The Vikings Have 5 Main Roster Needs in 2025
The Minnesota Vikings’ once-promising 2024 campaign is dead. Everything died in Arizona as the purple team fell at the feet of the Los Angeles Rams, a club that will face the Philadelphia Eagles in the Divisional Round this Sunday.
Vikings Roster Needs: The 5 Positions for 2025
The offseason arrived in a hurry.
So, with no further ado, these are the Vikings’ top five offseason needs, ranked in ascending order (No. 1 = most urgent need).
5. QB2
In consecutive seasons, Minnesota has discovered the value of a dependable QB2, stories that can be told by Sam Darnold, Joshua Dobbs, Jaren Hall, Nick Mullens, and Kevin O’Connell.
Thankfully for Minnesota’s sake, it might’ve already scripted the QB2 plan when it added Daniel Jones off waivers from the New York Giants. Jones can be “the guy” at QB2 for Minnesota in 2025, as some expect Darnold to cash in on a lucrative free-agent contract elsewhere.
And if it’s not Jones, well, Minnesota will have to roll with Nick Mullens or comb the free-agent market for a different QB2. The position will need attention with a rookie quarterback, J.J. McCarthy, returning from a meniscus tear that nullified his 2024 campaign.
After Sam Darnold’s recent two-game debacle, he may be affordable enough to bring back as McCarthy insurance. Stay tuned.
4. RB
The only running back under contract for the 2025 purple team is Ty Chandler.
Aaron Jones and Cam Akers are tentatively scheduled for free agency. Consequently, general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah must extend Jones for a year and draft a rookie tailback somewhere in April’s draft. That — or spend a high-to-mid-round pick on a new running back if Jones walks.
Chandler won’t earn the RB1 outright, so Minnesota needs some RB mojo, probably Jones and a youthful halfback.
This is Minnesota’s rushing efficiency per DVOA from the last three seasons, dating back to the dawn of the O’Connell era:
- 2022: 27th
- 2023: 27th
- 2024: 20th
Drafting a running back seems likely. Those above-listed stats are not good.
3. iDL
Harrison Phillips and Levi Drake Rodriguez are under contract next season — and then that’s it. No one else.
Minnesota should — and probably will — re-sign Jalen Redmond, who’s been a pleasant surprise on the field, a true tackle-for-loss savant.
From free agency or the draft, the Vikings should add another defensive tackle, the spot currently manned by Jerry Tillery. Vikings fans request this every offseason and usually end up with a Shamar Stephen or Jonathan Bullard. Perhaps the purple front office will finally splash for an impact interior defensive lineman.
The 24th pick, currently owned by Minnesota, could be a prime spot for this roster need.
2. iOL
Although Darnold held the football way too long in the pocket against the Lions and Rams, the offensive line’s interior did not bail him out.
Identifying offensive line problems was glaringly obvious, but O’Connell was sure to call out the trenches. “There’s no question that we got to be able to find a way to give a quarterback time. Especially with players like Jordan Addison, Justin Jefferson, T.J. Hockenson, we got to find a way to solidify the interior of the pocket, starting first and foremost,” O’Connell told reporters after Monday’s loss.
Interior offensive line tribulation has been a frequent scourge of Vikings football for over 10 years.
O’Connell added, “There can be a thousand excuses made. But, for me, it’s the foundation of the interior of the pocket that we’re going to have to take a long look at.”
Fixes are coming.
1. CB
Mekhi Blackmon, Dwight McGlothern, and NaJee Thompson are the CB solutions on the books right now for 2025, so, yes, cornerback is the top offseason need. Write that down.
Pro Bowler Byron Murphy may return, which is fantastic, but adding one more impact corner will be vital if Minnesota has Super Bowl visions in 2025 and beyond.
The franchise is painfully overdue to nail a CB draft pick from Round 1 or 2. That last somewhat successful example occurred 10 years ago — Trae Waynes.
Minnesota could sign a free agent like D.J. Reed or draft a corner like Notre Dame’s Benjamin Morrison.
It’s worth noting that Adofo-Mensah has about $70 million in cap space to rectify all positions if he doesn’t hand Darnold a contract worth $40+ million per season. In theory, if the Vikings hand Darnold a bag, they’d be right back to the Kirk Cousins era of team-building — cash-strapped and hoping for the best with bargain-bin additions while boasting decent-not-elite quarterback performance.
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.
You must be logged in to post a comment.