Vikings Blasted for 1 Offseason Move
The Minnesota Vikings have checked their top offseason box when they acquired Kyler Murray. Adding the two-time Pro Bowler to the quarterback room for less money than the long snapper is getting has almost exclusively drawn praise from the media.
Another move, however, hasn’t been nearly as popular. Aside from a few free agents, the Vikings have emphasized keeping players in the building. One of those is veteran linebacker Eric Wilson. The pending free agent was re-signed ahead of free agency, closing the linebacker hole, but also raising questions.
PFF’s Zoltán Buday named it his least favorite move from Minnesota. He wrote this week, “The Vikings re-signed Wilson to a three-year contract worth $22.5 million. Although that makes him just the 30th-highest-paid linebacker in the league, it might still be an overpay, considering Wilson’s limited skill set. In 2025, he earned a 36.7 PFF coverage grade, which ranked just 71st out of 80 qualifying linebackers.”
Wilson started his career in the Twin Cities, joining the club as an undrafted rookie in the Mike Zimmer era and quickly establishing himself as a depth linebacker and special-teams ace. After a few years in Green Bay in exactly that role, he returned to the Vikings.
He returned last year as a low-cost free-agent pickup and thrived under Brian Flores, not only stealing the starting job from Ivan Pace but also becoming a true disruptor and playmaker.
But Buday isn’t alone. ESPN’s Ben Solak shared his sentiment, calling Wilson’s contract extension the Vikings’ move he didn’t like.
“He was lights out in 2025. Defensive coordinator Brian Flores clearly trusts him, and the cost ($7.5 million per year) is small enough that it’s a fairly harmless investment. But a breakout season at 31 years old is generally worthy of suspicion. If Wilson just caught unsustainable fire last season and now returns to his career-average level of play — depth LB, special-teamer — then the Vikings have two 30-plus-year-old linebackers with little behind them.”
There’s no doubt about it, Wilson’s breakout season needs an asterisk. In all likelihood, he didn’t suddenly improve to a Pro Bowl-level player out of nowhere, but he needed to be put in that situation by defensive coordinator Flores. It’s also possible that his play will decline in the near future due to his age.
Yet, despite those items, his play in 2025 can’t be ignored either. Wilson led all linebackers in sacks, QB pressures and tackles for loss, as he’s seemingly built for this specific job, a role for which he has been re-signed. Wilson is not a long-term answer, but a reasonable replacement likely would’ve cost way more, without any guarantee that the new guy can play at that level.
Furthermore, the age and role concerns are already priced in, since his 2025 campaign was undoubtedly worth far more than just $7.5 million per season.
Ultimately, the Vikings re-signed the player they know can thrive in the one specific role under Flores: a blitzing linebacker. And they got him for average starter money.
Still, if Solak and Buday are right and Wilson can’t repeat his success, the Vikings are on the hook for paying an aging, overpaid defender. It is a low-risk contract. The Vikings could cut him in the 2028 offseason while inheriting just over $2 million in dead cap. The three-year, $22.5 million deal is actually a two-year, $15 million contract with a $7.5 million team option at the end. Suddenly, that doesn’t sound as risky.
It’s certainly fair to ask questions about the decision to re-sign Wilson, but it’s not a crazy one to bring back a player who has already proven capable of functioning in the defensive system that is still in place at an average salary.
Wilson, 31, hopes to build on his breakout season.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Sports Reference helped with this article.