Extra Viking Named to the Pro Bowl

Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports.

Make it seven.

Vikings Pro Bowlers: Add Another to the List

The Minnesota Vikings added a seventh Pro Bowler on the way to Orlando this season after right tackle Brian O’Neill got the nod on Monday, replacing Philadelphia Eagles offensive tackle Lane Johnson, who will play in Super Bowl LIX against the Kansas City Chiefs in 13 days.

Brad Rempel-Imagn Images.

The Vikings main social media account tweeted, “Brian O’Neill has been named to the 2025 NFL Pro Bowl Games. He will replace Eagles T Lane Johnson.”

He’ll join this grand list of Vikings players in Orlando:

  • Sam Darnold (QB)
  • Andrew DePaola (LS)
  • Jonathan Greenard (OLB)
  • Justin Jefferson (WR)
  • Byron Murphy (CB)
  • Brian O’Neill (RT)
  • Andrew Van Ginkel (OLB)

Minnesota fired up a 14-3 record this year, a rather unforeseen outcome because it was only scheduled to win about six or seven games, according to sportsbooks. Accordingly, the Vikings were well-represented per Pro Bowl voting among fans and coaches.

The Vikings Need Kevin
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O’Neill and his teammates lost in the postseason’s 1st Round, dampening the overall sentiment on the 14-win season, but that certainly doesn’t erase Pro Bowl honors for individual players.

It’s O’Neill’s second Pro Bowl selection, previously grabbing the recognition in 2021. He’s a two-time Pro Bowler.

Minnesota drafted O’Neill in Round 2 of the 2018 NFL Draft, so he’s one of the longest-tenured players at the moment, especially after general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s competitive rebuilding process, which spanned from 2022 to 2024.

Overall, O’Neill ranked 16th among all offensive tackles this season, per Pro Football Focus‘ scoring system (80.8). He’s one of the steadiest performers on Minnesota’s roster and has been as such for the last eight seasons. In fact, if Harrison Smith and C.J. Ham retire, O’Neill would become the longest-active Viking on the roster.

A Vikings Stalwart
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Former general manager Rick Spielman scooped O’Neill out of the 2018 draft, and before long, O’Neill became a Vikings mainstay on the offensive line and, in fact, one of the few saviors who kept Vikings fans from utter madness regarding the trenches from 2018 to 2021.

With two Pro Bowls to his name and status as one of the league’s most handsomely paid right tackles, O’Neill is forever ingrained in the fabric of the Mike Zimmer and Kevin O’Connell eras of Vikings football. And he’s scheduled to be a Viking for at least two more seasons.

O’Neill and the Vikings, on the whole, could use a little help next to him. The club’s interior offensive line floundered in a playoff loss to the Los Angeles Rams, so much so that O’Connell called it out after the game.

vikings pro bowlers
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One or some of these Vikings could also receive the Pro Bowl alternate treatment in the coming days:

  • C.J. Ham (FB)
  • Garrett Bradbury (C)
  • Joshua Metellus (S)
  • T.J. Hockenson (TE)
  • Trent Sherfield Sr. (ST)
  • Harrison Phillips (DT)

O’Neill will turn 30 next fall.


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.