The Minnesota Vikings hope to improve or maintain their unexpected 14-win standard after exceeding their forecasted win total in 2024 by 7.5 wins.
The Vikings Trenches: Why “This Time Can Be Different.”
Fans have commonly agreed that the franchise must improve the offensive and defensive trenches, and the offseason is here, so now is the perfect time for repair.
The same crowd has long called for the purple team to fortify the interiors of the offensive and defensive lines, as the EDGEs of each respective unit are sufficient. Brian O’Neill, Christian Darrisaw, Jonathan Greenard, Andrew Van Ginkel, and Dallas Turner can attest.
And Minnesota may actually improve the trenches this offseason. This time may be different. Here’s why.
1. The Money Is There
Usually, at this offseason juncture, Vikings enthusiasts are begging the club to fix the trenches with a totally red free-agent budget. Kirk Cousins quarterbacked Minnesota from 2018 to 2023, and his sizable contract hogged most of the money that otherwise could’ve been spent on free-agent newcomers.
Now, Cousins doesn’t work here. His controversial contract is the Atlanta Falcons’ problem.
As of February 11th, general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah had about $60 million in cap space. That number has hovered around -$8 million or so in years past. So, yes, it was in the red those years.
Adofo-Mensah can reasonably scour the free-agent market for centers like Drew Dalman, guards like Trey Smith and Teven Jenkins, and defensive tackles like Milton Williams and Javon Hargrave. It’s not a pipe dream anymore.
Before the 2025 offseason, onlookers had to hope that Minnesota would restructure several existing contracts just to get in the green.
It’s different this year. The money is there.
2. The Blueprint, Too
The Eagles won the Super Bowl on Sunday night and smacked everyone in the face with knowledge that proved it’s really as simple as building the trenches.
Former Vikings linebacker Ben Leber tweeted after the game, “The Eagles blueprint is better than trying to find the next Mahomes or Brady.”
And Leber is right. It’s the same reason the Charlotte Hornets in the NBA don’t just draft “the next LeBron James” every year to solve their longstanding plight. Generational performers don’t enter drafts each offseason.
Conversely, the ask to fix the trenches is reasonable, and Philadelphia proved this in living color during Super Bowl LIX.
Adofo-Mensah has a blueprint and must enter the OL and DL arms race to keep pace.
3. The Experience
Minnesota’s trenches could be closer to prosperity if the franchise didn’t miss in the 2022 NFL Draft on OG Ed Ingram (and mostly everyone else that weekend).
Some fans think lowly of Adofo-Mensah because of that draft and then refuse to give him flowers for the trade that netted T.J. Hockenson, the undrafted find of Ivan Pace Jr., or Jordan Addison in 2023. Regarding Adofo-Mensah, several fans only want to highlight the bad. If you figure out why — let us know.
Still, humans get better at their craft with experience, and the working theory is that Adofo-Mensah can follow suit in Year No. 4 on the job.
Unlike 2022, for instance, he can learn from past mistakes.
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.