CBS Sports Predicts Harrison Smith’s Replacement for Vikings
Minnesota Vikings safety Harrison Smith sure felt like a man who would retire near the end of the 2025 regular season, but about six weeks into the offseason, Smith has offered no formal announcement about his future. If he does step away, though, CBS Sports already has a prediction for his replacement: Kamren Curl from the Los Angeles Rams, a free-agent-to-be.
CBS Sports linked Curl to the Vikings as a Smith successor, and the cap math will drive the real decision.
Kurl will test the open market in about three weeks, unless the Rams re-sign him, and if that comes to fruition, he might join Brian Flores’s unit in 2026 and beyond.
Kamren Curl Gets Linked to the Vikings
Fans would not mind Curl on the back end of the defense.
CBS Sports Prediction: Curl to MIN
Zachary Pereles at CBS Sports sized up where the league’s Top 50 free agents might land next month, and when he got Curl’s name, the Vikings got the nod.
He wrote, “With Harrison Smith potentially retiring, Minnesota gets his replacement in Curl, a strong-tackling safety who has done solid work with both the Commanders and the Rams. Other suitors: Rams, Jets, Bears.”
Pereles also labeled Minnesota as a possible suitor for Coby Bryant (S, SEA), Bryan Cook (S, KC), Rashid Shaheed (WR, SEA), Aaron Rodgers (QB, PIT), and Cade Mays (C, CAR).
Curl’s Statistical Biography
Curl is a rare 7th-Round success story. The Washington Commanders drafted him in 2020, two days after the Vikings picked Justin Jefferson, and Curl spent four years in the nation’s capital on his rookie deal. He signed with the Rams during the 2024 offseason, starting 33 games for Sean McVay’s team since.
All told, Curl has seen action in 93 NFL games, starting 86, and tabulating 586 total tackles, 28 passes defended, 18 tackles for loss, 14 QB hits, 8 sacks, and 5 interceptions. The man is versatile.
Here’s is resume from Pro Football Focus in the last six seasons:
2025: 77.8
2024: 67.3
2023: 65.9
2022: 82.9
2021: 69.4
2020: 68.4
He’s 6’2″ and 200 pounds, ranking as the NFL’s 16th-best safety in 2026, per PFF. Kurl is one of the NFL’s best tackling safeties, too.
Evan Craig of Turf Show Times, a Rams-themed website, noted on Kurl this week, “While Curl hasn’t exactly lived up to expectations since he was signed over from Washington, he’s still a solid veteran presence on a defensive unit that needs it. For such a young roster on that side of the ball, Los Angeles needs as much help and guidance as it can muster.”
“The Rams should be adding this offseason, not subtracting. About a year ago, I wrote that the Rams would be wise to give up on Curl after a year, saying there was a ‘slim chance he could bounce back.’ What a difference a year makes, that I’m now writing a post urging L.A. to retain him.”
Los Angeles reached the NFC Championship again in 2025, falling short against the eventual Super Bowl winner and rival Seattle Seahawks.
Craig continued, “Re-signing him, as I said, will be tricky, due to how many suitors he’ll have this offseason, and the fact that the front office just extended Quentin Lake on a three-year, $42 million deal in January.”
“Hard to believe that the organization will pour more resources into a player like Curl when there are other pressing needs on the roster. Curl did enough last season to prove to the Rams that they should extend him.”
Other Safety Options from Free Agency
Pretend Smith indeed retires, but the Vikings either don’t want Curl or can’t afford him. These free-agent options may pique Minnesota’s attention:
- Alohi Gilman (BAL)
- Andre Cisco (NYJ)
- Dane Belton (NYG)
- Jalen Thompson (ARI)
- Nick Cross (IND)
- Reed Blankenship (PHI)
There’s also the draft, where the Vikings could spend a 1st- or 2nd-Rick on Emmanuel McNeill-Warren from Toledo or Dillon Thieneman of Oregon, the two best safeties in the upcoming class after Ohio State’s Caleb Downs, who is expected to fly off the board in the Top 10.
Currently, the Vikings have safeties Josh Metellus, Theo Jackson, and Jay Ward in their 2026 roster orbit, assuming Smith walks away.
Curl’s next contract will likely pay him between $9 million and $12 million per year.
When Is the Smith Verdict?
Yes, the Vikings hosted a farewell and retirement party for Smith in Week 18 against the Green Bay Packers. No, he hasn’t retired yet.
As each day passes, it’s more likely that Smith will return to the Vikings for one more run, Year No. 15 in the NFL. A source told VikingsTerritory in late January that Smith “has a hard time walking away,” and that he’s intrigued to return one more time because Flores signed an extension.
Regardless, a Smith verdict should be announced in the next 3.5 weeks, as free agency is 24 days away. “Legal tampering” — the hot-and-heavy action — begins on March 9th.
Curl will turn 27 next month. He has a few years of his prime in front of him.
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