Should Vikings Add to the Cornerback Group?
With minicamp and OTAs having concluded as of this week, it’s summer vacation time for the players and coaches as they await the start of training camp the week of July 21.
By all accounts, it’s been a productive offseason for the Vikings with a seemingly successful free agency and draft period and competitive practices as the J.J. McCarthy era begins.
The Vikings come off a 14-win season looking improved in the trenches on both sides of the ball with the free agent signings of guard Will Fries, center Ryan Kelly, and defensive tackles Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave leading the team’s optimism.
McCarthy’s supporting cast on offense, led by Justin Jefferson, looks to be the best the Vikings have had in many years, and the defense is loaded up front, with the edge rushing trio of Jonathan Greenard, Andrew Van Ginkel, and Dallas Turner, and two impactful inside linebackers — Blake Cashman and Ivan Pace.
Former Vikings GM Jeff Diamond sizes up the cornerback section of the Vikings’ roster.
Pro Bowl corner Byron Murphy was a key re-signing, and the return of likely future Hall of Fame safety Harrison Smith is also a key move in the secondary. The kicking game looks solid with kicker Will Reichard, punter Ryan Wright, and Pro Bowl holder Andrew DePaola. There are plenty of great athletes to man the kicking teams.
The Vikings have an excellent coaching staff led by 2024 NFL Coach of the Year Kevin O’Connell and one of the league’s top defensive coordinators — Brian Flores.
As I review the 2025 Vikings roster, I believe the team is well-stocked with talent, and if McCarthy plays well, they should contend for the NFC North title, secure a playoff spot, and be a possible Super Bowl contender.
The one area where I still have concerns, though, is at the other corner spots beyond Murphy. Flores said in his minicamp media session that he’s “really excited about the entire group.”
I say time will tell, and I believe the team should tap into their $18-20 million in current salary cap space under Top 51 cap rules and add another quality veteran corner either before training camp or by the middle of camp. They did that last season when they signed five-time Pro Bowler Stephon Gilmore in mid-August for $7 million plus incentives, and he became a starter who played pretty well — for the most part. They also had a quality vet in Shaquill Griffin as the third corner.
Flores is high on free agent signee Isaiah Rodgers, who played well in limited action last season for the Super Bowl champion Eagles. The team made a fairly significant financial commitment with a two-year, $11 million contract plus incentives that include $1.5 million per year for playing 85% or more of the defensive snaps.
Rodgers reportedly impressed in OTAs and minicamp, but he has never been a full-time starter. His first major test will come in training camp practices as he tries to cover the likes of Jefferson, Jordan Addison, Jalen Nailor, and third-round rookie Tai Felton.
Then, of course, the true test is how he performs when the regular season begins. Same goes for projected third corner Mekhi Blackmon, a 2023 third-rounder, who is returning from his ACL injury that cost him the entire 2024 season (after an up-and-down rookie season).
Flores has confidence in Blackmon and also likes second-year man Dwight McGlothern, who impressed in training camp last year. Veteran Jeff Okudah (the third overall pick by the Lions in 2020, who has often been injured) is in the mix along with several other corners, and starting safety Josh Metellus has lined up as a corner on occasion, but one-on-one coverage is not his strength.
With injuries always a concern, it just seems adding one more quality veteran corner will make sense at some point, either before or during training camp.
After former Packers Pro Bowler Jaire Alexander signed with Baltimore on Wednesday, some of the possibilities for a vet corner addition include Jalen Ramsey (a pricey former all-pro who the Dolphins are looking to trade), ex-Charger Asante Samuel Jr. who missed 14 games last season with a neck injury, and ex-Bengal Mike Hilton, along with Gilmore and Griffin who are still available and could return.
Former Vikings Coach Mike Zimmer loved to say, “You can never have enough corners.”
I agree with Zimmer on that statement, so I say, why not further fortify a position of questionable depth with another experienced and established vet on a one-year deal? We’ll see if GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, O’Connell, and Flores agree as they head towards training camp and then during camp.
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Alexander’s deal with the Ravens was a bargain at one year and $6 million if he can stay healthy after missing over half of Green Bay’s games over the past two seasons. He is projected to start at outside corner opposite Nate Wiggins with Marlon Humphrey as the slot corner. Alexander was the Packers’ 2018 first-round pick and is a two-time Second-team All-Pro and two-time Pro Bowler.
We don’t know to what extent, if any, the Vikings pursued Alexander, whose defensive coordinator in his early career in Green Bay was current Vikings assistant head coach/outside linebackers coach Mike Pettine. In Baltimore, Ravens QB Lamar Jackson played a major role in recruiting his former college teammate at Louisville.
If Alexander is healthy enough to face the Vikings on November 9, it will be fun to watch the feisty Alexander and Jefferson renew their intense rivalry of recent years.
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Jeff Diamond is a former Vikings GM, former Tennessee Titans President and was selected NFL Executive of the Year after the Vikings’ 15-1 season in 1998. He now works for the NFL agent group IFA based in Minneapolis and does other sports consulting and media work along with college/corporate speaking. Follow him and direct message him on Twitter– @jeffdiamondnfl
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