Dustin Baker’s Endorsement + Plan for Vikings’ 2025 Offseason

The Minnesota Vikings offseason is underway, with about six weeks until free agency and slightly under three months before the 2024 NFL Draft.

Dustin Baker’s Endorsement + Plan for Vikings’ 2025 Offseason

The club will spend the offseason ensuring the roster is ready for quarterback J.J. McCarthy, the odds-on favorite to lead the team at QB1 in 2025.

The outcome will differ wildly from the following endorsement + plan, but this is the preferred result for the future.

Please Note: These are not predictions. This is a general endorsement.

Let Sam Darnold Leave

Sam Darnold can command between $30 million and $45 million per season on the open market after diming 35 touchdowns in 2024. That production will earn him a sweet contract.

However, if the Vikings hand that bag to Darnold, they’ll be right back in the Kirk Cousins era of team-building, hoping to fill out a roster with a non-elite quarterback making megabucks.

Perhaps there’s a way to franchise tag-and-trade Darnold, but no matter what, let the man join another team, enabling Minnesota to kickstart the McCarthy era.

Convince Harrison Smith to Return One More Time

Smith sounded like a man on the brink of retirement after the Wildcard Playoff loss, and at age 36 in a few weeks, that checks out.

But the long-time Vikings played quite well in 2024. Brian Flores appears to be returning for 2025, and so should Smith.

Lure Smith into one final hurrah so he can fully cross paths with J.J. McCarthy.

Cut Garrett Bradbury and a Couple of Others

Minnesota can cut these players and save up to $10 million:

• Garrett Bradbury (C)
• Ed Ingram (RG)
• Brian Asamoah (LB)

It’s time.

Re-Sign Byron Murphy and 11 Others

Minnesota should re-sign Murphy to a deal in the neighborhood of three years and $50 million.

Continue the Murphy relationship and sign these players as the in-house free-agent class:

• Cam Akers (RB)
• Dan Feeney (G/C)
• Shaquill Griffin (CB)
• Kamu Grugier-Hill (LB)
• Theo Jackson (S)
• Daniel Jones (QB)
• Johnny Mundt (TE)
• David Quessenberry (OT)
• Trent Sherfield (WR)
• Jihad Ward (OLB)
• Ryan Wright (P)

Let These FAs Depart

Minnesota should let these men venture to free agency, where they’ll sign with new teams:

• Jonathan Bullard (DT)
• Camryn Bynum (S)
• Sam Darnold (QB)
• Stephon Gilmore (CB)
• Aaron Jones (RB)
• Patrick Jones II (OLB)
• Fabian Moreau (CB)
• Nick Mullens (QB)
• Dalton Risner (OG)
• Cam Robinson (LT)
• Jerry Tillery (DT)

Sign These FAs

Highlighting the incoming free-agent class with offensive line help, the Vikings should build the trenches. It should be the season’s foremost priority after preparing J.J. McCarthy to start.

The franchise will sign more players than this, but it should headline the newcomers with these men:

• Drew Dalman, (C) (ATL) | 3-Year, $45 million
• Cooper Kupp, WR (LAR) | 1-Year, $4 million
• Javonte Williams, RB (DEN) | 1-Year, $3 million
• Kevin Zeitler, RG (DET) | 2-Year $12 million
• Milton Williams, DT (PHI) | 3-Year, $36 million

Trade Down at Pick No. 24

This endorsement already wooed Harrison Smith from retirement contemplation, signed two interior offensive linemen, and an interior defensive tackle.

So, guess what? The Vikings need a cornerback from the draft, a familiar request during the last decade. To recoup some draft capital, general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah should trade down and grab an extra pick.

The trade could look like this:

The Vikings get two throws at the dart board higher in the draft.

Select This Draft Class

Ergo, with a little extra draft capital, the Vikings’ 2025 draft can entail these men:

R2: Shavon Revel Jr. (CB, East Carolina)
R3: Quinson Judkins (RB, Ohio State)
R3: Kevin Winston Jr. (S, Penn State)
R5: Nick Nash (WR. San Jose State)

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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.