Minnesota Vikings’ NFL Draft strategy takes a big hit due to no fault of their own, but not all hope is lost

Things aren’t going right for the Vikings this year.

Tyler Forness — NFL & College Football News Writer
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Sep 28, 2025; Dublin, Ireland; Minnesota Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah stands on the sidelines prior to a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers during an NFL International Series game at Croke Park.
Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Minnesota Vikings entered the 2025 season with the potential to receive three compensatory NFL Draft picks. General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah made his signings in free agency with the compensatory picks in mind, as defensive tackles Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave didn’t count toward the formula.

Initially, the Vikings were projected to get a third, fourth, and fifth-round picks after seeing Sam Darnold, Daniel Jones, and Cam Robinson sign for big money. Unfortunately, things haven’t worked out that way. It took another hit with a roster move on Saturday night, and the Vikings had nothing to do with it.

Vikings lose out on potential compensatory pick due to Broncos roster move

One of the challenging aspects of the compensatory formula is the allocation of playing time. Each player is ranked based on how much they get paid per average annual value, plus a combination of percentage of snaps taken and bonus points for postseason awards.

That aspect makes it difficult to project how many compensatory picks you will get, especially with the lower-level guys. One of the players who could end up qualifying is wide receiver Trent Sherfield, who signed with the Denver Broncos. Unfortunately for the Vikings, the Broncos waived him on Saturday afternoon. That could have a significant impact on both teams. Over The Cap’s Nick Korte, who is the foremost expert on the compensatory formula, believes it could be a test case.

In the above thread, Korte lays out that we still don’t know how things will factor in if a player is cut and starts taking snaps with a new team. If it’s just a percentage of snaps played based on how many he was eligible for, that could play in the Vikings’ favor.

The other aspect is a 30% snap count incentive that is in his contract. That alone could boost him over the threshold to end up being a qualifying player for the compensatory formula. This especially matters because the Vikings have decided that playing Eric Wilson 80+% of snaps regularly is more important than potentially receiving a fourth-round compensatory pick.

There are still eight more weeks left to fully flesh out what the compensatory pick formula will end up looking like, but it’s not looking good right now for the Vikings, and there is only so much they can do to control their own destiny.

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