Vikings Left With Just Over $4 Million After O’Neill Signing
K. Joudry
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The Vikings made the right decision by signing Brian O’Neill to his sizeable extension. We all know that quality o-linemen don’t grow on trees, so we need to keep the good ones once they get here. Furthermore, smart GMs pay players for who they will become, not who they currently are. As it stands, O’Neill is a low-end, tier-1 OT. If he continues ascending, he’ll soon be among the very top OTs in the NFL. I, for one, think he’ll get there.
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O’Neill is enthused about his deal: “I just love being here. I love being in the locker room with these guys and coming out to practice every day and just being a part of the organization. Getting to play for this team is a privilege, and I’m just happy to be able to keep doing it.” He went on: “I was just worried about playing good football. But I just knew I wanted to be here for a long time. I think [the Vikings] knew that; we knew that. I’m just excited to get it rolling.”
As far as I can tell, this is a good deal, especially since Minnesota gets some flexibility on the back end. He can be cut in 2025 for a little more than $4 million in dead money. A 2026 cut would leave behind $0. As I recently pointed out over at The Vikings Gazette, Minnesota is also well-positioned to sign O’Neill to another extension toward the end of the deal if he is still playing well.
The end result for this year’s finances is a little less money heading into the season. Per Over the Cap, Minnesota heads into the season with $4,311,330 available to them. It’s not a ton, but it should be sufficient. For what it’s worth, O’Neill’s 2021 cap charge is just over $5.63 million.
Rick Spielman isn’t perfect, but he’s pretty darn good GM.