The Hitman, The Hammer, and The Vikings Legends Who May be Careening Toward their Final Season in MIN
At this point, The Hitman and The Hammer are Vikings legends.
Drafted at No. 29 in 2012, Harrison Smith will go down as one of the best players in franchise history. His number will be retired and he’ll be considered for the Hall of Fame. At the top of his game, Smith was an All Pro and a contender for DPOY.
C.J. Ham jumped into the NFL as an UDFA back in 2016 and has been in Minnesota ever since. His career hasn’t been as illustrious, but he has established himself as a cherished leader and versatile piece who contributes toward winning football.
Are they entering their final years as Vikings?
The Pair of Vikings Legends and the 2024 Season
Begin with the safety.
Smith is going into his twelfth season in the NFL, a remarkable feat that suggests trading up to draft the Notre Dame defender worked out as well as possible. Elite versatility is what he has brought to the table since arriving in the Twins Cities.
Just last season, the veteran picked up 390 snaps in the box, 346 snaps as a free safety, 185 snaps along the d-line, 151 snaps as a slot CB, and 39 snaps as a boundary CB. Again, versatile.
Under Brian Flores in 2023, Smith had 93 tackles, 3 sacks, 3 passes defended, 3 forced fumbles, and 2 tackles for loss. A step back from 2017 but still rock solid.
At his best, Smith was a first-team All Pro in 2017. He even finished at 4th in Defensive Player of the Year voting. Toss on a second-team All Pro nod and then six trips to the Pro Bowl. The Hitman will turn 36 in February. Seeing him retire will be a sad day for the Vikings organization.
He will be a free agent once the season is done.
C.J. Ham is a sturdy 5’11” and 250 pounds. Last year’s 7 receptions went for 25 yards and single carry went for 7 yards. He didn’t score any touchdowns. He did, however, up his playing time on offense to 216 plays while still playing 244 snaps for Matt Daniels’ special teams.
What do his snaps look like in 2024? Does Aaron Jones benefit from running behind the powerful fullback?
The issue moving forward is that his $3,416,668 cap hit in 2025 is fairly large given that his role on offense isn’t. Cutting the veteran would mean saving $2,650,000. Any chance the cruel nature of the NFL catches up with Ham in the ’25 offseason?
At this point, Ham is a bit reminiscent of Marcus Sherels. For a long time, Sherels found a way of continuing to defy the odds when it was time to make cuts. Does Ham have a similar trick up his sleeve? He has already been a bit like a cat, cashing in some of his nine lives even though many have predicted that he would be cut. At this point, underestimating him may be a foolish thing to do.
Similar to Smith, the day that Ham departs the Vikings organization will go down as a sad day. He just turned 31 in July.
The Hitman and The Hammer will get their seasons started tomorrow when the Vikings travel to New Jersey to take on the Giants. Kickoff is taking place at 12 p.m.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference, PFF, and Over the Cap helped with this piece.
Our Official Staff Prediction for Vikings at Giants
K. Joudry is the Senior Editor for Vikings Territory and PurplePTSD. He has been covering the Vikings full time since the summer of 2021. He can be found on Twitter, as a co-host for Notes from the North, and as the proprietor at The Vikings Gazette, a humble Vikings Substack.
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