3 Beloved Vikings Could Be in Final Days with Franchise
The 2025 NFL Combine is winding down, and one week from Monday, the NFL’s “legal tampering” phase of free agency begins.
3 Beloved Vikings Could Be in Final Days with Franchise
The Minnesota Vikings may release a player or two before free agency, and those moves could arrive as early as now.
Meanwhile, a handful of popular players could be in their final days with the franchise. These are those men listed in ascending order (No. 1 = most impactful possible departure).
3. Harrison Smith (S)
Smith must decide on retirement or a return for Year No. 14.
Some new hints from KSTP’s Darren Wolfson indicate that Smith could return in 2025. “Smith can still play, and I don’t think the Vikings need to break the bank to bring him back. They can figure out the money. I get it. He’s had to take pay cuts the last couple years. So, to me, there’s interest in him playing at a reasonable number. I just think it makes all sorts of sense,” Wolfson said on SKOR North airwaves late last week.
The treasured Viking did not feature a performance-related decline in 2024, and in fact, often felt vital to the defense’s back end. In theory, if Smith were holding on by threads and struggling every Sunday, few would care about his retirement decision. But that doesn’t apply, not to Smith.
Wolfson added, “I continue to think there isn’t a downside to bringing back Harrison Smith.”
This is your warning: your phone could buzz anytime revealing a Hitman retirement. ‘Tis the season.
2. Camryn Bynum (S)
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler wrote about Bynum’s free agency last month, “The Vikings and Bynum have had discussions about an extension. While nothing has materialized, both sides are open to it, and this could get done before mid-March.”
This one is about the cheddar. Would the Vikings rather spend money on one of their own, Bynum? Or an outside candidate like Jevon Holland or Talanoa Hufanga?
It might be the Vikings’ most unpredictable and fascinating free-agent conundrum to monitor.
1. Byron Murphy Jr. (CB)
The aforementioned Fowler hinted two weeks ago that Murphy Jr. could depart the franchise while Bynum stayed.
“Several free agents — Byron Murphy Jr., Camryn Bynum, Cam Robinson, Aaron Jones — could get cushy deals elsewhere, but GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has shown adaptability in adding new talent. (A prime example is last season’s pass-rush duo of Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel,)” Fowler wrote.
“In the secondary, the sense here is Murphy Jr. walks but Bynum could stay under a new deal.”
ESPN pretty much describes it as an either-or with Bynum and Murphy Jr.
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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