The Vikings’ Storm Clouds Can Get Blown Away by 3 Roster Cuts
The Vikings’ storm clouds have been appearing on the horizon for a little while. The 2026 budget is underwater by roughly $36 million, per Over the Cap.
GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah spent a pile of money in March of 2025. For the most part, Adofo-Mensah’s decisions have ended up going poorly. Even an average J.J. McCarthy would dramatically change the outlook of the Vikings; presumably, Adofo-Mensah didn’t calculate for such passing ineptitude. But, to be sure, the pricey additions — many of whom are contributing to next year’s cap crunch — haven’t panned out, either.
The Vikings’ Storm Clouds & The 2026 Salary Cap
Minnesota’s roster is top-heavy, old, and underperforming. Is the solution going to involve overarchieving, getting younger, and rebuilding the roster’s middle class?
If so, then opting for straightforward cuts with just C1 Ryan Kelly, RT1 Brian O’Neill, and TE1 T.J. Hockenson could be the path forward. None of these players are bad at football. And yet none are totally justifying the meaty money that’s being demanded within their contracts. Accordingly, the decision could be to move on from all three.
Consider the cap implications of opting to cut all three players in a pre-June 1st manner:
| Player | Dead Money | Cap Savings |
| Brian O’Neill | $3,703,892 | $19,500,000 |
| Ryan Kelly | $0 | $12,117,500 |
| T.J. Hockenson | $12,425,000 | $8,930,000 |
All together, the Vikings would clear out $40,547,500. Enough to wipe out the debt — at least the projection as of right now — alongside carving out some open room.
The options under consideration aren’t painless. Far from it, in fact. A pair of starting o-linemen are shown the door alongside a starting tight end. All three are capable of playing well, of being reasons why the Vikings win on Sunday.
Even worse, these players get shown the door while also accepting north of $16 million in dead money. Solving the riddle means saving money while simultaneously accepting that some money is going to become locked into place, immovable for 2026 as it gets burned up with the passing of the season.
The point, folks, is simply to illustrate that a difficult cap situation isn’t as dire as some believe. Complex solutions could be pursued, but some simple ones could do the trick.
GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, assuming nothing catastrophic happens, is likely to remain as the lead executive. He can balance the books with some ease, at least in terms of the amount of decisions he needs to make.
Of the discussed cuts, seeing Brian O’Neill go would be difficult to accept. He’s a team captain and homegrown starting offensive tackle after getting drafted in the 2nd Round of the 2018 NFL Draft. An extension appears to be the best path forward with O’Neill. Tacking on more years to his deal has the potential to clear up north of $14 million in open room.
Kelly, however, simply can’t stay healthy. He’s to be respected and admired, both for the work he does off and on the field. Keeping him nevertheless appears unlikely.
T.J. Hockenson? Anyone’s guess. Won’t be surprised either way. What’s odd is that he’s making good money as someone who doesn’t score, doesn’t block at an elite level (he is improving), and isn’t used for explosive gains.
In March of 2026, the Vikings aren’t going to outbid every team. They could, however, spend decent money on one or two players since there are plenty of levers to pull to gain more cap room. Otherwise, it’s value options.
Next up for the Vikings is a home game versus the Commanders. Few, if any, will be watching apart from the fans of each team (and many from within each cluster of fans may opt out in favor of a Sunday nap).
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