We are just days away from the start of NFL free agency, and for the first time in years, the Minnesota Vikings have lots of salary cap space to work with — over $60 million. General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah will want to re-sign some of the Vikings’ out-of-contract players. Hence, it’s not as simple as splurging $60 million on new talent, but with possible restructures and releases, the resources to add new talent in Minnesota should remain significant.
Top 5 Vikings Free Agent Options at iDL
Several positions should be a priority for Adofo-Mensah to address, and I will look at them individually. We start here with a look at the options for the Vikings at IDL, where the Vikings haven’t been dominant enough in recent seasons and have completely lacked any consistent pass rush.
There are many good options at the position of good players who are still young and have been playing on rookie or cheap contracts that could be tempted to Minnesota with a good payday. At a crucial position that needs a long-term solution, players with lots of years left in that tank and the possibility for further improvement are what I want the Vikings to look at, rather than players over 30 whose careers are winding down.
5. Tershawn Wharton
Tershawn Wharton would be a pass rush specialist, as he lacks the size and strength to be consistently effective in run defense. An undrafted free agent who has spent five seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs amassing 13.5 sacks, Wharton had his best season to date in 2024 with career highs in sacks (6.5) and tackles for loss (7) while playing a career-high 62% of defensive snaps for the Chiefs.
Showing he can maintain a significant role on the defensive line, Wharton would be a younger and more productive replacement for Jerry Tillery if the Vikings were to bring him in — with the cost likely to be similar.
4. Teair Tart
Teair Tart was a name floated around to join the Brian Flores-led defense this time last year. Tart signed for the Miami Dolphins but was released in August when the Los Angeles Chargers then picked him up. Undoubtedly a talented player, Tart put together a good year against both the pass and run as a rotational player in the Chargers’ defense.
Another rotational player, Tart won’t solve all the Vikings’ problems on the interior by himself, but he will give the purple and gold team depth and a particularly stout run defender in the rotation at a good value if they can get him to similar money than he got last season.
3. Levi Onwuzurike
Kevin O’Connell’s offense has seen plenty of Levi Onwuzurike, who the Detroit Lions drafted in the second round back in 2022. Onwuzurike has flashed whenever he’s been healthy over his first four seasons, but injuries have been the negative – particularly a completely missed 2020 season with a back injury.
Onwuzurike is the penetrating three-technique interior pass rusher that every team covets, with his 12.5% pass rush win rate in 2024 ranking as a top-15 mark at the position. Though having never tallied more than 1.5 sacks in a season, he needs to turn those wins into more sack production. Staying healthy would help him continue to develop as a player, possibly leaving his best football in front of him.
2. Osa Odighizuwa
Osa Odighizuwa is an interior pass-rusher with very strong underlying metrics that haven’t quite translated to major sack production through nearly four seasons. Putting together a good season on the last year of his rookie deal while everything around him collapsed in Dallas should make him highly sought after.
Pro Football Focus made him their highest-ranked interior defender in the free-agent ranking. Odighizuwa came in at 15 in the overall rankings and would be an impressive get for the Vikings if they can pull it off.
1. Milton Williams
The prized asset at the position in this year’s free agency is Milton Williams. A rotational interior defender with serious pass-rush juice is the profile of player the Vikings should be looking for, and Williams fits the bill. His stock is rising after an impressive season, helping Philadelphia become the Super Bowl champions. Williams had a career-high five sacks in 2024, with a further two sacks in the postseason.
With a host of talent on the Eagles’ defensive front, Williams has never managed to eclipse 50% of defensive snaps played in a season, despite playing at least 36% every year since his debut. The promise of a more sustained role and a big chunk of cash could persuade him out of Philadelphia and land the Vikings another signing in the Jonathan Greenard and Blake Cashman mold from last year.
