Now, as for the details above, there’s merit in keeping the numbers quite simple. Doing so betrays the mathematical limitations of your author while allowing for a workable, rough guide for where the open room sits. After the dust settles on the draft picks being signed and the June 1st boost, the Vikings’ cap space will come in at $18.63 million.
Bringing things around to an all-too-simple guide would mean seeing that $18 or $19 million in open room as on the lower end of medium money. There’s enough to do business, bringing in a veteran or two. But, to be sure, there are teams out there that are fully capable of outbidding the Vikings for a coveted talent.
Consider, as well, that Minnesota’s roster boasts a pile of extension candidates. Seeing one or two of these deals get across the finish line would involve a familiar pattern in the NFL. The Vikings would carve out added budgetary wiggle room in the short term while diminishing financial abundance in the future.
Before too long, the Vikings are going to need to count the cost of their roster in the most basic sense of that phrasing. Gone will be the offseason’s top-51 player cutoff. The Vikings will therefore need to account for all of the players within the accounting, meaning that the mirage of somewhere between $15 to $20 million in open room is going to diminish.
The Vikings’ GM search is an ongoing process, albeit one that’s taking place behind closed doors. Whoever gets tossed into the captain’s chair will need to have a deft hand when it comes to working the financial spreadsheet, capable of solving in-house problems, anticipating future issues, and making the call on adding a player or two.
Look for a hire to arrive by the end of May.
