A look at the Vikings’ pending free agents

Who is set to hit the market?

Because the National Football League has managed to make itself a year-round league at this point, we are just a few weeks away from the new league year starting and, with it, the beginning of free agency in the NFL. The “legal tampering” period kicks off on 11 March, while the official start of free agency is 3:00 PM Central time on Wednesday, 13 March.

(And at approximately 3:05 PM Central time, Vikings Twitter is gonna be real mad that the Vikings haven’t signed anyone yet. Just a hunch.)

Our Minnesota Vikings have a bunch of players who are getting ready to hit free agency, so we’ll take a look at who all of those players are here, divided up by free agent status.

Players Whose Contracts Are Voiding

• QB Kirk Cousins
• Edge Marcus Davenport
• Edge Danielle Hunter

As Connor mentioned earlier today, Davenport’s contract will be voiding in the next few days, and hopefully that will be the last time we ever have to mention that the Vikings wasted any money on him.

The other two players on this list, as we know, are going to be the centerpiece of the early stages of the Vikings’ offseason. We know that the Vikings have publicly said that they want Cousins back in the fold at quarterback, but if they want to get something done they almost have to get it done before the new league year starts and they can mitigate some of the dead money on his previous extension. Hunter, reportedly, is on hold until the team figures out what they’re going to do with Cousins. That doesn’t sound great or anything but, well, it is what it is.

Unrestricted Free Agents

• OL Hakeem Adeniji
• LB Anthony Barr
• DL Jonathan Bullard
• DL Sheldon Day
• QB Joshua Dobbs
• LB Troy Dye
• LB Jordan Hicks
• K Greg Joseph
• DL James Lynch
• TE Johnny Mundt
• WR K.J. Osborn
• WR Brandon Powell
• OL David Quessenberry
• OL Chris Reed
• OL Dalton Risner
• C Austin Schlottman
• OL Oli Udoh
• LB Nick Vigil
• Edge D.J. Wonnum

There are a few interesting names on the UFA list for the Vikings that they might want to look into bringing back, but honestly. . .a lot of these guys probably aren’t returning. Osborn might be an interesting case to watch. He’s not going to be anything higher than the #3 receiver with the Vikings thanks to Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison and he might think he can do better elsewhere. Mundt seems to be a favorite of the coaching staff and with T.J. Hockenson’s status being up in the air could be back on the cheap. Wonnum could have been an interesting case but the injury he suffered toward the end of the season might allow the Vikings to wait a little while until the initial free agency rush slows down before they make a decision on him.

I’d like to see Dalton Risner come back and take the starting left guard spot back as well, and he seems to want to be back in Minnesota after a fairly successful 2023. Jordan Hicks could potentially come back as well, with the Vikings continuing to pair him with Ivan Pace Jr. in the middle of their defense. Brandon Powell could, potentially, be back as well, for both his development as a receiver over this past season and his worth on special teams. It might be time for the Vikings to officially move on from Greg Joseph, too.

Restricted Free Agents

• RB Cam Akers
• OL Blake Brandel
• DL Khyiris Tonga

Restricted free agents can have tender offers placed on them in order to, potentially, keep other teams from coming after them. There are three levels of RFA tenders: First-round, second-round, and original round/right of first refusal. The last of those three simply means that a team can match an offer sheet that a team might make to them and, if they refuse to match it, can receive a draft pick equivalent to the draft round that they were selected in. For example, if the Vikings placed that level of tender on Brandel and a team signed him to an offer sheet, the Vikings could match that offer or let him go in exchange for a sixth-round pick, as that’s the round Brandel was drafted in.

I’d be surprised if the Vikings put any sort of tender on Akers. . .he tore an Achilles this season, and not the same one that he tore in 2021. Brandel could be worth putting a tender on because of his versatility on the offensive line and his experience. Tonga is someone I’d like to see get another opportunity but I’m not sure if the team feels the same.

Exclusive Rights Free Agents

• S Theo Jackson
• TE Nick Muse
• DL T.J. Smith

Exclusive Rights Free Agents are players that have two accrued seasons of experience, as opposed to restricted free agents, who have three, and unrestricted free agents, who have at least four.

It’s fairly easy for a team to keep an ERFA if they want to. All they have to do is extend them a qualifying offer, which is a one-year deal for the minimum salary for someone of their experience level. The extension of that qualifying offer means they can’t negotiate with other teams, so at that point their options are either play for the Vikings or don’t play at all. The Vikings will probably do that for all three of the players that fall under that heading, and they likely wouldn’t count among their top 51 salaries for salary cap purposes anyway, so I wouldn’t expect Jackson, Muse, or Smith to go anywhere.

Those are all of the players on the roster that are waiting for free agency to start like the rest of us. What are your thoughts on the in-house free agents for the Vikings?