One Vikings Playmaker Should Hit the Panic Button
The Minnesota Vikings’ offseason has featured rapid movement and change, onboarding new, impactful players, especially on the offensive and defensive lines, while retaining five in-house free agents.
One Vikings Playmaker Should Hit the Panic Button
The franchise still has about $33 million in cap space, so free agency is far from over.
But as it stands, based on free agency and trades, one current Vikings playmaker should hit the panic button: running back Ty Chandler.
The Jordan Mason Trade
On Saturday night, ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweeted, “Trade: 49ers are trading Jordan Mason to the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings are signing Mason to a 2-year deal with over $7 million fully guaranteed at signing with a maximum value of $12m. Negotiated by Jason & Michael Katz.”
“Full trade, per sources: Minnesota sends a 2026 6th-round pick and pick No. 160 this year to San Francisco. San Francisco sends RB Jordan Mason and pick No. 187 to Minnesota.”
The move added intense, unforeseen running back depth to the purple roster after the club re-signed Jones to a two-year extension in early March. As of March 19th, these halfbacks are under contract for 2025:
- Aaron Jones
- Jordan Mason
- Ty Chandler
- Zavier Scott
It also signaled a guaranteed RB3 post for Chandler, who might’ve personally sized up the RB2 job without a Mason trade.
Aaron Jones Already Back
Just before the commencement of open free agency, Schefter tweeted, “Minnesota is getting back its back: Aaron Jones is re-signing with the Vikings on a two-year, $20 million deal that includes $13 million guaranteed, per sources. The deal was negotiated by Drew Rosenhaus.’
The contract checked in a bit higher than some fans expected, but there’s an element of “lifetime achievement” to Jones’ new deal.
Like Mason a week later, Chandler was shoved further down the depth chart with Jones back in the fold.
The Deep RB Draft Class
Chandler should be set at RB3, right? Nope. If his goal is to keep the RB3 post — it probably is — the upcoming RB draft class is just terrible news for Chandler.
After Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty somewhere high in the draft, these promising tailbacks will be chosen from Round 1 through 4, in all likelihood:
- Omarion Hampton (North Carolina)
- TreVeyon Henderson (Ohio State)
- Kaleb Johnson (Iowa)
- Quinshon Judkins (Ohio State)
- Cam Skattebo (Arizona State)
- Devin Neal (Kansas)
- Ollie Gordon II (Oklahoma State)
- Dylan Sampson (Tennessee)
The Vikings could veer away from these coveted runners after the Mason trade, but even so, oodles of other running backs, in addition to those on the aforementioned list, will be selected. In fact, some draft pundits forecast 30+ tailbacks scooped out of the draft.
Which is, of course, terrible news for Chandler.
Ty Chandler’s Bio
Chandler is fast as hell — he ran a 4.38 forty-yard dash leading up to the 2022 NFL Draft — but struggles with pass blocking. Accordingly, Chandler has never caught on as Minnesota’s RB1 or RB2 and hence received the RB3 demotion last season when Minnesota traded for Cam Akers.
Down the stretch of the 2023 season, however, Chandler showed intense flashes of promise, stimulating Minnesota’s stale ground game in a couple of contests against the Cincinnati Bengals and Detroit Lions that year. The Vikings showcased Alexander Mattison as RB1 in 2023, an experiment that totally flopped, and by December 2023, Chandler had taken the big job.
But by midseason 2024, Chandler fell back to his RB3 post after a trade for Cam Akers, who is a free agent at the moment. Chandler has gone from RB1 to RB2 to RB3 in the last two seasons.
Now, Mason is in town, presumably on deck for Chandler’s RB2 job.
Chandler could be cut or traded before Week 1 if Minnesota drafts another rookie runner.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the purple team, with 4-7 episodes per week. His MIN obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL.
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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