8 Things to Know with 8 Days before Vikings Free Agency
Free agency in the NFL begins one week from now, with “legal tampering” kicking off on March 10th. That’s the day when players legally-but-unofficially can start talking with teams about contracts.
8 Things to Know with 8 Days before Vikings Free Agency
It’s a very weird title for a very real thing. Minnesota has over 25 free agents scheduled to hit the open market, though when all is said and done, about half or more will return for 2025.
On the whole, these are the eight things to know about the Vikings’ free agency, ranked in ascending order (No. 1 = most important).
8. Vikings Have “Optionality”
General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah used the term this week at the 2025 NFL Combine, explaining his organization’s flexibility at the sport’s most important position, quarterback.
“Every option is afforded to us. When we did the move originally, we wanted to create optionality,” Adofo-Mensah argued.
“And part of the optionality was believing and betting on a guy who was young, talented — believing in our infrastructure to be able to do the things we can do with the quarterbacks. So, we’re now in a position where we have options. And we’ll continue to work those options, figure out the best way for the Vikings to move forward.”
What does this mean? Well, the Vikings have options at quarterback and are not a slave to binary thinking.
7. Minnesota Wants Aaron Jones Back
KSTP’s Darren Wolfson mentioned Jones’ offseason status this week, with free agency around the bend. “Do they want him back? Absolutely they want him back. But at the same number he was making last year, I don’t think so. Is Denver willing to pay him, or someone else? If money matters most, I think Aaron’s gone,” Wolfson said on the Vikings Happy Hour podcast.
“If he’s willing to come back, and play on their terms, they want to lessen his workload. Whatever his touches was in 2024, that wouldn’t be his touches in 2025.”
Should Jones not return to Minnesota, the Vikings’ running back room looks bleak as of late February. Only Ty Chandler, the RB3 in 2024, and practice squader Zavier Scott are on the roster.
But, on the whole, it sounds like Jones wants a Vikings reunion and vice versa, so long as the price tags match.
6. New RB Incoming … from Somewhere
It appears Minnesota wants a veteran running back — like Jones — and a rookie runner to accompany him.
“The big thing for me is we loved having Aaron Jones, the impact he had. For the better part of his career, he had kind of been a part of backfield committees, but for the most part, Aaron Jones was the feature back in 2024,” head coach O’Connell said to SiriusXM a couple of weeks ago.
“So, I would love to have Aaron back. And then we just continue to grow in that room, whether it’s infusing a young player in the draft or maybe another player in free agency alongside Aaron Jones, hopefully.”
O’Connell offered a similar mission statement at the 2024 NFL Combine one year ago, claiming Minnesota would find a new tailback. The Vikings signed Jones a week and a half later.
It might be time to prepare for the future at RB, which is convenient because this rookie class is mind-bogglingly deep.
5. DT Is on the Way
Thanks to general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s comments on Tuesday at the NFL Combine, one longstanding Vikings dream will come true, assuming the young executive wasn’t exaggerating — Minnesota will sign or draft a splashy defensive tackle.
“To play January football, there’s a certain way you’ve got to play. You’ve got to be able to control the ball, and be able to get after the passer with just four. We need to get better and will,” the Vikings boss told reporters.
The defensive line’s edges are all set for the long term (Jonathan Greenard, Andrew Van Ginkel, Dallas Turner), so Adofo-Mensah just has to mean DT with those comments.
4. O’Connell Walked Back the iOL Talk
A reporter at the NFL Combine asked O’Connell if he’d follow through with his commitment to replace interior offensive linemen this offseason after his team allowed 9 sacks to the Los Angeles Rams in the Wildcard Round. O’Connell immediately shot down all “replacement” theories.
“The ‘replace’ word — I don’t know if I necessarily used that. It was more of an emphasis on how we need to play,” he replied.
The young coach then pivoted to Christian Darrisaw’s ACL recovery, evidence that he believed Darrisaw’s injury absence sunk Minnesota in the playoffs.
While the Vikings could obviously sign or draft some new interior offensive linemen, O’Connell isn’t utterly fixated on replacements. The solutions could be in-house.
3. Defensive Secondary Could Look a Lot Different
These prominent cornerbacks and safeties from the 2024 roster are scheduled to hit free agency:
- Camryn Bynum
- Harrison Smith
- Byron Murphy Jr.
- Stephon Gilmore
- Shaquill Griffin
Almost no matter what, the defensive secondary will be reconditioned.
2. The Most Cap Space in Years
Minnesota has over $60 million in cap space as of early March.
At this time on the calendar two years, it had negative $24 million, needing to clear cap space just to get compliant.
Times have changed.
1. Sam Darnold Is Probably Gone
If the Vikings want to preserve the aforementioned cap space, signing Sam Darnold for $40 million per season is probably off the table.
Every step of the way in the last seven weeks, Darnold and the Vikings’ leaders have insinuated that he’ll hit free agency. That would pave the way for the J.J. McCarthy era at quarterback, which checks out because Minnesota used a 1st-Round pick on him 10 months ago.
It would be neat to have Darnold back for cheap as quarterback insurance, but he has one big shot to cash in on the contract of a lifetime.
March 10th Is Quite the Judgment Day for Vikings
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 Vikings 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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