6 Free Agents for Vikings to Pursue
The Minnesota Vikings’ 2024 season is kaput, thanks to the Los Angeles Rams.
The offseason is here, albeit far too soon for fans’ liking.
Vikings Free Agency: 6 Players to Pursue in 2025
And with free agency less than eight weeks away, plus a budget of around $70 million, Minnesota should pursue these six players (or at least some). They’re ranked in ascending order (No. 1 = best free agent to pursue).
6. A WR3 like Amari Cooper or Stefon Diggs
Cooper will be 31 by the time 2025 rolls around, and he’ll probably know his role as a high-end WR3 at this age.
Minnesota has a decent WR3 in Jalen Nailor, but Nailor might be best served as a WR4.
Cooper is scheduled to hit free agency and won’t utterly break the bank. The Vikings should dangle a decent contract for him to finish his sweet career in purple. As recently as 2023, Cooper tallied 1,250 yards in a single season.
Diggs is healing from a season-ending ACL tear, and his return date is unclear.
On the whole, several enticing WR3 candidates will be available, and the Vikings should pounce. Remember: Jordan Addison could be suspended for the season’s first three games.
5. Charvarius Ward (CB)
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, Reed 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.
4. Drew Dalman (C)
Garrett Bradbury could become a salary cap casualty if the Vikings are serious about upgrading the offensive line’s interior.
Dalman is the best center available in free agency, accounting for a 78.8 Pro Football Focus grade this season. And he’s not like Bradbury, who specializes in run blocking while struggling with pass protection. Dalman does both.
The only drawback? Several teams will covet Dalman.
3. Jevon Holland (S)
Jevon Holland might be the best safety in the NFL, and he’ll somehow hit free agency in 1.9 months.
Right now, Minnesota doesn’t need any safeties — it has Harrison Smith, Camryn Bynum, and Josh Metellus. But Smith could realistically retire, and Bynum is a free agent who is not guaranteed to return.
Thereafter, in that scenario, the Vikings would need a new starting safety, and defensive coordinator Brian Flores has ties to Holland from the 2021 Dolphins draft and season.
2. Trey Smith (OG)
Smith is probably the most popular free agent among Vikings fans.
Those folks watched as Minnesota allowed 9 sacks during its playoff loss on Monday, the most in the history of the NFL playoffs.
Smith is the best guard on the open market if the Chiefs don’t re-up for his services. He’s a two-time Super Bowl champion and reached his first Pro Bowl this season.
As a comparison, he’s as steady as Brian O’Neill per week-to-week performance.
Brace yourself, however — he’ll be spendy. His next deal will likely check-in around $20 million per year.
1. D.J. Reed (CB)
Reed told Go Long’s Tyler Dunne this a couple of weeks ago, “I’m ready to go to free agency, bro. I’m ready to see what’s next for me.”
That sounds like a man ready to leave, and Minnesota needs a cornerback.
Reed habitually produces seasons with PFF scores north of 70.0 and 75.0. Minnesota can afford him, and he should be the primary free-agent target. Above all else, Minnesota must address cornerback for the long term this offseason. It’s mandatory.
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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