The Minnesota Vikings experienced many pleasant surprises in 2024 that paved the way for a 14-3 record.
Vikings Signings: Up-and-Comer Returns for 2025
Minnesota ultimately lost in Round 1 of the postseason, which was extremely disappointing, but winning 14 games, on the whole, was rather unexpected.
So, the offseason is here, and one of the first orders of business? Re-upping with upstart defensive lineman Jalen Redmond. The Vikings’ main social media account tweeted Thursday, “The Vikings have re-signed DL Jalen Redmond.”
The offseason, of course, has a long way to go before any semblance of completion, but as of January 17th, these are Minnesota’s interior defensive linemen on the books for next year:
- Harrison Phillips
- Jalen Redmond
- Taki Taimani
- Levi Drake Rodriguez
Redmond turned heads in 2024. Good things happened when he hit the field. Fans should perceive him as a legitimately dependable defensive lineman, not some guy who occasionally gets lucky.
Pro Football Focus has also commended Redmond’s performance, assigning the lineman a 75.6 grade this season. In fact, if Redmond qualified for PFF’s snap count requirement, he would rank as the NFL’s 17th-best interior defender, if that can be believed.
Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah signed Redmond in June, an intriguing transaction because the defender thrived in the UFL. He played 4 games in 2024 with the UFL’s Arlington Renegades, tabulating 4.5 sacks, 5 tackles for loss, and 18 total tackles. That statline was evidently enough to turn heads in the Vikings’ front office, and Redmond parlayed the trial into a roster spot.
Redmond joined the Carolina Panthers’ roster as an undrafted free agent 21 months ago — right around the time Ivan Pace Jr. signed with the Vikings — where he stayed for four months. Carolina said goodbye in August 2023, and Redmond eventually tried the UFL on for size. The experiment worked.
He gradually intermixed into the fabric of the Vikings’ defense and made some kind of a splash play almost weekly. All told in 2024, Redmond played in 13 games, starting 2, and banked 208 defensive snaps, with 18 tackles, 1 sack, 6 tackles for loss, 2 passes defended, and 1 quarterback hit.
Equipped with about $70 million in cap space for existing and external free agents, the Vikings will likely sign or draft another impact interior defensive lineman, but re-upping with Redmond is a wise start to an eight-month-long offseason.
Redmond will turn 26 in March.
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.