The future of the Minnesota Vikings is currently unknown.

New general manager Nolan Teasley has made his front office structure mostly set in stone, after hiring Andrew Healy and Trent Kirchner as his assistant general managers, with Ryan Grigson staying in the organization in a different role.

What we dont’ know currently is how the Vikings will maneuver with this group. What could their big extensions look like and how will it impact the salary cap? I broke it down.

Minnesota Vikings salary cap situation

To better understand the Vikings’ salary cap situation, Over The Cap is the best resource. Going into the 2026 season, the Vikings currently have $13,393,167 in cap space. They will need most of that money for in-season operating expenses, with about $5 million for the practice squad, $5 million for in-season signings, and $1.77-2 million for the final two spots on the 53-man roster.

In 2027, the Vikings are currently projected to have $46,105,621 in cap space to work with, and will be getting about $12 million extra to work with from the Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave offset language. That could leave the Vikings with upward of $58 million in raw cap space before factoring in what the rookie pool will impact. Let’s call it $8 million to make things easy, giving the Vikings $50 million in extra cap space to work with.

How should the maneuver with said cap space? That is an interesting answer. In order to understand how much the Vikings would have going into free agency, addressing potential extensions is important.

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Extend Brian O’Neill

The key to extending right tackle Brian O’Neill is likely going to be the term. He is set to turn 31 in September and has dealt with numerous leg injuries throughout the last four seasons. That has led some to believe he’s not worth extending. However, O’Neill has consistently been a top-five right tackle, and with where the market is, he’s worth extending.

It won’t be the cheapest deal, but the Vikings can give him a market-level contract while also keeping things clear with the salary cap. If they give him a contract extension, they can also ease the burden in 2026, essentially making things easier both this and next season.

Contract prediction: Three years, $72 million, $48 million guaranteed

Year	Base Salary	Prorated Signing Bonus	Per Game Roster Bonus	Workout Bonus	Guaranteed Salary	Cap Number
2026	$1,300,000	$7,703,892	$0	$	$1,300,000	$8,003,892
2027	$14,400,000	$4,000,000	$500,000	$100,000	$15,000,000	$19,000,000
2028	$26,400,000	$4,000,000	$500,000	$100,000	$11,700,000	$31,000,000
2029	$26,400,000	$4,000,000	$500,000	$100,000	$0	$31,000,000
2030	Void	$4,000,000	Void	Void	Void	$4,000,000
2031	Void	$0	Void	Void	Void	$0
2032	Void	$0	Void	Void	Void	$0
Total	$68,500,000	$23,703,892	$1,500,000	$300,000	$28,000,000	$93,003,892

Salary cap space after O’Neill extension: $46,111,765

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Extend Jordan Addison

This one is a very interesting discussion. Addison is about to enter his fourth year in the NFL and the final year of his rookie contract. He has played very well for long stretches, including over 1,800 yards and 19 touchdowns in his first two seasons in the NFL.

Last season was on the rougher side due to a multitude of factors, including getting into legal trouble. Those issues caused a three-game suspension to start the 2025 season. There are questions whether or not the off-field issues are in the past, especially after another one arose at a casino in Tampa, Florida in January. Now, that only lasted a week, as charges were quickly dropped. For the Vikings, the earlier you extend him, the cheaper he becomes, including a net savings of nearly $2 million over the next two years

Contract prediction: Three years, $82.5 million, $34 million fully guaranteed

Year	Base Salary	Prorated Signing Bonus	Per Game Roster Bonus	Workout Bonus	Guaranteed Salary	Cap Number
2026	$1,215,000	$4,746,679	$0	$0	$1,125,000	$5,961,679
2027	$10,507,510	$3,000,000	$750,000	$100,000	$11,357,150	$14,357,510
2028	$22,000,000	$3,000,000	$750,000	$100,000	$22,850,000	$25,850,000
2029	$25,000,000	$3,000,000	$750,000	$100,000	$15,647,510	$28,850,000
2030	$26,000,000	$3,000,000	$750,000	$100,000	$0	$29,850,000
2031	Void	$0	Void	Void	Void	$0
2032	Void	$0	Void	Void	Void	$0
2033	Void	$0	Void	Void	Void	$0
Total	$84,632,510	$16,749,679	$3,000,000	$400,000	$50,979,660	$104,869,189

Salary cap space after O’Neill and Addison: $48,088,987

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Extend Kyler Murray after the season

If J.J. McCarthy wins the job and plays very well, an extension likely doesn’t come until 2027. The Vikings should want a stronger proof of concept with such an inconsistent first year as a starter.

Murray, on the other hand, has a strong proof of concept, having been in the NFL for seven years. Yes, the Arizona Cardinals did let him go, but it wasn’t a simple decision. Now that he is in Minnesota, it’s more about figuring out what he would take.

The market for quarterbacks is an interesting one. Patrick Mahomes just signed a contract worth over $64 million per season and Daniel Jones just got one worth $44 million per year.

The latest bridge contracts have been in the $30-33.5 million range, with Sam Darnold and Baker Mayfield being the key players there. The difference with Murray and those two is this will be his third contract. Having that over Murray is a decent factor. He may not try to get a massive contract, but rather take a significant amount from a team where he can win.

I think Murray would get more than both Darnold and Mayfield with his success, but it could end up being less than $40 million, which would be a huge win for the Vikings. It’s really hard to pinpoint a contract value for a multitude of reasons: we don’t know how good he plays in 2026 and what the free agent market will be for a 30-year-old Murray.

Contract prediction: Four years, $140 million, $100 million fully guaranteed

Year	Base Salary	Prorated Signing Bonus	Per Game Roster Bonus	Workout Bonus	Guaranteed Salary	Cap Number
2027	$5,300,000	$5,000,000	$1,000,000	$100,000	$6,400,000	$11,400,000
2028	$19,000,000	$7,920,000	$1,000,000	$100,000	$20,100,000	$28,020,000
2029	$34,350,000	$7,920,000	$1,000,000	$100,000	$33,900,000	$43,370,000
2030	$37,350,000	$7,920,000	$1,000,000	$100,000	$0	$46,370,000
2031	Void	$7,920,000	Void	Void	Void	$7,920,000
2032	Void	$2,920,000	Void	Void	Void	$2,920,000
2033	Void	$0	Void	Void	Void	$0
2034	Void	$0	Void	Void	Void	$0
Total	$96,000,000	$39,600,000	$4,000,000	$400,000	$100,000,000	$140,000,000

Salary cap space after three extensions: $36,688,987

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Extend Jalen Redmond

The one player who hasn’t gotten a lot of discussion about an extension is Jalen Redmond. He broke out in a major way in 2025 with 35 pressures and 6.0 sacks on 793 snaps. In doing so, he gave the Vikings a key piece to build around on the defensive line.

What is he going to command? The earlier you get him signed, the better off you are long-term. Redmond is going to command a significant amount of money, and it’s well deserved. The one thing working in the Vikings’ favor is his lack of capital invested. Players who are UDFAs often will sign deals that are more team friendly than high draft picks. Will the Vikings get that as well?

Contract prediction: Three years, $48 million, $23 million fully guaranteed

Year	Base Salary	Prorated Signing Bonus	Per Game Roster Bonus	Workout Bonus	Guaranteed Salary	Cap Number
2026	$1,075,000	$2,500,000	$0	$0	$1,075,000	$3,575,000
2027	$6,000,000	$2,500,000	$500,000	$100,000	$6,000,000	$9,100,000
2028	$13,850,000	$2,500,000	$500,000	$100,000	$3,425,000	$16,950,000
2029	$13,850,000	$2,500,000	$500,000	$100,000	$0	$16,950,000
2030	Void	$2,500,000	Void	Void	Void	$2,500,000
2031	Void	$0	Void	Void	Void	$0
2032	Void	$0	Void	Void	Void	$0
Total	$34,775,000	$12,500,000	$1,500,000	$300,000	$10,500,000	$49,075,000

Salary cap space after four extensions: $25,088,987

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How to handle remaining cap space

At $25,088,987 million left in salary cap space, the Vikings will want to have around an extra $10 million set aside for in-season and practice squad purposes. They can cut Will Fries for $9.5 million in savings with $12 million in dead money. They also have multiple player contracts voiding out with $21.4 million of cap space attached.

• EDGE Andrew Van Ginkel: $8.8 million
• ILB Blake Cashman: $3.1 million
• TE T.J. Hockenson: $7.1 million
• RB Jordan Mason: $2.4 million

They can extend any of those players and make the salary cap space a little easier to manage. If they don’t, that cap space is already accounted for, but it can change with said extensions. It would be hard to say any of those players will get an extension, but it’s a factor.

$15 million for the Vikings is a significant amount of capital to improve the team, but it’s also not a ton. If they hit on 3-4 draft picks as starters, it makes an impact on what you have to do in free agency. They can maneuver with player contracts, as a restructure of wide receiver Justin Jefferson could net the Vikings around $18.6 million in salary cap space, while doing the same with left tackle Christian Darrisaw would net another $9.13 million. Even so, they could add 2-3 impact players or use that money more on depth.

These are all projections on how things could look by making all of these moves. Obviously, things can and will change as we learn how Teasley wants to shape this organization.