Vikings Add a 3rd All-Pro Specialist
The Minnesota Vikings had a quiet first week of free agency, headlined by Kyler Murray’s arrival to bolster the quarterback room. Cornerback James Pierre was acquired to help the secondary. In Week 2, the Vikings have started to heat up, signing restricted free agent tackle Ryan Van Demark to an offer sheet and strengthening the special teams unit shortly thereafter.
On Tuesday night, the Vikings announced that punter Johnny Hekker was on his way to Minnesota.
Lindsey Young of Vikings.com wrote, “The Vikings have added a punter to the roster. Minnesota agreed to terms with four-time Pro Bowler Johnny Hekker, the team announced Tuesday. Hekker, 36, most recently spent the 2025 season with Tennessee. He played in all 17 games and punted 78 times for 3,653 total yards, averaging 40.3 net yards per boot. Hekker had seven touchbacks and landed 22 punts inside the 20-yard line.”
Hekker recently played for a team that punted a lot; he had the fourth-most punts in the entire league.
The Vikings lost punter Ryan Wright to the New Orleans Saints. Minnesota’s former undrafted rookie and punter from 2022-2025 is now one of the best-paid punters in the league. Hekker is likely cheaper and he’s on a one-year deal.
The veteran is one of the most-decorated punters in NFL history, having four Pro Bowls and six All-Pro selections (four first-team) on his resume. He was also part of the 2010 All-Decade team. He reunited with Kevin O’Connell, who was also part of the Rams’ Super Bowl team in 2021. Special teams coordinator Matt Daniels first played with Hekker and later coached him on the Rams.
The specialist completes a highly decorated trio with 2025 All-Pro kicker Will Reichard and two-time first-team All-Pro long snapper Andrew DePaola. Besides punting, Hekker will replace Wright as a holder in the kicking operation that is hoping to replicate the success Reichard had in his sophomore season.
Hekker is known as one of the best in the business at holding and he has frequently been used on fake punts. He has 26 pass attempts on his scorecard, having completed 15 of them for 193 yards, one touchdown and one interception; 12 have gone for first downs. If Kevin O’Connell wants to be aggressive, he now has the chance to do it.
Hekker began his career as an undrafted rookie out of Oregon State in 2012, joining the then St. Louis Rams and he remained with the franchise through the Super Bowl triumph. Then, he departed for Carolina for three years and the Titans in 2025. Minnesota is his fourth career stop.
Ahead of facing Hekker in the Super Bowl, Bill Belichick said in 2019, “Hekker’s a tremendous player, great athlete. He’s a weapon. Yeah, again, he’s a weapon on the field. He can change field position. He’s a good situational punter. Obviously he’s very athletic and you have to respect his ability to handle the ball. I think the main thing when you send your punt return team out there is you want to make sure you get the ball back at the end of the play. That’s not always that difficult, but these guys it’s pretty challenging.
Well’s see if the punter still has that game-changing leg at the age of 36. The Vikings now have all three specialists under contract.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Sports Reference helped with this article.