Minnesota Has Plenty of Money to Spend
K. Joudry
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The 3-year, $42 million headline really blurred the reality of the deal. The more detailed information on the deal clarifies that those numbers are inflated by a fair bit of unguaranteed cash toward the end. Za’Darius Smith currently has a $3.3 million cap hit for the upcoming season.
Currently, Garrett Bradbury, C.J. Ham, and Jordan Hicks all carry a larger cap hit than Smith. Put another way: an elite edge rusher is counting for less than an offensive linemen who is a bust, a fullback, and a veteran inside linebacker.
What’s perhaps even more interesting is that the Vikings can get out of the Smith contract with very little consequence. If they want to move on before the 2024 season to avoid the $21.6 cap charge, they can do so while only leaving behind $1.67 million in dead money (from his signing bonus).
Over the Cap thus suggests that the Vikings have $11.5 million in cap space. That’s without factoring in the Adam Thielen re-structure (the estimate I saw suggested an extra $5 million in room). That’s without finding any money by re-doing deals for Dalvin Cook, Eric Kendricks, or Ham. Translation: the Vikings still have plenty of money to spend following the Za’Darius Smith deal. J.C. Tretter remains a strong option.
The Chandon Sullivan signing will likely only cost around $1 million, so the team does indeed have some cash. The team needs room to sign their draft class, but that doesn’t cost $15 million. One wonders, then, if we’ll finally see that Bryce Callahan deal, or perhaps the aforementioned Tretter signing. There are all kinds of possibilities, and the team has financial flexibility.
Expect at least a couple more moves before the draft arrives. Indeed, Za’Darius Smith may just be the beginning when it comes to notable moves. At least one or two more impact free agents could be in the works.
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