Loading up on elite secondary defenders and Sam Darnold's future highlight Vikings offseason bold predictions
The Minnesota Vikings continue to be one of the more intriguing teams when it comes to free agency. How will the fix the secondary?What's the decision at quarterback?Will they prioritize the interior of the offensive line? I made six bold predictions for the Vikings during free agency. Vikings sign one starting caliber free agent IOL: […]
The Minnesota Vikings continue to be one of the more intriguing teams when it comes to free agency.
- How will the fix the secondary?
- What's the decision at quarterback?
- Will they prioritize the interior of the offensive line?
I made six bold predictions for the Vikings during free agency.
Vikings sign one starting caliber free agent IOL: James Daniels
The fanbase wants the Vikings to replace the entirety of the interior offensive line, replacing Blake Brandel, Garrett Bradbury, and Dalton Risner/Ed Ingram. That's just unlikely to happen.
Yes, head coach Kevin O'Connell spoke about wanting improvements but, as general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said in his season-ending press conference, seeing improvement isn't linear.
"I think having studied it, I would agree with what he said. What I would say is though, I think a lot of times everybody hears that and thinks the answer is kind of simple. And the answer can come from different ways. It can come from a different player. It could come from a player year over year improving. It could come from how we do things from a pass protection standpoint. Those two games revealed some issues in there that were tougher to overcome. How do you overcome them? And that's what's beautiful about football. It's this complex sport. If you want to run the football, there's a lot of ways to do it. You could maybe get better at receiver and make them play you a certain way. We’ll approach this off-season trying to fix the team with that creativity, that mindset in place. We'll collaborate with Kevin, but yeah, we want to be in a place where we're still playing football. And to win these last games, any potential places where teams can attack, you've got to be ready for, not just from your starting lineup, but from your two deep. And so we want to set ourselves up to be in that position and going from there."
We haven't seen Adofo-Mensah prioritize the interior of the offensive line in his three offseasons, but he was also limited when it comes to draft capital. With the little amount of of money that he's allocated to the position, he will need to prove the willingness to attack the position with resources.
With that being said, spending a decent amount of money on an upgrade still feels like a possibility. Daniels did tear his Achilles at the end of September but has been a solid player on the interior over his career with some flexibility to play center. Everyone wants Trey Smith, but it's going to be more likely they go twith he midrange option.
Vikings sign Charvarius Ward, Jevon Holland, and Eric Stokes
The Vikings are desperate to fix the cornerback position. They will likely find one at some point in the NFL Draft. However, finding three players in the secondary is going to be a priority.
Ward has already told the San Francisco 49ers that he will be leaving the franchise this year due to trauma from his daughter's death. His 2024 season wasn't great due to that and injury, but he was the number one cornerback in PFF WAR in 2023. He can play man coverage, which is huge for the Vikings.
Holland is quite the versatile chess player who can do a little bit of everything. Defensive coordinator Brian Flores prioritizes versatility, and he drafted him while he was still with the Miami Dolphins.
Stokes is on the opposite end of the spectrum. The Green Bay Packers selected him in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft and he completely busted. A lot of that was due to injuries and the Vikings love a good reclamation project. Bring him in as your CB4/5 on a small contract and see what happens. If it doesn't work, you can cut him for little to no dead money. If you can extract the talent, you can get a steal.
Vikings franchise tag Byron Murphy Jr.
This is one that I strongly believe in. The prevailing thought here is that Murphy will get around $20 million per season. The franchise tag option would be around that amount of money.
Placing the franchise tag on Murphy would be an interesting move for the Vikings. If they were to do that, it would likely cost them $20,357,000 per Over The Cap's franchise tag projections. It might feel like a lot for Murphy who is set to enter his age 27 season, but it's not crazy. Murphy could get that on the open market, especially with the top of the market now being $24 million per season.
Giving the six-year veteran that much money feels like a lot, but it's different with Murphy, as he just turned 27 years old. He has thrived with the Vikings under Flores both playing on the inside and outside.
Camryn Bynum leaves via free agency
This is one that will continue to be discussed over the next few weeks leading up to free agency. Bynum was just predicted to stay with the Vikings and contract discussions have been happening.
Bynum would likely command somewhere around $13-15 million per season and that is a lot of money for a player who isn't a great athlete in comparison to his peers. Now, he's a solid player and athlete, but that next-level ability is something that he doesn't have, which is likely why it's giving pause.
Sam Darnold signs multi-year deal worth $40 million per year
The Darnold question is one that will continue to prevail over the course of the next few weeks is going to be what happens with him? There are reports about the Vikings bringing him back and letting him go. Only time will tell on that front, but one thing feels certain: Darnold is getting paid.
He is likely to get a massive contract and I think the Daniel Jones contract is a great place to start. $40 million per season would make Darnold the 16th-highest-paid quarterback in terms of average annual value. That's average starting quarterback money, which fits for what Darnold currently is.
Vikings take EDGE in round one
This is a theory that I've been working on for a while. Right now, the Vikings love using four edge rushers with the NASCAR package. The only evidence that the Vikings have given us when it comes to prioritizing defensive tackles is their pursuit of Christian Wilkins. That didn't happen and they loaded up on edge rusher.
In year one, that player would be EDGE4 and could play upward of 50% of the snaps while developing. Turner played so little because of the success of the players ahead of him. The NASCAR package got the fifth-most sacks in the NFL, with 48. Moving forward, that guy would be EDGE2/3, playing a major role in helping the Vikings take a step forward and potentially giving Greenard and Van Ginkel a few extra plays off a game.
The Vikings could prioritize edge rusher once again, especially with EDGE3 and 4 getting so many snaps with Flores' defense. Would it be the best use of capital? That's currently uncertain, but it's definitely possible.
Minnesota Vikings NFL Draft strategy in first round could focus on premium position that hasn’t been considered previously
It’s quite an interesting scenario
