The Vikings Have a Dirty Little Secret
The Minnesota Vikings have about $18 million to spend this spring and summer on additional free agents or trades, which ranks near the middle of the NFL per available funds.
The Vikings Have a Dirty Little Secret
The Vikings’ financial ledger is in fine shape at the moment, possessing enough cash to sign a free agent like cornerback Jack Jones or running back Cam Akers if it’s in the mood.
But don’t you dare peek at the 2026 cap space. It’s the team’s dirty little secret.
Negative -$32 Million in the Hole per Cap Space in 2026
Remember how, for months, Vikings fans and analysts forecasted a mountain of cap space for the recent offseason? Minnesota ranked near the top of the pack for money to use on splashy free agents.
Well, that was a one-hit wonder.
No such allotment exists for 2026, and it’s not even close. In fact, these are the teams at the bottom of the NFL per available salary cap next offseason:
- Cleveland Browns: -$6.6 million
- Kansas City Chiefs: -$9.3 million
- Minnesota Vikings: -$32.4 million
- Detroit Lions: -$35.8 million
- New Orleans Saints: -$42.7 million
If this looks familiar, it’s for good reason. This situation resembles the Kirk Cousins era of team-building and might even be grimmer.
Big Spenders in 2025 Free Agency
How did we get here? Simple — general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah unleashed his checkbook two months ago, onboarding expensive free agents Jonathan Allen (defensive tackle), Javon Hargrave (defensive tackle), Will Fries (guard), and Ryan Kelly (center), among others.
Folks teased a ginormous Vikings spending bonanza — and then that happened. Adofo-Mensah loaded up his roster for the J.J. McCarthy era, leaving nothing to chance and fortifying his offensive and defensive trenches to the utmost.
That plan was not free, and ended up siphoning most of next year’s salary cap, too.
Minnesota will obviously find ways around the -$32.4 million mark next offseason, but do not expect 2026 free agency to resemble 2025. The budget will be thinner — by a mile.
How to Fix It?
VikingsTerritory‘s Sean Borman tweeted last week about possible fixes to the dirty little secret: “Expecting conversions to Jefferson and Darrisaw next offseason. Hockenson might be another. They saved a substantial amount money at QB2 so could be some decent carryover as well depending on how things shake out.”
Adofo-Mensah can basically take his large-dollar contracts and move the money around, or as some fans love to call it, “kick the can down the road.”
The Vikings will target players like Jefferson, Darrisaw, and Hockenson, and wiggle cash around on their deals, probably to post-2026.
It’s not a novel concept; most Super Bowl-contending clubs do it to capitalize on the here and now.
The Super Bowl Window
Why is this happening? Also simple — Adofo-Mensah perceives this very moment as when his roster can win a Super Bowl. The Vikings have never won one and have tried unsuccessfully since 1961.
The team is stacking large contracts on the ledger for productive players in 2025, 2026, and 2027 to coincide with J.J. McCarthy’s slim rookie contract. If McCarthy turns out to be the real deal — a franchise quarterback — his big money will kick in at the start of 2029. By then, he could earn over $70 million per season based on how the quarterback money market escalates.
Other Takes on the Salary Cap Situation
Zone Coverage‘s Matt Fries recently opined on the Vikings’ salary cap situation: “It should be noted that the Vikings are now pushing a ton of money into future seasons. The team is pushing to put together a great roster for J.J. McCarthy, maximizing their window to compete on a rookie QB contract. But doing so does carry risks, as anyone can see by looking at what the Cleveland Browns and New Orleans Saints have had to do in recent years. Both teams have their hands tied with deadweight QB deals, and they keep restructuring players just to get under the cap.”
“There’s an easy answer to how to avoid becoming the Browns or Saints, and it lies in the most recent Super Bowl Champion, the Philadelphia Eagles. You can kick the cap can down the road as far as you want, but you can’t do it for bad players.”
The Vikings essentially must avoid dumb contracts to avoid salary cap hell.
Fries added, “The Vikings have already done a good job of navigating pivot points where they could push themselves further into debt on declining players. They took big dead cap hits for Kirk Cousins and Danielle Hunter last year, finding an equivalent replacement for Hunter in Greenard and getting excellent play from Sam Darnold at QB.”
“They must continue to do so next offseason, choosing to move on from, rather than restructure, some of the players above that don’t work out. The takeaway is that the Vikings did a great job adding talent to their roster and are beginning to push their chips in on this current roster. They’ve taken some risks on injured players but, in the end, have left themselves a ton of wiggle room to maneuver next offseason.”
Overall, the Vikings aren’t “screwed” via the cap, but 2025 was one their big shot to spend freely. It’s back to reality next March.
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