Where the Vikings Appear Primed to Get Quite Aggressive
For a little while, the Vikings have been quite frisky when it comes to luring UDFA talent to the Twin Cities.
Recent seasons have featured success stories such as P Ryan Wright, LB Ivan Pace Jr., WR/PR Myles Price, TE Ben Yurosek, DT Taki Taimani, EDGE Bo Richter, CB Dwight McGlothern, and several others. The folks at Over the Cap, a website more known for money matters, published a piece detailing how each team may attack the undrafted talent feeding frenzy.
The Vikings Need to Go After UDFA Talent
The Minnesota Vikings are sitting atop roughly 60 players.
Normally, there’s a 53-man roster alongside a 16-player practice squad, but those rules are relaxed during the offseason. Each team gets to build out the roster to 90 players. In fact, things can swell to 91 if the team decides on bringing an international player into the mix, as the Vikings have often been keen to do.
So, there’s some work yet to arrive at that ceiling of 90 or 91.
The Vikings are currently sitting on nine draft picks. Very likely, there will be some trades that change the basic math, but that’s where things stand with the draft lingering. Depending on how things develop with the drafted talent, the Vikings are moving toward a scenario where roughly twenty UDFAs need to get added if the desire is to reach the roster limit before May arrives.
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Nick Korte of OTC, the comp picks guy, offers his two cents.
Korte’s basic thought at the beginning: “This rookie class, the Ravens, Vikings, Rams, and Chargers could all be poised to add quite a few UDFAs after the draft is over, while on the other end, the Titans, Colts, Steelers, and Giants might not add that many unless they cut some veterans in the process.”
Not long afterwards, there’s a caveat to allow for the reality of uncertainty: “Note that these estimates will not be exact. Numerous trades will be executed during the draft that will change these numbers. Teams may also terminate the contracts of some currently rostered players to make room for more UDFAs than they currently have available. Nonetheless, these estimates can provide us some insight on what teams may be planning for UDFAs, both during and after the draft.”
The OTC numbers estimate has the Vikings boasting 61 players on the roster. Add on the draft selections, bringing the estimate to 70 players. Pushing things up to the limit means tossing on a whopping twenty UDFA signings. Only the Ravens offer a higher estimate for UDFA signings at twenty-two.
Similarly of note is that Minnesota can hop into the NFL’s third wave of free agency after the draft finishes off. Waiting until then means preserving the projected 6th for the 2027 NFL Draft.
The Vikings could opt for a veteran defender such as DT Christian Wilkins. Perhaps the rumors point toward a real outcome with WR DeAndre Hopkins, meaning the receiver talent gets a nice boost from a fantastic veteran. Dig into the remaining veteran talent and there are no shortage of options.
Oftentimes, an assassin-for-hire — a veteran to play on a single-season deal — can make a strong difference, so look for the Vikings to toss one or two more old fellas onto the team.
As a quick shorthand, expect the Vikings to draft somewhere around eight-to-ten players. Look for fifteen+ players to follow within undrafted free agency. A modest helping of veteran talent could then be added alongside a player from within the NFL’s International Pathway Program.
The 2026 NFL Draft begins on Thursday, April 23rd. Be sure to keep swinging by for some firsthand insight on how the Vikings do.
