The Vikings Have Stockpiled a Huge Amount of Ammunition
The Vikings have been hard at work stockpiling ammunition for a particular facet of the 2026 offseason: the draft.
Indeed, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has been picking up picks. The team’s normal allotment of draft selections remains mostly intact. There has then been an effort to enhance the available selections through both the compensatory process (read more) alongside the team’s recent trade efforts (Harrison Phillips, Sam Howell, & Mekhi Blackmon).
The Vikings Have Stockpiled Picks Aplenty for ’26
Recently, Alec Lewis of The Athletic did a tally, laying out all of the upcoming draft selections for Kwesi Adofo Mensah:
— 1st
— 2nd
— 3rd
— 3rd (comp for Sam Darnold)
— 4th (comp for Daniel Jones)
— 5th
— 5th (Eagles)
— 5th (comp for Cam Robinson)
— 7th
— 7th (Texans)
Lewis does good work, but there are a few notes to tack on. The comp picks are a projection, meaning they aren’t locked into place with 100% certainty. The Darnold and Robinson ones look good, but Daniel Jones is going to need to maintain his starting spot for a good portion of 2025 for the pick to be a 4th and not a 5th. Even with that being true, the Vikings have nevertheless assembled a huge pile of picks.
Plus, there has been the Mekhi Blackmon trade, something that brought a 2026 6th back to Minnesota.
Add up all the picks and there are eleven in total. Give the GM a bit of room to play within the event itself — the 2026 NFL Draft — and he could multiply those picks by trading down. Or, alternatively, Adofo-Mensah could get bold, jumping up to grab a promising talent who is tumbling down the board.
Another factor that will be fairly unique for the GM is that there’s a strong cluster of high picks. The Vikings haven’t had a 2nd-Round selection for three consecutive drafts. For a little while, the 2nd was where Minnesota uncovered some excellent talent. That’s how all of Brian O’Neill, Dalvin Cook, and Eric Kendricks (among others) became Vikings.
As a result, there isn’t a huge gulf in between picks (at least not yet). In the 2025 NFL Draft, the Vikings picked at No. 24 and then waited until No. 102. In the 2024 NFL Draft, the Vikings picked at No. 17 and then waited until No. 108. In the 2023 NFL Draft, the Vikings picked at No. 23 and then waited until No. 102. Possessing picks in the 1st, 2nd, and a pair in the 3rd guards against that occurring in 2026 (again, per the current outlook).
Next offseason, the Vikings are going to be stepping into a huge amount of salary cap debt. Even after offloading Harrison Phillips, Minnesota is in the red by more than $60 million. Very good chance, folks, that the cap number changes before 2026 arrives, but the general idea is still going to apply: cap space will be limited.
Free agency, quite possibly, could be quite tame. Rather than a spending spree, there could be some value adds as the GM shows more constraint than normal. Maybe there will be some creative accounting to backload a deal(s), but a free agency as frisky as 2025 isn’t happening.
How does a team add talent when there’s so little cap room? Draft picks.
The team can still add reinforcements, turning to the draft — complete with the contracts that are largely pre-negotiated — to get help for the roster. Doing so keeps the cost down while nevertheless ratcheting up the roster competition.
Before it’s all said and done, some of those draft picks may burn a hole in Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s pocket. The Vikings have the option to get aggressive in 2025, cashing in some of those selections for help in the immediate by trading them away. There is, after all, a good amount of open cap room presently, allowing for additions to be made that help in the here and now.
Regardless, the broader point should remain that Minnesota is moving ahead with ample draft selections tucked away, meaning the GM will have the ability to onboard lots of talent within the next draft.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference and Over the Cap helped with this piece.
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