Vikings and Rookie First-Round Pick CB Mike Hughes Agree to Four Year Deal

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Jul 20, 2018

Just in time or training camp (thank the stars!) the Vikings finally agreed to terms with their surprising (to some) first-round draft pick, Mike Hughes, a cornerback out of the University of Central Florida. The Vikings sent out a press release regarding the signing and since we’re fancy now we received it, we’ll let the amazing Vikings PR department break down the signing:

“Hughes (5-10, 189), the Vikings first-round selection (30th overall) in the 2018 NFL Draft, represents the highest drafted defensive player in UCF history and the second Knight that Minnesota has taken in the first round (Daunte Culpepper at #11 in 1999). Hughes made a big impact in his lone season at UCF, tallying four return touchdowns, two on kickoff returns, one on punt return and one interception return. His 31.7 kickoff return average ranked third in the nation while his four interceptions were tied for the team lead on a squad that finished the season 13-0 and ranked sixth in the nation, the highest finish in program history. The New Bern, North Carolina native began his collegiate career at North Carolina before spending a year at Garden City Community College prior to his breakout season at UCF. He joins Terence Newman, Xavier Rhodes, Harrison Smith and Trae Waynes as first round selections in the Vikings secondary.

All eight Vikings 2018 draft picks have now been signed. The Vikings active roster stands at 90 players as the team heads into training camp next week”

One thing that the press release didn’t include was the details of the contract, luckily we have a crack team of researchers both on purplePTSD.com and it’s (big) sister-site, VikingsTerritory.com. Sean Borman, who is also the managing editor of VikingsTerritory.com, found that (thanks to Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press) Hughes’ has a four-year deal worth $9.87 million, with a signing bonus of $5.256 million. That’ll cost about $1.794 million against the salary cap this season, as well.

Hughes spoke with the Star Tribune about a month ago about where he’ll fit in on what seems like a packed secondary for the Vikings, saying that he’ll play “Wherever they want [him]”. If you look at the Vikings secondary, however, it’s really not as packed as some people believe. Terrance Newman had a drop off in the second half of last season, as if his age finally caught up with him (or perhaps the fact that he was playing in the nickel a lot more than he had been, had something to do with it), at least according to NextGen stats, which literally have a chip in the shoulder pads of each player and can provide teams with stats on things like speed and… speed. Beyond Newman at the Nickel you have second-round pick Mackenzie Alexander who is entering his third season, has struggled to acclimate to the NFL and is coming into a really important year for his career with the Vikings (and the NFL in general). Trae Waynes and Xavier Rhodes should be set at the position, barring any injuries, and while people are saying that the Hughes pick is an indictment of Waynes or that Waynes is in trouble, Trae has improved to the point that the only reason he’d end up on another roster in a year would be salary cap related (as it’s been said that the team will have to decide between him and new defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson). Beyond Waynes and Rhodes, though, the team has a few guys of interest like UDFA Holton Hill, but they don’t really have this gigantic list of guys who could step in should Waynes or Rhodes get injured (knock on wood).

So while I was surprised (and relatively angry) that the Vikings selected Hughes with their first pick, there was no doubt that they were going to end up drafting a corner (or two) in April’s draft. It was just the fact that the team clearly had larger and more important needs on the offensive line, something that has clearly manifested as Zimmer said on KFAN this week that former right tackle (and left guard in the playoffs) Mike Remmers is most likely moving to right guard for the season. Remmers was a big free agency pick up last off-season and the fact that they’re moving him from the position they signed him for is, to me, an admission of failure in terms of the “plan” the Vikings had for the offensive line this off-season. I believe they thought they could have their cake and eat it to by drafting Zimmer’s favorite position in the first round and then picking up an interior offensive lineman (right guard) in the second round. Instead there was a run on guards before their pick in the second round and they ended up taking a project left tackle in the second. What?

Hopefully with Hughes the Vikings defense will have enough talent and depth to hold teams to less than 10 points this season, taking a lot of pressure off of the Vikings offense and giving them the time they need to learn to play together and to learn the new system new offensive coordinator John DeFilippo is installing. While that sounds like a lot of pressure for this defense and thus Mike Hughes, it comes with the territory of being a first round pick and now that he’s signed and able to atttend the entirity of training camp, he’ll have time to learn everything and start off on the right foot.

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