The 5 Best Cornerback Options for Vikings Free Agency
The Minnesota Vikings have 24 players slated to hit free agency in three weeks, including cornerbacks Byron Murphy, Stephon Gilmore, and Shaquill Griffin.
The 5 Best Cornerback Options for Vikings Free Agency
The franchise emphatically needs cornerback help. Free agency is the perfect spot for it.
And with free agency 22 days away, these are five free-agent-to-be cornerbacks from the external market to consider for Minnesota, ranked in ascender order (No. 1 = top option).
5. Paulson Adebo
Age: 25
2023 PFF Grade: 78.6
2024 PFF Grade: 63.3
2023 Passer Rating Against: 62.7
2024 Passer Rating Against: 71.9
There’s one big catch here with Adebo. He broke his leg midseason.
Aside from that obvious detriment, Adebo can ball. And he’s the kind of player general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah might target — tremendous value returning from the gruesome injury.
Adofo-Mensah did so with Marcus Davenport in 2023 — that failed — and Andrew Van Ginkel in 2024 — that did not fail.
4. Carlton Davis
Age: 28
2023 PFF Grade: 58.2
2024 PFF Grade: 74.5
2023 Passer Rating Against: 96.1
2024 Passer Rating Against: 77.0
Davis, too, will be returning from a late-season injury entering the 2025 offseason. But he had a productive 2024 campaign with the Detroit Lions, and that team’s fans loved him.
This veteran corner is perhaps a bit older than Minnesota’s typical free-agent modus operandi, but as a fallback plan, Davis could excel in Brian Flores’ defense.
3. Mike Jackson
Age: 28
2023 PFF Grade: 77.0
2024 PFF Grade: 68.0
2023 Passer Rating Against: 95.1
2024 Passer Rating Against: 106.5
CBS Sports‘ Pete Prisco was rather high on Jackson as a free agent this week, naming him the league’s 30th-best free agent. Prisco wrote, “Mike Jackson might be one of the more underrated players on this list. He started 17 games for the Panthers and did a nice job playing outside cornerback in their defense. He had 13 pass breakups and two interceptions. He just turned 28.”
This man should be more affordable than the next two guys on the list.
2. Charvarius Ward
Age: 28
2023 PFF Grade: 82.6
2024 PFF Grade: 56.2
2023 Passer Rating Against: 64.5
2024 Passer Rating Against: 116.6
Ward experienced a quiet season in 2024 by his usually lofty standards, which may have driven his price tag down.
Still, not too many proven veteran cornerbacks will hit the open market, and if Minnesota wants a battle-tested option, it’s Ward (if not the last guy on this list).
Before 2024, Ward routinely produced 80.0+ PFF seasons and acted as one of the NFL’s top defensive backs. The man was 2nd-Team All-Pro and a Pro Bowler in 2023.
1. D.J. Reed
Age: 28
2023 PFF Grade: 77.9
2024 PFF Grade: 70.7
2023 Passer Rating Against: 81.6
2024 Passer Rating Against: 87.1
Grabbing him in March won’t be easy, but 25 other teams also don’t have the same spending power as Minnesota. Reed told Go Long’s Tyler Dunne in December, “I’m ready to go to free agency, bro. I’m ready to see what’s next for me.”
Here’s his whole Pro Football Focus resume:
- 2024: 70.7
- 2023: 77.9
- 2022: 72.5
- 2021: 78.6
- 2020: 75.2
- 2019: 75.1
- 2018: 66.5
This man is the gold standard among free-agent CBs this offseason.
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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