Report: Vikings restructure Harrison Smith's contract to create cap space

Smith turned 33 on Feb. 2 and is entering his 11th season in the NFL.
Report: Vikings restructure Harrison Smith's contract to create cap space
Report: Vikings restructure Harrison Smith's contract to create cap space /

The Vikings have created $6 million in cap space by restructuring safety Harrison Smith's contract, according to ESPN's Field Yates. 

Yates says Smith's cap number in 2022 will drop from $13.4 million to $7.5 million. According to Over The Cap, Smith's cap number will explode to $19.2 million in 2023 and 2024, and then $22 million in 2025, which is the final year of the lucrative extension he signed in 2021. 

Creating the cap space allows the Vikings to be cap-compliant with new signees, including former Bills defensive tackle Harrison Phillips, who carries a $3.8 million cap hit in 2022. 

Over The Cap shows the Vikings with just over $2.4 million remaining in cap space, though that number is likely to change if other highly paid veterans restructure, are traded or released. 

Smith turned 33 on Feb. 2 and is entering his 11th season in the NFL. 


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Joe Nelson
JOE NELSON

Title: Bring Me The Sports co-owner, editor Email: joe@bringmethenews.com Twitter: @JoeBMTN Education: Southwest Minnesota State University Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Expertise: All things Minnesota sports Nelson has covered Minnesota sports for two decades, starting his media career in sports radio. He worked at small market Minnesota stations in Marshall and St. Cloud before joining one of the nation's highest-rated sports stations, KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. There, he was the producer of the top-rated mid-morning sports show with Minnesota Vikings announcer Paul Allen.  His radio experience helped blossom a career as a sports writer, joining Minneapolis-based Bring Me The News in 2011.  Nelson and Adam Uren became co-owners of Bring Me The News in 2018 and have since more than tripled the site's traffic and launched Bring Me The Sports in cooperation with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation umbrella. Nelson has covered the Super Bowl and numerous training camps, NFL combines, the MLB All-Star Game and Minnesota playoff games, in addition to the day-to-day happenings on and off the field of play.  Nelson also has extensive knowledge of non-sports subjects, including news and weather. He works closely with Bring Me The News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard to produce a bevy of weather and climate information for Minnesota readers.  Nelson helped launch and manage the Bring Me The News Radio Network, which provided more than 50 radio stations around Minnesota with daily news, sports and weather reports from 2011-17.