2026 Free Agency and Draft: DL

[supafreak84]

I'm not a Doogie fan, but I agree. Jonathan Allen was a disgraceful, overpaid bullshit player. KAM should have been fired for that signing alone. Out with the old.

Agreed. This team has so many damn needs from years of draft misses under Kwesi that they have to absolutely look to move assets like Greenard for draft capital. Every level of the defense needs help along with just about every level of the offense. The only place we are solid at is special teams lol

[StickierBuns]

Agreed. This team has so many damn needs from years of draft misses under Kwesi that they have to absolutely look to move assets like Greenard for draft capital. Every level of the defense needs help along with just about every level of the offense. The only place we are solid at is special teams lol

The warning signs from Washington were there on Allen: doesn't try hard enough. Coasts. Nobody was going to give him a contract anywhere near what KAM did. Its gross.

[Knucklehead]

The warning signs from Washington were there on Allen: doesn't try hard enough. Coasts. Nobody was going to give him a contract anywhere near what KAM did. Its gross.

Allen still provided some pass rush last season. It wouldn't bother me at all to draft an IDL to play the run like Kayden McDonald or Caleb Banks & sub in Allen on passing downs.

[StickierBuns]

Allen still provided some pass rush last season. It wouldn't bother me at all to draft an IDL to play the run like Kayden McDonald or Caleb Banks & sub in Allen on passing downs.

Allen's cap number might be prohibitive to cutting him this year.

[supafreak84]

Allen's cap number might be prohibitive to cutting him this year.

I think that's what most of us thought, but according to Doogie, sources have told him that it would be an "incredible longshot" for either of those players to be on our roster this upcoming season. Apparently the Vikings are currently shopping Hargrave, but they won't find a trade partner when they know he will get released anyway.

If both are gone, that leaves you with Redmond and a bunch of guys who were late round draft picks still trying to find their way. Not good

[purplefaithful]

I think that's what most of us thought, but according to Doogie, sources have told him that it would be an "incredible longshot" for either of those players to be on our roster this upcoming season. Apparently the Vikings are currently shopping Hargrave, but they won't find a trade partner when they know he will get released anyway.

If both are gone, that leaves you with Redmond and a bunch of guys who were late round draft picks still trying to find their way. Not good

^^^

Exactly...

And I dont know whats going to hit the FA mkt at IDL this year. 

But it's because of the lack of depth and the contract, why I believe Allen will be here 1 more year.

[purplefaithful]

No team spent more cash on players in 2025 than the Vikings, so it’s no surprise co-owner Mark Wilf categorized the Vikings’ approach to free agency this year as “supplementing” the team’s draft capital (eight picks before compensatory selections are awarded). 

Don’t expect another spending spree. They need to revitalize their young, and cost-controlled, talent pipeline through the draft.

Interim General Manager Rob Brzezinski needs to create salary cap space, more than $40 million just to become compliant with the 2026 cap. 

The team’s two elder defensive tackles, Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave, are obvious candidates to be restructured, cut or traded. Allen ($23.9 million) and Hargrave ($21.5 million) carry expensive cap charges into next season. Hargrave had strong moments after signing a two-year, $30 million deal last year, but things didn’t always click. His role was inconsistent under coordinator Brian Flores. 

Releasing Hargrave, 33, gains the Vikings about $11 million in cap space, according to OverTheCap.com.

Allen, 31, was a more consistent presence, playing a position-high 811 snaps (76%) last season. But cutting him nets about $6.5 million in space.

One of the brightest spots in 2025, Jalen Redmond, is an exclusive rights free agent. The Vikings are expected to offer him the minimum-salary, one-year deal afforded to ERFAs, who are players with fewer than three accrued seasons of experience.

If the Vikings part with Hargrave, Allen, or both, they could be in the market for a starter to join an otherwise young and developing group.

Current roster: Allen, Hargrave, Levi Drake Rodriguez, Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins, Elijah Williams, Taki Taimani, Jaylon Hutchings

Current salary cap allocated: $48.4 million (5th in NFL)

Free agents to watch

David Onyemata (Falcons): There isn’t a big name like Milton Williams on the market this year, but the Vikings have many familiar options available. Ryan Nielsen, their new D-line coach and run game coordinator, once brought Onyemata from New Orleans to Atlanta with him between the 2022 and 2023 seasons. Will Nielsen get him to Minnesota, too? Onyemata is entering his 11th season at 33 years old, but he played some of his best football under Nielsen with the Falcons and Saints. Pro Football Focus still graded Onyemata as a solid run defender last year. The Bills’ DaQuan Jones is another pending free agent who just played for Nielsen, a defensive assistant in Buffalo last season.

John Franklin-Myers (Broncos): Franklin-Myers, a 2018 fourth-round pick by Sean McVay’s Rams, has a strong track record as an NFL pass rusher. He’s had at least seven sacks in each of the past two years for Denver, and has appeared in at least 15 games for six consecutive seasons. Durability and pass-rush production would appear to make him at least a surface-level fit for what Flores wants to do. Franklin-Myers turns 30 in September.

Neville Gallimore (Colts): Did something click last year? Gallimore, a 2020 third-round pick, had modest but career-high production in Indianapolis while making eight starts and playing in all 17 games. Gallimore graded out best by PFF as a pass rusher while playing alongside standout Colts veteran DeForest Buckner. Entering his age-29 season, he’s one of the few noteworthy free agents younger than 30.

Greg Gaines (Buccaneers): Gaines, who turns 30 in May, started all four playoff games, including the Super Bowl, for the 2021 Rams team that had Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell as offensive coordinator. Gaines has appeared in at least 15 games in all four seasons since, but he played his best with Los Angeles during the 2021 and 2022 seasons. Other familiar faces on the market include the Saints’ Jonathan Bullard and the Chiefs’ Jerry Tillery, who were starters under Flores in 2024.

STRIB

[MaroonBells]