Vikings Players Approaching the End of Their Run in Minnesota
In about two months, the Minnesota Vikings will enter the offseason and, as per usual, have many roster decisions to make. The 2026 offseason will be no different. Therefore, these players could be nearing the end of their tenures in the Twin Cities.
The Vikings players approaching the end of their run in Minnesota, outlining who may be nearing their final weeks with the team and why it matters.
The following players aren’t guaranteed to vamoose, but some clues suggest as much.
Vikings Players Now on Borrowed Time
Eight games to go in the season — and perhaps their Vikings careers?
Ty Chandler | RB
Chandler hasn’t played this season due to injury, and his contract expires after this season. Many fans actually expected Chandler to be cut at the end of the summer after Zavier Scott rose to power at training camp and in the preseason.
The veteran runner was seen working his way back from injury with trainers this week, but the story remains that he’ll probably test free agency in March.
T.J. Hockenson | TE
Hockenson is on pace for 455 yards and 4 touchdowns. That is egregiously low for the NFL’s fourth-highest-paid tight end. The coaching staff asked him to help with run- and pass-blocking after a litany of offensive linemen went down injured, a fair ask. However, when the offensive line healed, Hockenson still isn’t getting attention in the passing game.
There’s a natural out in Hockenson’s contract after this season, and the way it’s trending, his production doesn’t match his contractual price.
He could be traded or released sometime in 2026.
Jalen Nailor | WR
Nailor surged last weekend, producing the best game of his career, with 124 receiving yards and a touchdown. For a day, Nailor became J.J. McCarthy’s favorite and most trusted target.
Like Chandler, though, Nailor’s rookie contract is scheduled to run out in a few months. Until the Ravens game, most assumed that Nailor would hit free agency while Minnesota promoted Tai Felton, a 3rd-Round rookie from the 2025 NFL Draft.
Nailor could still be back rather easily, but his deal is set to expire.
Ivan Pace Jr. | LB
Pace Jr. started for the Vikings for 2.2 seasons. Then, Eric Wilson showed up. Wilson has performed mightily this season, so much so that he snatched Pace Jr.’s starting job.
The young off-ball linebacker is slated for restricted free agency in the offseason, and one must wonder: Why would the Vikings give him a sweet contract if he no longer starts?
Harrison Smith | S
It may have happened.
Smith doesn’t quite look like the same defensive showman from the old days. He is not a liability by any stretch of the imagination, but his Pro Bowl days are long gone, and his skill set this year looks diminished compared to 2024. That’s what happens to 36-year-old safeties.
The beloved Viking and perhaps future Hall of Famer is virtually guaranteed to retire when this season ends.
The Viking Age‘s Adam Patrick on Smith: “Smith decided to return to the Vikings for at least one more season. The veteran safety has been in the league since Minnesota selected him in the first round of the 2012 NFL Draft, and he’s spent his entire pro career in purple and gold. But Smith will be 37 in February, and this year, his “old” age has been more obvious than it has in the recent past.”
“At the start of the 2025 season, a personal health matter resulted in Smith not playing in a game until Week 3, and even after he returned, he wasn’t on the field for more than 41 percent of the Vikings’ defensive snaps until Week 7. Heading into Sunday, Smith’s PFF defensive grade currently ranks 69th out of 91 qualifying safeties around the league, which is really low since it hasn’t been worse than 37th in any of his previous three seasons.”
Adam Thielen | WR
General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah finagled a trade at the end of the summer for Thielen, a deal centered around a 4th-Round pick to Carolina, with late-round picks in Minnesota’s direction in return.
The agreement was not worth it for the Vikings’ sake. The Panthers won the trade.
Thielen is on pace for 13 catches and 119 yards. That’s not worth a 4th-Rounder, even if Minnesota received a 5th- and 7th-Rounder in exchange.
Thielen is also upset about NFL officiating. He told KFAN this week, “I think we need to have full time referees. I think it’s ridiculous that we have — and no offense to these guys, I mean, they obviously love their job, and they put a lot of time into it, I know they do.”
“But it’s like, we have these guys that are kind of fanboys a little bit. Like, they love the fact that they get to go out there and they get to shake hands with Patrick Mahomes. They get to hang out with these professional athletes. Then they go to their real job on Monday through Friday, and tell everybody how cool their side job is.”
In all likelihood, Thielen will retire in the offseason.
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