5 Quiet Winners from Vikings Free Agency
The meaningful portion of NFL free agency is winding down for the Minnesota Vikings after the franchise welcomed about a dozen new players and fired off a couple of nifty trades.
5 Quiet Winners from Vikings Free Agency
Jonathan Allen (DT), Will Fries (G), Javon Hargrave (DT), Ryan Kelly (C), Jordan Mason (RB, trade), Rondale Moore (WR), Isaiah Rodgers (CB), and Jeff Okudah (CB) joined the organization in free agency while Minnesota extended the contracts of Aaron Jones (RB), Byron Murphy Jr. (CB), Theo Jackson (S), and Harrison Smith (S).
And as the depth chart takes shape, these are five big winners from Vikings free agency — players who did “nothing” in free agency but watched as their 2025 stock rose. They’re listed alphabetically.
1. Mekhi Blackmon (CB)
The Vikings re-signed Byron Murphy Jr. a week and a half ago, which is fantastic per most fans’ standards.
Yet, per sure-thing cornerback solutions, Murphy Jr. was about it. General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah took hopeful fliers on Isaiah Rodgers and Jeff Okudah, but no high-profile free-agent corners, like D.J. Reed, turned purple.
That means the club thinks highly of Blackmon, who conducted a promising first act as a rookie in 2023.
Signing a player like Reed or Charvarius Ward would’ve dampened Blackmon’s 2025 outlook, but such was not the case.
2. Theo Jackson (S)
Camryn Bynum chased a chunky sack of money in Indianapolis, grabbing $60 million over the next four years.
The Vikings did not scour the open market to replace Bynum, which might’ve been tempting because players like Jevon Holland and Talanoa Hufanga were available.
Instead, Minnesota extended Jackson, and he’s on a path to start this autumn. He’s probably the top existing Vikings winner of them all from free agency. The man earned a starter’s job by default.
3. Michael Jurgens (iOL)
The Vikings selected Jurgens in the 7th Round last April, and most draft picks from that round amount to naught.
Minnesota traded Ed Ingram to the Houston Texans this offseason and hasn’t re-signed Dalton Risner or Dan Feeney. There’s a world — a small one — where Jurgens performs well this summer at training camp and in the preseason, swiping Blake Brandel’s left guad job. It’s conceivable.
As it stands, too, Jurgens would be the next man up at center and guard if something injury-wise occurred to Will Fries, Ryan Kelly, or Blake Brandel.
He could, in theory, blow everybody away.
4. Bo Richter (OLB)
A little secret about the Vikings in free agency? They’ve signed zero outside linebackers.
That bodes well for Richter, currently listed as the fourth or fifth pass rusher on the active depth chart. He and his buddy Gabriel Murphy could make the 53-man roster.
Adofo-Mensah is not expected to draft an early-round EDGE rusher — he has three productive versions in Jonathan Greenard, Andrew Van Ginkel, and Dallas Turner. Richter could fill a larger role than most expect in September.
5. Brett Rypien (QB)
Brett Rypien has started a handful of games in the NFL and came to Minnesota from the Sean McVay school of quarterback development.
It’s not a popular opinion at the moment, but Kevin O’Connell could undercover love Rypien enough to hand him the QB2 baton. Minnesota could sign a QB3 like Tim Boyle, for example, and tab Rypien as the QB2.
Rypien is the only other non-J.J.-McCarthy quarterback on the depth chart. Until further notice, he’s a March roster winner, the only guy in line to back up McCarthy.
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.