ESPN Recommends Severe Roster Cuts for Vikings Offseason
Dustin Baker
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The Minnesota Vikings certainly don’t have to follow the plan, but ESPN has several recommendations for the team’s offseason.
ESPN’s Bill Barnwell published an article this week about how every NFC team should improve this offseason, and for Minnesota, he had one simple message — “clear cap space.”
ESPN Recommends Severe Roster Cuts for Vikings Offseason
The Vikings have under three weeks to get under the cap from their current $-24 million hole. And in the spirit of Barnwell’s idea, the player movement is indeed coming. The odd part is that he went down the line with all team’s long-term veterans and hypothesized releases.
Barnwell began with Adam Thielen, who’s been a part of the roster since 2013, “Wideout Adam Thielen has the second-largest cap hit on the roster at $19.1 million, and the 32-year-old failed to top 75 receiving yards in a single game in 2022. Designating Thielen as a post-June 1 release would free up $13.4 million in much-needed room, although they could instead ask him to take a pay cut from the $13.3 million he’s due.”
Right before the Super Bowl, Thielen told ESPN’s First Take, “I want to retire a Viking. Will that happen? I don’t know. This is also a business. And I also want my opportunity to show that I can play at a high level. So, we’ll see what happens.”
Thielen returning in 2023 could truly go either way. It’s a coinflip.
Next, Barnwell name-dropped Dalvin Cook, “They also could free up $7.9 million by releasing running back Dalvin Cook, perhaps while using some of that money to re-sign Mattison.“
Cook has a gargantuan-for-a-RB cap hit of $14.1 million in 2023, so he’s less likely to return than Thielen, mainly because the Vikings employ an analytics-focused general manager in Kwesi Adofo-Mensah who may not enjoy doling out megabucks to running backs in a pass-first offense.
Moving right along — Barnwell pivoted to the other side of operations, “On defense, the Vikings will take a close look at two stalwarts: linebacker Eric Kendricks and safety Harrison Smith. Both are on the wrong side of 30, although the 34-year-old Smith did manage to pick off five passes this season.”
“Kendricks is three years younger, but he plays a less valuable position and allowed a passer rating north of 100 in coverage for the second consecutive campaign. Releasing Kendricks would free up $9.5 million, while Smith would create another $15 million in space as a post-June 1 release,” he concluded.
Releasing Kendricks checks out if there’s a total veteran overhaul because of the cap savings. Kendricks may play elsewhere in 2022, although nothing is solidified. Smith, on the other hand, is likely not departing despite Barnwell’s prediction or recommendation. When the franchise hired Brian Flores a couple of weeks ago, it probably sold him on a vision with existing players, and taking away personnel Flores could utilize — like Smith and his blitz-happy skillset — seems strange.
The 2023 Vikings will look markedly different in September than the 2022 Vikings, and ESPN is hinting at a mass exodus of seasoned veterans. Some will depart but not all.
Free agency begins the week of March 13th.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sal Spice. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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