Vikings appear to be getting two third-round compensatory picks in 2025
Could the Minnesota Vikings have three third-round picks in the 2025 NFL Draft? It certainly appears to be a possibility thanks to compensatory picks they may be receiving after Kirk Cousins, Danielle Hunter and K.J. Osborn signed with new teams as free agents.
"I'd be surprised if it wasn't at least one third and then some other ones," Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said on KFAN radio Monday morning.
Right now, it appears that the Vikings will receive 2025 third-round picks because they have lost six players from last year's roster who are considered "compensatory free agents" (CFAs) while only signing four compensatory free agents.
Over The Cap explains it like this: "In plain English, if a team loses more players that qualify as CFAs than it signs during free agency, that team is eligible to be awarded compensatory picks in the following NFL draft."
Minnesota has lost six CFAs: Cousins (Falcons), Hunter (Texans), Osborn (Patriots), D.J. Wonnum (Panthers), Marcus Davenport (Lions) and Jordan Hicks (Brown). The CFAs they've signed are Jonathan Bullard, Andrew Van Ginkel, Blake Cashman and Sam Darnold.
There's an entire formula to determine what round a team's compensatory picks are in and it's based on some complicated math that accounts contracts and performance. In the case of Cousins and Hunter, they in the elite level of both and therefore the Vikings are expected to receive third-round picks.
That would Minnesota three third-rounders in 2025, including their own pick.
They could receive more compensatory picks if more CFAs sign deals for at least $3 million annually, though any additional CFAs the Vikings sign could serve as an equalizer and eliminate compensatory pick supplementation.
Regardless, it now appears that the Vikings are armed with five picks in the first three rounds of the 2025 NFL Draft.
Kwesi Adofo-Mensah: Vikings have a 'preferred scenario' in NFL Draft
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.