Minnesota Vikings 2017 Free Agency Refresher

Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer addressed the media this morning, taking questions one last time to close the 2016 season. He touched on Sam Bradford’s record-setting year, Adrian Peterson’s potential return in 2017, and a host of other topics.
One subject he didn’t touch, though, was that of Minnesota’s impending free agents. A question on free agency near the end of Zimmer’s press conference did, however, elicit a humorous response from one attending reporter:
Press conference ends with Zimmer being asked how many free agents Vikings have and another reporter saying, "F***ing Google it"
— Matthew Coller (@MatthewColler) January 3, 2017
If you don’t know how many free agents the Vikings have and ended up Googling the answer, we’re happy your search brought you to Vikings Territory. After the jump, we’ll take a look at each of Minnesota’s 19 free agents heading into the offseason.
The players listed below will see their contracts expire at 3:00 pm EST on March 9, 2017, or the start of the new league year. According to Mike Wobschall at Vikings.com, the new league year brings a set of requirements for each franchise, including:
- Clubs must exercise options for 2017 on all players who have option clauses in their 2016 contracts.
- Clubs must submit Qualifying Offers to their Restricted Free Agents with expiring 2016 contracts to retain a Right of First Refusal/Compensation.
- Clubs must submit a Minimum Salary Tender to retain exclusive negotiating rights to their players with expiring 2016 contracts who have fewer than three Accrued Seasons of free agency credit.
- All clubs must be under the 2017 Salary Cap.
- The trading period for 2017 begins at 3:00 p.m. CT.
Below, you’ll find a list of Minnesota’s 19 free agents, ordered from “most expensive” to “least expensive.” In the coming days, we’ll provide a ranking of each player and their respective chances of remaining with the Vikings.
Minnesota Vikings 2017 Free Agents
Player | Position | 2016 Team | Type | Current APY | Guarantees |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Matt Kalil | LT | Vikings | UFA | $4,942,650 | $19,770,598 |
Captain Munnerlyn | CB | Vikings | UFA | $3,750,000 | $3,450,000 |
Andre Smith | RT | Vikings | UFA | $3,500,000 | $1,000,000 |
Shaun Hill | QB | Vikings | UFA | $3,250,000 | $3,200,000 |
Chad Greenway | OLB | Vikings | UFA | $2,750,000 | $750,000 |
Terence Newman | CB | Vikings | UFA | $2,500,000 | $1,000,000 |
Michael Harris | G/T | Vikings | UFA | $2,000,000 | $500,000 |
Cordarrelle Patterson | WR | Vikings | UFA | $1,805,262 | $5,831,359 |
Rhett Ellison | TE | Vikings | UFA | $1,750,000 | $100,000 |
Zach Line | FB | Vikings | UFA | $1,671,000 | $0 |
Jake Long | LT | Vikings | UFA | $885,000 | $0 |
Matt Asiata | RB | Vikings | UFA | $840,000 | $60,000 |
Audie Cole | ILB | Vikings | UFA | $840,000 | $40,000 |
Justin Trattou | DE | Vikings | UFA | $810,000 | $0 |
Adam Thielen | WR | Vikings | RFA | $600,000 | $0 |
Jeff Locke | P | Vikings | UFA | $584,048 | $184,192 |
Jeremiah Sirles | RT | Vikings | ERFA | $510,000 | $0 |
Charles Johnson | WR | Vikings | RFA | $510,000 | $0 |
Zac Kerin | G | Vikings | ERFA | $480,000 | $0 |
Be sure to bookmark this post as a resource in the next few months. It’ll come in handy when you’re analyzing outside free agents and Minnesota’s potential transactions. Oh, and you won’t need to “F***ing Google” the answers.
All salary information comes from Over the Cap, which offers year-round coverage and analysis of NFL salary caps, player contracts, and free agency.