Minnesota Vikings 2026 Team Captains

There once was a time when NFL teams had about three captains. Three captains leading the offense, defense, and special teams respectively. A few days ago, I saw that the Los Angeles Rams announced a whopping 11 captains. I get recognizing team leaders but doesn’t that leadership get a bit diluted if nearly a quarter of the players active on game day are captains? Who knows? I don’t. Maybe one in every four players needs to be a leader in today’s NFL. The Minnesota Vikings announced their season-long captains for 2026. 

Minnesota Vikings Captains

Offense:

Kyler Murray

Aaron Jones Sr.

Justin Jefferson

Brian O’Neill

Defense:

Andrew Van Ginkel

Blake Cashman

Joshua Metellus

Special Teams:

Andrew DePaola

Eight Captains. Only three were drafted by the Vikings. 

Justin Jefferson 

Brian O’Neill

Joshua Metellus

Kyler Murray, Andrew Van Ginkel, and Blake Cashman are first-time Vikings captains.

The remainder of the Vikings captains have been Vikings captains for a while.

Brian O’Neill: 6x

Joshua Metellus: 5x

Justin Jefferson: 4x

Andrew DePaola: 4x

Aaron Jones Sr.: 2x

Congratulations to this season’s captains. They will be forever remembered within the “Jim Marshall Vikings Captains Legacy.”