Minnesota Vikings placed massive bet on an important position, and it would be a major value if it hits
When you are in a salary cap league like the NFL, you have to take calculated risks. The Minnesota Vikings have done that at a critical position.
The offseason for the Minnesota Vikings wasn’t the most active across the board. Interim general manager Rob Brzezinski had to maneuver through a salary cap minefield left to him by Kwesi Adofo-Mesnah.
He did a really good job of fixing the salary cap issues by using multiple different types of moves. He cut aging veterans, signed smart contracts, extended Eric Wilson, and restructured players who will be here for a long time.
Vikings calculated bet with Blake Brandel could pay off in a big way
One spot where the Vikings had to make a calculated bet was at the center position. They didn’t have a lot of cap space to target a player of Tyler Linderbaum’s caliber, as he went for $27 million per year. It became clearer how expensive the position is getting earlier this week, when the Miami Dolphins extended center Aaron Brewer to a three-year deal worth $52 million.
With the limited amount of funds to play with over the course of the off-season, they had to make a very calculated bet at a couple of positions, and one of them could pay off in a big way.
Instead of spending their minimal capital on a center, they decided to dedicate Blake Brandel’s entire offseason on the position. In 2025, Brandel played 604 snaps on the offensive line, including his first 363 snaps at center in his career, both college and pro. He was solid for the most part at the position. Throughout the year, Brandel allowed just 19 pressures and three sacks on 395 pass blocking reps. Not a bad year for him, but that wasn’t the reason people were cautious.
Brandel was a solid player overall, but he had one major issue: snapping. Now, he didn’t fire the ball over the head of the quarterback, but he sprayed them all over the place. Not exactly a great thing to deal with, especially when the Vikings run a timing-based offense. It’s especially worse when your quarterbacks are Carson Wentz, Max Brosmer, and J.J. McCarthy.
Now that Brandel is going to be the center, he can spend the offseason focusing on snapping and getting off the ball. That is a big factor in his success in 2026, as is his salary. Brandel is making an average annual value of $3.16 million, which is 22nd among centers per Over The Cap, and has a cap hit of $4,466,668. If Brandel plays well at that salary, it would be huge for the Vikings and give them surplus value.
You have to find edges somewhere in a salary cap league, and Brandel could be the biggest for the Vikings this year.