Vikings 2026 Cap PIcture
This basically outlines how the Vikings can go from being $48M over the cap to $62M under. The Vikings won’t likely make all of these moves, but just the first two makes them cap compliant.
Read the whole article from Tyler Forness HERE.
Vikings are projected to be $48,999,691 over the salary cap in 2026 in terms of effective cap space. That includes all the projected draft picks, along with the Vikings’ current contracts per Over The Cap. They also have $20,791,954 in cap space to roll over, which would put them at $28,207,740 based on a projected $295 million salary cap.
Extend Brian O’Neill
Salary cap hit: $23,115,657
New cap hit: $8 million
Savings: $15,115,657
The Vikings would be wise to extend O’Neill, and with his age, that will likely be something like a three-year deal. Put it at about $60 million with $45 million guaranteed and a $15 million signing bonus. Not only did O’Neill end up getting a raise, he gets a short-term deal here that would allow him to hit the market again before he turns 35.
Restructure Jonathan Greenard
Salary cap hit: $22,150,000
New cap hit: $8.94 million
Savings: $13.21 million
With a base salary of $18.39 million, $17 million of that will end up getting split with the final four years of his deal, two of which are void years. Greenard is going to be a massive part of this team for years to come, and keeping him should be a priority for the Vikings. Because he’s going to be part of the Vikings for a long time, moving money around isn’t a big deal.
Cut or restructure T.J. Hockenson
Cut Salary cap hit: $21,296,176
Dead cap hit: $12.425 million
Savings: $8,871,176
Cutting Hockenson is something that many want to happen due to his lack of production. It’s not all his fault. While he has lost a little bit of his juice, Hockenson didn’t get to run his full plethora of routes consistently. With the offensive line issues, Hockenson was always chipping, which prevented him from being as impactful. Cutting him also only saves about 40% of his cap hit.
Restructure Salary cap hit: $21,296,176
New cap hit: $12 million
Savings: $9.33 million
A restructure makes the most sense for the Vikings. Hockenson has no guaranteed money left, which is why many believe he could be cut. However, moving on from Hockenson means that a major hole opens up at tight end, which would require an immediate fix for the Vikings.
Restructure Justin Jefferson
Salary cap hit: $38,987,600
New cap hit: $21.9876 million
Savings: $16.99 million
Jefferson has a large base salary of $24.99 million, but his massive signing bonus prorates to $7,487,600, along with a $6 million option bonus. You can only squeeze out so much cap relief with Jefferson, but he’s a near certainty to be on the team throughout his contract.
Restructure Christian Darrisaw
Salary cap hit: $22,524,282
New cap hit: $12.56 million
Savings: $9,968,947
Darrisaw is the left tackle, not just for today, but for the future. It’s certainly frustrating that he’s yet to play a full 17-game season since the Vikings selected him 23rd overall in the 2021 NFL Draft. Even so, he’s a top-three left tackle in the NFL when he does play. Even though the injuries are frustrating, he’s still the guy.
Cut Javon Hargrave
Salary cap hit: $21,453,382
Dead cap hit: $10,955,882
Savings: $10,497,500
This is the easiest one of the bunch. Hargrave was a good pass rusher, but he didn’t perform nearly well enough to warrant bringing him back at that price. He does have $4 million fully guaranteed, which the Vikings would end up saving if they are able to trade him. It’s unlikely, which means cutting him feels like a near certainty. There is a chance that Hargrave comes back on a restructured deal, especially if it saves the Vikings significant money. That amount could be more than what he would get on the open market.
Cut Aaron Jones
Salary cap hit: $14,550,000
Dead cap hit: $6.8 million
Savings: $7.75 million
Jones is going to be the most interesting player to discuss on this list. He is still very impactful for the offense, but is always injured, even if he plays. That injury history is incredibly frustrating, and that’s why the Vikings could move on, because it’s not going away.
Cut Ryan Kelly
Salary cap hit: $11,715,147
Dead cap hit: $3,367,500
Savings: $8,347,647
Kelly is going to be interesting. The Vikings would love to have the player back, but three concussions this year could lead him to retirement. He already considered it last offseason, and the 2025 season could be the reason why.
Salary cap space
Keeping Hockenson: $90,750,927 ($62,543,187 in cap space)
Cutting Hockenson: $91,206,751 ($62,999,011 in cap space)
All of these moves would create a ton of cap space to improve the Vikings in the short term, but they would be pushing a lot of money into the future. All of these being done isn’t likely, but a combination of these moves will happen in some form. The 2026 Vikings will look much different next season.
"Look at salary cap to cash ratio. That number is a very low number. It's one of the lowest in the league. So what that means is they've got a lot cash over cap. So that gives them a lot of flexibility... There's a lot of flexibility with using basic restructures... Minnesota has got a $100M in just basic restructure flexibility... That like gets you back into the positive at $28-29M on the right side of the cap space".
Although the Vikings are in the deep negative for salary cap, @TexansCap shared some optimistic insight into Minnesota's situation.
— The Purple Persuasion (@TPPSkol) January 22, 2026
The Vikings can actually free-up around $100M in cap space with just basic restructures.
"Look at [the Vikings] salary cap to cash ratio. That… pic.twitter.com/6PLDT8Zi6f
Read a couple weeks ago that some projected the salary cap in 2026 to jump $16M from $279M to $295M. Too low.
NFL salary cap over the years:
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) January 30, 2026
2013: $123M
2014: $133M
2015: $143.28M
2016: $155.27M
2017: $167M
2018: $177.2M
2019: $188.2M
2020: $198.2M
2021: $182.5M
2022: $208.2M
2023: $224.8M
2024: $255.4M
2025: $279.2M
2026: $301.2M-$305.7M (projected)
Business is booming. https://t.co/lNPmrwBQq0
How much cap space could each NFL team free up with simple restructures?
— SFdata9ers🏈📊 (@sfdata9ers) February 11, 2026
1. DAL $131M
2. DET $128M
3. KC $109M
...
32. PHI $0.2M 😅
Data: @Jason_OTC (02/11/2026)
A simple restructure converts payments into prorated signing bonuses spread over the remaining years of the… pic.twitter.com/knNG9kAbzB
How the Vikings' 2025 free agency class has aged, one year later
Story by Will Ragatz • 16h •
3 min read
The Vikings generated a ton of excitement with their 2025 free agent class last spring. Coming off a 14-win season, their bold choice to let Sam Darnold walk gave them the room to go out and load up in the trenches. And they did just that.
In need of a defensive tackle, the Vikings went out and signed not one, but two former Pro Bowlers in Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave. In need of interior offensive linemen, they added former Colts teammates Will Fries and Ryan Kelly, giving Fries a huge five-year deal worth up to $87 million. At cornerback, they re-signed Byron Murphy Jr. and added Isaiah Rodgers from the Eagles at Brian Flores' behest. They also rounded out their depth with various one-year deals for players like Justin Skule, Eric Wilson, and Rondale Moore.
Below are the 11 players who got at least $2 million in average salary from the Vikings. Many of the contracts look bigger than their actual functional price, based on how the guarantees were structured.
CB Byron Murphy Jr: 3 years, $54 million
G Will Fries: 5 years, $87.7 million
DT Jonathan Allen: 3 years, $51 million
DT Javon Hargrave: 2 years, $30 million
C Ryan Kelly: 2 years, $18 million
CB Isaiah Rodgers: 2 years, $11 million
LB Eric Wilson: 1 year, $2.6 million
CB Jeff Okudah: 1 year, $2.3 million
DB Tavierre Thomas: 1 year, $2 million
OT Justin Skule: 1 year, $2 million
WR Rondale Moore: 1 year, $2 million
A year later, how has the class aged? The short answer is not very well.
Murphy was OK in 2025 and led the Vikings in defensive snaps, but he didn't come close to repeating his Pro Bowl season from a year earlier. Fries led the Vikings in offensive snaps as their lone offensive lineman who didn't miss any time, but he was also merely OK.
Allen and Hargrave did not exactly live up to the hype. They combined for 65 pressures and seven sacks on the season. Both were outplayed by former UFL star Jalen Redmond, who emerged as the Vikings' best defensive tackle. Allen played a heavy load of snaps but didn't grade very well, at least by PFF. Hargrave graded better but didn't play as much, averaging just over 33 snaps per game.
Kelly was excellent when he played. The issue is that he suffered three concussions and was limited to eight games. Rodgers looked like a genius signing when he put together one of the greatest individual defensive games in NFL history in Week 3. Outside of that game, he was merely solid.
The Vikings' best signing, by far, was linebacker Eric Wilson, who emerged as a perfect fit in Flores' scheme and one of their most consistently impactful defensive players. Most of the other depth signings were busts. Skule struggled when thrust into action at tackle, Moore and Okudah got hurt again, and Thomas was involved in some key special teams mishaps (though he also did some good things in that phase).
On paper, the Vikings' plan — roll with J.J. McCarthy on a rookie contract, load up in the trenches — made sense. It just didn't pan out in the slightest. McCarthy was a disaster in both health and performance. The money the Vikings allocated elsewhere by going cheaper at quarterback didn't provide the desired return on investment. And oh yeah, Darnold won the Super Bowl as the Seahawks' QB. As a result, it wasn't shocking when GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah was fired this offseason.
With all of that said, the book on the Vikings' 2025 free agent class isn't closed just yet. Fries, Murphy, and Rodgers will almost certainly be back in 2026. One of Allen or Hargrave will likely be a cap casualty, but one will probably stick around. And the way the contracts were structured will make it easy for the Vikings to move on from Kelly and one of the defensive tackles.
Last year's free agent haul wasn't nearly as successful as the Vikings' 2024 group, but it also doesn't have to cripple the franchise moving forward.
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