The 4 Cornerstones of the Vikings Future
The 2024 season ended disappointingly for the Minnesota Vikings, who were defeated at the first hurdle in the playoffs. In a season with little expectation, hope was raised before eventually being dashed, leaving many questions to be answered as the Vikings head into the 2025 season. What the Vikings do have are the four cornerstones of their future, which the team should now be built around.
The Vikings Future: 4 Cornerstones of the Franchise
By design, the Vikings have many pending free agents and the most cap space they’ve had in years. There will be significant change in Minnesota again this season as Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s competitive rebuild should be nearing completion. There are five premium positions in the NFL: QB, WR, OT, Edge, and CB — WR and Edge can be pass catchers and rushers at other positions if needed, like TE or DT.
The Vikings look to be set at four of those positions for the long term, with CB being the one position missing from the roster that needs to be addressed this offseason. Here are the four cornerstones of the Vikings’ future.
J.J. McCarthy
This is somewhat of a projection as we’ve yet to see McCarthy in meaningful action. However, when you use the 10th overall pick, you do it with the intention of that guy being your franchise QB. There was a brief flirtation with turning the keys to Sam Darnold longer term, but his disastrous end to the season should end those thoughts. McCarthy will lead the 2025 Vikings, and we will start to see what Minnesota has with their first-round quarterback.
At this point, we should be confident that Kevin O’Connell can get the best out of whichever QB he has to work with. He’s proved it numerous times now, even if he doesn’t have a magic wand to eradicate all their floors. McCarthy only turns 22 this month, and O’Connell finally has a long-term prospect to sink his teeth. The good news is that McCarthy showed that he was a player for the big moments in his college career. So if the Vikings HC can teach him finer points of technique, etc. There’s every chance McCarthy is the long-term answer the Vikings are looking for.
Justin Jefferson
Justin Jefferson is the face of the Vikings. Last year, he signed his huge contract, making him the highest-paid non-QB in NFL history. Now, Minnesota must put a team around him that can genuinely compete. It was an odd season for Jefferson, which didn’t quite feel as explosive as in the past. However, he racked up 1533 receiving yards — second only to Ja’Marr Chase league-wide — and a joint career-high 10 touchdowns.
Teams were determined not to let Jefferson completely take over games, giving him much extra attention. It meant a career-low five 100+ receiving yards (and none above 150) games for the Vikings wideout. Jefferson consistently went over 50 yards and wracked the yards up, but there wasn’t a consistent run of games where they dominated like we were used to seeing.
He is arguably still the best receiver in the league, with Chase being the only man in the conversation with him. His numbers for a season that could have been better are incredible, but I think that Jefferson would be back to threatening the 2000 receiving yards barrier with a more consistent offense. He’s just that good. Jefferson has yet to turn 26 and has many years of elite football left in front of him.
Christian Darrisaw
Christian Darrisaw was once again on his way to proving he was one of the best and most consistent left tackles in the league when injury struck. In a career that has been interrupted by a number of niggling injuries, Darrisaw suffered his first major injury as a Viking in the Week 8 meeting with the Los Angeles Rams. He suffered damage to both his ACL and MCL, requiring surgery to rectify the issue. Minnesota will hope to have him back for the start of next season.
The 2024 season was going well for Darrisaw, who was grading above 80 for the third year running via Pro Football Focus. He had only allowed two sacks and was cementing his reputation as one of the best-run blockers in the league. Players equally adept at pass and run blocking to an elite standard are rare, so the Vikings got him under contract through the 2029 season with a $113 million deal during the last offseason. Turning 26 this year, Darrisaw should be the cornerstone of the Vikings’ offensive line for a long time.
Jonathan Greenard
Adofo-Mensah signed a pair of free-agent edge rushers who were both big hits in Minnesota in 2024. Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel will be going to the Pro Bowl together, but Van Ginkel got the major second-team All-Pro recognition ahead of his teammate. Greenard is the one who should be considered the cornerstone piece as the out-and-out pash rusher, who is also two years younger at 27.
After a career year in Houston with the Texans, which got him his $19 million a year move to the Vikings, Greenard proved that he was no one-off, with an 80.0 pass rush grade from PFF and 11 sacks. With three more years on his contract, Greenard will be the Vikings’ premiere edge rusher for the foreseeable while they hope rookie Dallas Turner develops into his equal.
Vikings Sign 13 Players
You must be logged in to post a comment.