The Vikings' free agency moves will give them the advantage in 2024, right? Yeah ... not so fast
One of the major narratives spreading in Vikings circles has been about how the moves made ahead of free agency this week are all about setting the Vikings up for success in 2024-26 by virtue of freeing up oodles of cap space.
The Vikings have cut the likes of Adam Thielen, Eric Kendricks, and Cam Dantzler, converted part of Kirk Cousins' contract, and restructured Jordan Hicks' contract as they sought to become cap compliant by 3 p.m. Wednesday, while still seeking to be competitive in 2023 by signing on shorter contracts the likes of Marcus Davenport and Byron Murphy.
The moves being made – with more set to follow on Wednesday – has fostered a theme on social media that Kwesi Adofo-Mensah is playing 4D Chess as he sets up the Vikings for success in 2024, when they will apparently have a huge advantage by virtue of significant cap space.
Yes, it's true that at this very moment, according to OverTheCap, the Vikings have an estimated $97 million in cap space for a 2024 spending spree.
But does that mean they'll have an advantage? Erm ... not really. The reality is that almost every team is loaded with cap space in 2024. In fact, 17 teams currently have at least $80 million, per OverTheCap.
- Patriots – $158.4M
- Texans – $157.3M
- Bengals – $132.5M
- Panthers – $131.9M
- Titans – $131.1M
- Falcons – $128.8M
- Bears – $127.9M
- Giants – $118.8M
- Colts – $105.2M
- Commanders – $104.2M
- Lions – $104M
- Jets – $99.5M
- Vikings – $97M
- Steelers – $96.7M
- Chiefs – $88.1M
- Ravens – $85M
- Raiders – $81.2M
The only reason Minnesota has $97M is because only 26 players are under contract through 2024, meaning all of that money will need to pay 27 more players (53-man roster).
The Cowboys have $59.4M in 2024 cap space but they have 46 players under contract, meaning they've got all that money to spend on seven new players. Would you rather have an average of $8.4M to spend on free agents/contract extensions like the Cowboys or $3.6M per player the Vikings are currently set to spread around to fill 27 roster spots?
What have we learned? The Cowboys rank 21st in 2024 cap space but are in a far more advantageous situation because they don't have as many holes to fill.
Related:
Analyzing Cousins' restructure, Bradbury's return and a cornerback signing
Related:
Vikings free agency tracker: Signees and departures
If Kirk Cousins leaves after this season, the Vikings will still need to give money to a new quarterback, and those don't come cheap – even if it's a QB on a rookie deal.
Another variable to take into account? Any monster money the Vikings may avoid by using a rookie QB may well end up going to new contracts for the likes of Justin Jefferson, TJ Hockenson, and Christian Darrisaw, whom the Vikings definitely want to keep around.
And that's not to mention the Vikings could still trade, restructure or release Harrison Smith, Dalvin Cook, Danielle Hunter and Brian O'Neill, decisions which may also have an impact on the 2024 cap.
The term "competitive rebuild" was used by Adofo-Mensah after he arrived in 2022. Despite this, some fans still expect a major tanking and overhaul at some point. The decisions made by the Vikings this week indicate it's a consistent philosophy being employed by those in charge.
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.