The Minnesota Vikings made a massive statement in free agency last year, spending the most out of any team in the league by far. The team’s owners, the Wilf family, have signalled their intent to be much more selective over who they spend money on this year, with a challenging wage bill to bring down. In this edition of SKOLding Hot Takes, Jonathan Pye explores the team’s options going into 2026.

In the two months since the end of the regular season, a lot has changed with a new interim general manager, more and more smoke about having someone other than J. J. McCarthy starting at quarterback, and of course the many manouevres that have taken place to clear over $70 million from the wage bill to get under this year’s cap.

Veterans with high cap hits pay the price

First things first: two veteran players have been cut and center Ryan Kelly has retired. It feels like a conscious decision this year to get younger and have more speed on the team. In the games that we lost last year – especially against the Seahawks, Ravens and Packers – they used their running game to beat us out to the edge. This left us vulnerable as our linebackers and safeties are not the fastest; Brian Flores has a preference for older players who understand his scheme, and chess pieces like Josh Metellus who can play at all three levels on defense.

When you compare Javon Hargrave and Jonathan Allen’s production to their cap hit, they both underperformed in 2025. As the season went on, Hargrave was getting less push off the line to go after the quarterback, as the system required the defensive line to stop the run rather than seeking sacks. With Allen, it was clear that he was no longer a three-down player and while the Vikings won’t save a great deal on him, it will give the opportunity for young, ascending players in the position to get more game time, including last year’s breakout star Jalen Redmond and other players like Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins, Elijah Williams and Levi Drake Rodriguez. There’s potential for more investment in this position, but I suspect that would be through one signing in free agency – like John Franklin-Myers or Christian Wilkins – and supplemented in the draft.

It’s very sad to hear that Ryan Kelly has retired, but the decision makes sense for all parties and it was a good deal for the Vikings as he’s due no further guaranteed money this year. With his history of concussions and the frequency of them last year, it was clear that for his own health, it was untenable for his career to continue. The Vikings saved $6.5 million cutting Allen, $11 million cutting Hargrave, and a final $8 million with Kelly’s retirement, making for a total of around $25.5 million saved.

Restructuring contracts

The other player who was reportedly due to be cut was running back Aaron Jones, who turned 31 at the end of last season. Although he’s a favourite with Vikings fans and adds something to the run game that we previously didn’t have, injuries have been a big problem and he barely played a game last year without visiting the blue tent. It made sense for the Vikings to cut him and add someone with some speed at the position in the draft, potentially with one of our four top-100 picks this year. However, the team managed to come to a new agreement with Jones, keeping him in Minnesota for at least one more season at a salary of $5.5 million.

The Vikings have also restructured the contracts of Justin Jefferson, Christian Darrisaw, T. J. Hockenson and Byron Murphy. After this year, Hockenson will become a free agent with his cap hit being lowered from $21 million to $15 million, although the guarantees have been moved into void years. This means that Hockenson is on a prove-it year with the Vikings. Have a splash season this year and he’s a potential extension candidate or he hits the open market to secure himself a handy third contract. After Kerby Joseph blew Hockenson’s knee off at the end of 2023, he has never been the same player, so this is a good move for all parties. The Vikings need to get younger and speedier at the position, so unless Hockenson goes back to his levels of 2022 and 2023, it’ll be difficult to see a scenario where he’s still on the team in 2027.

The Vikings saved $17 million moving money later in Jefferson’s contract. I’m not a huge fan of that kind of move, but with the cap situation being so bad, it was always likely to happen. Restructuring Darrisaw’s contract saved an additional $10 million and Byron Murphy’s restructure saved $11.2 million. Factoring in the Hockenson and Jones moves, that totals a saving of almost $50 million in 2026.

Potential trade on the cards?

In recent days, outside linebacker Jonathan Greenard has become a candidate to be traded, not because the Vikings want to get rid of him but because of the cap situation. Greenard is believed to be unhappy with his current deal, reportedly deeming himself to be underpaid by about $12 million, but with the Vikings in cap hell, an extension is highly unlikely. With fellow outside linebacker Maxx Crosby recently fetching two first-round picks, it seems reasonable the Vikings should demand at least one first-round pick in any trade. However, this would be a very questionable move – it would suggest that the Vikings see Andrew Van Ginkel as the future at the outside linebacker position; Gink is two years older than Greenard and has shown himself to be less able to beat tackles one-on-one. The move would also suggest that Flores, O’Connell and the front office think Dallas Turner made a big enough leap to get a full starting position in year three. While he made improvement, a lot of his production came against tight ends and backup tackles.

Resigning Eric Wilson

Early on Monday morning, the news broke that the Vikings had re-signed 31-year-old linebacker Eric Wilson to a three-year, $22.5 million contract, with $12.5 million of that guaranteed. It could be deemed in some quarters as an overpay; others could say it’s a bad move to give a 31-year-old a three-year contract. However, it’s good to reward your own players that you know work in the defensive coordinator’s system.

Wilson had a career year in 2025 with 6.5 sacks, 56 solo tackles, four forced fumbles and 40 quarterback pressures at a rate of 22.5%, the highest by any player with 150+ pass rushes since 2022. If you take away the age of the player and consider those stats alone, he is only going to be paid at most $7.5 million a year, then I think it is a bargain. The only question would be, can he keep up the same level of production?

Are you happy with the moves the Vikings have made so far in free agency? What moves do you see the team making over the coming days and weeks? Let us know via email at UKVikingsFanClub@gmail.com or drop us a DM on any of our social media channels.

Images courtesy of the Minnesota Vikings