It’s been a week since the “legal tampering” kicked off. It feels like three. Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Kevin O’Connell continue to reshape and craft the Minnesota Vikings roster. With limited salary cap room, they’ve managed to retain several players and add a few players. For as far over the cap that the Vikings were at the start of the offseason and how close that they are to the cap now, it’s remarkable how active they’ve been.
Minnesota Vikings Free Agency Ledger
Players re-signed:
Nick Mullens, QB
Alexander Mattison, RB
Garrett Bradbury, C
Ben Ellefson, TE
Blake Brandel, OT
Khyiris Tonga, DT
Kenny Willekes, DE
Greg Joseph, K
Andrew DePaola, LS
Austin Schlottman, C
Olisaemeka Udoh, OT
Players signed:
Josh Oliver, TE
Marcus Davenport. Edge
Byron Murphy Jr., CB
Dean Lowry, DE
Players released/lost:
Eric Kendricks, LB
Adam Thielen, WR
Patrick Peterson, CB
Dalvin Tomlinson, DT
The Vikings started the offseason with 4 restricted and 15 unrestricted free agents. Eric Kendricks and Adam Thielen were released and added to the list. 11 of the Vikings free agents have been re-signed. Kendricks, Peterson, Tomlinson, and Thielen have settled in with new teams. Six of the unrestricted free agents remain unsigned.
Unsigned free agents:
Chandon Sullivan, CB
Irv Smith Jr., TE
Jonathan Bullard, DL
Duke Shelley, CB
Kris Boyd, CB
Olabisi Johnson, WR
Of those, Duke Shelley might be the most likely return. Special Teams coordinator Matt Daniels might bang the table for Kris Boyd’s return.
The Vikings are still uncomfortably close to the salary cap. For that reason, they have decisions to make on the contracts of Dalvin Cook and Za’Darius Smith. Depending on one’s perspective, the re-signing of Alexander Mattison either further complicates or makes easy the decision on Cook’s roster status. The same can be said of the signing of Marcus Davenport on Za’Darius Smith’s roster status.
While the thought of three elite pass rushers (Danielle Hunter, Davenport, and Smith) on the roster is intriguing, I’m expecting a trade or release of Smith. I’m much more conflicted with Cook’s situation. I hate the thought of losing him. I don’t think that he’s regressed anywhere near as much as many people seem to believe. The Vikings issues with the run game last season were a team-thing rather than a Cook-thing. In a couple of the most memorable games in a very memorable season, it was an explosive play by Cook that ignited comebacks. He’s also a team leader. The Vikings have lost enough of those this offseason. Hopefully, we see a resolution with the Smith and Cook situations soon.
The offseason marches on.
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