More smoke appears around Vikings' key offseason decision regarding one of their best players
How the Minnesota Vikings attack free agency is arguably the biggest story of the offseason. The biggest player available in free agency for the Vikings is quarterback Sam Darnold. Will they keep him? Could they franchise tag him to either keep him or trade him? Multiple teams will likely be in the running to sign […]
How the Minnesota Vikings attack free agency is arguably the biggest story of the offseason.
The biggest player available in free agency for the Vikings is quarterback Sam Darnold. Will they keep him? Could they franchise tag him to either keep him or trade him? Multiple teams will likely be in the running to sign Darnold and that could change things for how they want to pursue the future at the position.
With Darnold, the franchise tag has been a major topic of discussion, but there is another player who is more likely to get the franchise tag.
Vikings could franchise tag Byron Murphy Jr.
The franchise tag is something the Vikings have only used five times, three of them have been since the turn of the century. Darnold is less likely to get the tag now than we might have expected over the course of the the offseason.
There is one player that hasn't gotten much discussion when it comes to the franchise tag and that is cornerback Byron Murphy Jr. I wrote about it last week with the idea being Murphy would get that kind of money on the open market.
There is one player who could be given the franchise tag by the Vikings: cornerback Byron Murphy Jr.
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.
ESPN's Kevin Seifert agreed with that idea, as he identified Murphy as the one Vikings player who could get the franchise tag.
Using the tag on quarterback Sam Darnold would be an expensive way of ensuring his return while avoiding a longer-term commitment that would hinder J.J. McCarthy's eventual ascension. It could also be a way to elicit additional value by way of a trade, but that would require a knowledge that multiple teams would be willing to bid. In the end, the Vikings seem more likely to let Darnold sign elsewhere and preserve their tag for a player such as cornerback Byron Murphy Jr., who had a career-high six interceptions in 2024 and is hitting his prime at age 27. If nothing else, it would give the Vikings time to sign Murphy to a longer-term deal while keeping him off the market.
The Vikings need to fortify the secondary in the worst way and finding a way to bring him back should be a priority. Will the Vikings believe that Murphy should get a market level contract? That remains to be seen, but he likely gets a number that high with his performance and being the young age of 27.
