Vikings extension of Josh Metellus rewards his impressive play while maintaining exactly what Kwesi Adofo-Mensah prioritizes

The Minnesota Vikings have prioritized extending their players this offseason with the latest being safety Josh Metellus, who just received a three-year, $36 million contract extension with a max value of $42 million. How that contract is structured is something that was going to tell us more than the raw numbers that were initially reported. […]

Tyler Forness — NFL & College Football News Writer
Add as preferred source on Google

The Minnesota Vikings have prioritized extending their players this offseason with the latest being safety Josh Metellus, who just received a three-year, $36 million contract extension with a max value of $42 million. How that contract is structured is something that was going to tell us more than the raw numbers that were initially reported.

Over The Cap has the details on Metellus’ contract and they say everything about his future with the team. Let’s break down the details.

Vikings S Josh Metellus contract details

The Vikings ended up gaining around $2 million in cap space with the extension, as his base salary dropped down to the veteran minimum and was given a signing bonus to give him more money this year.

Josh Metellus contract details. Source: Over The Cap

It’s an interesting structure for Metellus. A $10 million signing bonus is good for both sides. Metellus gets the money he’s earned up front, and the Vikings can structure things out better for them both short and long-term.

The main thing to notice with Metellus’ contract is how the guarantees are structured. He only have fully guaranteed money in the first two seasons. All of his base salary is fully guaranteed, as well as the per game roster and workout bonuses. Now, both of those need to be earned by either playing or working out at the team facility during the offseason.

Where things really get interesting is going into the 2027 season. He doesn’t have any of his base salary fully guaranteed until day three of the 2027 league year. If he is still on the roster on March 15th, 2027, $10.395 million will fully guarantee. This is where general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah comes into play.

He prioritizes flexibility with the roster, and this gives him just that from a long-term perspective. If Metellus continues to be as good as he’s been in recent years, that could end up being a value. If he doesn’t or the scheme changes due to Brian Flores taking a head coaching job, they can move on from him before that money fully vests, and they can save $8 million on the salary cap.

This deal offers the Vikings a lot of much-needed flexibility, and Metellus gets the money he’s earned.

Related Articles