Vikings Leave Behind Trail of Clues for Roster’s Key Cut Candidates
Want to get to the bottom of an NFL mystery? Leave Sherlock Holmes at home (Watson, too). Instead, just take a look at the money.
Minnesota isn’t unique in this regard insofar as they’re a team that spends money according to its priorities. To that end, the Vikings leave behind a trail of clues that help us to understand a debate that’s still uncertain. More specifically, which fringe players are more likely to get kept on the 53-man roster?
Vikings Leave Behind Clues for Roster Cut Candidates
Start off with the unheralded players: the UDFAs.
Vikings fans may be uniquely interested in UDFAs given the success of guys like C.J. Ham, Adam Thielen, and Ivan Pace Jr. Does the roster have someone who is going to follow in these players’ footsteps? Minnesota hopes that’s the case.
Players such as edge rusher Tyler Batty ($259,000), tight end Ben Yurosek ($254,000), corner Zemaiah Vaughn ($249,000), and offensive tackle Logan Brown ($244,000) — among others — landed meaty guarantees. These paydays offer a hint about the undrafted players who are being looked at as the most likely to stick around.
So, too, do the contracts for free-agent adds give us some insight.
Consider, for instance, Tavierre Thomas. The depth defensive back may not look like a stellar option for the secondary, but he could be considered a favorite to get onto the team. After all, the team was willing to guarantee $1 million of his $2 million deal. That’s comes in the form of a $400,000 signing bonus — a cap charge that can’t be moved — and $600,000 in guaranteed cash — a cap charge that’s only movable via trade, an unlikely occurrence for Mr. Thomas.
Contrast those numbers with depth receiver Tim Jones. He could be cut for a savings of $1,370,000. Sticking around would be a $500,000 cap charge due to the signing bonus, a cap charge that refuses to be scrubbed from the books. If, for instance, Jones and Thomas were battling for the final spot since each are special teams players, the money would suggest Thomas has a better chance of sticking around.
Receiver Rondale Moore is yet another fascinating example. Working on a single-season deal for just $1,400,000, Moore would leave behind $250,000 — the signing bonus — while freeing up $1,150,000 with a cut. Moore, in short, could be cut (or traded) with little financial downside, meaning his job security is low.
Contrast these examples with someone who is not going to be cut: Justin Jefferson. Very few people in the NFL have as much job security as Jefferson. He is among the most dangerous players in the NFL and is still only 26. So, don’t look for #18 to be wearing anything other than purple and gold in 2025.
If you need further evidence of that basic truth, just look at the money. Cutting Jefferson in a post-June 1 manner would mean accepting a $40,407,600 cap charge, well past his current cap charge that sits at just $15,167,600 to stay on the team. Note, as well, that the monstrous $40.4 dead money charge would come with an extra drawback: even more dead money being pushed into the 2026 cap.
In other words, the money tells us something about Justin Jefferson: he isn’t going anywhere. Seeing him play for the Vikings would mean forfeiting roughly $15 million in cap space; asking him to leave the Vikings would mean forfeiting north of $40 million in cap space. Don’t need to be a mathematics professor to figure out those numbers.
Take some more time to consider other players. Some can be cut with basically no financial consequence. Others could get cut but would leave behind a huge amount of dead money, making it close to impossible for a team to move on. Not Gospel truth, but hints and clues.
Indeed, in mid-July, a roster competition is uncertain. So much evidence needs to be gleaned in training camp and the preseason before the franchise makes a final call on the fringe players. The money, though, does give us a bit of an educated guess about the way things are leaning.
The Vikings’ training camp gets going at the end of the month.
Editor’s Note: Information from Over the Cap helped with this piece.
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