Vikings Should Resist One Offseason Temptation
Heading into the 2026 offseason, the Minnesota Vikings already have two veteran running backs under contract: Aaron Jones and Jordan Mason. They should resist the urge to add another, even if some prominent names will be available in free agency.
Minnesota needs cheap explosiveness and a controllable contract, not another veteran deal that burns cap.
Instead, the club should draft a running back, using capital somewhere between Round 1 and 4 to ensure it finds an impactful one.
Veteran RB Shopping Is the Wrong Fix for Vikings
No more veteran running backs in Minnesota — that is the request.
Youth Is the Solution at RB
From 2007 to 2022, the Vikings employed Adrian Peterson and Dalvin Cook at running back, an uninterrupted period of tailback majesty. Since Cook declined and left Minnesota after the 2022 campaign, Minnesota has opted not to use meaningful draft capital on a replacement, instead cycling through older running backs.
The plan has not worked.
Here’s the statistical evidence:
Vikings Rushing DVOA,
NFL Ranking,
in the Kevin O’Connell Era:
2022: 27th
2023: 27th
2024: 20th
2025: 17th
Head coach Kevin O’Connell is indeed improving his rushing offense, but a productive rookie running back could put those rankings into the Top 10. There’s little evidence to suggest that a tandem of Jones and Mason next year as the key solution would do much differently than this year’s average ranking.
It’s time to spend 1st-, 2nd-, 3rd-, or 4th-Round pick on a running back. Plain and simple. They’re out there.
Older Veterans Are Fine but Half-Measured
This article was not published to bash Jones or Mason. Those two are quite impressive, in fact.
But they will not get any better.
Running backs tend to be at their most electric from ages 21 to 25, and the Pro Bowl ones will stay productive until age 30 and perhaps beyond. Jones is far past his prime and is injury-prone to boot. Mason is probably the best RB2 you could build in a lab, knowing his role and breaking off consistent runs when his team needs him.
Still, using veteran retreads at running back for an offense that has struggled to run the ball efficiently is silly. It’s time to try something different, and the only recourse is to draft a rookie runner. Frankly, it’s not that complicated.
The Vikings have mostly all their draft picks this cycle, sans a 4th-Rounder shipped to Carolina in the abominable Adam Thielen trade. They’ll make up for that, though, with the Sam Darnold compensatory draft pick. Draft a running back. It’s simple.
The Free Agent Market Will Be Tempting
Free agency for running backs in 10 weeks will be quite fun, especially for dynasty fantasy football managers.
Before any teams release running backs between now and March, these tailbacks are scheduled to hit free agency:
- Tyler Allgeier
- Tyler Badie
- Nick Chubb
- J.K. Dobbins
- Rico Dowdle
- Austin Ekeler
- Travis Etienne
- Breece Hall
- Najee Harris
- Isiah Pacheco
- Sean Tucker
- Kenneth Walker
- Rachaad White
Men like Etienne, Hall, and Walker would look great in purple and gold — and probably thrive. But Minnesota is already on the hook for decent-sized contracts, the ones owned by Jones or Mason. The RB budget may be maxed out, particularly for a cash-strapped team.
Rather than spending $12-$15 million per season on Hall, Minnesota should keep Jones and/or Mason, and — you guessed it — draft a rookie.
The Draft Options
Who can the Vikings draft? The crop isn’t quite the list from the 2025 class, which was ginormous in terms of RB talent. But these players will be available in April’s draft, nevertheless:
- Jeremiyah Love, Notre Dame (Round 1)
- Jadarian Price, Notre Dame (Round 3)
- Emmett Johnson, Nebraska (Round 3)
- Jonah Coleman, Washington (Round 3)
- Justice Haynes, Michigan (Round 4)
- Nick Singleton, Penn State (Round 4)
The rounds are merely estimations as of early January.
The Athletic‘s Alec Lewis said about Love specifically on his show this week, “Jeremiyah Love is the Notre Dame product who’s going to be a first-rounder and, by all accounts, is one of the premier players in this draft. It just becomes a question of whether he is going to be there when the Vikings are picking and, if he is, whether it makes sense for this Vikings team, given where the roster stands, to take a running back.”
“I have always been a best-player-available guy. If your confidence level that Jeremiyah Love is going to hit as a premium-style player is, let’s say, 70 percent, that is probably the route you should go.”
Overall, the Vikings will have about seven rookie names to choose from unless they decide to wait until the later rounds, which becomes a crapshoot.
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