Purple Rumor Mill: The Harrison Smith Deadline, Milton Williams, Darnold’s Next Team
VikingsTerritory’s Purple Rumor Mill is a two-day chronicle each week. All the week’s rumors are lassoed and plopped in two spots — articles on Saturday and Sunday — for review. Today is the February 16th edition.
Vikings Rumors: The Harrison Smith Deadline, Milton Williams, Darnold’s Next Team
Remember — rumors are rumors. What you read on weekends in these pieces is what the world is talking about pertaining to the Vikings, not necessarily items that will come to fruition.
Here’s the second batch of the week. Yesterday’s can be read here.
Rumor: Minnesota has until March 14th for a Harrison Smith verdict on retirement or a return.
Thanks to Star Tribune’s Ben Goessling, Vikings fans have some clarity on Smith’s offseason. Goessling published an article this week detailing a deadline of sorts for Smith’s 2025 decision. Minnesota basically has until March 14th to choose a path for Smith if he hasn’t retired by then.
Goessling wrote, “Smith, 36, has a league minimum base salary of $1.255 million for 2025. But here’s where it gets tricky to bring him back: If he’s on the roster by the third day of the 2025 league year, his $25 million base salary for 2026 is fully guaranteed.”
Smith played quite well in 2024, his 13th in the NFL, and most want him back for one final hurrah.
“In other words, there’s a deadline for the Vikings to either restructure his contract or for the team and Smith to make a final decision about whether he’ll be back for a 14th season in Minnesota,” Goessling added.
NFL free agency kicks off March 10th, a Monday, with “legal tampering,” so a decision will be in order by the end of that week.
Rumor: Milton Williams, a defensive tackle from the Philadelphia Eagles, could realistically join the Vikings via free agency.
Williams could be a sensible free-agent fit for the Vikings, says The 33rd Team.
Marcus Mosher from that site sized up NFL free agents who will grab mega contracts, and according to him, the Vikings are a potential suitor for Williams.
“It’s going to be fascinating to see who earns more on the open market between Odighizuwa and Milton Williams. Odighizuwa has more experience and more starts, but Williams is the better overall athlete and is only 25. You can also make a case that he is an ascending player and will only get better with more snaps. His postseason performance will certainly help him out, as he was fantastic in the final two games of the season,” Mosher explained.
Minnesota has about $60 million to spend in free agency as of mid-February, its most in years. The number could climb higher, too, if general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah restructures existing players’ contracts.
Mosher added, “Williams has just 19 career starts and has never played more than 501 snaps in a single season. Still, it’s hard to blame him, considering that he’s played behind the likes of Jalen Carter, Fletcher Cox, and Jordan Davis for much of his rookie contract. Still, he’s got the type of athleticism that is hard to find and should be paid handsomely this offseason.”
He then listed the Vikings, Detroit Lions, and San Francisco 49ers as possible landing spots.
Vikings would adore this transaction.
Rumor: All signs point to the Las Vegas Raiders as Sam Darnold’s next team.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter said on NFL Live last weekend: “One team that I would watch with Sam Darnold moving forward would be the Las Vegas Raiders. I think at some point in time, they’re likely to have some interest in trying to bring Sam Darnold to Las Vegas. We’ll see if they can make that happen.”
Schefter doesn’t typically shoot from the hip with free agency theories, meaning he likely has intel to suggest Darnold to Las Vegas.
Everyone keeps saying the same thing about Darnold’s free agency: the Raiders.
Vikings Defensive Coach May Leave After All
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 MIN 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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